LUKE
Race: Silene
Eye color: Light blue/gray
Hair color: Silver blonde
Distinctions: Once wore a silver circlet; now he’s marked by a faint, unknown symbol on his forehead vaguely resembling a rose
Once the golden prince of Silon and the future hope of his people, Luke now lives in exile, a captive of his own tormented will, imprisoned in Julian’s lofty mansion high in the mountains. Originally born to parents Falen and Shion in the “Wars of Avenan” universe, his life and character quickly took an unexpected turn that landed him more firmly in the “Not All Kings Wear Gold” storyline, especially when he tangled himself up in the affairs of winged creatures and other forbidden things.
~Story~
Prince Luke’s downfall began the day he defied the rules and left his own kingdom to chase after a woman who ran from his scornful arrogance. His relentless obsession with her drove him to forsake his title and to follow her into Shafta, a forbidden realm in which his presence instantly made him the target of a selfish power far more cruel than his own. He was captured by the Elder, an ancient, destructive creature who claimed rule of that paradise-world. While experimenting on Luke out of curiosity and malice, he subjected him to all manner of unspeakable horrors. Luke’s mind shattered under the merciless torment, though his will did not. Eventually, he found a way to slip free of the Elder’s clutches and to return to his own world, taking with him Diana, a beautiful, golden-winged woman who aided his escape.
But he soon discovered that his home no longer afforded him the welcome and security it had given him as a child. His fragmented memories and diluted reasoning turned his kingdom into a confusing, fearful place of shadows, paranoia and twisted perception, where sunlight hurt and sleep held nameless terrors. With no memory of the Elder’s tampering, he could not understand that it was his own mind which warped it so. He believed everyone to have ulterior motives, to be conspiring against him. He retreated from everything, striking out in fear and fury at anyone who tried to get close to him. His fear turned to hatred, to violence, until his increasingly self-destructive actions jeopardized the safety of the kingdom. He was locked into his room and later chained to his bed to his bed to prevent him from hurting himself and others. He quickly deteriorated into a thin, frail wisp of his former self. His once clear blue eyes turned gray, his pale wrists became scarred by the shackles he forever pulled and bit in a vain effort to take vengeance on he knows not what.
And then, a glimmer of light. Diana, with her gentle, persistent words and touch, slowly diffused the darkness in him until he could glimpse the real world through it. With the help of Luke’s trusted servant Danathen, she is able to calm him, to convince him that love and trust are still available to him, to offer him comfort and stillness amid the turmoil. For a time, he clings to her, relies on her, believes her, and is quieted enough to be released from his chain and his room. He falls in love with her, and for a few years attempts to conquer his fears and to find peace.
But it is not enough. Gradually, the nightmares return, along with the fear and hatred, the whispers and shadows that drive Luke to refuse all comfort and affection and to proclaim it deceit, and his world once more unravels into chaos. His skewed perception and hopelessness cause him to imprison Diana along with himself, to poison her mind, break her spirit and refuse her contact with anyone outside his room whom he deems untrustworthy and malicious. Any plea immediately brings her under the same suspicion with which he views the whole kingdom, and the fleeting moments of quiet sanity in which he yields to her touch and treats her kindly become little more than a vague memory.
The mystery of Luke soon attracts the interest of the vampire Julian, a man whose favorite pastime is to seek out the extraordinary and unusual amid the dross of ordinary existence. Having encountered Luke once before in Shafta, he is relentless in pursuing him, vowing to tame Luke’s savageness, to rid his mind of shadows and to find answers. But to do that, he must take Luke away from everything familiar and isolate him in a carefully controlled environment, where Luke can harm nothing and will have no choice but to learn discipline and trust. It is a solution that offers tentative hope to a kingdom desperate for an alternative to chaining Luke again, to watching him destroy himself, and Julian is allowed to take Luke to his mansion.
At first, Luke has other ideas. He defies all rules, destroys everything within his reach and attempts to turn Julian’s structured household into chaos. But he quickly discovers that Julian does not fray with stress or concede to his manipulative wiles and volatile emotions as others do. Rather, Julian weathers his tantrums into exhaustion, returning vice for vice, but also compassion and comfort where it is needed. Julian is a strange enemy, gentle in his ruthlessness, severe in his kindness, tireless in learning all of Luke’s weaknesses and how to use them to bring him under control. When Luke finally realizes that Julian does not seek to harm him but instead to control his madness and help him conquer it, his tantrums become less frequent, his fear more manageable, and even Diana feels safe enough to visit him sometimes. Finding a perilous hope in this peaceful captivity, Luke fastens onto it. Slowly, with Julian’s supervision, he attempts to come to terms with his past, to face his nightmares and to learn their source. In uncovering the truth, perhaps he will also find the means to recover the pieces of himself that he has lost, to unlock his cage of intangible bars and set himself free.