Leofaerd Stormholde

#### Early Life

Leofaerd was the second born prince to the Kingdom of Stormholde, a surpise identical twin to his brother, Tyvis Stormholde II. His parents, Tyvis Stormholde and Morgana Stormholde had not been expecting twins. There were tensions between the parents as to who should be named heir, as the kingdom was much too small to split. Morgana, who was the heir to the throne, believed it should be earned by the boy's accomplishments later in life. Tyvis, a human who married into royalty, thought that the firstborn, with his name, should ascend to the throne. Morgana passed away shortly after childbirth from complications, and the boys were raised entirely by castle staff and their father.

He was educated almost equally to Tyvis, just in case the all-too-possible instance of child fatality at the time. As they grew older, they grew apart, as Tyvis II was favored by their father. An 8 year old can't comprehend why his seat is separated from his brother's at the court event, nor can he really understand why their father privately taught his brother at times, or why his bedroom was about half the size of his brothers despite everything about them being the same. What he did know was that he must have done *something* wrong, and tried to fix it by devoting himself to his training and education in the hopes of forgiveness.

When the boys were 12, Tyvis fell seriously ill, and was bedridden for several weeks. As things began to look bleak for the crown prince, Leofaerd found himself the subject of his father's attention, suddenly beside him at meetings and outings. He was given more privelege, and often spent hours training and studying under his father's watch. His brother began to recover, and suddenly the special treatment stopped. Leofaerd was once again put to the side, and eventually was almost completely ignored. After a heated argument over dinner one night, Leofaerd received his answer as to why. He was blamed for his mother's death. The only reason his father kept him was as a Plan B if Tyvis didn't make it. For a while, he tried to earn his father's favor even more, studying hard for hours in attempts to show what he was capable of.

As time went on, the opposite occurred. Their birthdays were more about Tyvis, and he didn't seem to be missed much at formal court events. By 15, he began to realize that there was nothing he *could* do. It was never a contest. The few moments between their births spelled out everything. The library became a quiet place of comfort to escape to, where he could listen to any announcements from the event hall while being away from the gossipy nobles and nosy distant relatives.

#### Teen years

In his teen years, Leo and Tyvis began to stumble upon their strengths as induviduals. Leo found that he had inherited their mother's potent magical bloodline. This certainly did not help his relationship with their father, who still held blame against him. While Tyvis was trained by champions and heroes from surrounding kingdoms, Leo was spending time with the kingdom's mages as his mentors. He surpassed them quickly due to his mother's fey ancestry, so he began looking outside the castle walls to find any wizard, mage or sorcerer he could get to mentor him. He did this in disguise of course, donning a false name and dressing in more casual clothing.

He had started growing out his hair in an act of rebellion, a way to establish a clear physical difference between him and his brother. He wore simpler clothes, a deliberate choice against the gaudy, royal clothes and armor that his father and brother wore to express their status. His father stopped inviting him to most court events at all, due to his more unruly appearance, and Leofaerd didn't mind. He had stopped appearing at court events, and rarely appeared in public. By 17, he had all but disappeared from the public eye. City folk hadn't forgotten about him, but hadn't seen him, so there were a few rumors of the invisible prince being sickly and bedridden. Unbenownst to them, he quite often walked among them, occasionally eavesdropping on conversations about him.

After his first few trips to the city to find mentors, the trips became constant. He found it relaxing to just exist, and created an entire false identity that he craved to make reality. He was known as Ambrose Green, a farmer's boy and a bit of an hermit. He had made friends in town, and regularly spent more time in the city amongst the citizens of Stormholde than in the castle.

#### Aena

This is where he met Aena, a merchant's daughter. They were instant best friends, eventually becoming lovers. She was the light of his life, and he spent a lot of time with her and her father. The guilt of hiding who he really was weighed on him, but existing in this easy, simple routine with his friends without the title of prince and the impending doom of politics made him happier than he had been in years. Aena's health was fragile, and she was constantly sick. As her muscles got weaker, she moved to crutches, before ending up in a wheelchair. Every moment he could, he dedicated to seeing her and helping her. When she could no longer walk to their favorite picnic spot, he would pick her up and carry her to the middle of the field so that she could still enjoy the wildflowers there. He was considering faking his death to run away with her.