Eskander Firesong

### Relatives

Ruya (paternal grandmother), Ercan Ganzorig (maternal grandfather), Sana (maternal grandmother), Bhimar Firesong (father), Tanith Ganzorig (mother), Drusus Firesong (brother), Draco Firesong (brother), Erol (brother), Nia Firemoon (wife), Drystan Firesong (son), Tanith Firesong (daughter)

## Physical description

### Eye color

Brown

The youngest son of Bhimar and Tanith Firesong, Eskander was born in the twenty-fourth
year of the reign of King Ruslar. He was a somewhat spoiled child, favored by
his mother, though his father made sure he learned the way of the world, and he
began learning to use a bow and arrows and to ride horseback at the age of
five, just like his brothers had before him.

When Eskander was six, someone new
arrived in camp. Her name was Nia, she was five years old, and she was to be a
ward of his brother and sister-in-law. He remained friendly toward her, and as
they grew, so did his affection for her. When she was ten and he was twelve,
his father betrothed them. He got as much gold as he could and when a traveling
merchant came through the area, he purchased for her a necklace. They married
when he was seventeen and she was sixteen, as soon as the passed her final test
as a Shadow Walker.

Late on their wedding night, long
after they had first consummated their union, she asked him if he would like to
see the shadows. He consented, and was surprised to learn that her true purpose
was to convince him to leave with her for Linwood. Even more surprising for him
was that she was the missing princess of Linwood. He was so in love with her
that he agreed to go with her. They took with them Nisha and Eskander’s mother,
Tanith, as well as Nisha’s mother, Rhosyn, and Nia’s horse, Nimeshaph. It
wasn’t long before Nia told Eskander that she was pregnant, and his heart leapt
with joy.

His heart fell again when Nia was
captured and beaten to the point that she miscarried, and he angrily went to
his mother-in-law, Tesni, requesting to go to Seos to avenge the death of his
unborn child. She convinced him to stay with Nia, however, and he received
advice from Agrona on how best to help Nia get through the heartache.

It was shortly after this that they
returned to Seos, and before he knew it, she was telling him that she was again
pregnant. Eskander doted on his wife, caring for her and ensuring she had all
that she desired, until the day they were forcibly separated. Nia was called to
the women’s quarters to speak with Artunis, who was training the women that Nia
would someday lead into battle. Shortly after, members of the royal guard entered
the quarters that Eskander and Nia shared. They informed him that he was being
charged with treason and arrested. In too much shock to defend himself, he

found himself taken to the dungeons and locked into a small cell.

   Saddened by this turn of events,

Eskander barely ate, knowing he would soon be executed. The night before he was
to die, however, he found himself face to face with his brother, Draco. Draco
was offering to free him and help him escape if Eskander would agree to work
with him, doing what their father had not yet done. Draco’s words got to Eskander.
He began to find reason in them and agreed to help.

Still, Eskander was reluctant to
truly break the law, finding himself still loyal to King Ruslar and, even more
so, to his beloved Nia. Still, he worked with Draco, using magic to steal first
tents, then animals, and finally two women, Sitara and Sarnai. He did nothing
to harm them, however, saddened by the way that Draco treated Sitara, and in
the morning, he found that Sitara had killed Draco. Sadly, Eskander buried his
older brother and then released the two women.

Sitara and Sarnai, however, had
other ideas. The village leader of Isilarran, the village nearest the camp that
Draco and Eskander had made in the foothills of the eastern mountains, was
without a village leader, and the local guards were corrupt, more loyal to
Bhimar than to Ruslar. At their request, Eskander met with Sitara’s father,
part of a small group of the royal guard who were fully loyal to Ruslar. They
all worked together, and Eskander used his small amount of sorcery to help defeat
the corrupt guards.

Once the small battle for control of
Isilarran was over, Eskander was surprised to find himself elected the new
village leader. It was also about this time that Eskander was granted a
“posthumous” pardon, as it turned out that Eskander’s mother, Tanith, had been
the real traitor all along.

Though saddened by this, he was glad
to be pardoned, and he wrote with good humor to King Ruslar, informing him of
the current situation. A week later, Nisha and Aeron arrived on Ruslar’s behalf.
This pleased Eskander, but not as much as a few hours later, when Nia arrived.
She had been seeking Nisha and Aeron, but her arrival resulted in a joyous
reunion for husband and wife, and Nia had brought further good news, that her
uncle, Finn, had earned his blade.

The next spring, another Shadow
Walker brought them news that Nia was needed at home in Linwood immediately.
Tesni had been poisoned, and it was likely that she would die. Eskander went
with his wife back home. Though Tesni survived, Eskander realized the dangers
of meadow saffron, and sent a message to Aeron, who now was King since the
death of Ruslar, requesting that he name a new village leader for Isilarran.

A few months later, Nia went into
labor a month early while training in the shadows with Finn and Ethan, the same
Shadow Walker who had brought them the message of Tesni’s illness. When
Eskander next saw Nia, she was holding his son, whom they named Drystan. Soon
after, Eskander also reconciled with Drusus, who had taken a new wife. Their
reconciliation happened just in time for the truth to come out about their
grandmother, Ruya. It turned out that either Bhimar had lied about her being
dead, or had been lied to about it, for they had long believed her dead. Now,
though, the two brothers were reconciled with her, as well. Naturally, they were saddened when she chose to remain in Linwood when they went west to Yewsel with the others.

In Yewsel, Eskander alternated between training and doting on his wife and son. During this time, Sarnai arrived, along with the poet Kavi. She revealed to Eskander and Drusus that she was pregnant with their younger sibling, having been used by Bhimar while he held her captive. She was in love with Kavi, though, and the brothers were more than happy to see the two married, knowing that Kavi would be a good father to their little brother or sister, and that Sarnai would be a good mother. When the time came for the Battle of Hearts, he fought with everything he had, determined to survive so that he would not leave his family without him. After, he helped with the rebuilding of Linwood. A year later, when the kings and queens of the Five Kingdoms came to sign a treaty, Sarnai and Kavi came with Eogan, who was now king of Seos, and Eskander finally got to meet his baby brother, Erol.

Two years after the Battle of Hearts, Eskander learned that he was to be a father yet again. This time, Nia gave him a daughter, and they named her Tanith, after his mother, hoping that the girl would have her grandmother's best qualities.