Blaise

**Blaise** was an Earth Guardian and an ally of Theodosia.

## Physical Appearance

Blaise was described as having a gaunt, long face resembling his father's, with ashen, olive skin and dark green eyes. A long, white scar cuts from his left temple to the corner of his mouth.

## Personality

Knowing Theodosia from an early age, Blaise is very protective of her and thus lacks the insight to suggestions that don't surround her. That is, he concentrates on Theo only and lacks the bigger picture per said by Theodosia herself in Lady Smoke.

## Biography

### Early Life

Blaise grew up in the country of Astrea, and was close friends with then-princess Theodosia. When the Kalovaxians invaded Astrea, Theo's mother was killed, Theo was made a captive prisoner, to be a living trophy of the new Kaiser, and Blaise was sent to toil as a slave in the Earth Mine. In the mines, Blaise exchanged his full bucket of earth gems with an old man who could not meet the daily quota. The guards noticed this, and as punishment, Blaise was sent to a room deep in the mines for three days. During this time, he acquired his earth powers. At some point, he either escaped or was rescued from the mine, and joined the famed Fire Guardian Ampelio in the Astrean rebellion. Ampelio also helped give Blaise basic Guardian training, training him to use his earth powers. Blaise and Ampelio were present during one of Theo's public whippings, when Theo was whipped as retaliation when the Astrean pirate Dragonsbane sunk some Kalovaxian ships. Although Ampelio was the one who insisted they had to watch, Blaise had to hold him back from exerting his fury. One day, Blaise's powers ran out of control, and he accidentally caused an earthquake near one of the mines. As a result, Blaise and Ampelio were trapped by Kalovaxian soldiers, but Ampelio allowed himself to be captured so that Blaise could escape.

### Ash Princess

After Ampelio's death, Blaise appears at the banquet as a servant boy and gives Theodosia the message to meet him In the kitchen cellar at midnight. He attempts to free her from the palace that night, but she chooses to stay, arguing that she can get more information while in the palace to help bring about the downfall of the Kaiser. He reluctantly agrees with the condition that they escape after one month.

Blaise later replaces Theodosia's guards which the Kaiser has provided to monitor Theo, along with Water Guardian Artemisia and Air Guardian Heron and keep watch on her. Theo and Blaise plan to turn Prinz Søren, the Kaiser's heir, against his father causing the court to choose sides, assassinate Søren and frame one of the Kaiser's soldiers. Because Blaise does not have any earth gems with which to channel his earth power, Theo steals a piece of Crescentia's jewellery with earth gems on it and gives it to Blaise. Prinz Søren falls in love with Theo, taking her out for a secret rendezvous on Søren's own private ship. Because Theo is supposed to entice Søren as part of the plan, Theo likely will need to kiss Søren during the rendezvous. This will be Theo's first kiss, and she feels uncomfortable about her first kiss being with the Kaiser's son, so Blaise gives her her first kiss.

Blaise appears to show signs of mine madness, an illness which results in death, and for which there is no cure. He also looses control of his earth powers from time to time when he is going through emotional turbulence. When Theo is whipped one day for a disastrous Kalovaxian attack, Blaise looks on, and it is all he, Artemisia, and Heron can do to control Blaise's power, and even then, Blaise still causes cracks to snake out on the floor. Another time, when the Kaiser makes sexual advances on Theo during a conversation, Blaise unintentionally causes the Kaiser's chair to crack in two. His skin also becomes hot, and he often cannot sleep well - common symptoms of mine madness.

As the month runs out and Theo prepares to flee the palace, Blaise leaves first to prepare for her escape a few hours ahead, and the two share a kiss before Blaise leaves.

The escape plan goes awry, and Theo is locked in the dungeon to be executed the next morning. Blaise breaks in and attempts to help Theo escape, but Theo declines with a plan of her own, knowing that Søren will likely come to rescue her. Søren does indeed come, and they slip out to Søren's waiting ship in the harbor, where Theo summons Blaise, Art, and Heron, who come out of hiding on the ship and take Søren hostage, before leaving the capital city.

### Lady Smoke:

Blaise and Theo both have feelings for each other and Theo asks him to sleep with her to make her feel safer. (It is unclear whether they are simply sleeping in the same bed, or having sex. Most likely the former.) He is overprotective and despises the idea of her and him being together. He has to deny his feelings for her after she has to pick a suitor for the benefit of Astrea, but admits he loves her in the end.

While in Sta'Crivero, Blaise looses control of himself in a fit of anger and begins to cause an earthquake, but Theo calms him with an Astrean lullaby before he can do any serious damage.

When the rebels decide to attack the Fire Mine, Blaise uses his earth powers to destroy Kalovaxian ships. However,

this causes him to overexert himself and lose control of his powers, and he nearly destroys their own ship. Being aware of this risk, he had asked Søren to kill him if he became a danger to them, but at the last minute, Art grabs the sword and smashes the hilt on Blaise's head, causing him to pass out and preventing him from harming them.

Blaise kisses Theo and asks her to stay for him before she enters the Fire Mine to claim her powers.

### Ember Queen:

Blaise decides to take upon himself the job of training Theo to use her powers, because the nature of her powers is more like his than like Artemisia's or Heron's powers. His theory proves correct, as Theo's training with him is easier and feels more natural to her than her training sessions with Art and Heron.

During the attack on the Water Mine, when the Guardians distract the guards so that the rest of the army can attack, Theo refuses to let Blaise help them, because she does not want him to overexert himself and lose control of himself. Blaise is unhappy about watching on the sidelines, but allows Theo to take his Earth Gem from him. As the Guardians finish their attack, Blaise is seized with a desire to do something and attempts to take his gem from Theo by force, forcing Heron to knock him out. After Blaise regains consciousness, he resolves never to use his power again, because he is afraid of hurting Theo. Theodosia then said that whatever was between her and Blaise was over during a conversation with Søren.

After the inferno at the Air Mine, Blaise takes a small group of men to the Earth Mine to help in case the Kalovaxians have also set fire to the Earth Mine. Nobody likes the idea of Blaise being so close to the power of the earth gems in the mine, but he is the only one who knows the layout of the Earth Mine well. The trip is successful, and he meets Theo at the palace as she is heading to confront Cress, and insists on accompanying her with Heron's power to make Blaise and Heron invisible.

Cress takes them to a trap in a garden, and Heron uses his power to form an air shield to protect them and the innocent Astrean slaves in the garden, but this rapidly drains Heron's energy. Blaise steps in to help by using his power to help Heron sustain the air shield and causing small, contained earthquakes to kill Cress and her wraiths. Although Blaise is approaching is breaking point, there are still several wraiths standing. Telling Theo that it is his time, he causes a great earthquake that kills all the wraiths. As Blaise loses control of himself, Theo kills him by plunging a sword through his heart.