Alden Dedrick Vacker (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

**Alden Dedrick Vacker** is a member of the prestigious Vacker family. He is the husband of Della Adara Vacker and the father of Alvar Soren Vacker, Fitzroy Avery Vacker, and Biana Amberly Vacker.

He lives in Everglen with Della, Fitz, and Biana. He works for The Council as an Emissary — members of the Nobility who are sent on special missions, usually as diplomatic representatives. Because of his job, he often wears a midnight blue cape. As revealed in Book 8: *Legacy*, he is an Emissary with the highest level of clearance.

His trademark line is "no reason to worry," which he uses to reassure and support the people around him, although it has backfired on him, as Sophie and others think it's annoying.

## Appearance

Alden has teal eyes and wavy dark brown hair. There is said to be a strong resemblance between him and his son, Fitzroy Avery Vacker.

He is noted to have very kind eyes, causing Sophie to trust him when she first came to live with the elves. He and his family are all strikingly handsome, their beauty being notable compared even to most other elves. Alden has a highly recognizable accent, much like Fitz and, presumably, his daughter Biana.

### Wanderling

Alden's Wanderling is dark leafed with vivid teal flowers peppered among the branches. Though Alden is still alive, the Wanderling was planted because it was previously believed that he would not recover from his state of a broken mind. The elves did not remove his Wanderling because the elves generally do not believe in taking any existing life.

## Involvement

Alden is first introduced in the *Keeper of the Lost Cities,* and quickly becomes an important character. Sophie relies on Alden throughout the books, and Alden, in turn, relies on Sophie. An example of this is in *Exile,* when Alden has Sophie be his guide for the Memory Break of Fintan, and when the face of Sophie appeared among the portraits of his friends and family in his mind. Alden was one of the only people to believe that the Black Swan existed and searched for 12 years for Sophie despite being told he was chasing an imaginary ghost. Alden cares deeply about his family and friends and makes sure that everyone has "no reason to worry." During the second book, *Exile*, Alden's mind breaks after seeing Wylie from the guilt of exiling Prentice, but Sophie works tirelessly and is able to heal him.

## Relationships

### Della Adara Vacker

* **Wife**

Della is Alden's wife. She is about 100 years younger than him and was #201 in his third matchmaking list. They are seen to support each other and stay with each other always. Della will often pull him close and whisper into his ear when he pales or receives devastating news. When Della cries, he holds her and comforts her. Sophie says she can't imagine them not being together, as they are one of the sweetest and most loving couples she knows.

### Alvar Soren Vacker

* **Eldest son/Enemy**

Alvar is Alden's oldest son. They had a good relationship until Alvar revealed that he was a member of the Neverseen and spied on the Vacker family. Alden was devastated and shocked by the news. In *Flashback*, though, Alden gave Alvar a second chance, only to be left with a discovery of a troll hive that had been hidden in Everglen for a reward.

### Fitzroy Avery Vacker

* **Middle child and second son**

Even though the father sometimes disagrees with the son, Fitz and Alden have a good relationship. Fitz is the middle child, who followed in Alden's footsteps, and manifested as a Telepath like him. Fitz was told by Councillor Terik that he would grow to be an even better Telepath then Alden, which made him overjoyed. Fitz cares deeply for Alden. He shut everyone out when Alden's mind broke and returned to normal when Alden was healed.

### Biana Amberly Vacker

* **Youngest and only daughter**

Biana trusts and loves Alden deeply and often needs his support. When Alden's mind broke in *Exile*, she withdrew from most of her friends, not wanting to make a public appearance.

### Sophie Elizabeth Foster

* **Like-daughter**

Alden was one of the first elves to greet Sophie. He taught her most things about the Elvin world and offered her hospitality when needed. He and Della also offered to be Sophie's adoptive parents when she first arrived in the Lost Cities and when Grady and Edaline cancelled her adoption in Book 1: *Keeper of the Lost Cities*. He always helps Sophie through her missions and supports her as an emissary. Alden also trusted Sophie with his life when he chose her as his guide during Book 2: *Exile*. To Sophie, Alden is a prominent father figure in her life.

### Keefe Sencen

* **Like-son**

Keefe often relies on Alden, needs his support, and views him as a father figure. This sometimes angers Lord Cassius, who, in Book 7: *Flashback*, was noted to have said that Alden is not Keefe's father. Keefe responded in turn by saying that he wished Alden was. In Flashback's "Keefe's Short Story," we see Alden coming to Candleshade to ask Keefe to come to Alvar's Tribunal to stop Fitz from saying anything mean to Sophie. He also tells Keefe to "Let them be happy," referring to Sophie and Fitz.

### Grady Howell Ruewen

* **Close friend**

Alden was one of the few supporters Grady and Edaline had when Jolie died.

### Prentice Endal

* **Former enemy/Ally**

Alden performed a memory break on Prentice with Quinlin. He felt extremely guilty about this, as part of the reason why his mind shattered in Exile was due to his guilt about the break. Even after discovering that Prentice was innocent, he still has a hard time whenever Prentice is mentioned.

### Councillor Alina

* **Former girlfriend**

Alden was briefly engaged to Councillor Alina at the #104 recommendation on his Match Lists. In result when Alden was about to marry Della Adara Vacker, Alina tried to steal Alden away from Della at their wedding by beguiling him. It's frequently mentioned in the books about how awkward this is. Once Dame Alina became Councillor Alina, Alden didn't appreciate the way she treated Sophie. Alden is said to be 'slightly' terrified of her.

### Quinlin Sonden

* **Former cognate**

Alden and Quinlin were previously Cognates. Though still friends, they could never become Cognates again because Quinlin had held back his reservations to perform a memory break on Prentice. They fought, which broke their trust for each other.

### Luzia Vacker

* One of the eldest Vackers.

Luzia Vacker is Alden Vacker's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. Luzia was living at Everglen before she gave it to Alden. She told him to add a gate that absorbs light so no one could directly leap there.

## References

Information sourced from the Lost Cities Keeper Wiki.