Torrence Cato

Torrence Cato, who most commonly goes by 'Tor', is a main character in the Ink & Crown series, appearing for the first time in the second book, when he almost runs over Amir Skylock.

Torrence was born and raised in the Kingdom of Keene. His birth parents died when he was only a year old. No one ever told him how. But he was left with the local blacksmiths, Genevieve and Jameson Cato, who adopted and raised him.

When he was thirteen, he started apprenticing with his adoptive father to learn the craft of blacksmithing, and continued to learn until he was working alongside his father.

He had a group of friends who were known to get into mischief. They liked to climb trees and cliffs, swim in rivers and creeks, and run through fields at night, often disturbing livestock, sometimes even stealing chickens.

One night he and his friends were swimming in a stream and accidentally swam onto the Archduke's property where they were caught by the Red Guard. Torrence managed to talk their way out of trouble, but a target was put on their back.

Two weeks later, two members of the Red Knights, disguised as merchants, hired Torrence to move a load for them. They gave him a jacket they claimed to be a merchant's jacket, and carry the load into Skylock. What Torrence didn't know was that the jacket was actually a Red Knights special ops jacket. When Torrence drove the horse and cart over the Skylock border, the jacket was recognized by members of the Skylock Knights, and he was immediately arrested, his cart and load seized. Unbeknownst to him, the load was full of Red Knight uniforms and covert weapons. The border had been closed to Keene for only five weeks when he was arrested.

Torrence was charged with spying and treason, and jailed in the Skylock Castle dungeons. He was there for ten weeks before he managed to escape and slip past the guards. He tried to find his way through the castle, running from the guards, and came upon Amir, nearly running her over.

Amir decided to save him, telling the guards he could stay, taking him to dinner that night. While her family was surprised by the sudden appearance of a Keenian, and a prisoner, they allowed him to stay, taking Amir's word. He was put up in one of the guest rooms and soon was enthralled in the life of the castle, and was slowly building an intimate friendship with Amir.

Jasper was the most against Torrence becoming entangled with the family, feeling like Amir was trying to replace Theodore, who had only been gone for a few weeks. Jasper continually questioned Torrence, until Amir called him out on it. Slowly, he allowed himself to open up to become friends with Torrence.

Amir and Torrence loved to spend time outside together. He taught her how to climb, teaching her on the smaller cliffs near the castle. They would often walk through the gardens together, and he would tell her stories of the mischief him and his friends would get into in Keene.

One day, Torrence found his way to the royal armoury and met one of the blacksmiths, who welcomed him into his shop to work on projects of his own. The first project he worked on was a set of throwing knives for Amir, because she had taught him how to throw knives on one of their days out together.

Amir and Torrence's friendship turned into a romantic relationship. He also became good friends with Gio, Arthur, and Kenaia.

Ten months into Torrence being involved in the palace, Amir got permission from the Council to become a Skylock citizen, and he was brought into her world officially as a confidant, coming with the title of 'Sir'.

After another month, though, Amir confessed that she realized she was still in love with Theodore, and ended their relationship, but they remained close friends. When life in the castle became too much for Torrence, Amir got him a small home in the region surrounding the castle, and helped him move into it. Amir and her friends, who had also become close with him, would often ride out to visit him for tea, dinner, and small parties.

When Theodore returned, Amir kept Torrence away, shy to explain who he was and how they had gotten so close. But eventually she introduced the two, and they became best friends. Amir and Theodore moved him back into the castle after that, giving him a suite away from the family to have his own space but be close to his friends as well.

A Keenian spy heard how close Torrence was to Amir and the Skylock family, and the archduke sent undercover Red Guards to kidnap him, and sentenced him to death. When Amir realized that he had been kidnapped, her, her Circle, and Theodore, went to rescue him and bring him to the place that had become his home.

Amir petitioned the Elected to allow her to add another member to her Circle, and was officially brought into Amir's world as a member of her Circle.

He became a member of the Council when Amir became Queen, had an important role in Amir's coronation, and was the best man in Amir and Theodore's wedding.

## Appearance

The first thing everyone notices about Torrence is that he is very tall — 6'2". He has broad shoulders and strong and and torso, from his years of working with metal.

He has blue-green eyes, with medium-dark brown hair that is a little bit curly, and usually falls into his eyes. He has one dimple, on his left cheek, bushy, dark eyebrows, and always squints when he smiles.

## Friends

Amir Skylock

Theodore Crawford

Jasper Skylock

Kylo Skylock

Gio

Arthur

Kenaia

## T.S. Curtis' 'if this were ever cast' pick

Who the author pictures as this character: Noah Centineo