Silas Hawthorne: Exiled Alchemist of the Seelie Court.

I decided to write a backstory to introduce my character!

Inspo: Midsummer Night's Dream, Fae lore.

Silas Hawthorne was a faithful member of the Seelie Court. Until the day he was exiled.

Silas loved his herb garden and served as an alchemist for the Seelie Queen. He spent his days tending to his garden, creating potions, supplying the court, and helping sick and injured humans. Silas was gifted at his craft and everyone was grateful, except for one particular Fae. The queen’s daughter, Morgan, was also an alchemist, but was simply not as talented as Silas. The Queen explained to her daughter that even if she was, she would still pick Silas as the court’s alchemist because she didn’t want the Fae thinking there was favoritism within the court. Besides, Morgan was the equivalent of a Fae teenager, and much too young.

Morgan tried to brush it off but grew more and more bitter and jealous. Eventually, she devised a plan. For weeks Morgan started acting differently toward Silas. Praising his efforts, and asking him to tell her stories of the humans he had helped. It seemed as though Morgan had turned over a new leaf. The queen didn’t question it because she trusted her daughter, and assumed her past behavior was….teenagers, ya know? Silas was suspicious and cautioned the Queen of Morgan’s sudden change of heart, but the Queen told Silas he was being paranoid.

One night Morgan asked if she could help prepare that evening’s meal for the court. The queen agreed, and had the chefs task Morgan with preparing some side dishes. Too busy preparing the main parts of the feast, the chefs didn’t notice Morgan slipping something into specific dishes. Specifically, her mother and Silas’ favorites.

See, what the Seelie Queen didn’t know was that her daughter had made a bargain with the Unseelie court. She would betray her mother and serve as their lead alchemist if they taught her how to use herbs to hex and curse. While preparing dishes Morgan slipped chicory and lobelia for creating discord, and wormwood for cursing and hexing an enemy.

No one can recall exactly what happened at dinner that night, but no one will forget how quickly the arguing between the Queen and Silas escalated. Harsh words were yelled until The Queen stood up, looked at Silas, and banished him from The Seelie Court and the Otherworld, never allowed to return again.

As he was leaving the Otherworld, the curse’s effects began to wear off, and Silas realized what had happened. He was right, and the Queen didn't listen. He vowed he would never let someone trick him that way again, he vowed he would trust himself above anyone else. He would become cunning, clever, and never have his wit questioned. Just as he thought this, he heard the call of the Shadow Dragon….