Litandle

Prince Litandle is a luminarch from the planet Allumeur, of which he is heir to the throne.

He resides in the Palace of Eternal Fire with his parents, King Waxworth XVIII and Queen Candella, and his twin Princess Glowrielle, with whom it is expected he will eventually wed, and produce further heirs to carry the Sacred Flame. The luminarchs have carried the supposed ‘Last Light of Galaxy’ since time immemorial, and – though they are an asexually-reproducing species – it is their duty to produce heirs to carry the flame forever more. To reject this duty would be the death of the luminarch species, and a terrible dishonour.

Unlike Glowrielle, who cannot wait to be queen, Litandle positively dreads the idea of someday becoming king of Allumeur. He wishes desperately for a normal life, one in which he is free to dream, to go where he pleases, to fall in love, and to marry whomever his heart desires. He has many hobbies, but none of them are the making of a king.

He has a poetic and creative spirit. He loves to read and write – he’s frequently to be found sneaking off to the city’s libraries, since King Waxworth keeps few books in the palace. He writes neatly and articulately, and has filled many journals with his sonnets and prose. He has a deep passion for fire-dancing, though this activity is frowned upon by luminarchs as being ‘common’.

Litandle’s existence thus far has been a lonely one. King Waxworth is always busy with matters of state, and appears to forget that Litandle is a son and not just an heir. Queen Candella puts her personal indulgences before everything, never mind her children, meanwhile Princess Glowrielle, his future wife, actively loathes him. As a child, Litandle would regularly sneak out of the Palace of Eternal Fire to mingle with other children (or ‘the poors’, as Glowrielle calls them) instead, which afforded him a unique (amongst his family, anyway) insight into the deprivation and hopelessness of his planet's lower classes.