Alexander "Xander" Corbin ****

intro

somewhat friendly but a bit cautious around people he doesn't know, protective, curious, enjoys studying magic,

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info here

Alexander Corbin spent the first eleven years of his life in an orphanage in a small town in Kirro. Shortly after he turned eleven, he ran away to Equidale. Though his plan had been to start studying magic, he quickly discovered that it was hard find food, let alone a teacher, when he had no money. Luckily it wasn't too long before he met Inaria and Ezekiel, twin vampires who had been living on the streets of Equidale for decades(?), putting on shows when they could to earn some coins and stealing what they couldn't afford. At first he just watched them perform and tried to copy their magic by studying how they used it, but he wasn't very successful. After a little while, he asked if they would teach him, and eventually the twins agreed to try, though were a bit reluctent. Learning from them, however, meant joining them, and joining them meant becoming a theif. Though the twins turned out to be rather bad teachers, they eventually became his friends- the closest thing he ever had to a family.

A few years later when he was almost sixteen, he attempted to steal something (a book on magic? somthing for a spell or potion?) from a shop. A man noticed him while browsing the store and stopped him, but instead of telling the owner of the shop, he bought whatever Xander was trying to take. Once outside the shop, the man asked Xander to follow him. As they walked through the city, Xander answered several questions, explaining that he'd always wanted to learn to use magic but that he'd been living on the streets and couldn't afford a teacher.

By the time they finished talking, Xander was surprised and confused to find that they'd walked to the Crimson Palace. The man finally introduced himself as Cyrus, the court mage, and offered Xander a deal. If he started training at the palace to become a royal guard, Cyrus would teach him to use magic. It was an amazing opportunity and he quickly went to tell Ezekiel and Inaria. Though the twins were sad to see him leave and Xander felt guilty for leaving them, they insisted that he should take Cyrus's offer, but told him to visit whenever he had a chance.

Shortly after he started training, he met Helena, the princess of Kirro. At first he was a bit intimidated by her, but once they actually started talking he realized that she wasn't really that different from everyone else- or at least she didn't want to be. Helena would sometimes come to Cyrus's office or to the library to study magic, despite the fact that she was unable to use it, and she and Xander soon became friends.

A few years later, Helena convinced her parents to make Xander her guard. They were reluctant at first, but figured that Helena would be less likely to sneak out without a guard if the guard was also her friend.

When Xander is around 24-25, the Plague of Shadows starts spreading across the country and fights start breaking out between magic users and non magic users. One night, the king and queen of Kirro are assassinated and the palace is set on fire. Xander and Helena manage to escape into the city-

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