Meet two more characters from The Apothecary’s Daughter! Pháidín Keelan “You’re a smart young lady, Miss Sara, but you’re not smarter than me, and don’t you forget it.” Birthdate: 1550 Age at the time of this story: 53 Physical Characteristics: 6’0”, 174 lbs, gray hair, brown eyes Pháidín is the best apothecary in Grymwalde. His business serves the palace and the Crown. Pháidín prides himself on his skills, his elite clientele, and his location in the Royal District, four doors from the palace. Pháidín is a perfectionist, who will accept nothing less than the best from himself and others. He is a loyal Zandorian and a dutiful keeper of the Moral Laws—unless they interfere with the successful operation of his business. Pháidín will stop at nothing to see the Crown enthroned in Ampleforth. After losing his wife and two sons to scarlet fever, Pháidín took his five-year-old daughter, Sara, to his side to learn his trade. He never remarried, preferring to keep to himself and focus on his profession. Instead, he hired a housekeeper to manage his home and immersed himself in the apothecary. While ensuring that his daughter could run the business, he neglected her learning to run a household—a severe case of misplaced priorities by Zandorian standards. Pháidín suffers from chronic joint pain and uses opium to treat it. He believes himself in full control of his dosage and his reactions, and is unaware of how frequently he falls into a stupor after indulging in his favorite vice. “I have poured my lifeblood into the Paragon Apothecary. Trained as an apothecary from a youngster, I never doubted my skills. I thought myself invincible, with the power to cheat death, until scarlet fever took my beloved wife, Lydia, from me. As her life slipped like sand through my fingers, I never closed the business or paused my work to sit by her side. When she passed away that September afternoon, I was busy mixing yet another concoction that should have healed her. She died alone because I longed to be her savior and forgot to be her friend. “My sons, Aron and Paul, followed her within a week. I couldn’t save them either. I only saved little Sara by sending her away to relatives in the country. She came home to a house wreathed in sadness, with no companionship, and no mother’s touch to guide her to womanhood. “I had counted on handing the apothecary to the boys. Now, I only had Sara left, so I took her on as my apprentice and trained her in my profession. None of my acquaintances were in favor of Sara taking over the Paragon. I lost friends over the matter, and certain of our relatives refuse to speak to me. But why should I hand my thriving business to a stranger, leaving Sara dependent upon a decent marriage to secure her future? I taught her everything I know. She is an intelligent creature—innovative, quick to grasp new concepts, and bold in experimentation. “However, in my desperation to turn her into a competent apothecary, I have made her what Zandor despises: a headstrong, independent woman who thinks for herself. And recently, Sara has questioned everything the Crown says. I’ve known for years that we will lose the Crown’s business once Sara takes over the Paragon, unless I can find her a husband to serve as a figurehead first. But now, I fear her political leanings more than her sex. Sara’s stubborn refusal to accept the Crown’s explanation of what happened in Whitereach may be the fatal blow that drives the Paragon Apothecary into the ground long before my demise.” Gregory Ellis “Zandor is changing. If we don’t move with it, we’ll be trampled and left behind.” Birthdate: 1581 Age at the time of this story: 22 Physical Characteristics: 5’11”, 168 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes Gregory is the oldest of five children and a skilled archer—the son of a fletcher from a poor neighborhood in Grymwalde. Gregory is trained in his father’s trade, and his income is essential to support his impoverished family. But arrow-making is becoming an unreliable career as Zandor embraces modern weaponry and archers become an outdated commodity. A loyal Zandorian, Gregory recognizes the changes coming to Zandor as a positive step and is prepared to do whatever is necessary to meet the resulting challenges. He is an intelligent young man who will let evidence change his mind, even when it challenges his core beliefs. “I’m proud of my station. My family works hard, and what little we have, we’ve earned. I’ve always expected to run my father’s business and marry someone from a similar financial situation, who won’t ask for more than I can give. “Then I fell for Sara Keelan. My father despises the mere mention of her name, though he’s never met her. The Keelans are wealthy: big house, thriving business in the Royal District, titled customers, and direct access to the Crown and the Praeceptor. They want for nothing, and although Sara works hard, she’s accustomed to the finer things in life. “Things I can never afford. “I know my place; I’d be content to step back and admire her from afar, but she loves me, too. She assures me we’ll be all right; she’s the heiress to the Paragon Apothecary, after all. But I know nothing about medicines, potions, and herbs. I can’t help her run the business, and I won’t live off her charity. I need to support her myself, and I can’t ask her to stoop to my family’s level. She’d be miserable. “Her father doesn’t know about us. How much longer can we keep our relationship a secret? If I eloped with her, I’d spend my entire life feeling like I stole her, but Pháidín Keelan will run me off once he learns who and what I am. “I’m torn in too many directions: Sara, my family, the war. If only life were simple…”
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