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Arcturus Mesarthim (pronounced: Ark-TOR-russ Mess-AR-tim), also known by his ceremonial title of Warden, is a Rephaite, Warden of the Mesarthim family, and blood-consort to Nashira Sargas. Arcturus is an oneiromancer, a type of clairvoyance that allows him to relive other people's memories.
Biography[]
History[]
As a Rephaite, Arcturus wasn't born, but simply emerged from the Netherworld fully formed. He emerged into a forest under eternal dusk. Except for the birds, there was a silence he has never found on Earth. Warden has taken several mates, but he had no great desire for a long-term companion until he met Terebell Sheratan. They were still together when the Waning of the Veils began. Throughout the chaos of the civil war, Terebell was always at Warden's side. They fought hard for the Mothallath. The supporters of the Mothallath took the name Ranthen. When they were defeated, Nashira Sargas chose Warden as blood-consort. Sundering a Rephaite from their mate would have been unthinkable, but Nashira didn't care for old customs. Nashira picked Warden for blood-consort because she knew the public surrender of the Mesarthim, who had been most faithful to the Mothallath, would cement her new position. So, she took their leader Warden, as her war trophy. She promised to eradicate his family, as she had the Mothallath, if he refused. When she sent him the head of one of his cousins, he knew he had to give in.
When Nashira summoned Warden to plight his troth to her in public, Terebell challenged Nashira to single combat. Nashira had honed formidable skills during the war, and she came very close to destroying Terebell. Warden intervened. He swore to Nashira that he would bind himself to her without question or contest, that he would be her servant in all things and pledge the Mesarthim to her cause in perpetuity if she spared Terebell. Nashira agreed. Terebell has never forgiven Warden. She believed they should both have given their lives in defiance. Warden and Terebell will always care for each other, and Terebell has Warden's affection and his allegiance, but he will never again be her mate.
Warden, Terebell, and several other Rephaim orchestrated an uprising of the human slaves during Bone Season XVIII. However, one of the humans betrayed them by telling Nashira about the plan in exchange for his freedom. All the humans were fed to the Emim, and the Rephaim involved, including Warden, were tortured by one of Nashira's poltergeists. The torture left painful scars on their bodies, giving them the name "the scarred ones."
The Bone Season[]
Paige Mahoney first sees Arcturus during the oration for Bone Season XX in Sheol I, where he is waiting with several other Rephaim, including Nashira. When human tenants are chosen, Arcturus chooses Paige, the first time he has ever selected a human. She returns with him to the Residence of Magdalen, where he instructs her to call him by his ceremonial title of Warden. He also informs Paige that he has little knowledge of humans, and she may have to remind him of her needs. He also tells her that she must be back in the Residence by dawn every day and is to also return at once if she hears the siren signaling an Emim breach.
After his second Emite attack, he feeds on Paige's blood to heal himself. In exchange, he will owe her one favor that doesn't include her freedom. In exchange for keeping the night's events a secret, Warden says he will try to keep her safe. They also come to an agreement where Warden will train Paige and he will be her mentor, not her master, and she will spend one hour each night in conversation with him. On the way to train, Paige realizes that Warden has fed on her aura. She is furious. He responds that he feeds on humans in small doses, allowing time for regeneration, unlike many of the other Rephaim.
The first thing Warden trains Paige to do is to take possession of a moth. He then begins her second test. When she is asleep, he deposits her in No Man's Land, leaving her a note informing her that she must return to Sheol I in as little time as possible and to survive the night.
Paige learns that Nashira has forbidden Warden from engaging with the Emim. Nashira feels that as her future mate, it would be inappropriate for him to do the work of red-jackets. Paige realizes that this means Warden has voluntarily and secretly been going out to fight the Emim, perhaps so fewer red-jackets have to.
After Paige and Warden save each other's lives three times each, the mysterious golden cord forms. They can use it to transmit images and emotions through the æther. Warden keeps a record of the daily events of the colony. Warden sacrifices his last dose of amaranth to bring Liss Rymore out of spirit shock.
Warden attends the Bicentenary Celebration. Paige and Warden finally give in to their feelings towards each other with a kiss moments before she is marched up to the stage for public execution. Nashira comes upon Paige and Warden kissing. Nashira is furious. She strips Warden of his position as blood-consort. She then instructs Thuban Sargas and Situla Mesarthim to take him away for her to punish later. Alsafi Sualocin and Terebell come and rescue him from the gallery. Warden and the other Ranthen help Paige and the other humans escape from Sheol I. Pleione Sualocin gives Warden a vial of amaranth that's almost empty. There's just enough to help save Paige after Nashira's attacks on her dreamscape. He says farewell to Paige on the train station's platform, and tells her that if she ever sees him again, it will mean that there's danger. He is going into hiding with the rest of the Ranthan to continue fighting against Nashira.
The Mime Order[]
Terebell and Errai Sarin tell Paige that during the revolt at Sheol I it became clear that the Ranthen would never reach Nashira and Gomeisa Sargas in their stronghold. So, Arcturus made for London to warn Paige of Nashira's continued hunt. He has agreed with Terebell and the other Ranthen that he would perform a séance as soon as he found Paige. Warden arrived in London on September 5, but has not been heard from since. They want Paige to use the golden cord to find Warden.
Using Warden's ectoplasm that he secretly left in her backpack, Paige tracks Warden to Camden. Warden is being held prisoner by the Rag and Bone Man in the Camden Catacombs. Paige rescues Warden with the help of Nick Nygård and Jos Biwott. Paige rents a doss-house room for Warden so he can recover. She visits him when she can get away from Jaxon Hall. During one of her visits, they discuss the goals of the Ranthen, and Warden's own aims and desires. During their discussion, he tells Paige that he chose to be her keeper to protect her from having a keeper like Thuban or Kraz Sargas. He tells Paige that he knows this is no excuse for the injustices he did her, and that no matter what explanation he offers she can never truly forgive him for not letting her go when he had the chance. Paige replies that she might be able to forgive him, but she will never forget. Warden then conducts the séance he was originally supposed to do with the help of two psychopomps. Afterwards, Warden tells Paige that if she can persuade Terebell that she is capable of handling large sums of money and promises her support, Terebell will be her patron.
He supports Paige in her attempt to become Underqueen. Terebell orders Warden to train Paige for the scrimmage. He remarks to Paige that Terebell never specified the manner in which he was to train her. As a result, he turns the lesson into a dance, the closest thing to a formal romantic overture he has made to Paige thus far. When Paige expresses her anger at how the Ranthen treat her, Warden replies that "they would benefit from a lesson in humility." During their training, Paige notices that Warden's dreamscape has changed slightly. Where it was once an expanse of ash, now a glimmer of bright color shines at the very center.
After winning the scrimmage, Paige names Warden one of the high commanders of the Ranthen, and placing him in charge of instruction of the syndicate's clairvoyants.
The Song Rising[]
Arcturus continues to work with Paige to transform the Unnatural Assembly into the Mime Order, which will be a revolutionary army against Scion and Nashira. He tells Paige and her high commanders of the Mime Order that the core of Senshield is likely a form of ethereal technology, which harnesses the energy created by spirits. He also tells them his hypothesis that Senshield learned to detect aura through exposure. Thus, any of the higher orders of voyants could be used to improve its ability to detect aura.
When the sudden curfew in the citadel keeps Paige from meeting her, Terebell and the Ranthen come to Paige's safe house. Terebell attacks Paige and tells her that she is a poor investment. She claims the curfew doesn't supersede Paige's duty to meet her. Warden arrives and defuses things. Terebell informs Paige that the Ranthen are leaving. They have found pockets of Rephaim who are willing to confront the Sargas with them, both on Earth and in the Netherworld. She tells Paige that she can contact her through Lucida who will be staying behind while the rest of the Ranthen join her in the Netherworld to find allies. They will be starting with Adhara Sarin who is rumored to have Ranthen sympathies. Before leaving, Terebell informs Paige that she is ending Warden's training of the syndicate and that if Paige needs help training to ask Lucida.
A few days later, Warden rescues Paige from Hildred Vance's trap. Wanting to be back on good terms with him before he leaves, Paige tells Warden about Jaxon's manipulation of her feelings towards him. Warden tells Paige that hiding what he feels for her and being forced to do nothing to support her in public is the price he is willing to pay for change. They give in to their feelings and spend the night together, but don't go beyond kissing.
He tells the Mime Order’s commanders that he suggests they send a message through the æther, one that would reach many voyants at once, encouraging them to assist the Mime Order in its fight against Scion. He wants them to alert all clairvoyants in England to the situation in London and urge them to join the revolution. They conduct a séance at his request. The night before Paige leaves for Manchester, she tells Warden that she can't continue the romantic aspect of their relationship. She tells him that he is what change will cost her. She swore that she would sacrifice everything if it meant taking down Scion and freedom for clairvoyants. Warden understands that she doesn’t want to do this and accepts her decision.
Warden and the other Ranthen make the crossing to the Netherworld the next day, while Paige and her group leave for Manchester. Warden and the Ranthen are searching for Adhara Sarin in the hopes of convincing her to form an alliance.
Upon finding Adhara, Terebell allows Warden and Lucida Sargas to return to support Paige in Edinburgh.
The Dawn Chorus[]
It is January 1, 2060, and Paige and Warden are in the Scion Citadel of Paris, staying in a safe house provided by the Domino Programme so that Paige can try to recover physically and mentally from her time being tortured and imprisoned in the Westminster Archon. Because of Suhail Chertan's mental torture combined with physical torture, Warden's very presence fills Paige with self-loathing and she can't bear for him to touch her even though his touch brings her comfort. Warden administers doses of Scimorphine for her pain. Since Paige can't handle being near water, even to drink it, Warden sets up an IV to rehydrate Paige and get her nutrients. She asks Warden if he ever gave up on her, and he says that he didn't. He was willing to propose a hostage exchange, his life for Paige’s. But Terebell and Ognena Maria forbade it. He might have done it anyway, but an alternative plan arose, the rescue conducted by Scarlett Burnish and the Domino Programme.
When Paige's withdrawal symptoms ease, he tells her that he knows what it is like to crave a drug, as he must take amaranth for the pain from his scars. He tells Paige that all he had to offer Nashira was obedience and his dignity. In exchange for those, Nashira gave him and the other Ranthen small doses of amaranth. Of course, she made certain to withhold them from time to time. This is the reason why he always had to kneel in front of her. While battling with her body and mind, still unable to bear Warden's touch despite how badly she wants it, she realizes what Suhail has done through his mental torture. Nashira must have ordered him to keep invoking Warden, to chisel away Paige's ability to take solace in him, so that even if she escapes, it would always hurt to be in his presence. Paige is determined to not let Nashira take Warden from her. Throughout the whole recovery process, Warden remains calm, supportive, and understanding. While Paige is now considered an agent of the Domino Program, Warden is not. He is Paige's auxiliary, or supporting role.
The Mask Falling[]
Arcturus and Paige move to Paris, where they are granted a safehouse by the Domino Programme. Arcturus takes care of Paige while she recovers from her illness and struggles with PTSD after being waterboarded. His title of Warden has been stripped from him. The Ranthen gave him twelve thousand pounds before he left for Paris. He assists Paige in her search for the clairvoyant syndicate in Paris, called Le Nouveau Régime. He is the one to find the followers of the missing grand duc, Le Vieux Orphelin, who call themselves les perdues. After learning of Sheol II's location, Versailles, he is also involved in the heist to rescue the voyants already imprisoned there, and happens to be where Paige is sent by Domino in order to kill Jaxon, now the Grand Overseer of the colony. She, however, is incapable of shooting Jaxon and offers the chance to Arcturus to kill him, which he doesn't take. While in Versailles, Arcturus obtains an opaline sword capable of severing Rephaite bones, and therefore extremely useful in a fight. While escaping Versailles, Arcturus engages in a fight with other Rephaim, which weakens him. He is unable to stand, but Paige begs him to come along, confessing she still has feelings for him. After returning to the safehouse in Paris, Arcturus and Paige spend intimate moments together and reveal their feelings to each other. Since Arcturus' stock of amaranth has run dry, his scars begin to hinder him. While he is asleep, Paige leaves the safehouse and during her brief absence, the hideout is raided by Scion Vigiles. Arcturus is captured and taken to Île de la Citadelle, where La Forteresse de Justice is located. Paige makes an attempt to rescue Warden, but when she gets to him, he disregards her and reveals that he has been a double spy all along, and that in reality he intends to reveal every piece of information he extracted from Paige to Nashira. Nashira arrives with Situla and Graffias Sheratan. Nashira taunts Paige with Warden's betrayal. She tells Paige that Arcturus has been reinstated as blood-consort. Situla and Graffias attempt to take Paige into custody, but she is somehow able to channel her overwhelming emotions into her dreamscape and attack the Rephaim. She escapes with the help of Le Prince Creux.
Devastated, Paige leaves and spreads the word of Arcturus' betrayal to the Mime Order and the Ranthen. After her final meeting with Cade Fitzours she recalls that Warden once told her there was "something that proved that he was always on her side. Something that would betray him if anyone but her could see." She realizes he meant the red drapes in his dreamscape that only a dreamwalker could see. Warden feels safest in the place he had first held Paige in his arms. A moment so powerful it had transfigured his dreamscape. This makes Paige realize that Arcturus had not betrayed her. He is possessed by another dreamwalker. She thinks that person is Cade. Paige tries to get back to la Forteresse de Justice, but she is stopped when bombs begin falling on Paris in retaliation for Scion's Operation Madrigal. La Forteresse de Justice is one of the first places to be bombed and Paige is left not knowing if Arcturus is alive or dead, she fears not even a Rephaite could survive such injuries.
Physical Description[]
Warden is 6'9" and has a muscular build. He is taller than most other male Rephaim. His sarx is a dark honey gold, setting off two heavy-lidded chartreuse yellow eyes. Warden has coarse ash-brown hair. He has a strong jaw, bow shaped lips, and stone-cut features. Paige describes him as having "irises like flame behind stained glass." Warden's eyes are about the only thing that ever give away what he might be thinking or feeling. They are described as variations on fire and heat, and they dim and brighten depending on his state of mind. For example, they glow softly when he is content. He has no coloboma. Despite his large size and strength, Arcturus is quick and graceful enough to catch a butterfly in his hands. He has broad knuckles, and one of his hands is scarred from when Nashira almost severed his fingers. He bears painful scars from his torture at the hands of Nashira. They cause a constant, deep pain in his back that gnaws at him as if someone had beaten him with a mace. His scars are like an iron trellis on his back. The larger ones are raised welts, while the smaller ones are hairline threads. His wounds speak of "slow meticulous cruelty." The scars are smooth as wax. The pain of them can increase at Nashira's will. Warden is usually dressed in an embroidered, long-sleeved black shirt, black trousers, and boots. He also wears black gloves. Paige describes him as “the single most beautiful and terrible thing” she’s ever laid eyes on. His voice is deep and soft. His aura is wrapped around him and is strange, soft, and overshadowed by other auras nearby. His aura resembles a dark cloud that spits occasional glints, like embers, like many Rephaite auras.
Personality[]
Arcturus is not like the other Rephaim. Most notably, he is the only one who does not seem to have prejudice against humans. He treats humans with respect and consideration, even the human slaves of Sheol I. Upon first arriving on Earth, Arcturus believed that humans were reckless and destined to destroy themselves and the æther with their endless, petty wars. He thought, perhaps naively, that humans would benefit from Rephaite leadership. He took no pleasure in the degradation and misery of the penal colony. However, he does tell Paige not to "labor under the illusion that he is a bastion of moral goodness."[1] He has mainy aims and desires. He wants to bring about a settlement between humans and Rephaim, restore the Netherworld, and above all to end Nashira Sargas. He admits that years as a blood-consort to Nashira have eroded his sanity.
As an oneiromancer, Warden can make a person dream vividly of the past by manipulating the memories in their dreamscape. His gift gives him "infinite respect for memory."[1] Another ability he has an oneiromancer is that he forgets nothing from his life. Warden's dreamscape is ancient, strange, dark, ashen, and completely featureless. It is a pressing silence. After meeting Paige, Warden's dreamscape begins changing. After escaping Sheol I, his dreamscape has created red velvet drapes swirling down from high above and vanishing into bonfire smoke. His dreamscape is like a floating island in the æther, taking no clear form. At the very heart of his mind is his dream-form, a hollow and washed-out creature. A flower has grown from the dust. It has petals of a warm and unnamable color sealed under a bell jar. His dreamscape has twelve specters, and he knows exactly which memory is represented by which specter.
Warden is never seen succumbing to violence or anger, but is a level-headed friend and confidant. Warden is particularly gifted at keeping his composure, making him inscrutable and enigmatic. He is a source of moral support for Paige, giving her strength, counsel, and solace. He has a deep respect for duty. He is patient by nature. Arcturus is intelligent and perceptive in conversation. He is solicitous, a good listener, and has a bone-dry wit. Warden doesn't mind being linked to Paige by the golden cord. It roots him again, and she "reminds him what it is to have a home."[2] Warden’s both soft-spoken and forthright in a confrontation, which coupled with his chilling eyes, tends to get people to listen to him.
Etymology[]
Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. In biblical form, it means "a gathering together." Arcturus can also mean "guardian of the bear." It just so happens that Paige's last name, Mahoney, means "descendant of the bear." It is part of the constellation Boötes, the Herdsman. Mesarthim is the fourth-brightest star in the constellation Aries, also known as the ram.
Trivia[]
- Warden is a talented organ and piano player.
- He has met every Scion leader since 1859.
- He prefers music from the twentieth century and finds human languages interesting.
- Arcturus is fluent in six human languages: English, French, Swedish, Greek, Romanian, and Scion Sign Language.
- Arcturus has a habit of drumming his fingers on nearby surfaces.
