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Sylvester Torquill is the Duke of Shadowed Hills in the Kingdom in the Mists. He first appears in Rosemary and Rue.

About[]

Appearance[]

Sylvester has the classic red Torquill hair and golden eyes. He has sculpted features and pointed ears.[1] He looks almost indistinguishable from his twin brother Simon.

His outfits befit a noble of his station; Toby notes that wearing a simple tunic and pants within his private family quarters is under-dressed for him.[citation needed]

Personality[]

Sylvester was once a celebrated warrior and now inspires great loyalty in his subjects. October Daye is sworn to his service as a knight. He is a devout family man, having panic attacks or going fully insane when his loved ones are in danger.[2] He is a man of honor, upholding vows even when inconvenient, and he is also practical and willing to make difficult choices.[3] However, he has the nasty habit of lying, such as not divulging to Toby about Simon being her father by fae law until he resurfaced, and refuses to divulge any more truths out of a promise he made to Amandine.

Sylvester has a number of knights sworn into his service, Toby included. He ensures that his people are well trained; both he and Etienne teach Toby swordsmanship, and Sylvester arranges for the education of his fosterling Quentin to include both courtly and practical matters.[2]

Property[]

Sylvester's personal coat-of-arms includes dogwood and a wolfhound. His Duchy's coat of arms is daffodil and hind, a type of red deer.[4]

Like many fae who live in the mortal world, Sylvester plays the long game in real estate. As a result, he owns a number of historic houses throughout the San Francisco area.[5]

Miscellaneous[]

Sylvester is allergic to cats, though he is fine with Luna's rose goblins.[2]

His magical signature of dogwood and daffodil are similar to his sister September's signature of narcissus, a type of daffodil, and sultana, another flowering plant.[6] His signature is starkly different than his twin Simon's, even the purer version of candle smoke and mulled cider.[7]

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Sylvester was born alongside Simon as the twin changeling sons of Septimus Torquill and his human wife Celaeno. A hope chest was used to shift them into full-blooded Fae while they were still young to remember. Sylvester's father was Evening Winterrose's grandson. Sylvester, Simon and September helped Amandine blend into fae society by masquerading as a Daoine Sidhe.

He was squired to Malcolm ap Learianth in Gray Fields. He introduced her to his sister, September, and claims his parents have never forgiven him as they got married despite Malcolm being Tuatha de Dannan.[8]

As a young man, Sylvester's inheritance was his father's sword and a letter of introduction to King Gilad's parents, so that he could prove himself a hero and get the land that he believed he deserved, rather than receive the land directly from his parents.[9] He became a hero among the fae, and according to legend he "once defeated an entire Goblin army with a sword, despite his arm having been broken in an earlier engagement”[10] He also fought in the War of Silences.[11]

1800s[]

Sylvester moved the door to Shadowed Hills to Paso Nogal at some point.[12]

Mid-Late 1900s[]

When Toby was seven, at the encouragement of the Luidaeg behind Amandine's back, Sylvester offered the Changeling's Choice to her because her mother was not willing to do it.[13][2] This broke one of the promises he made with Amandine and since then he became unwilling to break more promises, one of them including telling Toby about Simon's true relationship with her mother.

While Toby was still taking odd jobs at Home, after finding the False Queen a new knowe, he along with Evening convinced Toby to allow herself to be knighted for her services.

When Luna and Rayseline are kidnapped by Simon, Sylvester orders Toby to track them down. However, Toby is caught by Simon when she finds concrete evidence that Simon had a hand in their disappearances and is turned into a fish for fourteen years.

Sylvester sent knights whom he sent to track down his wife and daughter to find Toby when she disappears, however no leads turned up thanks to the enchantment Simon placed on Lily's knowe, and as a result, he went mad with grief, forcing Etienne to act as Duke to keep the knowe standing while Jin periodically drugged him with a sedative to keep him calm. In 2008, he accepted Quentin as a blind fostering and Etienne began training him.[14]

By the time Rayseline and Luna come back, Sylvester's sanity is restored, but he is unsure of how to reach out to Raysel as she had lost her mind after years in captivity. He and Luna arrange a political marriage with Connor to Raysel in an attempt to ground her back to reality, but it failed to do so. After Toby returns, Sylvester sends pages - Quentin included - to try and convince her to return, unaware that Toby felt so guilt-ridden she didn't deserve to return.

In the Series[]

Rosemary and Rue[]

When his his wife Luna and daughter Rayseline go missing, Sylvester calls upon Toby to find them using her private investigative skills. She disappears amid the investigation, and Sylvester goes mad from the loss of his three closest family members. Luna and Raysel return eleven years later, and Toby three years after that, but none of them are the same as they were. Sylvester avoids facing the fact that Raysel went insane spending her entire childhood in captivity, or that Toby has cut off ties with Shadowed Hills and Faerie as a whole out of her guilt for not saving Luna and Raysel and her losing Cliff and Gillian. In this time, he also takes on Quentin in blind fosterage, starting the boy as a page to learn the ways of faerie nobility.

Sylvester continually reaches out to Toby, trying to get her to return. It's not until she is tasked with finding Evening Winterrose's killer that she returns to Shadowed Hills to announce the death and ask for help. Sylvester is delighted that Toby has finally reached out, but is upset to learn of Evening's death and the binding she put upon Toby. He is furious when he discovers Toby indebted herself to Devin to secure help, then orders her never to doubt her hospitality into Shadowed Hills ever again.

After Toby and Manuel kill Devin, Sylvester arrives with his knights to clean up the mess, and both he and Toby set Home on fire with assistance from some Salamanders to erase its existence from the human world.

A Local Habitation[]

Toby has begun doing knight-errant jobs for Sylvester again. As one of her tasks, he asks her to visit his niece January O'Leary because he hasn't been able to get hold of her for several weeks. He chooses Toby because she is the least likely to cause an inter-court incident given the tensions between Shadowed Hills and the Duchy of Dreamer's Glass. He sends Quentin along with her in the hopes it will be a low-risk learning opportunity for the page.

While she is investigating, they check in - or fail to - by phone a number of times. When Toby shares the danger that Tamed Lightning is in, he sends Connor O'Dell ahead to help and prepares to bring a team of reinforcements himself. However, his team gets stopped at the border of Dreamer's Glass, an act that indirectly results in Jan not being saved in time, and does not arrive until after Toby resolves the case.

He hosts the funeral pyre for January.

An Artificial Night[]

Sylvester does his best to support Toby in her quest to free Blind Michael's captive children, but he is frustrated by Luna's willingness to put Toby in danger. When she plans to go into Blind Michael's Realm a second time, he arms her with his sword.

Late Eclipses[]

Sylvester attends the gathering held by the Queen of the Mists and dances with October, checking in with her as a father would. He has a panic attack when Luna is found ill, and Jin must magically subdue him when he blames Toby unfairly in a fit of madness.

When the Queen tries to arrest Toby for murder, Sylvester claims the authority of his title and knowe and refuses to let her be taken. Toby is poisoned with elf-shot and Sylvester contacts Amandine for help, although he is rather surprised that she responds so quickly. The next time the queen's emissary arrives, he cannot protect Toby from being imprisoned.

After Toby's escape, she returns to the knowe to find Sylvester being waylaid by Rayseline and Oleander. Oleander tries to stab Sylvester but Manuel intercepts the blow; after Rayseline and Oleander flee, Sylvester names Manuel a knight of Shadowed Hills so that he can die with honour. Sylvester arms Toby for the coming fight and declares Rayseline past forgiving for intentionally trying to harm Luna. He leads a team of knights that arrive after Toby has already killed Oleander.

Afterward, when the Queen tries once again to sentence Toby, Sylvester reveals that he got her a royal pardon from the High King and Queen of North America.

One Salt Sea[]

Sylvester trains Toby in sword fighting at Goldengreen, which they have been working on since Toby discovered she was Dochas Sidhe. Sylvester asks her to be Quentin’s knight, wanting Quentin to have a modern squire training and saying his parents fully agree. May and Quentin arrive to see the next sparing round, and Toby disarms Sylvester for the first time in her life.

After impending war is declared between the Kingdom in the Mists and Saltmist, Sylvester prepares his people for battle. He allows Toby to search through Rayseline's things when she suspects Raysel of being an instigator of the growing conflict. He later arms Toby with a magic-compatible cell phone to make updating everyone easier.

Raj alerts Sylvester that Toby is going to Muir Woods to confront Rayseline. Once again, Sylvester's full guard arrives just after the major action is over and he comforts Toby for losing Gillian to the human world and Connor's death, grieving quietly over Rayseline being elf-shot. In an attempt to gain lenience from the False Queen from actions that weren't Rayseline's fault, he agrees to stage an event using Garm, Dianda, Toby and Quentin to trick Dugan - the one who manipulated Rayseline - into confessing his role.

Ashes of Honor[]

Toby and Etienne intentionally exclude Sylvester while tracking down Chelsea, as Etienne does not want to admit that he risked Faerie's discovery. Despite this, Sylvester offers his support several times. He also acquires an Afanc that had come through one of Chelsea's portals, believing that it had been lost by a fae owner. He arrives at Dreamer's Glass and chastises Toby for not telling him sooner about what had happened with Etienne, though as a parent understands why Toby kept it a secret for the timebeing.

Chimes at Midnight[]

When Toby overdoses on goblin fruit, Sylvester sends Tybalt away for eleven hours without telling him what is wrong with Toby. Both Toby and Tybalt are furious at him, and Tybalt threatens to kill him. He lets them vent.

Sylvester lends his troops to help Arden retake the throne but is caught in the false Queen's Siren call until Toby breaks the Queen's spell.

The Winter Long[]

Secrets are revealed after Simon returns and causes Toby to start asking questions about her own past. Sylvester is forced to admit that Simon is married to Amandine, making Sylvester Toby's step-uncle. He holds other secrets about Toby's family that he still refuses to reveal, citing a promise he made to Amandine. He says that he has already broken a promise to Amandine once, when he came to give Toby the Changeling's Choice rather than keep his distance while Amandine played faerie bride. This begins to cause a rift between Toby and Sylvester.

Evening Winterrose uses her status as the Daoine Sidhe First to bespell Sylvester and claim the loyalty of him and all his vassals. Only Luna, who is shielded by her roses, and Etienne and his family, who are presumably shielded by the magic-nullifying potion, are immune. Although Toby and the Luidaeg hit Evening with elf-shot and free everyone from Shadowed Hills, Toby distances herself from Sylvester.

Once Broken Faith[]

Sylvester and Luna attend the conclave to discuss the fate of the elf-shot cure. He offers Toby his support while she investigates a murder at the event. She can't forgive his lies concerning her family history or for shutting out Tybalt when she was overdosing on goblin fruit, but she is willing to resume their working relationship. She won't accept the use of his servants, wanting to appear impartial until she can provide concrete evidence that he was not involved in the attacks. However, she does ask him to summon Jin when Dianda is elf-shot and requires treatment for her injury. He offers Toby his sword after Tybalt is gravely wounded by Minna.

He also sits down with the High King and Queen when they discuss Toby's fate after the amount of services she's done to the Westlands begins to look like political destabilisation.

The Brightest Fell[]

Toby seeks Sylvester's help to awaken Simon so that she can find her missing sister August. Sylvester is very displeased to release Simon from his elf-shot slumber, wanting to punish him for the misery Simon has caused Sylvester's family. However, he agrees, and puts a geas on Simon that will prevent the man from harming Toby in any way.

Night and Silence[]

After Toby lets Simon escape without due punishment, Sylvester refuses to see her both on his own account and due to Luna's rage. Despite their issues, Sylvester comes when Toby calls for his aid in searching for Gillian, and he lets Toby hug him.

A Killing Frost[]

Sylvester allows Toby to enter his knowe but is distant and angry. His relationship with Luna is on shaky ground, and he tasks Toby with speaking to Rayseline to see if she is ready to be woken up before he will allow her to speak with Luna. He and Toby argue, with Toby defending Raysel when he remarks that she was perfect before the blood shift, and Sylvester stands by while Luna banishes Toby from Shadowed Hills until Rayseline's trial, although Sylvester partially stands in Toby's defence for a moment.

When Sorrows Come / And With Reveling[]

Sylvester attends Toby's wedding. When the ceremony is interrupted by an assassination attempt, Sylvester fights valiantly. He follows Toby to the dungeons to check on Absalom Shallcross and the other prisoners, and offers to remain there to supervise when Toby returns to her wedding.

At the reception, Sylvester congratulates Toby but insults Tybalt, making underhanded remarks about Tybalt's childhood crush on September, to which Tybalt angrily reminds him of how he had failed Toby and had her end up in Devin's care.

Be the Serpent[]

Sylvester and Luna attend Raysel's trial. After Raysel is awoken from her slumber, Toby claims offence as told to by Raysel. Sylvester is the first one to protest, claiming that Toby doesn't know what she's thinking, but Toby rebuffs Sylvester, reminding him that she was banished from Shadowed Hills without any legal grounds.

After Titania resurfaces, Sylvester and Toby talk to each other, and he reveals that Luna's behaviour may have been a result of the loss of her Kitsune skin. He admits that he's willing to defy Luna in order to repair their relationship.

After the battle in Arden's knowe, Sylvester reveals that he's willing to give Simon another chance if given enough time to forgive him and allows Toby to return back to Shadowed Hills.

Relationships[]

For Sylvester's sworn subjects, see Duchy of Shadowed Hills

Luna Torquill[]

Sylvester's wife and co-ruler of Shadowed Hills. They have been married for hundreds of years, although her mother Acacia did not know of the marriage until recently. When Luna's heritage becomes known, Sylvester implies that he has been aware of it all along. [15] Sylvester has a panic attack when Luna falls deathly ill, and his staff fear that he will go mad like he did when Luna, Rayseline, and Toby all disappeared. Sylvester leaves most of the decorating influence to Luna. As a result, Shadowed Hills is famous for its rose gardens. The only area that reflects Sylvester's personality is the family's private chambers.[16] However, after Raysel is elf-shot, Luna becomes estranged from Sylvester to the point where he even believed she doesn't know how to love him anymore.

Rayseline Torquill[]

Daughter, but not heir to Shadowed Hills due to her insanity. When Raysel returns a decade of captivity, Sylvester is not sure how to relate to his daughter who grew up in a void. He leaves her room with its childish decorations and tries to find her happiness by arranging a marriage to Connor O'Dell. He along with Luna show frustration when Rayseline insults Toby for returning. When Rayseline intentionally poisons Luna in order to take over the knowe, Sylvester finally finds an action he can never forgive her for. After she is elf-shot, Sylvester begins taking notice of Rayseline more, and is worried she blames him for what had happened to her.

October Daye[]

Foster daughter and sworn knight. Sylvester offered Toby the Changeling's Choice when Amandine refused to do it herself. Later, after Toby was knighted by the Queen of the Mists, he swore her into his service and trained her as a knight. Toby loves and respects Sylvester and he feels much the same. When she returns from the pond, he continually offers her all of his resources - job, house, security - and is persistent even as she continually refuses him.[2] Still, she slowly accepts portions of his offerings as they become practical, such as upgrading from her apartment to one of his investment houses in order to accommodate her additional housemates.[17] Toby becomes angry with Sylvester in later books when she discovers that he has lied to her and Sylvester is less than pleased with Toby when she convinces him to wake his brother Simon and then loses him, thereby releasing a threat to Luna and to Sylvester into the world. He still cares for Toby, but out of respect to his wife, he's distanced himself from her.

Simon Torquill[]

The twins have a strained relationship, and Patrick Lorden argues that he was a better brother to Simon than Sylvester ever was.[18] Simon is compelled under a geas to kidnap Luna and Rayseline, as well as take Toby out of the picture. His actions led Sylvester to a decade of insensible madness, only broken when Luna and Raysel are returned to him. Although he despises Simon for what had happened, he understands that Simon's love for Amandine was the reason Toby had been forcibly transformed as opposed to killed, and remarks that Simon had blamed Sylvester for inspiring August to look for Oberon.[2][19] Simon also resents Sylvester for forcing him to claim Glynis Torquill as their legal parent instead of Celaeno and denying their formerly changeling heritage. After Rayseline's trial and listening to Simon's side of the story - including the fact that what Simon did spared Luna and Rayseline from death - he admits that he's willing to forgive Simon.

August Torquill[]

August is one of Sylvester's nieces. He remarks that Simon blamed him for inspiring August to be a hero. Their relationship is probably strained as August was the reason Simon had kidnapped Luna and Rayseline and turned Toby into a fish for fourteen years.

Etienne[]

Sir Etienne is Sylvester's seneschal. He is utterly loyal to Shadowed Hills and to Sylvester. Sylvester was disappointed that Etienne fathered a changeling while he went mad after losing Luna and Rayseline, however understood why.

References[]

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