Lord Lorcan Salvaterre is the most powerful demi-Fae in existence and a former member of the cadre that served Queen Maeve of Doranelle. He is currently blood-sworn to Aelin Galathynius and the Lord of Perranth.
Biography
Centuries before the events of the series, Lorcan offered Rowan Whitethorn the choice to join his group of fae warriors. This eventually led to Rowan swearing the oath to Maeve and meaning that he would have to serve her for the rest of his like (until Aelin comes along).
In Queen of Shadows, it is revealed that two centuries ago Maeve ordered Lorcan and Rowan to obliterate a city of apparently corrupt and evil residents.
Heir of Fire
When Mistward is besieged by the Valg, Lorcan arrives with the rest of Rowan's cadre to help. When Aelin is attacked by the three Valg princes, Rowan is restrained by Lorcan and Gavriel to prevent him from rushing to help her. Lorcan tries to convince Rowan to let it go, as Aelin is surely dead. Rowan manages to break their hold and runs to Aelin while Lorcan swears behind him.
After the Valg are defeated, Lorcan leaves at dawn the following day. Gavriel informs Rowan of his departure and says that Lorcan said to tell him goodbye, but Rowan sees through the lie.
Later, when Rowan and Aelin travel to Doranelle, Maeve asks Aelin for the location of the third Wyrdkey. When Aelin refuses to answer her, Maeve orders Rowan to tell her, but he doesn't know as Aelin never shared the information with him. Maeve has Lorcan and Gavriel whip him to compel Aelin to tell her where the Wyrdkey is. Lorcan takes no pleasure from harming Rowan and keeps a blank expression as if he has done it before. He watches while Aelin displays her power to Maeve and makes no move to stop her from approaching Rowan. He witnesses Rowan being released from his blood oath and swearing it to Aelin.
Queen of Shadows
Rowan reveals to Aelin that Lorcan is in Adarlan. He details how he tracked Lorcan to Rifthold, and reflects on how Lorcan is the strongest male in the Fae realm, equal only to him. He wishes he could kill Lorcan for not helping Aelin against the Valg Princes, and promises to kill him if he makes a move against her. They assume that he was sent by Maeve to look for the Wyrdkey.
Aelin tricks Lorcan into entering a den of Valg commanders and a Wyrdhound. She saunters away while he fights and kills them. He catches up to her and slams her into a brick wall, pinning her against it. He is angry about the trick and threatens to kill her, but she holds a knife to his groin and warns him against it. He releases her and moves away, and taunts her about Rowan sleeping with her. They exchange insults until Rowan arrives and holds a knife to Lorcan's throat. Rowan tells him to talk, and Lorcan reveals that if he dies, Maeve will offer aid to the King of Adarlan. Rowan releases him and goes to Aelin. Lorcan explains that Maeve let them walk out of Doranelle and taunts Rowan, calling him a fool for allying himself with Aelin. He threatens Aelin, saying that he'll be waiting when she trips up, and she tells him that one day she will claim the debt he owes for whipping Rowan. Lorcan leaves soon after.
Empire of Storms
Lorcan travels with Elide Lochan after finding her while on his way to Morath. They grow closer as they travel, and Lorcan saves her life when her uncle Vernon Lochan tries to take her back to Morath.
Lorcan later shields Elide when Aelin unleashes her power on an army of ilken. In the end, it is discovered that he called Maeve with his powers in an attempt to save Elide. However, Maeve strips him of the blood oath and titles, leaving him in dishonor. Afterward, Lorcan vows to go with Rowan to rescue Aelin, out of guilt, and desire to redeem himself in Rowan and Elide's eyes.
Kingdom of Ash
Lorcan looks for Aelin with Rowan, Gavriel, and Elide. Their group continues to search for her, and Rowan tortures one of Maeve's commanders for information. Elide remains angry with Lorcan for betraying Aelin.
Eventually, Rowan feels Aelin through their mating bond and deduces she's in Doranelle. They lure Maeve away from Doranelle with rumors of a captured Valg Prince, and Elide goes into town to ask where Cairn might be. One of Lorcan's past lovers, Essar, scents him on her and figures out who she is and who she's traveling with. She tells Elide where Maeve's encampment is.
As the group waits for the right time to sneak into the camp, Lorcan spots Aelin running through the tents, killing any soldiers who try to stop her. She sees him and runs for him; Rowan and Gavriel arrive to help her, and she pleads for someone to help Fenrys. Rowan orders Lorcan to take her back to camp (where Elide is waiting) while Rowan and Gavriel go back to the tent where Fenrys is injured. Gavriel heals Fenrys and Cairn, and Rowan skins Cairn alive. Fenrys is brought back to the camp, where Aelin offers him the blood oath to keep him alive. They then follow the little Folk into a nearby cave and eventually to the coast; after a few days, Aelin, now closer to her former self (although not quite), pulls Lorcan aside and tells him she can't trust him due to being Maeve's second-in-command and his connections. She offers him the blood oath and tells him that he does not have to accept, but if he does not then, he will not be allowed to travel with them. He knows that if he refuses, then he will be separated from Elide forever, which is enough to cause him to do it.
Lorcan accompanies the rest of the group to Anielle, which is under attack by Erawan's forces. Elide and Lorcan have another fight; she tells him that she does not know why he is so shocked about what Maeve has turned out to be (a Valg Queen) and calls him a monster. Lorcan, extremely bothered by this statement, tells her that she is jealous; she tells him she doesn't care if he makes it off the battlefield alive or not.
He joins the battle and is still on the battlefield when Morath's soldiers break the dam. Lorcan, now in despair over Elide, drops his shields and is stabbed through the stomach by a soldier; he falls unconscious and can no longer fight. Elide notices his absence and rides out onto the battlefield to rescue him. She finds him and drags him onto her horse; Lorcan tells her to leave him behind as he'll only weigh down the horse. When she refuses, he tells her that he loves her and tries to slip off the horse; Elide digs into his arm and refuses to let him go. Aelin vaporizes the water, saving them along with the army and Anielle.
Lorcan is taken to Westfall Keep to heal. When he wakes up, Elide is there and they make out and kiss. Once Lorcan is healed, he travels with Aelin's court to Orynth, and fights to defend Terrasen. He tries to help Aelin fight Maeve but is overwhelmed by her power along with Rowan and Fenrys and made to see unpleasant hallucinations of Elide, such as a hallucination of her leaving him and another of her on her deathbed, rendering him helpless in the fight. Aelin burns Rowan, Lorcan, and Fenrys to pull them out of their nightmares; Aelin, drawing power from Rowan, drives Maeve back as she and Lorcan alternate flashes of their powers at Maeve. Fenrys manages to impale Maeve from behind with Goldryn, and Aelin kills her with the gold ring.
After the war ends, Lorcan stands vigil for Gavriel. Elide finds him and he congratulates her for her role in Erawan's death. She deflects his attempts to compliment her; he asks her to ask him to stay and marry her, which she does. She is greatly amused at the thought of what his name will be (Lord Lorcan Lochan). After Aelin's coronation, Lorcan travels to Perranth with Elide, and they get married soon afterward.
Personality
Lorcan is a vicious, ruthless, accomplished warrior who has no qualms about using any means necessary to execute his orders.
Rowan Whitethorn describes him as wicked and cunning; and according to Aedion Ashryver, the tales surrounding Lorcan involve much glory and gore (although mostly gore).[citation needed]
He seems content with the idea that he is happy to be alone and dislikes the idea of caring for anyone or them caring for him in return. After a while, he finds himself softening towards Elide and genuinely wanting to protect her. At one point in anger, she spits at him that she believes that he is lonely, friendless, and miserable as a result. The words shock and hurt him more than he realizes or allows to show.
At the end of Empire of Storms, when it is revealed that Aelin is Rowan’s true mate and that Maeve is going to steal her away from him regardless, Lorcan weeps for the first time in centuries, proving that despite his ongoing facade of coldness that he can understand and feel the true feelings of heartbreak and loss.
Physical description
By Marquisee
Lorcan is described as having a huge, muscular build. He notes in Empire of Storms when he first meets the Ilken that they are about a foot taller than he, and later another person who encounters the beasts state that they are at least 8 foot tall - therefore, one can assume Lorcan is way over 6 foot tall, possibly nearing 7 foot.
He has onyx eyes and matching shoulder-length hair, and cruel, granite-hewn facial features. It is mentioned by Elide that when he smiles, it makes him appear younger and more handsome. He also has the fangs like the fae.
Like Rowan and Fenrys, Lorcan bears a tattoo of Gavriel's name in the Old Language following the Lion's death.
Powers and Abilities
- Death magic: Lorcan possesses incredibly powerful magic, which he believes was gifted to him by the god of death himself, Hellas. Lorcan's magic rivals Rowan's in strength, though his is much darker in nature.
- Master Combatant: Lorcan is incredibly skilled in combat, having trained as a warrior for centuries.
Relationships
Elide Lochan
Initially, upon meeting Elide Lochan, Lorcan feels mostly impatience and annoyance with her, which she brushes off quite easily. He dismisses her as young and naive—traits she tricks him into believing and notes how quickly and ignorantly he does so, happy to accept that he is a strong and dominant male that has saved her. He is, however, mildly perplexed at her ability to know that he was following her before they come face to face, something he notes that nobody had been able to for a long time.
Early into their arrangement, Elide touches Lorcan on the leg while pretending to be his wife, and he stiffens, recalling to himself that despite five hundred years worth of lovers that he had not liked or entertained any physical or living contact with them outside of the bedroom. He muses that some had tried to change him, but none had succeeded.
Lorcan and Elide were on the verge of embarking on a romantic relationship - after giving each other heated glances for some time they finally kissed. Unable to bear the thought of Lorcan in mortal danger, Elide offers him a place to hide at her home in Terrassen. However, the conversation remains unfinished as the events of the last chapters of Empire of Storms start to unfold.
In Kingdom of Ash, Elide is still furious with Lorcan, and either ignores him or throws venomous verbal barbs his way. She even asks him how she came to love a monster such as him to his devastation and shock. Despite this, Lorcan's feelings for her remain and only grow. When he nearly dies in the battle for Anielle, Elide, frantic and utterly distressed, recklessly goes looking for him on the battlefield alone, demonstrating that she still loves him. When she finds him, he tells her that he loves her, and when they safely return, they discuss their relationship and give in to their feelings for each other. Towards the book's conclusion, Lorcan tells Elide that he wants to marry her and that he will bind his life to hers, losing his immortality. He does that so that she will never know a day alone. They eventually wed.
Appearances
- Heir of Fire (first appearance)
- Queen of Shadows
- Empire of Storms
- Kingdom of Ash
Gallery
Trivia
- In Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas describes Lorcan as a demi-Fae. This is unusual as Maeve only seems to show favor to those who are full Fae.