Alden Dedrick Vacker

Alden Vacker
Caption	Art of Alden Vacker by Laura Hollingsworth
Occupation	Emissary
Foxfire Level	Graduated
Biographical Information
Gender	Male
Age	100 years older than Della
Special Ability	Telepathy
Residence	Everglen
Physical Description
Eye Color	Teal
Hair Color	Wavy Brown
Other Information

Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details from the latest book.

“No reason to worry.”

—Alden Vacker, in Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities as well as almost every other book in the series.

Alden Vacker is part of the Vacker family and lives in Everglen. He works for The Council as an Emissary - someone who is sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative. Because of his job, he often wears a midnight blue cape; as revealed in Legacy, he is an Emissary with the highest level of clearance. His trademark line is "no reason to worry," to reassure and support the people around him.

The name Alden means "Old Friend" or "Wise Friend."

Appearance

Alden has teal eyes and wavy dark brown hair — the family resemblance between him and his son Fitz is very strong. He has very kind eyes that made Sophie trust him when she first came to live with the elves. He and his family are all very handsome, more so than a lot of other elves. Alden has a very recognizable accent, like his son Fitz.

Biography

Alden is first introduced in the first book of Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities and quickly becomes an important character. Sophie relies on Alden throughout the books, and Alden, in turn, relies on Sophie. An example of this is in Book 2: Exile when Alden has Sophie be his guide for the Memory Break of Fintan, and when the face of Sophie appeared amongst the portraits of his friends and family in his mind. Alden was one of the only people to believe in the Black Swan and searched for 12 years for Sophie despite being told he was chasing an imaginary ghost. Alden cares deeply about his family and friends and makes sure that everyone has 'no reason to worry'. During the second book, Exile, Alden's mind breaks after seeing Wylie from the guilt of exiling Prentice, but Sophie works tirelessly and is able to heal him.

Wanderling

Alden's Wanderling is dark-leafed with vivid teal flowers peppered among the branches. Though Alden is still alive, the Wanderling was planted because it was believed that he would not recover from his state of a broken mind and because the elves generally do not believe in taking existing life.

Relationships

• Della (wife)

Della is Alden's wife who is about 100 years younger than him and was the first one on his third matchmaking list. They are seen to support each other and stay with each other always. Della will often pull him close and whisper into his ear when he pales or receives devastating news, and when Della cries, he holds her and comforts her. Sophie says she can't imagine them not being together, as they are one of the sweetest couples she knows.

• Alvar (eldest son/opponent)

Alvar is Alden's oldest son. They had a good relationship-until he revealed that he was a spy on the Vacker family. Alden was devastated and shocked by the news, checking to make sure he heard it right. In Flashback, though, Alden gave Alvar a second chance, only to be left with a discovery of a troll hive that had been hidden in Everglen for a reward.

• Fitz (middle child)

Even though the father sometimes disagrees with the son, Fitz and Alden's have a good relationship. Fitz is the middle child, who followed in Alden's footsteps, and manifested as a Telepath like him. Fitz was told by Councillor Terik that he would grow to be an even better Telepath then Alden, which made him overjoyed. Fitz cares deeply for Alden, shutting everyone out when his mind broke and only returning to normal when Alden was healed.

• Biana (youngest and only daughter)

Biana trusts and loves Alden deeply and often needs his support. When Alden's mind broke in Exile, she withdrew from most of her friends, not wanting to make a public appearance. 

• Sophie (like-daughter)

Alden was one of the first elves to greet Sophie. He taught her most things about the Elvin world and offered her hospitality when needed. He always helps Sophie through her missions and supports her, as an emissary. Alden also trusted Sophie with his life when he chose her as his guide during Book 2: Exile.

• Keefe (like-son)

Keefe often relies on Alden and needs his support, and views him as a father figure. This sometimes angers Lord Cassius, who, in Book 7: Flashback, was noted to have said that Alden is not Keefe's father, who in turn says that he wish Alden was.

• Grady (close friend)

Alden was one of the few supporters Grady and Edaline had when Jolie died.

• Prentice (former enemy/ally)

Alden performed a memory break on Prentice with Quinlin. He felt extremely guilty about this, as part of the reason why his mind shattered in Exile was due to his guilt about the break. After discovering that Prentice was innocent, he still finds it hard to take whenever the subject of Prentice is discussed. 

• Alina (ex-girlfriend) 

Alina tried to steal Alden away from Della at their wedding by beguiling him. It's frequently mentioned in the books about how awkward this is. Once Dame Alina became Councillor Alina, Alden didn't appreciate the way she treated Sophie. Alden is said to be 'slightly' terrified of her.

• Quinlin Sonden (Former cognate)

Alden and Quinlin were previously Cognates. Though still friends, they could never become Cognates again because Quinlin had held back his reservations to perform a memory break on Prentice. Because of this, they fought and that broke their trust for each other.

• Unknown Girl ("Perfect match" of Alden)

Before Alden met Della, there was a girl whom Alden thought was his perfect match; agreed upon by the matchmakers, she was #1 on Alden's first list. However, he stated in Keefe's Short Story (Flashback) that she "preferred a close friend of mine [his]."

Trivia

• Alden appeared as a cameo in Laura Hollingsworth's comic The Silver Eye on page 17x16