The Fangs & Heros series has a group of main characters. Lilly and Sullivan are two, then there’s Marcus Lancaster. He would tell you that he’s in charge of all of the stories. He would tell you that he a well-off owner of a security and guard company. And he would tell you that he sits on the boards of several charities.
Sounds like a good guy, right? He would say he is. But to some, he’s an arrogant, haughty, and short tempered man. So what is the story?
When I’m writing Marcus, I have the image of British male model David Gandy in my head. He’s perfect as an image.
Marcus is my most “historical” character. He’s the one who has the largest back history, going all the way back to 1430. Marc Bleddyn Beaufort of Lancaster was born August 1 of that year at Tregaron Wales to Edmund and Caitryn ferch Bleddyn Beaufort of Lancaster. He is a member of the large Lancaster family of England.
He was at the First Battle of St. Albans, 22 May 1455. This is the traditionally acknowledged start of the War of the Roses between the Lancasters and the Yorkists. Marcus was 25 and saw his father fall in this battle at St. Albans Tower Inn and the king, Henry VI captured. He is with the Lancasters at various battles until 1461.
Eadwina Urquhart (Arianne in Book 1), in mourning for her maker, Viktor Alexandru who had been taken to Hell 1440. She wandered around Europe until the War of the Roses. She becomes a camp-follower of Somerset’s battle group and meets Marcus. They begin an affair. During their affair, Marcus introduces her to a hired soldier named Cishpi, a Persian. Eadwina hides the fact that she knows who, and what, Cishpi is, she had been introduced to him by Viktor well before the war began. She warns Marcus about being around Cishpi, that he appears to be dangerous to her. Marcus laughs it off.
After the battle, Eadwina finds Marcus in a pile of bodies and nearby the wounded but not dying Cishpi. Not wanting to be alone again, she kills Cishpi and turns Marcus into a vampire, however she tells him that she will take the roll of his maker since the vampire that made him died of his wounds and the sun. This elaborate ruse has her grabbing some of the now-dead Cishpi’s blood and force-feeding it to the dead Marcus so that his energy signature will be an echo of Cishpi’s instead of hers. This keeps the angels from finding out she turned Marcus for a while.
Here is a short video on the Battle of Towton from the YouTube channel Kings and Generals.
Marcus leaves England during the English Civil war that brought Protestantism to the isles, he was still marginally a Catholic and, fearing persecution by Oliver Cromwell’s forces, he leaves for Europe.
He spends most of his time moving around, first becoming a merchant of exotic goods from China, but he hates it. He starts dealing arms between various conflicts, either directly participating in various wars or selling arms to both sides.
He wanders Europe and Asia learning languages and how the different countries work. Time to time he straps on armor and sets up a new persona as a soldier, fighting for pay from the government of each country he calls home for that era. Because of being a vampire, it is necessary for Marcus to move about every 20 years so that people won’t see he’s not aging like they do. Most of the time he would say he was a member of the aristocracy
It was during this time that he met Jean Lafitte while sailing as a privateer, fighting pirates and taking their ships. Jean was first a captive of Marcus’s but both men found the other interesting and Jean invited Marcus to work with him on his projects. Both men, along with their crew, ended up fighting at the Battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson in 1814. Marcus also lived on Galveston Island with Lafitte during his time there.
Jean became a character in the books when I stumbled on a photo of actor Hugo Weaving (Elrond-Lord of the Rings) and it was so much like the one painting that is out there for Jean Lafitte. Maybe he IS a vampire.
In case you’re interested in more history of Jean Lafitte, I found this great video on YouTube about him.
Marcus was a spy for the Pinkerton agency during the Civil War. That was how he met Jesse Chamberlain. Marcus was playing poker in a saloon in Chattanooga Tennessee when Jesse came in on a night pass from the Confederate company he was with. He sees Marcus and sends him a drink. After the game, they sit drinking and talking until Jesse had to get back to his unit.
Then came the battle of Cumberland Gap. September 7-9, 1863. Marcus knew of the battle, having intercepted some communication. He discovered that the unit Jesse was in was captured and that the Union was marching the captured soldiers to a train headed to Camp Douglas near Chicago. He trailed the forced march but got pulled off before the soldiers made it to the train. His orders to scout another Confederate unit kept him busy for a few weeks. He kept looking for where they took the soldiers from Cumberland Gap and finally found out.
Once the assignment was finished, he travelled to Camp Douglas. With forged orders to find a spy and a bit of glamoury, he convinced the camp commandant that he was there to pick up a spy. Walking through the full camp with all the filth, sick and dying, he looked at each face until he saw Jesse. They spoke briefly and then Marcus said the soldier wasn’t the one he was looking for. But the next night he went into the camp in secret and spirited Jesse out.
Once Jesse was well, the two of them escaped to India. The time of the British rule by the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947 was called the Raj. Once again Marcus attempted to settle down into a merchant’s life but ended up selling arms. Jesse says Marcus is an adrenalin junkie, he thrives on the thrill of the secret deals.
Marcus was a soldier in World War I while Jesse was still in India. During the period between the wars, the men moved back to England, taking up residence in Cardiff, which was like going back to Marcus’s human family.
When World War II started, Marcus tried to stay out of it but couldn’t resist getting involved. He ended up fighting for the French Resistance, both as a spy and working to procure arms.
Once the war was over, Marcus and Jesse moved back to the United States. Marcus started Lancaster Industries. The company provided him with income but also a good persona. He was Marius Bleddyn from the end of the war to 1968 when he moved from Atlanta to Houston and changed his name back to Marcus Lancaster.
Marcus loves Shetland Sheepdogs and has had show dogs since his first one he picked up in England while stationed in the country in 1918. He bought a breeding pair after the first World War and brought them into the United States. Through careful selection, the Lancaster Shelties line has won many championships around the world. His current dog, GC Lancelot of Somerset Towton Lancaster is his pride and joy.
Marcus is a social person, playing the part of the rich bachelor with a legitimate private security company while still dealing in supplying mercenary soldiers, equipment, and arms. He sits on many boards of charities and was the Man of the Year for his favorite charity Pause for Paws. That organization shows up in the books.
He’s a collector of fine automobiles, has a large library and bank accounts around the world under various names. Marcus has a Lancaster rose ring made of rubies with a diamond center, set in platinum.
I like writing Marcus, he is such a complex and complicated antagonist and sometimes I am surprised by what he’s doing.
Personal Note:
The photos I use for Marcus Lancaster (David Gandy) and Jesse Chamberlain (Matt Barr) are fan pictures and I do not own any claim to either man. I’m just a big fan of both and they are the men I see when I’m writing those characters.