Stephan Throneburg

Stephan Throneburg ---pronounced Stef-ah-n---(Model: Thomas Daniels) has both been seen and mentioned on this blog previously in accordance with both Gray and Roman; as Gray is his love interest and Roman is his best friend and boss, so to speak. And seeing as you've heard a bunch about him already, I thought maybe this'd be a good/fun time to tell you the story of BEFORE the books a bit...since they are how Stephan's life gets woven into Roman's. Sound like a good idea? Great...let's begin...

Many years ago, before the Great Order came to be, there were just the Royal families and much free rein for those falling into one of the four factions of the Clandestine World: Vampire, Werewolf, Shape Shifter and Witch. But much like how human society began to become more violent and more evil, so did the Clandestine society. The Throneburg family, though not of royal blood, became alined with the one royal household; Keziah. They worked closely to create something their world would one day call The Great Order; laws for the Clandestine World. But, much like in human society, change for them was hard to come by...rules were balked and people retaliated, create opposing sides. War broke out and the first seperation of members of the Clandestine World began.

During a raid attack one night Stephan's family was killed. The only reason he was spared was because he was too young to be at any activist events. So, at the age of almost two Stephan came to live with the Keziah family. But they were in their own turmoil. Harrison and Joelle Keziah were getting a divorce. Joelle took Stephan with her and left her two sons, Phoenix and Harmon with their father as they were older and were needed to work at building The Great Order with their father and his younger brother, Savion, and his two boys, Javin and Carmon.

Joelle soon met a man, Nathaniel Pierce, a very tall and handsome scholar/teacher with a fondness for books and his daughter, Elizabeth, from a previous marriage. When Joelle and he wed, Stephan moved into the home with her and when he was three she bore a son; Roman. Of course Joelle's son's from her previous marriage would visit and though Harmon was more aloof, Phoenix became fast friends with both Roman and Stephan.

(L to R) Roman Pierce, Phoenix Keziah and Stephan Throneburg. (Models: Greg Lucas, Peter Gosik and Thomas Daniels)

Soon into his adolescence Stephan noticed he was different, and not just in one way. And both of the things discovered could and would have made him an outcast at the time if his family wasn't who they were. Firstly, he came to the full understanding that he was gay. The Clandestine World may have always far ahead of the human world in technology, medicine, architecture and socieal issues...but homosexuality still wasn't widely accepted. Secondly, his gift was something normal Living Vampires couldn't do. Not unless there was a Witch in his family line somewhere, but as such things (mixing of the races) was frowned upon, Stephan's talent to relay events to others by a mere touch was hidden.

But, as you know from my previous entries...he didn't have to hide his sexuality forever. By the time our story takes place, 1997, his sexuality was much more widely accepted (but not his gift) and when he meets Grayson Stoltz (a human), there is a true passion between them that eventually helps blur the lines of race even more.

Stephan is a proper gentleman of old England in many ways, in both posture and presence. Though he comes from nothing he was raised with royalty and thus behaves and dresses as such. Though older than Roman by three years they are closer than most blood siblings and when he became appointed Roman's Aid for The Great Order he felt no shame in it. Roman is half royal blood and to him, working with/for Roman is an honor and makes him a good wage without leaving his friend's side.

Honor. I think that's a great word for Stephan. He has this in abundance. His allegience to the Keziah/Pierce families and to The Great Order are strong in him...but so is love and unlike Roman, when the two collide, he's not so slow or thick headed to see the importance of both and yet, make a choice. He loves Alex very much. But the question stands, will he turn the once happy "boy-toy" into his partner...forsaking all others?

Ah yes...you'll have to read and see if Gray throws away his playfull...and as Atlanta says, "whorish ways," for Stephan. It's one thing to date, it's another to make a commitment to a vampire, wouldn't you say?

Though, if someone deserves the happiness...its Stephan. Though he's a cool headed, stoic loner sitting in the corner of the bar sipping a cozmo as he watches the crowd, one leg crossed over the other, back straight in his chair, with his tailored outfit just "so" and his blonde ponytail tied neatly behind the nape of his neck...he's the rock that can either hold Roman together or break him apart.


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And that's the end of today's tale and info on Stephan...I hope you found it interesting. The names you heard (Phoenix, Harmon, Javin, and Carmone) are all characters you'll meet soon enough. This was just meant to give you a taste of the political side of the novels.

Side Note: I had a friend named Charlie at Western Michigan University (Theatre Department) who had long blonde hair and golden brown eyes who OBVIOUSLY Stephan's look is based on. Mind you, he was NOT stoic or a loner but he had this way of watching people as he sat in a coffee shop, leg crossed over the other as he smoked a cig that is still part of Stephan's character. Charlie was (and still is) a vibrant soul who I cherished from my time at WMU. I'd tried to find him on the net to no avail...until this year. SO happy I finally found him...and of all things, he lives near my mom! LOL! Ya gotta love Facebook!
xoxo

Tamsin :)