"Call her Cytherea Loveday, [...] That's what she wanted to be called..."[1]
Loveday Heptane (LOVE-day HEP-tane) is the cavalier primary to the Seventh Saint to Serve the King Undying, Cytherea the First. She followed her necromancer to Canaan House to become a disciple of the The Emperor and gave her life so that Cytherea could ascend to the position of Lyctor.
Biography[]
History[]
Loveday Heptane was born into an established Seventh House some time between The Resurrection and the establishment of The Locked Tomb. Here she became the cavalier primary to Cytherea, a woman suffering from the terminal heptenary blood cancer.
When Cytherea was around thirty years old, The Emperor was drawn to Seventh House to see something he refers to only as "the miracle at Rhodes"[1] (possibly a reference to Cytherea herself). Though he originally asked not to see "the woman," when it became clear that Cytherea had necromantic ability she was invited to join the disciples at Canaan House.
Loveday, opposed to this travel due to the condition of her necromancer, was rather hostile toward the other disciples. However, once the principles of Lyctorhood became clear, she pushed her necromancer to ascend in attempt to save her life. Loveday Heptane sacrificed herself, believing that becoming a Lyctor would heal and save her necromancer from her illness.
Appearance and Personality[]
Little is known about the appearance of Loveday Heptane aside from her eyes, which are described as "huge and blue,"[2] and which appear as Cytherea's eyes after she ascends to Lyctorhood.
In personality, Loveday was cherished by her necromancer and seemingly no one else. The Emperor remembers her as "looking as though she wanted every one of [the original disciples] beaten to death,"[1] and Augustine and Mercymorn hold no fond memories of her.
Relationships[]
Cytherea the First[]
"I didn't want to do it [Lyctorhood] either ... I didn't want to do it at all ... but I was dying. Lovedayāshe was my cavalierāshe and I thought it could make me live."[3]
Little is known about the nature of Cytherea and Loveday's relationship. However, her willingness to travel to Canaan House and sacrifice her life for Cytherea's possible healing and future says a great deal about how highly she cherished and valued her necromancer. Additionally, from the few remarks on her life, it was clear that she was fiercely protective of Cytherea and a constant caretaker in the face of her degenerating illness.
Augustine the First and Mercymorn the First[]
"I never mourned for Loveday Heptane. She did one good thing with her life, and she knew it."[1]
Though the cause of their animosity is unknown, it is clear that Augustine and Mercymorn (and by extension, likely a number of the other Canaan House disciples) did not enjoy the company of Loveday Heptane.
References[]
- ā 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Harrow the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 9
- ā "Gideon the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 7
- ā "Gideon the Ninth," Act IV, Ch. 35