Elliot Knight, CisMale, He/Him— Lady S has her eye on LORD MALEC MACKENZIE and they should be flattered and terrified. The THIRTY-FIVE year old is a MARQUESS and has chosen to place their loyalty with CARNATION ROW, a very intriguing move on their part. HE is FRIENDLY, LOYAL, WISE, yet Lady S believes them to be SIMPERING yet RASH. Do not fret loyal readers, their secrets will be in print very soon. ( Cait, 24, MST, She/Her )
Marquess Malec Mackenzie was not born into such an esteemed title. In fact, he was born Malec Alexander McDonald, an unremarkable farm boy living in what used to be the borderlands between England and Scotland before they became one. His mother died very young, and Malec grew up living a humble life with just him and his father.
When Malec was about 6 years old, his father wa called upon to serve in the King’s army. Unable to refuse, Mr. McDonaldleft Malec with one of the neighboring families and went off to war. Not six months later, news was received that Malec’s father had perished in battle. Malec was devastated, as was the family that had been keeping him. They could not continue to afford another mouth to feed, and before long, Malec was turned out on the streets.
He had always been a good-hearted boy, and he didn’t have it in him to lie or steal. Instead he picked his way across the highlands, finding shelter where he could, searching for food among the plants or occasionally managing to kill small game in traps his father had taught him to set. He managed to scrap by,but it was a cold, lonely, and dirty existence.
This is how Marquess Edmund Mackenzie found the young boy - disheveled and starved, walking barefoot along the road. The Marquess stopped the boy and offered him a ride in exchange for his story. Malec told him, and the Marquess, having formerly been a Governor in the Army himself, felt a soft spot for this boy who had lost his father to war. He had no wife nor sons of his own, and the man decided then to take Malec in and groom him as his own.
The Marquess invited Malec, then 8 years old, to move into his home and continue in his service. His family also resided with him, he explained, which included his younger brother Martin, who had trained as a physician in London.
Young Malec became obsessed with the doctor’s work, and soon was taken under his tutelage when his service was not needed to the Marquess himself. He grew to become quite knowledgeable in everything from Finances to Veterinary work, and even Surgery. The two brothers raised Malec as if they were each his own father, even allowing Malec to take their name upon his 16th birthday. That is until Martin found himself a wife and had a child of his own.
By then, however, Malec was grown and did not need the men’s tutelage any longer. However, he stayed on to assist the Marquess in overseeing the estate, as the man never had any children of his own. And in the end, it was a blessing and a curse. One night, out of nowhere, the estate was raided by hostiles. They ransacked the house and sought to attack the Marquess. Young and hotheaded, Malec itched to join in the fight to protect the home that had taken him in, but Martin insisted that Malec take his wife and son to safety, and he would take care of the intruders. Malec begrudgingly did what he was told and stole away into the night with the woman and her babe, who was himself only 6 at the time, just as Malec had been when he lost his own father.
When they returned in the morning, they found the estate in a mess. Parts of the house and surrounding building had been burned, though luckily the fires must have been small, and it had been pouring buckets the night before. Smoke still rose from some areas, and fences were broken and livestock run amuck. Inside, Malec found the Marquess and the Doctor butchered, their throats slit…
To Malec’s heartstopping surprise, the Marquess pronounced in his will that his adoptive son Malec Alexander Mackenzie should be named his successor and hold the estate and title of Marquess until Martin’s son, Avery Cole Mackenzie, should come of age.
Now Malec does the work of two men, both keeping up the estate and acting as the physician for Selkirk, all the while training Avery in both trades as well. He is now 35 years old, and still unmarried, yet can no longer deny that he needs assistance in running the estate.
Malec is a wise old soul who has been worn by the responsibilities he carries and the things he’s seen. He has a warm heart and will always grant you honest advice without judgement. However, he is also fiercely protective, and is quick to become heated if he feels danger or disrespect towards anyone he deems an amicable acquaintance. He will beat you bloody if you provoke him, and then stitch up the wounds. He is nothing if not honorable, though his past leaves him with wavering allegiances and a soul deep uncertainty about his place in the world.