Character Interview: Lord Alope

Character interviews seem to be in vogue this season. I've decided to vary the norm, since my MC is so busy I've invited a minor POV character to come have a chat with us.

Live! From Port Kara, Cannes, Fidelies System- 2763 AD Lord Alope!

*much cheering of the audience*

Lord Alope is the Capital Alpha of House Alope. He has recently celebrated his 106th birthday and is happily married to Lady Alope for the past 79 years. He currently works in the Ministry of Honor handling cases for the lesser Houses and dealing with off-planet visitors. Lord Alope shifts into a red fox and is what we would call a true bimorph.

*Lord Alope walks in looking dapper in a well tailored black suit, neatly combed silver hair, and blue eyes*

Me: Lord Alope, welcome to the 21st century. We're glad to have you on the blog.

Alope: *looks around, dubious* Thank you... I think.

Me: *big smile* So, Lord Alope, we're all dying to know: Do you have a first name?

Alope: That's a very personal question.

Me: I could go hack a database if you prefer.

Alope: And I could have you killed. Why not just let the question drop?

Me: Right, no personal questions then?

Alope: If you'd be so agreeable, Miss Brooks. Some things are best left... undiscussed.

Me: Of course. So, no questions on your family.

Alope: Precisely.

Me: Well! *crosses off several questions* Lord Alope, what can you tell us about the current situation on Cannes?

Alope: In 2008? Cannes hasn't even been terraformed yet. I imagine it's rather cold and unexciting.

Me: *purses lips* I meant in your time.

Alope: *small smile* Of course. Currently the situation is strained.

Me: Perhaps, for the sake of brevity, you could cut the political jargon. Just for a little bit? Please?

Alope: *clears throat* The situation on Cannes is very bad. The problem with any isolated population, over several generations, is that the recessive genes come to the fore. Breeding within the powerful Houses results in betas, we need alphas. But to breed alphas, and what you call true bimorphs, we need fresh blood.

Me: Preferably alive and breedable?

Alope: Yes. But to allow an outsider into a great House is, unthinkable. It would defy centuries, millennias, of tradition.

Me: But, as I understand it, the House of Dare is pushing for breeding with non-Were nobility, is that correct.

Alope: Lord Dare, a man I hold in high regard, has suggested something unprecedented. Whether it will work or not is beyond my limited skill to discern.

Me: Fascinating. Lord Alope, would you humor our readers by answering a few of their questions?

Alope: I'd be delighted, Miss Brooks.

Me: This question is from Amy, in Australia: What does House Alope hope to gain from playing the middle in the silent war between House of Dare and House of Gael.

Alope: Very simple, we intend to survive. That is all we ever need.

Me: A follow on question, if I may, what are you hoping to avoid. Extinction isn't a possibility, is it?

Alope: Extinction, no. But loss of power, loss of prestige.

Me: Are you willing to sacrifice something, let's say your family or your personal honor since those are dear to you, to accomplish survival.

Alope: My own honor, yes. If my name must be tarnished to defend my family, so be it. My family is sacrosanct. I will kill every breathing creature in the known universe to defend them, if I must.

Me: Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Alope: Indeed.

Me: One more question before we break, this one from Tracy in Alabama: What do you feel is your defining quality? Is it your ethics, your honor, something else? What, morally, makes you you?

Alope: May I ask if you are familiar with the idea of making storms in a stew pot?

Me: Yes.

Alope: That, I feel, is me. Within my sphere of influence, where I have control, I try to change the world. I am, to the core, an alpha male. I must defend what is mine, until my soul is shattered and lost if that is the cost. I must protect those I love. I must control the world around me, or I will go mad. It is not a matter of wishing to, or hoping to, it is a need, like breathing.

Me: And this, you think, defines you morally?

Alope: What is morality but a way of saying what you will not do? Miss Brooks, there is nothing I will not do to protect those who depend on me. Be they family or ally, there is no line I will not cross for them.

Me: *slightly frightened* Thank you, Lord Alope, for stopping by. I wish you the best of luck with everything. I think I'll just get back to my editing now....