Edouard Albé

Albé has dark oiled hair and a round pale face. He wears ivory-rimmed spectacles and a cross of beaten gold on a necklace. He and Cassandra look back at Hadrian from the head of Ascalon's boarding ramp before departing.

Albé is a trained HAPSIS intelligence operative and combat soldier. He is a devout Museum Catholic adorator -- a believer in a god-man who walked the earth in mortal guise, wept, and died -- whose Church has billions of adherents spread across the Empire. He speaks Old French natively and Cielcin. He carries his ancestor's MAG rifle and a crucifix. He created the micro-telegraph transmitter carried by Hadrian. He cites the principle that one cannot do evil to do good.

• Hadrian -- intelligence officer and close friend; Hadrian compared his own voice to Gibson's echo when speaking to Edouard, and reflected that Edouard is a specter in memory -- only Cassandra's face remaining clear at the moment of parting
• Jean-Louis Albé (Ancestor) -- great-great-grandfather who saved Crispin Marlowe's life and received the ancestral rifle
• Germain Nazaire (Brother) -- inherited the lictor role from their father
• Marie Hyacinthe (Sister)
• Léonne Sibylla (Sister)
• Vivienne Emanuelle (Sister)
• Janashia -- subordinate
• Browning -- subordinate
• Friedrich Oberlin -- late HAPSIS colleague
• Cassandra Marlowe -- close operational partner; assigned to escort and aid her in building alliances; departed with her aboard Ascalon
• Ramanthanu -- Cielcin captain
• Orphan -- the daimon he was assigned to guard and study
• Otomno -- Cielcin mate of Ramanthanu; Hadrian instructed Albé to take Otomno and the child Darathama aboard Ascalon to safety among the Jaddians
• Darathama -- Ramanthanu's child; entrusted to Albé's care aboard Ascalon
• Lord Cassian Powers -- worked under him briefly
• Annaz and Holden -- collaborators in mapping Demiurge's interior
• Aurelian -- Imperial official who had threatened to extract an account from Albé
• Kaim-Olorin -- Jaddian prince he coordinates with
• Sahak and Taran -- HAPSIS legionnaires he directs
• Captain Ghoshal -- Vorgossos planning conspirator
• Ketevan -- officer aboard Gadelica he relayed communications to
• Sabine Doryssa Marlowe -- first destination of the alliance-building mission Cassandra and Albé embark on

Albé's family has served House Marlowe for five generations, with Edouard being the seventh member of that line to enter Marlowe service. His father served as lictor to Lord Crispin Marlowe. His great-great-grandfather Jean-Louis Albé saved Crispin Marlowe's life and was given an ancestral MAG rifle with the Marlowe devil embossed upon it.

Albé grew up in Devil's Rest on Delos, in Auriga Province, Meidua Prefecture. He attended Mountbatten Academy on Avalon through a letter from Vicereine Kephalos. His brother Germain Nazaire inherited the lictor role, which drove Edouard to leave Delos. He subsequently spent three years in Jadd orbit before entering HAPSIS service. His siblings include Germain Nazaire, Marie Hyacinthe, Léonne Sibylla, and Vivienne Emanuelle. He belongs to the St.-Maximilian Museum Catholic Reserve.

He delivered a pardon and the Emperor's letter to Hadrian, was formally unmasked as A2, and took command of Ascalon during launch. During the Cielcin assault he devised and executed the EM bombardment strategy that disrupted the Watcher Ushara. He acted as operational coordinator during the Forum escape and was decisive at Vorgossos, arranging the sapping charges that destroyed the Brethren and overseeing Cassandra's medical care after she was wounded.

Aboard Demiurge he coordinated intelligence, led technical briefings on the Astrophage weapon, and was assigned to guard and study Orphan. When a daimon threatened his family at Vorgossos, he refused to submit, declaring 'Their blood on your hands.' During the Gododdin battle, he tracked fleet movements, relayed communications, and suggested the use of Martian atomics to replicate the Perseus effect.

At the firing of Astrophage, he stood at the holograph clutching his crucifix and objected strenuously to sacrificing the fleet, citing the principle that one cannot do evil to do good. After the battle, at the round table council, he sat beside Cassandra, his hair oiled and his uniform tidily in place.

In the final dispersal of Demiurge's company, Albé led the pallbearers carrying Ramanthanu's body in the funeral procession. Hadrian assigned him the task of escorting and aiding Cassandra in building alliances, entrusting Otomno and the child Darathama to his care aboard Ascalon. In the hold of Demiurge, he saluted Hadrian with 'Hail, Caesar' and confirmed the ship was ready. He and Cassandra looked back at Hadrian from the head of Ascalon's boarding ramp as they departed into exile. Hadrian later reflected that Edouard is a specter in memory -- only Cassandra's face remaining clear at the moment of parting -- and that he saw the echo of his old tutor Gibson in his own voice when speaking to him.