Simon de Beaumont

Simon (Legrande) de Beaumont is the youngest brother of Louis Legrande. He is thirteen years old and lame in both feet due to malformed ankles. Despite rumours, he is a fairly healthy and bright lad who tries to get around by himself with the use of crutches. It is said that his older brother Pepin Legrande is searching for a healer with the ability to heal Simon's crippling ailment. He is notable for being the only member of the Legrande family to reside in the Winter Palace at Montclair ( Beaumont ) year-round, preferring it to the Summer Palace where his mother and sisters live. He is largely a homebody and a bit of a bookish sort, involving himself in administrative tasks and academic studies to a greater degree than most of his brothers excepting the king, but has aspirations to travel to Nes to study magic which has fascinated him since his early childhood. This ambition is discouraged by his mother who doesn't want him to travel far from home on account of the difficulties presented by his deformity, but his brother the King has encouraged it, offering Simon a retinue of eight soldiers and two servants of his choice to attend him on condition that he uses his time there to copy as many books of any kind as he can for the royal library. Simon is hesitant to go, not wanting to upset his mother and not wanting to be carried into Nes by servants, and hopes for the days when he will be healed and able to walk on his own.