Silk

Character Info
Full name and title(s)	His Highness Prince Kheldar of Drasnia Silk Ambar of Kotu Radek of Boktor The Guide The Rat The Nimble Thief
Race	Drasnian
Appearances	The Belgariad, The Mallorean
Professions	Spy, merchant, acrobat, member of the Drasnian royal family

Prince Kheldar, otherwise known as Silk, was born a prince in the royal family of Drasnia. He was second-in-line to the throne, behind his Uncle King Rhodar, until the birth of Rhodar and Porenn's son, Prince Kheva.

Biography

Silk with the massive Barak. by Daniel R. Horne

Little is known about his childhood, but he entered the Drasnian academy at a young age and trained in espionage and intelligence gathering. Afterwards, his mother, a renowned beauty, contracted a disease that left her horribly  disfigured, and it was around this time that he began avoiding Drasnia, and specifically, her, being unable to deal with the pain it caused him and his father. He was then employed by the Drasnian Intelligence Service, performing numerous missions and developing a renowned reputation in the espionage world, developing numerous aliases including Radek of Boktor and Ambar of Kotu. Interestingly, during this period, he claimed to having lost the real "Silk" and that Prince Kheldar was just as much of a fiction as Ambar and Radek - he also met Liselle, at the time a young girl, for the first time, teased her outrageously, setting the scene for their later romance. He also developed a reputation for dishonesty, cheating, lying, stealing, and sleeping with other men's wives. Before the Belgariad, his uncle King Rhodar remarried, and Kheldar fell in love with Porenn, the King's wife - for which he expressed serious self loathing.

His most common alias is Silk. In the Mrin Codex he is known as The Guide or The Rat. He first met Garion in the woods when Garion fled, thinking he and Barak were bandits. He began teaching Garion the Drasnian Secret Language, and almost unwittingly began to teach the less worldly young boy in the realities of life outside Sendaria. He was vital in escaping several dangerous situations, and in tracking the Orb. He was selected by Garion to travel with him in his final confrontation with Torak, and during this part of the journey most of his history was revealed, as was the fact his Aunt knew of his feelings for her, but didn't return them. He was in Cthol Mishrak when Torak was defeated. He was last seen in the Belgariad dancing with his Aunt at Garion's wedding, with a look of self hatred on his face.

In the second series, he was seen to have established a huge business empire, partnering with Yarblek, a Nadrak. He traveled with the main party and again used his knowledge of intelligence gathering to help them on their quest. During their travels and despite his worldly nature, he was slowly and surely but unwittingly seduced by Liselle, who had been in love with him since she was a child, despite the 20-year age gap. After the final Event, he introduced her as his fiancée, without actually asking her, but she accepted anyway and the two married. In Polgara the Sorceress, it was revealed they were expecting their first child.

Appearance

He was fairly short (often referred to as the "little Drasnian"), with a rat-like face, narrow eyes, a very long nose, and scruffy black hair. His nose tended to twitch when his cleverness was about to secure him a profit. Due to his acting skills, he was able to impersonate almost any race and dialect, even altering his appearance simply by contorting his muscles, and was skilled in the art of disguise.

by Ashley Claypool

Personality

Silk was a sardonic, quick witted, self-confidant and cynical man who could usually get the better of anyone and could turn almost any situation to his advantage. He had a habit of making sarcastic and outrageous comments and of avoiding direct questions, not out of a desire to conceal information but simply to irritate the asker. With certain individuals he had a series of obscure, long standing jokes, such as always calling Porenn "Auntie," a nickname she hated, or constantly mocking Belgarath about his age simply for his own amusement. Though as a companion of Belgarion he always acted in the best interests of the group, he took every opportunity to drink, gamble (he cheated at dice), and make money. He can also get slightly vain and pompous after succeeding in his plots multiple times, so Liselle and Ce'Nedra would regularly puncture his ego, usually to amusing results.

However, sometimes his mask of cynicism slipped, and he revealed himself to be somewhat troubled, though he came to resolve many of these issues by the time of his marriage. He prefered to simply ignore his personal problems until he was forced to face them - as an example it was stated that he avoided Drasnia for 20 years so he didn't have to see his mother, as it hurt him to see her so disfigured. He also refused to discuss his problems unless very drunk and prefered to pretend he didn't have any. Perhaps to this end, he put on a face of seeming jocularity and mockery. He also seemed to have identity issues due to his lifetime of spies and false stories, claiming he didn't really know who he was, and that he had lost the "real" Silk years ago. He was open and honest about his faults, openly admitting that he was dishonest, but hated being called a "sneak" for some obscure reason. He was in line for the throne of Drasnia but was very glad not to be first in line, as he had far too much else that he'd rather do (and was the first to admit he would be a terrible ruler), not to mention that most would fall over laughing at the idea of Silk ruling.  It was once commented that the entire royal treasury would be lost in a day.

One of his more consistent idiosyncrasies is his claustrophobia, exacerbated by his being caught by Taur Urgas and placed in a pit, Relg rescued him by pulling him through the rock. He is also slightly sensitive about his height, and would make sure to mock endlessly anyone who commented about "little people."

Silk by Zach Alexander

Abilities

Trained at the Drasnian academy for spies, Silk was a extreme,y skilled fighter, known to carry multiple daggers at all times, including one in his boot and another in a small sheath hanging behind his neck, though he was just as skilled at unarmed combat. His days as a member of the Drasnian Intelligence service gave him a reputation as the greatest spy to ever live, and he knew from experience how to enter and leave any city as quickly as possible. In The Malloreon, he owned a business empire, and was sometimes recognized as the richest man in the world and he was extremely skilled at both the espionage and trading "games" as he refered to them. His main occupations were espionage, commerce and theft, often engaged in simultaneously, though he was also an acrobat and an assassin when the situation demanded it. He was an incredibly quick thinker and, especially when teamed up with Liselle, was able to ferret out almost any secret anywhere in the world.

Relationships

Velvet, Zith, and a chagrined Kheldar

Silk was the nephew of the King of Drasnia, Rhodar. Silk was initially secretly in love with Rhodar's young wife, Queen Porenn, for much of The Belgariad. In The Malloreon he was systematically seduced by Liselle, also known as Velvet, a young spy whose uncle was head of Drasnian Intelligence. At the end of The Seeress of Kell, Silk proposed to Liselle and they were later married. It was mentioned in Polgara the Sorceress "that Liselle was pregnant with Silk's child. When he was very young, his mother was the victim of a plague which took both her great beauty and her eyesight. Consequently, his father wasted away at her bedside. He also had a half-brother, Urgit, the bastard son of Silk's father and Taur Urgas' (King of the Murgos) wife, Tamazin, and consequently the Murgo king.