Alrich

Alrich is a Bishop of the Checquy, a senior figure in the organization whose refined appearance and unnerving stillness set him apart from his colleagues. More than a century old, he has served the Checquy longer than most of its members have been alive. The novel presents him as both an influential supervisor and an enigma: his powers are not clearly known, yet Myfanwy finds no evidence that he has acted against the organization he serves.

Identity and Appearance

Alrich is introduced at a meeting convened to discuss an emergency. He arrives after the others, explaining that his night-shift work makes that time especially busy. His remark to Myfanwy—that she looks different—prompts her to say that she has recently been badly beaten. He accepts the explanation lightly and settles beside her, his movement described as sinuous. The exchange establishes an ease in his manner, but does not dispel the impression that he is difficult to read.

His appearance is rendered in unusually precise contrasts. He is tall, with ivory skin lightly freckled, angular and androgynous features, and straight blood-red hair reaching to the small of his back. An exquisitely cut navy-blue suit completes an image of deliberate polish. His voice, by contrast, is husky and growling, an incongruity with his smooth, composed appearance. To Myfanwy, he looks far younger than his actual age: she estimates him to be about five years younger than herself, though later reflection establishes that he has been doing his work for more than a century.

Authority and Conduct in the Court

As a Bishop, Alrich belongs to the Checquy’s senior supervisory tier. During the early discussions of the Grafter threat, he remains after the Lord and Lady and other senior figures leave the room, while the Rooks and Chevaliers are left to work out their response. His quiet presence affects the room: Myfanwy finds him beautiful but disconcerting, while Heretic Gubbins fidgets with his fingers and Joshua Eckhart directs unusual attention to his cigarette.

Alrich then rises with what Myfanwy perceives as eerie smoothness. He tells the group that he does not envy them, but is confident they will devise solutions, and leaves. The contrast between his restrained reassurance and the others’ nervousness gives his brief intervention weight. He neither takes over their work nor offers a concrete plan; instead, he acknowledges the burden on the operational members and withdraws, leaving them to decide how to proceed.

At a later briefing, Myfanwy presents the group’s findings to the Bishops. Alrich sits across from her with Conrad Grantchester, but their presence is less a unified image of authority than a study in opposing temperaments. Myfanwy regards Alrich as almost alien and hypnotic, his delicate features and gaze holding her attention with a mixture of fascination and fear. Grantchester, by contrast, is briskly taking notes on an electronic organizer, and appears distinctly masculine and worldly. Alrich’s power in these scenes is chiefly atmospheric: he is a senior decision-maker whose stillness and gaze make him hard to ignore, even when he says little.

Grantchester explains that information about the Grafters—including material from the examination of Peter Van Syoc and investigations by the Chevaliers and Rook Gestalt—must be routed to the Bishops so that their analysis can be informed. The Bishops’ role is therefore connected to the organization’s assessment of the threat, not just to their ceremonial standing. At the same meeting, the senior response is to scrutinize visitors entering the country and gather more intelligence while allowing events to unfold. After Grantchester leaves, Myfanwy turns and discovers that Alrich has already gone, making his exits as unobtrusive as his entrances are memorable.

Powers, Mystery, and Myfanwy’s Suspicion

Alrich’s abilities remain uncertain even to those who have access to the Checquy’s records. When Myfanwy searches for whoever might be responsible for taking her memories, she considers Alrich because nobody knows exactly what his powers are or where their limits lie. She knows that vampires can have unusual mental capabilities, including the ability to mesmerize prey, and recognizes that such an ability could make him a plausible suspect. The possibility troubles her, but it is not proof.

The files on Alrich are enormous, and Myfanwy understands that his influence reaches into many questionable affairs. Nevertheless, she finds that his actions have been in the Checquy’s interests, with no indication that he is involved in treachery. This distinction matters: the novel does not resolve his mysterious powers by turning them into evidence of guilt. Alrich remains a credible object of suspicion because of what is unknown about him, while the available record offers no basis for identifying him as an enemy. Myfanwy’s investigation leaves the question open rather than converting unease into accusation.

Personal Connections and the Closing Crisis

Alrich’s position among the Court’s long-serving members contrasts with the experience of those raised by the Checquy as assets and warriors. At a social gathering, Myfanwy learns that someone has suggested inviting him to dinner on the grounds that he looks too thin. Her startled reaction provides a small, comic counterpoint to his otherwise imposing presence: he is not only a remote Bishop but also a person whom others imagine including in an ordinary social invitation.

The gathering also sharpens a generational divide. Myfanwy reflects that Alrich has been carrying out this work for more than a century, whereas she, Gestalt, and Gubbins were raised at the Estate and learned to think of themselves first as tools of the organization. In her account, senior figures such as Alrich had known what it was to be people rather than instruments. That contrast gives his longevity a significance beyond age: he belongs to a different relationship with the institution from the members shaped by its training system.

When Myfanwy prepares to confront Grantchester, she hopes that other members of the Court will attend. They do not receive her summons. Grantchester tells her that Alrich is in Scotland, while Wattleman is asleep in his secure residence and Farrier is reviewing the dreams of students at the Estate. Apex House is operating with a skeleton crew because of the heightened alert and the need to screen people. Alrich’s absence is therefore explained by his location and the security conditions, not by any stated allegiance to Grantchester’s betrayal.

After the confrontation, Lady Farrier tells Myfanwy that Alrich seems quite fond of her, grouping him with Eckhart as a Court member whose regard might have made it easier for Myfanwy to disclose her amnesia. The statement supplies a warmer measure of their relationship than Alrich’s earlier scenes do, but it does not explain its history or establish that Myfanwy has confided in him. Myfanwy remains cautious about concealing her memory loss, promising instead to disclose it if secrecy risks the Checquy’s security, or possibly to step down.

Narrative Significance

Alrich’s characterization is built from a productive imbalance between visibility and knowledge. His hair, clothing, voice, posture, and gaze are described in detail, while the powers that might explain his influence remain unknown. The contrast prevents the reader from treating appearance as a reliable guide to intention: he can seem hypnotic and frightening without being shown to be disloyal. Myfanwy’s suspicion is understandable, but her research does not substantiate it.

He also embodies the Checquy’s long institutional memory. His service stretches beyond a century, and his place among the Bishops puts him at the point where intelligence, supervision, and crisis management meet. Yet he does not dominate the response to the Grafter threat in the scenes provided. He watches, reassures, participates in senior oversight, and sometimes disappears before Myfanwy has finished registering his presence. The result is a character who signifies both the authority of the Court and the limits of what Myfanwy can know about the people who wield it.