Rolande de la Courcel
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In Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series, Prince Rolande de la Courcel is the deceased Dauphin of Terre d'Ange, a member of House Courcel, the only son of Ganelon de la Courcel. He was engaged to marry Edmée de Rocaille, but when she died in a supposed riding accident, he unwittingly married her murderess, Isabel L'Envers, instead. With Isabel he had one daughter, Ysandre de la Courcel, before he was killed at the Battle of the Three Princes.
It was considered a harrowing tragedy that Prince Rolande died so young, as he was reckoned a great leader and a man of outstanding moral character. Delaunay states that his only fault as a leader was his rashness. He is shown as having sterling integrity, illustrated in the case of Alcuin nó Delaunay, who was gotten on a village girl in Camlach by one of Rolande's men. Rolande promised that the boy would always be cared for, taking responsibility for the actions of his officer. From his own journal, Phèdre nó Delaunay sees proof that Rolande was generous and reckless spirit who adhered strongly to the Precept of Blessed Elua to love as thou wilt.
Rolande and Delaunay became lovers when they were at the University of Tiberium together, and remained so throughout Rolande's life. For this reason, Delaunay fulfills the promises Rolande made. While at the University, Rolande began to call Anafiel by his mother's maiden name, as Delaunay was also the name of an Eisandine shepherd loved by Elua. Delaunay was also nicknamed Antinous by the masters of the University, after a lad loved by an ancient Tiberian Imperator.
There existed no ill will between Edmeé de Rocaille and Anafiel; they had been childhood friends, and Edmeé understood that she was trading passion to be the Queen of Terre d'Ange and the mother of Rolande's heirs.
Edmeé's death drove a wedge between Rolande and Anafiel, as Anafiel suspected Isabel L'Envers of wrongdoing, and Rolande in his grief refused to see it. When Anafiel wrote the poem Antinous' Ode to His Beloved, describing in a thinly veiled story Isabel's machinations to remove her rival from the equation, Isabel called for Anafiel's banishment. He escaped that fate when he refused to claim authorship of the poem, and partly on Rolande's word, but at the price of having his poetry banned and destroyed. Rolande wept when Delaunay's poetry was collected and burned.
Anafiel and Rolande mended the breach between them, but not long afterwards, Rolande rode to war and the Battle of the Three Princes. During the battle, Prince Rolande, in his typical bold but reckless manner, led the third mounted charge; he got too far ahead of the rest of his troops, and was lost in the fray when his standard-bearer's horse stumbled and went down. The rest of the d'Angeline forces could not find the Dauphin before the Skaldi did, and Rolande was killed, leaving his infant daughter Ysandre as heir to the throne.
