Alec is an odd boy. While most of his noble peers are sociable, sometimes to the point of gregariousness, Alec is perfectly content with his own company. He can socialise, it's a trapping of his status that he has to, but he finds it draining and is usually the first to make his excuse to leave. He's perfected the timing on when to leave a party so as to not offend the hosts. To those who don't know him, Alec is quiet and withdrawn. The reality is that Alec prefers to be a closed book, that way, he can manage people's expectations of him. He doesn't mean to be a control freak, he just grew up to be one. Alec has extraordinary control of his emotions and lacks the volatile temper of his elder sister and father. In his twenty years, no one has ever seen Alec lose his temper, or so they say. The truth of the face is that Alec's anger smoulders rather than explodes. If someone slights his family, his anger and patience and skill weave together to seek retribution. He has an anger in him, just not an explosive one.

While he keeps most people at arm's length, he is softer when it comes to Elira. Her own disposition settles his and he finds himself being the person he might have been and his formative years not been so isolated. He is still quiet, prone to long bouts of thinking with Elira, but he's more open with her, more inclined to a clumsy attempt at humour. He can be quite dry when the mood takes him, but he seldom talks to people enough to form that sort of camaraderie.

Whether his isolation is self-inflicted or a result of his parents' benign neglect is a matter for debate, but whatever caused it, it has formed an arm of who Alec is and has made his position as spymaster that much easier to maintain. If he has no one prying for his attention or information, then he cannot unintentionally reveal what he knows until he is ready. Everything is about remaining in control. That being said, Alec is an adaptable young man. One does not command a network of spies without a degree of flexibility; information changes, people falter, all of this must be absorbed without missing a stride.

As the youngest child and the second born son, Alec knew he would have to prove that he was important rather than coast on his noble blood to get him ahead. Alec is the youngest of four children and as such was a quiet child, especially with the decidedly headstrong Sigrid looking after him. There was a worry for a while that Alec was mute and so he was more hidden than the rest of the noble children in order to avoid any embarrassment to the family. His absence as a child was excused as him being sickly, a label that sticks with him to this day despite being in generally good health. Once Sigrid and Laurence had their own studies to contend with, Alec began to come into his own and it became apparent that Alec was not mute, just a quiet child since his three siblings were acting as his voice.

While Sigrid and Laurence were gifted warriors, it was clear that Alec lacked their prowess. He was good enough to defend himself, but perhaps not enough to be joining the guard as was the usual path for the second son. It was academics were Alec shone, enhanced by his early years spent reading to occupy himself. He was also incredibly observant which Alec reckons came from years of watching life in the Western Bluffs rather than participating in it. He knew that Sigrid resented the attention she had from boys, that Laurence was popular, that Elira was the perfect daughter. Since he rarely had the attention of his parents, Alec began working with the archivist and began recording the daily goings on as they were reported; imports, outports, taxation. As the years passed, the archivist's sight began to fail as old age caught up with him and Alec increasingly took on more responsibilities until he was the archivist in all but name.

During his time as an apprentice, Alec noticed discrepancies in the books that didn't add up, money going missing, production being noted wrongly. He began investigating but soon found that, as a Chamber, there were only so many places he could get before he was noticed. And so Alec began to slip coin into the servants of the noble houses in exchange for the information the invisible could provide. While he couldn't find evidence enough to accuse anyone of the theft, he certainly gathered enough information to have leverage on the houses. A letter here, a sly word there as it was required, and the coffers prospered. Alec grew his network of spies and it is now said that nothing happens in the Western Bluffs without Alexander Chambers finding out about it.

The prospects presented by the gathering both thrill Alec and fill him with trepidation. It's a new place, a new set of people to observe, a bigger group to have in his pocket. Of course, he may well have to establish a new network to assist him in that, but there are plenty who are more loyal to coin than any banner. The trepidation comes from the expectations of his parents for this meeting. The part of him that wants to make his parents proud is overshadowed by the part that refuses to condemn himself to an unhappy marriage. While he's aware many noble marriages are those of allegiance and convenience, Morwenna's marriage a prime case, he knows he will never be interested in any of the beautiful women. Alec has known for several years that he prefers the company of men, which is, to his mind at least, just another way he manages to embarrass his father. He keeps his dalliances from prying eyes but there's no knowing who's watching in a room of strangers.