Bede

"Fair as the day is my Kirsten. Sweet as a flower she is. Her goodness banishes evil. She is too perfect for one such as I. A poor plain man I am, far, far beneath her. But her heart is my prisoner. To me she can refuse no help, for she adores me."

- Bede's latest song

Bede is the son of Bess, a distant relative of Lief and an heir of Adin.

Early life
Bede was born to Bess, the leader of the mysterious group of travelling performers called "The Masked Ones". He quickly made a name for himself because of his phenomenal singing and musical ability, which made the troupe and his mother extremely proud of him. His looks and voice became so well known that young women would pay to see the Masked Ones just to see him. As a result, Bede left a trail of broken hearts behind himself, to that point that one young woman from Shadowgate, Kirsten, fled into the mountains and disappeared when he left her, causing the village to hate the Masked Ones.

However, seven years prior to Shadowgate, while Deltora was still under the Shadow Lord's rule, the troupe was attacked by Grey Guards, losing several members before fleeing into Shadowgate once more. It was here that Bede himself fell in love with Kirsten's younger sister, Mariette. He met with her in secret several times, and, on the day before his eighteenth birthday, when he was to become a full member of the Masked Ones, he told his mother that he wanted to leave the troupe. He intended to marry Mariette and become a minstrel. Bess rejected the idea, and Bede seemingly gave into her wishes, but he fled that night into the mountains with Mariette, and was never seen by the Masked Ones again.

At some point, Bede and Mariette stumbled across the castle where the Sister of the North was located, and Bede was astonished to find Kirsten, transformed and gifted with power from the Shadow Lord. Kirsten offered him the opportunity to abandon Mariette and stand by her side, but he refused, and Kirsten imprisoned them both for over seven years. She kept Bede alive for his music and entertainment, and kept Mariette trapped in her locket as a hostage to keep Bede obedient.

Shadowgate
Bede was first mentioned when Lief, Barda, and Jasmine were captured by the Masked Ones, and Bess was startled by Lief's resemblance to her lost son. She immediately latched onto the idea of having Lief replace Bede in the troup, and accepted the group into the Masked Ones temporarily, giving Lief Bede's original bird mask. Bess attempted to teach Lief to sing like Bede - unsuccessfully - and, during their first lesson, she told him about the affair with Bede and Mariette, and mentioned Kirsten briefly.

When the companions explained their desire to leave the Masked Ones, Bess gave Lief Bede's mask of adulthood and asked him to wear it for one hour, long enough for it to bond with him permanently. Unfortunately for Bess, Jasmine was able to remove the mask at the last second. Bess herself died trying to poison Barda, and the secret of the troupe's masks was exposed.

As Lief and his companions neared the village of Shadowgate on the back of the Lapis Lazuli dragon, Lief heard a four-note tune, which he initially assumed was coming from the clock in Happy Vale. Barda noted that the Happy Vale chime was different, and Lief eventually recognised it as a tune Bess had taught him. Lief quickly wrote down the notes of the short song and connected them to their musical letters, revealing that the song spelled "Bede". This led Lief to conclude that Bede was "The Masked One", the guardian of the Sister of the North.

When Lief, Barda, and Jasmine arrived at Kirsten's castle, she lead them into Bede's chamber where he had been playing his harp. He stopped playing briefly when his guests arrived, but he began again at Kirsten's insistence. He played a new song this time, with lyrics that the companions felt were put together with little effort, meant only to torment Kirsten. However Lief slowly realised that the last word in each of the song's lines formed a phrase: "Kirsten is evil. I am her prisoner. Help me." Lief then spoke to Bede in the Masked One's secret language to confirm he had gotten the message before he and Barda freed Bede from his hidden chains while Jasmine distracted Kirsten.

The group fled through the castle with Bede, who told them that Kirsten had imprisoned Mariette as well. Bede was captured along with Barda and Jasmine when Kirsten used her magic to command the walls to swallow them, but was freed when she and the Sister of the North were destroyed.

The Sister of the South
After the destruction of the Sister of the South, Doom and Lief talked about Bede and his ancestor, Ballum, and how he is a distant cousin to the royal family. Bede and Mariette both attended Lief and Jasmine's wedding. They were referred to as being "of Shadowgate", indicating that Bede remained in the village and did not rejoin the Masked Ones.

Physical appearance
Bede bears an uncanny resemblance to Lief, which is a result of their shared heritage. Both are descendants of Adin; Bede through Ballum and Lief through Elstred.

When Kirsten tried to fool Lief and his friends into thinking that Bede was evil, she had him wear extravagant clothing to appear more greedy and in control. His hair was described as "shining", he wore emeralds on his ears and in a circlet around his head, and carried a small, golden harp. He also wore golden chains around his neck and slim wrists, which were actually there to chain Bede to the ground.

Personality
"Mariette! Kirsten - has - Mariette."

- An exhausted Bede expresses his concern for Mariette

Bede had a reputation for being a heart-breaker, and as a result Lief initially held him in some degree of contempt. When Bede first appeared in person, he behaved in an extremely arrogant and cruel manner, seemingly taunting Kirsten with a poorly written love song, while acting as though it was a masterpiece. In actuality, Kirsten was forcing him to act this way to trick Lief, Jasmine, and Barda.

Little was seen of Bede's actual personality, but he genuinely seemed to care for Mariette, and went along with Kirsten's aforementioned ploy because she was threatening Mariette's life. He seemed to hold much less loyalty for the Masked Ones, and fled from the troupe just before becoming a full member, despite being their main attraction. Bede's mother, Bess, was immensely proud of her son, and he seemed to care for her as well, to a degree, kissing her one last time before running away.

Abilities
Bede had a natural talent for music, possessing a beautiful voice that Bess boasted could charm birds. His voice was repeatedly compared to sweet birdsongs, to the point that his mask was even modeled after a bird. In addition to his voice, Bede was gifted with instruments, and was able to play a harp beautifully even after years of imprisonment. He was also a skilled songwriter. Bess said that his rhyming was perfect, and he was also clever enough to weave a distress message into one of his songs - ironically, a message that Lief only recognised because it did not rhyme. Having grown up in the Masked Ones' Inner Circle, Bede was also fluent in their secret language.

After seven years of being chained by Kirsten, Bede's physical capabilities were weak. His body was left thin and delicate, and he was so weakened that he could barely walk when trying to escape from her. He had presumably recovered enough to travel by the end of the series, when he attended Lief and Jasmine's wedding in Del.

Dragons of Deltora

 * Shadowgate 
 * The Sister of the South 

Trivia

 * As Bede is related to Lief through a closer relative than Adin's children, it stands to reason that he could be higher in standing for the throne than Marilen, Lief's designated heir. Both of course fall behind Lief's children.