Galen is one of Mytros' most famous athletes, who specialises in fighting and combat events. Handsome and charismatic, he comes across as rather vain and boastful at first glance. Despite this conceitedness, he is actually rather popular with women and men alike, and is known to be a bit of a hopeless romantic.
What most people do not realise, however, is that his prowess is mostly smoke and mirrors. His talents are all thanks to Parthenia Valentor, his spellcaster. Without her, Galen is a mediocre athlete at best; and his overconfidence is borne from attempts to hide his ineptitude, rather than from actual arrogance.
What's more, Galen is Acastus Arkelander's cousin (though not on the Arkelander side) and the King often proudly boasts of him, claiming to have trained him. But the young man knows Acastus better than most and worries greatly about what the King might do to save face if it came out that Galen wasn't quite as impressive an athlete as he first appears.
Unfortunately for Galen, he might be closer to being found out than he realises: Parthenia is planning to leave Mytros to settle in Estoria after the Great Games are done, and he will be left without her magic to help him.