Lalage is the younger of the twin daughters of Prince Martin of Amber and his wife, Lady Mera. Her elder twin, Xanthe, fell ill at a young age and Lady Mera retreated with Xanthe to Rebma. Martin took Lalage deeper into Shadow and raised her himself.
Lalage followed in her father's footsteps, training as a diplomat and a warrior for the position of the King's Own. She learned swordplay from Dara at her mountain retreat and law from Bill Roth. She was particularly close to her grandfather, the King, and her father. On her mother's death, Random created Lalage Duchess of Texorami, his favorite crown shadow.
Despite a friendship with Prince Aubrey of the Thelbane, which Merlin, and perhaps Random, hoped would blossom into a romance and a marriage, Lalage fell in love with a diplomat from Venango, Marcus Tanachrison, and married him. The couple served Random as diplomats for some years, eventually being made ambassadors to Merlin's court at the Thelbane.
It was the attack on Amber's Embassy in the Thelbane and the murder of Lalage's husband and her old friend Prince Aubrey that first heralded the rise of the Empire of the Phoenix. In addition to the public tragedy, few knew that Lalage miscarried her husband's child following the attack.
Lalage was present in Amber when Random died by Rinaldo's sorcery, but departed within days for parts unknown. It is rumored that she seeks vengeance for her losses in the Empire of the Phoenix. Martin, tied to Amber by his duty to protect Queen Neoma, has frantically sought her through agents in Shadow.
Very few people suspect that Lalage has secretly been in contact with her kinsman Rinaldo, and those few do not know to what end.
After Random's death, it became clear that he intended to force Martin to accept the throne by putting Lalage in close line in the succession. Martin has refused to take the throne, leaving his daughter one of the principal targets for Amber's enemies, especially if Queen Neoma is not pregnant with an heir to Amber.