AERION
DECEMBER 12, 159–FEBRUARY 2, 188 NE
King Aerion shared his mother’s passion for architecture, and together they built the now-iconic Bridge of Archeon. During this period, Nortan spies led by House Merandus and House Iral aided Prairie warlords in their border war with the Lakelands. Backed with money from the Nortan treasury and the king himself, Prairie armies won valuable farmland in the Minnowan region and pushed the Lakelander border back across the Great River. King Aerion used this tactic to weaken Norta’s closest neighbor, knowing that their two kingdoms would inevitably clash in the future. Influenced by his mother and grandmother, King Aerion decreed that his line of succession would depend on ability, not gender. Therefore his firstborn child, a daughter named Andura, was heir to the throne, followed by her younger brother.
ANDURA
FEBRUARY 2, 188–SEPTEMBER 27, 199 NE
As the first ruling queen of Norta, Andura faced considerable opposition from the nobility and her government. She married through the first Princestrial, wedding a son of House Blonos, who became her prince consort. Queen Andura was a famed warrior and diplomat, able to hide Nortan involvement in the Prairie wars with the Lakelands. She maintained a shaky peace with the north while secretly building up her nation’s armies, expanding Red conscription to include females as well as opening the military to any Silver woman who wished to enlist. Andura’s only child did not inherit her burner abilities, and to maintain peace in the kingdom, she upheld her father’s decree of succession. Her brother remained her heir until his death during a Red uprising in Harbor Bay. Similar uprisings were gaining strength in Norta, the Lakelands, and Piedmont, where Silver overlords struggled to maintain control of a larger Red population. Andura’s son, Ambrosin, left Norta following his mother’s death to seek his fortune in the west. He is a highly skilled blood healer, nearly immortal because of his ability, and still lives as King Triarch in Tiraxes. He is over one hundred years old.
TIBERIAS III
SEPTEMBER 27, 199–MARCH 30, 222 NE
As the firstborn son of Queen Andura’s brother, Tiberias became heir to the throne after his father’s death. He ascended during a chaotic time of Red rebellion and worsening relations with the Lakelands. One of his first acts as king was to call a summit with the monarchy of the Lakelands, but negotiations broke down quickly, and the Lakelander War was declared. It would last more than a century and claim millions of lives, both Red and Silver. It has been suggested that the war was indeed a war of anger, but of necessity as well, serving to curtail Red populations in both Norta and the Lakelands.
LEONORA
MARCH 30, 222–JANUARY 3, 237 NE
Like her grandmother, Leonora was the firstborn child of a Calore monarch, and so inherited the throne over her younger brother. She refused the rite of Princestrial and never married, but Mariane Nolle was her consort until death, and given the rank of princess. Leonora was the first ruling Calore to leave Norta during her reign, embarking on a tour of Piedmont to visit cousins and various dignitaries. She also visited Corvium many times to survey the Choke, a rapidly expanding wasteland serving as the war border between the Lakelander and Nortan trenches. By her decree, her nieces and nephews were partially raised at the war front to learn military matters firsthand.
TIBERIAS IV
JANUARY 3, 237–SEPTEMBER 2, 270 NE
Continuing the military tradition set by his ancestors, Tiberias IV was a general in the Nortan armies before succeeding his older sister. He oversaw more than thirty years of war as king, and toward the end of his reign began a more clandestine campaign against the Lakelands. He utilized a vast spy network, headed by House Iral, to infiltrate Lakelander strongholds, track troop moments, sabotage supply chains, and assassinate key figures within their government and military. The king’s second son, Aerik, died in retaliation for one such assassination. While reviewing troops on the Lakelander border, Aerik was ambushed and killed by Lakelanders disguised as Reds. After his son’s death, Tiberias IV spent most of his time at the front, leaving his heir to rule from the capital in his place and learn statecraft firsthand.
TIBERIAS V
SEPTEMBER 2, 270–AUGUST 1, 296 NE
After observing the rite of Queenstrial, Tiberias married Anabel of House Lerolan, the traditional governors of Delphie. Tiberias V also kept a male consort, Robert Iral, whom he crowned as a prince. Queen Anabel and Prince Robert were both great patrons of the arts during their king’s reign. Though less inclined to the military than his father, Tiberias V partially raised his son at the front to prepare him to lead a nation at war. Despite conflict with the Lakelands, his reign was considered peaceful and prosperous for the Silvers of Norta. Tiberias V died of a cancerous wasting disease, despite the best efforts of his personal skin healers.
TIBERIAS VI
AUGUST 1, 296 NE–PRESENT
Before he ascended the throne, Tiberias VI refused the rite of Queenstrial and shocked the court when he married Coriane Jacos, a lady of a relatively low and poor Silver house.
QUEEN SONG
As usual, Julian gave her a book.
Just like the year before, and the year before, and every holiday or occasion he could find in between his sister’s birthdays. She had shelves of his so-called gifts. Some given in truth, and some to simply clear space in the library he called a bedroom, where books were stacked so high and so precariously that even the cats had trouble navigating the labyrinthine piles. The subjects varied, from adventure tales of Prairie raiders to stuffy poetry collections about the insipid Royal Court they both strived to avoid. Better for kindling, Coriane would say every time he left her another dull volume. Once, for her twelfth birthday, Julian gave her an ancient text written in a language she could not read. And one she assumed he only pretended to understand.
Despite her dislike for the majority of his stories, she kept her own growing collection on neat shelves, strictly alphabetized, their spines facing forward to display titles on leather bindings. Most would go untouched, unopened, unread, a tragedy even Julian could not find the words to bemoan. There is nothing so terrible as a story untold. But Coriane kept them all the same, well dusted, polished, their gold-stamped letters gleaming in the hazy light of summer or winter’s gray castings. From Julian was scrawled in each one, and those words she treasured above almost all. Only his true gifts were loved more: the manuals and guides sheathed in plastic, tucked between the pages of a genealogy or encyclopedia. A few held court at her bedside, snug beneath her mattress, to be pulled out at night when she could devour technical schematics and machine studies. How to build, break down, and maintain transport engines, airjets, telegraphy equipment, even lightbulbs and kitchen stoves.
Her father did not approve, as was the usual way. A Silver daughter of a noble High House should not have fingers stained in motor oil, nails chipped by “borrowed” tools, or bloodshot eyes from too many nights spent straining over unsuitable literature. But Harrus Jacos forgot his misgivings every time the video screen in the estate parlor shorted out, hissing sparks and blurred transmissions. Fix it, Cori, fix it. She did as he commanded, hoping each time would be the one to convince him. Only to have her tinkerings sneered at a few days later, and all her good work forgotten.
She was glad he was gone, away in the capital aiding their uncle, the lord of House Jacos. This way she could spend her birthday with the people she loved. Namely, her brother, Julian, and Sara Skonos, who had come specifically for the occasion. Growing prettier by the day, Coriane thought, noting her dearest friend. It had been months since their last meeting, when Sara turned fifteen and moved permanently to the Royal Court. Not so long really, but already the girl seemed different, sharper. Her cheekbones cut cruelly beneath skin somehow paler than before, as if drained. And her gray eyes, once bright stars, seemed dark, full of shadows. But her smile came easily, as it always did around the Jacos children. Around Julian, truly, Coriane knew. And her brother was just the same, grinning broadly, keeping a distance no uninterested boy would think to keep. He was surgically aware of his movements, and Coriane was surgically aware of her brother. At seventeen, he was not too young for proposals, and she suspected there would be one in the coming months.