Broken Throne (Red Queen #4.5)(4)

JULIAS I


JULY 20, 44–AUGUST 1, 60 NE

In stark contrast to his father, Julias was a warrior to the bone, and sometimes to a fault. He regularly fought with the lords to the north in the Kingdom of the Lakelands. His firstborn son and heir, Julias, died in one such skirmish at the age of seventeen. His death plunged his father into deep mourning, and he died quietly, after refusing skinhealer treatment for illness.





TIBERIAS THE GREAT


AUGUST 1, 60–NOVEMBER 10, 105 NE

The great-grandson of Caesar Calore is considered his true successor, and remains the longest-reigning monarch of the Calore dynasty. Over the course of his forty-five-year reign, Tiberias I finished the Hall of the Sun, bolstered relations with the Lakelands to the north, and extended Nortan borders to include the entirety of the Rift. Pieces of the Samos lands still resisted Calore rule, and Tiberias himself led an army himself into the Rift hills. The remaining Samos rebels were brought to heel, and, against the urging of his council, Tiberias did not eradicate the Samos dynasty, instead granting them clemency in exchange for their loyalty and lands. The governance of the Rift was given to House Laris, though House Samos remained one of the strongest families in the kingdom. King Tiberias also pioneered the use of Red tech towns, establishing several throughout Norta. The Silver kingdom would reap the benefits of his rule for many centuries, growing in economic and technological might. After many years without producing an heir, Tiberias I divorced his Nortan wife to marry a Lakelander princess, who bore him three children. He died peacefully in his sleep.





TIBERIAS II


AUGUST 1, 105–MAY 30, 107 NE

Tiberias II succeeded his father as an older man and ruled for less than two years. He died suddenly of an ailment cited only as “bad nerves.” Even over such a brief period of time, it became clear that he was unfit for the throne and would most likely have been easily manipulated by his council and lords had he lived.





CAESAR II


MAY 30, 107–DECEMBER 9, 118 NE

Because King Caesar was not yet of age when he came to the throne, his grandmother, the Lakelander princess Iranne, and his mother, Irina Calore, ruled as his regents. His uncle, Prince Fyrion Calore, objected to a foreign ruler and claimed that he was better suited to the throne. Fyrion and his wife, backed by her Titanos family, led a civil war against Caesar II. They were eventually put down by the forces of the Queen Regent and Princess Caesera. Caesera, the daughter of Tiberias the Great, had married into House Samos, and their support was integral to keeping Caesar II in power. Prince Fyrion was executed for his attempt to usurp the throne, and his infant son, Prince Crest Calore, was exiled from Norta. He fathered a cadet branch of House Calore in the west, but records of such a dynasty have been lost or destroyed. Fyrion’s line, if still in existence, would be the only other branch of the Calore tree left.

Caesar II himself was a sickly boy, constantly watched by Skonos guards, and he required blood healing regularly. He is described as having “rotted away,” dying at age twenty-five. He had no children, and it is rumored that his illness was due to his parents, Tiberias II and Queen Irina, being first cousins.





JULIAS II


DECEMBER 9, 118–MARCH 22, 140 NE

Because Caesar II had no children, the crown passed to his younger brother. Julias II married Serena Skonos, one of his brother’s constant guardians, and showed none of his brother’s genetic illnesses. For this reason, it is believed by some historians that his father was not Tiberias II and that his mother, Queen Irina, had had an affair with someone at the Nortan court. Julias II was largely unbothered by such whisperings, as his mother was a Calore by birth herself, and he was still a direct descendant of Caesar I. Most importantly, Julias II was a burner like all the Calore kings before him. If his mother had been unfaithful, it would have been extremely rare for him to have inherited her ability and not his true father’s. His reign was otherwise quiet, as the kingdoms of Norta, Piedmont, and the Lakelands were at peace. During his thirty-two-year rule, Julias II undertook a campaign of arena building, expanding the practice of First Friday throughout the kingdom. He wed two of his daughters to Piedmont princes, deepening the bonds between the two kingdoms.





JULIAS III


MARCH 22, 140–DECEMBER 28, 151 NE

Despite his father’s urging, Julias III bypassed the rite of Queenstrial for a love match, and married Helena of House Merandus. Historians openly wonder if the young prince was swayed by her ability rather than a romance. After Julias III was coronated, his son and heir embarked on a tour of Norta. While visiting the border at Maiden Falls, the convoy was set upon by Red bandits, and Prince Julias was killed. In retaliation, Julias III decreed that the Red towns around the border would be razed and cleared to make way for a fortress city. He commanded the Reds to build Corvium and then conscripted most of them into the Nortan military. The rest were deported to tech cities throughout the kingdom to bolster worker population. No Calore ever named a child Julias again, as it was considered a bad-luck name.





MARCAS


DECEMBER 28, 151–DECEMBER 12, 159 NE

Like his father, King Marcas forwent the rite of Queenstrial, albeit for a stronger alliance with Piedmont. He married Elisabeta, a princess of the Tidewater. Though he only reigned for eight years, his rule was considered a fruitful age in Norta, due mostly to his Merandus mother and his wife. The king was largely ineffectual and unintelligent, delegating his duties to the two queens, who undertook a campaign to improve the Nortan infrastructure and economy. Queen Elisabeta, originally of Piedmont, pioneered the Greenway, a road system connecting Norta and her native country. Dowager Queen Helena turned her attentions toward expanding the Nortan electrical grid from border to border, reaching even remote Red communities. When King Marcas died in a drunken fall, the two queens continued their work in conjunction with his heir and only child, Aerion.