BETWEEN THE BOOKS:
YEAR 521 (the events of A Magic of Twilight): This is Kraljica Marguerite’s Jubilee Year-under her half century of rule, Nessantico has flourished. However, in the spring, Kraljica Marguerite is assassinated. Kraljiki Justi (her son) takes the Sun Throne. Archigos Dhosti dies; Archigos Orlandi becomes head of the Concenzia Faith. Hirzg Jan leads the army of Firenzcia into the Holdings, intending to take Nessantico. Archigos Ana becomes head of the Concenzia Faith after Archigos Orlandi defects to Hirzg Jan at Passe a’Fiume. The Firenzcian forces attack Nessantico. Allesandra, daughter of Hirzg Jan of Firenzcia, is taken as hostage by Archigos Ana and Kraljiki Justi. The Firenzcian forces retreat.
522: Orlandi formally declares himself Archigos in Brezno-the Concenzia Faith is sundered. A son, Fynn, is born to Hirzg Jan and Greta ca’Vorl. Hirzg Jan refuses to pay ransom for Allesandra, declaring Firenzcia independent of Holdings. Semini cu’Kohnle marries Francesca ca’Cellibrecca, daughter of Orlandi
523: Envoy Karl ci’Vliomani of the Isle of Paeti is elevated to Ambassador and given the rank of cu’. The Numetodo influence begins to grow within the Holdings. Sesemora secedes from the Holdings and allies with Firenzcia-the first country within what will be known as the Coalition of Firenzcia. Hirgina Greta ca’Vorl dies under “suspicious” circumstances; the Numetodo sect is blamed.
524: Miscoli and East Magyaria join Sesemora in seceding and joining the Coalition of Firenzcia. War is declared between the two rival Holdings. It will drag on for years without a decisive victory by either side. The Eastern and Western branches of the Concenzia Faith declare each other heretical and invalid.
525: Kraljiki Justi marries Marie ca’Dakwi of Il Trebbio, daughter of the current Ta’Mila (local ruler) of Il Trebbio. Justi takes the ca’Dakwi name (as is proper and expected in their society). Archigos Orlandi of Brezno dies of natural causes. A’Teni Semini ca’Cellibrecca becomes Archigos there.
526: A first child is born to Justi and Marie, a son. He will die within three months. Hirzg Jan formally declares his son Fynn to be the A’Hirzg-the heir to his throne. This leaves Allesandra in limbo, no longer the official heir to her vatarh’s throne.
527: A second child is born to Justi and Marie, a daughter. Like her sibling, she will die within three months
529: A third child is born to Justi and Marie, another daughter who is named Marguerite. She is stronger than her siblings and lives. She becomes the A’Kralj (heir).
531: The Treaty of Passe a’Fiume is signed, ending open hostilities between Nessantico and Firenzcia. As part of the negotiations, Allesandra (now twenty-one years old and having lived nearly as long in Nessantico as in Firenzcia) is finally ransomed and returns to Firenzcia.
532: Allesandra marries Pauli ca’Xielt of West Magyaria, son of the Gyula (local ruler) of West Magyaria. West Magyaria secedes from the Holdings and joins the Firenzcian Coalition.
533: A male child is born to Allesandra and Pauli: Jan. This will be their only child. Their marriage is rumored to be “troubled.” In Nessantico, Marie dies bearing the fourth child of Justi, another son. Though sickly, Audric will survive.
535: Nessantican forces push farther westward in the Hellins (and also on the Isle of Paeti, which they will come to control).
537: Southern Fever rises again in the cities. Marguerite ca’Dakwi, vacationing in Namarro, is infected and dies. Audric becomes the A’Kralj in her place.
540: The Commandant of the Holdings forces in the Hellins, Petrus ca’Helfier, is killed by a Westlander after ca’Helfier either “rapes” a Westlander’s daughter or the two of them fall in love (the truth here will probably never be known). The new Commandant, Donatien ca’Sibelli, takes the murderer forcibly and executes him without trial; the Westlanders protest. Retaliations escalate, and there is suddenly open war-and Commandant ca’Sibelli finds that there are new forces with the Westlanders: soldiers with faces marked by tattoos and spellcasters with skills that match those of the teni. In the Coalition, A’Hirzg Fynn, now eighteen, leads the Firenzcian army successfully against Tennshah, taking land in the east for the Holdings of Firenzcia.
542: There are attacks by Westlanders inside the Hellins frontier-the magic used by the Westlanders proves formidable. Westlanders win a large-scale battle with Holdings forces in the Hellins. The towns around Lake Malik and Lake Udar are lost, as is control of the western frontier. The Hellins Holdings are reduced to thin strips of land around the cities of Tobarro and Munereo.
543: Hirzg Jan suffers a heart attack. His health begins a slow, steady decline.
544: Justi, realizing he is dying, names Sergei ca’Rudka as his choice for Regent until Audric reaches his majority at sixteen. Kraljiki Justi dies, and Audric becomes Kraljiki at age eleven.
548: A Magic of Nightfall begins.