In his first twenty years of reign, King Ezran had fought three wars, personally leading two campaigns and taking part in at least seven battles; he had survived two assassination attempts; he had personally enacted five major reforms, and had approved at least twelve more written by his advisors.
In comparison, the last years of his reign are incredibly poor in important events. Besides, why should it have been otherwise?
The kingdom was at peace. For the first time in one thousand two hundred years, the Breach was crossed by merchants and not by armies. The kingdom that Ezran had so radically reorganized had proven to be able to fight any threat, to overcome any challenge, both on the battlefield and in the administration. Many sacrifices and many sufferings had been needed to achieve such a result: now was the time to enjoy the fruits of twenty years of toil.
The atmosphere at court is well described by an account made by Lord Policar, during a diplomatic visit in 1259 (13 a.p).
"To the Members of the Council of Magicians [...] the Emperor kept his promise never to wear an armor again, and replaced sword and spear with fork and spoon. It seems that he delights in the art of cooking, an art in which he shows considerable talent, as I have seen (and tasted) for myself [...] the Empress spends as little time at the castle as possible. She often goes hunting, accompanied by the Exarch: she somehow managed to train a Xadian Moonfalcon, a wonderful animal to see, although extremely aggressive: the only person it obeys is Her Highness. [...] Despite the peace, the Empress also insists on personally inspecting her Imperial Guard at least once a month. I witnessed the maneuvers myself, and I have to admit, they are a remarkable spectacle. [...] only one thing worries the Emperors, namely their son."
Prince Harrow was destined to create more than one problem at the court. From his adolescence, he had caused many scandals with his dissolute behavior. Together with his noble friends, several times he was even found completely drunk in the taverns of the popular districts, arousing the ire of his father and - above all - of his mother.
Instead, he became very close to his uncle. Quoting the diaries of Callum,
"I partly understand him: it must not be easy to live in the shadow of my brother. It is a sin that he let himself go so. He's a good student when he wants to".
In fact, young Harrow was quite intelligent, and according to his contemporaries, he could be charming. He was even able to learn the rudiments of sky magic, although he never became a proper magician. This did not stop his shenanigans, which over the years became increasingly eccentric and expensive. It is estimated that, only in 1260, the vices of the prince came to cost the Crown something like ten thousand Phoenixes: a sum sufficient to finance the construction of a war galley.
Ezran and Aanya were not, however, the only parents with some difficulties.
We have already said how the first fifteen years of Tiadrin's life are shrouded in mystery: not even Callum's diaries mention it. Even after she returned, the "half-elf princess" did nothing to dissolve the halo of mystery that surrounded her. Quoting Lord Policar (who had meanwhile become permanent ambassador of Neolandia to Katolis) again:
"The daughter of the High Magician is a girl of unparalleled beauty, and already many scions of the noblest families of the Empire have begun to court her [...] but the girl rejects all attentions. She rarely shows up and spends most of her time in her family's apartments. When Lord Callum, usually so talkative, hears a question about his daughter pretends not to have heard and changes the subject [...] I tried to question Lady Rayla about her, but I was politely invited to drop the matter, letting me covertly understand that continuing to ask such questions would have been detrimental to my health."
From the 15th year of the new era, however, things changed.
"Something appened today that I can't explain," writes a concerned Callum on the evening of October 30, 1261. " We were invited to a dinner at the Exarch Palace, and the Prince was also present. My daughter sat next to him, and she seemed more lively than usual. At one point I even saw her smile. Smile! She has never smiled in public since she came back. I don't know what to think."
We do not know what were Tiadrin's true intentions: she is one of those characters about which historians poured rivers of ink, and yet very little of her is known. She left us nothing written, except a few official letters, nor did her family or (few) friends write anything about her.
The fact is that, from that evening, she began to assume an increasing influence on the prince: Harrow and Tiadrin were seen walking together, hunting together, exploring together the dozens of secret passages of the castle, even appearing together at official events.
This greatly astonished their contemporaries, so much so that at that time rumors began to circulate that Tiadrin was a dark sorceress and had charmed the heir to the throne with her magic. These rumors would have increased over time, accomplice both the aforementioned hostility of the nobles towards Harrow and the mysterious and reserved personality of the girl.
The problem was that Harrow was technically married. He had been promised to King Vigimer II's sister, Diemota. Due to the young age of the girl, who was eight years younger than the prince, the marriage had not yet been celebrated, but this did not make less scandalous the behavior of Harrow.
Ezran mostly ignored it: "Let the kids have fun while they can" he used to say. The High Magician and the Empress were of different opinions.
"I don't know what my daughter intends to achieve with this behavior," Callum writes in May 1262 "but nothing good can come of it."
The forebodings of the Wizard Prince proved to be right when, in 1263, Tiadrin became pregnant. No one had the slightest doubt who the father of the child was.
This caused a moment of considerable tension in the Council. It seems that Aanya had proposed to exile the girl, to silence the scandal. Lady Karra suggested that Tiadrin be married to a member of the nobility before the news became public. Both of these proposals met with the firm opposition of the girl's parents: as Callum writes,
"My daughter has been irresponsible, but she is not the only culprit. I couldn't let all the blame fall on her just because Harrow is the heir to the throne."
Ezran was the only one who remained calm during the meeting. It was he who proposed the most logical alternative: to marry Tiadrin, but with Harrow. No one had dared to propose such a solution for fear of incurring the wrath of the Empress, who, quoting her colorful words, did not intend "to allow that little half-blood tramp to become the next Empress". Ezran, however, was the Emperor and could afford to oppose his wife's will: and because it was the best solution, his proposal was in the end approved.
As Ezran and Callum were brothers, their children were first cousins, but Lord Eutychos, the High Cleric, was ready to grant a special dispensation. As for Princess Diemota, King Vigimer II was well pleased to accept a rich compensation (namely a "little gift" of three hundred Durenian war horses) to cancel the engagement.
"The Emperor confided to me that the whole thing amused him greatly," writes Lord Policar. "He said, and I quote, "If the greatest problem in the kingdom is who my son sleeps with, it means we live in quiet times." I cannot figure out whether this is an entirely irresponsible or absolutely brilliant attitude."
Many had also seen in Ezran's decision a political move determined to avoid Del Bar's interference in the government of the Empire: the marriage with Diemota had been decided in the time of Vigimer I, when Katolis needed Delbarite money, and had no reason to be now that the political situation had changed.
The wedding was celebrated on June 10th. Six months later a healthy child was born, who was called Ezran.
The pair would have proven prolific, and Ezran was the first of eleven children, nine of which managed to survive childhood – an impressive feat in itself.
Solved in this way the problem of succession, the Emperor gradually moved away from the activities of government, leaving them in the hands of his skilled ministers and enjoying a serene old age.
