"Four days ago," Jaibriol began, "I met on Earth with Kelricson Skolia, the Imperator of Skolia." He took a deep breath and lifted his chin.
Then he said, "Together, we signed a treaty for peace between Eube and Skolia."
A message flashed on Kelric's private screen. He read the words, and a roaring started in his ears. He didn't think he could speak, that his voice would shake.
Taking a breath, he raised his head. And somehow he addressed the Assembly. "I have just received word from the Eubians." Despite his intention to remain calm, his voice crackled with the emotions roaring him. "They have signed!"
His words rang out, and he heard his own incredulous hope. "We have a peace treaty!"
Jaibriol stood above the hall while it roared with voices and cymbals. Their shock and fury pounded his mind until he thought he would disintegrate. He stared at Tarquine, and she met his gaze. He could feel her mind now, as the onslaught wore down his defenses. It hadn't been triumph he had caught from her before, but an emotion even more powerful, grief and joy mixed together, her sorrow for the crushing path he had laid out for himself, but also, incredibly, her fierce exultation that he had dared the impossible and won.
His declaration of the treaty had gone to thousands of disbelieving Aristos, millions of news services, billions of settlements, trillions of people. The Aristos would revile him, hate him as they had hated no other emperor. But it was done. He had gone beyond and reached for something greater. For the first time in the history of Skolia and Eube, they had peace.
Jaibriol grasped Tarquine's hand so hard, he felt the bones in her fingers. She never flinched. They stood together, looking over the amphitheater, and he knew he could survive. With her at his side, he had done what he set out to achieve, and though the price might be greater than he could imagine bearing, he wouldn't let it defeat him.
His parents had not died in vain.
Characters and Family History
Boldface names refer to Ruby psions, also known as the "Rhon." All Rhon psions who are members of the Ruby Dynasty use Skolia as their last name (the Skolian Imperialate was named after their family). The Selei name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of Roca and Eldrinson take Valdoria as a third name. The del prefix means "in honor of," and is capitalized if the person honored was a Triad member. Most names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian cultures.
= marriage
Lahaylia Selei (Ruby Pharaoh: deceased) = Jarac (Imperator: deceased)
Lahaylia and Jarac founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty. Lahaylia was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traced back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire. Lahaylia and Jarac had two daughters, Dyhianna Selei and Roca.
Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei = (1) William Seth Rockworth III (separated)
Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei = (2) Eldrin Jarac Valdoria
Dehya is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would negate the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor Imperialate recognize the divorce. Spherical Harmonic tells the story of what happened to Dehya after the Radiance War.
Dehya and Eldrin have two children, Taquinil Selei and Althor Vyan Selei.
Althor Vyan Selei = 'Akushtina (Tina) Santis Pulivok
The story of Althor and Tina appears in Catch the Lightning. Althor Vyan Selei was named after his uncle, Althor Izam-Na Valdoria. The short story "Avo de Paso" in the anthologies Redshift, edited by Al Sarrantino, and Fantasy: The Year's Best, 2001, edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber, tells the story of how Tina and her cousin Manuel deal with Mayan spirits in the New Mexico desert.
Roca = (1) Tokaba Ryestar (deceased)
Roca = (2) Darr Hammerjackson (divorced)
Roca = (3) Eldrinson Althor Valdoria
Roca and Tokaba had one child, Kurj (Imperator and Jagernaut), who married Ami when he was a century old. Kurj and Ami had a son named Kurjson.
Although no records exist of Eldrinson's lineage, it is believed he descends from the ancient Ruby Dynasty. Skyfall tells the story of how Eldrinson and Roca meet. They have ten children:
Eldrin (Dryni) Jarac (bard, consort to Ruby Pharaoh, warrior)
Althor Izam-Na (engineer, Jagernaut, Imperial Heir)
Del-Kurj (Del) (singer, warrior, twin to Chaniece)
Chaniece Roca (runs Valdoria family household, twin to Del-Kurj)
Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei (farmer, doctorate in agriculture)
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia (military scientist, Jagernaut, Imperator)
Denric Windward (teacher, doctorate in literature)
Shannon Eirlei (Blue Dale archer)
Aniece Dyhianna (accountant, Rillian queen)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin (mathematician, Jagernaut, Imperator)
Eldrin appears in The Final Key, Triad, Spherical Harmonic, and The Radiant Seas. See also Dehya.
Althor Izam-Na = (1) Coop and Vaz
Althor Izam-Na = (2) Cirrus (former provider to Ur Qox)
Althor has a daughter, Eristia Leirol Valdoria, with Syreen Leirol, an actress turned linguist. Coop and Vaz have a son, Ryder Jalam Majda Valdoria, with Althor as cofather. Althor and Coop appear in The Radiant Seas. Vaz and Coop appear in Spherical Harmonic. Althor and Cirrus also have a son.
Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei = (1) Liliara (Lily) (deceased)
Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei = (2) Kamoj Quanta Argali
The story of Havyrl and Lily appears in "Stained Glass Heart," in the anthology Irresistible Forces, edited by Catherine Asaro, 2004. The story of Havyrl and Kamoj appears in The Quantum Rose, which won the 2001 Nebula Award. An early version of the first half was serialized in Analog, May–July/August 1999.
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia = (1) Jato Stormson (divorced)
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia = (2) Hypron Luminar (deceased)
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia = (3) Jaibriol Qox (aka Jaibriol II)
The story of Soz at seventeen, when she enters the Dieshan Military Academy, appears in Schism, which is Part I of the two-book work Triad. The second part, The Final Key, tells of the first war between the Skolians and the Traders. The story of how Soz and Jato met appears in the novella, "Aurora in Four Voices" (Analog, December 1998). Soz and Jaibriol's stories appear in Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas. They have four children: Jaibriol III, Rocalisa, Vitar, and del-Kelric. The story of how Jaibriol III became the Emperor of Eube appears in The Moon's Shadow. Jaibriol III married Tarquine Iquar, the Finance Minister of Eube. The story of how Jaibriol and Kelric deal with each other appears in The Ruby Dice.
Denric takes a position as a teacher on the world Sandstorm. His harrowing introduction to his new home appears in the short story, "The Edges of Never-Haven" (Flights of Fantasy, edited by Al Sarrantino).
Aniece = Lord Rillia
Lord Rillia rules Rillia on the world Lyshriol (aka Skyfall). His realms consist of the Rillian Vales, Dalvador Plains, Backbone Mountains, and Stained Glass Forest.
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (1) Corey Majda (deceased)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (2) Deha Dahl (deceased)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (3) Rashiva Haka (Calani trade)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (4) Savina Miesa (deceased)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (5) Avtac Varz (Calani trade)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (6) Ixpar Karn (closure)
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (7) Jeejon
Kelric's stories are told in The Ruby Dice, "The Ruby Dice" (novella, Baen's Universe 2006), The Last Hawk, Ascendant Sun, The Moon's Shadow, the novella "A Roll of the Dice" (Analog, July/August 2000), and the novelette "Light and Shadow" (Analog, April 1994). Kelric and Rashiva have one son, Jimorla Haka, who becomes a renowned Calani. Kelric and Savina have one daughter, Rohka Miesa Varz, who becomes the Ministry Successor in line to rule the Estate
s of Coba.
The novella "Walk in Silence" (Analog, April 2003) tells the story of Jess Fernandez, an Allied Starship Captain from Earth, who deals with the genetically engineered humans on the Skolian colony of Icelos.
The novella "The City of Cries" (Down These Dark Spaceways, edited by Mike Resnick) tells the story of Major Bhaaj, a private investigator hired by the House of Majda to find Prince Dayj Majda after he disappears.
The novella "The Shadowed Heart" (Year's Best Paranormal, edited by Paula Guran, and The Journey Home, edited by Mary Kirk) is the story of Jason Harrick, a Jagernaut who just barely survives the Radiance War.
Time Line
II. Circa 4000 BC Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon
III. Circa 3600 BC Ruby Dynasty begins
IV. Circa 3100 BC Raylicans launch first interstellar flights; rise of
Ruby Empire
V.Circa 2900 BC Ruby Empire begins decline
VI. Circa 2800 BC Last interstellar flights; Ruby Empire collapses
VII. Circa AD 1300 Raylicans begin to regain lost knowledge
VIII. 1843 Raylicans regain interstellar flight
IX. 1866 Rhon genetic project begins
X. 1871 Aristos found Eubian Concord (aka Trader Empire)
XI. 1881 Lahaylia Selei born
XII. 1904 Lahaylia Selei founds Skolian Imperialate
XIII. 2005 Jarac born
XIV. 2111 Lahaylia Selei marries Jarac
XV. 2119 Dyhianna Selei born
XVI. 2122 Earth achieves interstellar flight
XVII. 2132 Allied Worlds of Earth formed
XVIII. 2144 Roca born
XIX. 2169 Kurj born
XX. 2203 Roca marries Eldrinson Althor Valdoria (Skyfall)
XXI. 2204 Eldrin Jarac Valdoria born; Jarac dies; Kurj becomes Imperator; Lahaylia dies
XXII. 2205 Major Bhaaj hired by Majdas to find Prince Dayj ("The City of Cries")
XXIII. 2206 Althor Izam-Na Valdoria born
XXIV. 2209 Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei Valdoria born
XXV. 2210 Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia Valdoria born
XXVI. 2219 Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin Valdoria born
XXVII. 2227 Soz enters Dieshan Military Academy (Schism)
XXVIII. 2228 First war between Skolia and Traders (The Final Key)
XXIX. 2237 Jaibriol II born
XXX. 2240 Soz meets Jato Stormson ("Aurora in Four Voices")
XXXI. 2241 Kelric marries Admiral Corey Majda
XXXII. 2243 Corey assassinated ("Light and Shadow")
XXXIII. 2258 Kelric crashes on Coba (The Last Hawk)
XXXIV. early 2259 Soz meets Jaibriol (Primary Inversion)
XXXV. late 2259 Soz and Jaibriol go into exile (The Radiant Seas)
XXXVI. 2260 Jaibriol III born (aka Jaibriol Qox Skolia)
XXXVII. 2263 Rocalisa Qox Skolia born; Althor Izam-Na Valdoria meets Coop ("Soul of Light")
XXXVIII. 2268 Vitar Qox Skolia born
XXXIX. 2273 del-Kelric Qox Skolia born
XL. 2274 Radiance War begins (also called Domino War)
XLI. 2276 Traders capture Eldrin. Radiance War ends; Jason Harrick crashes on the planet Thrice Named ("The Shadowed Heart")
XLII. 2277–8 Kelric returns home (Ascendant Sun); Dehya coalesces (Spherical Harmonic); Kamoj and Vyrl meet (The Quantum Rose); Jaibriol III becomes emperor of Eube (The Moon's Shadow)
XLIII. 2279 Althor Vyan Selei born
XLIV. 2287 Jeremiah Coltman trapped on Coba ("A Roll of the Dice"); Jeejon dies (The Ruby Dice)
XLV. 2288 Kelric and Jaibriol Qox deal with one another (The Ruby Dice novel)
XLVI. 2298 Jess Fernandez goes to Icelos ("Walk in Silence")
XLVII. 2326 Tina and Manuel in New Mexico ("Ave de Paso")
XLVIII. 2328 Althor Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok (Catch the Lightning)
About The Author
Catherine Asaro has an M.A. in physics, and a Ph.D. in chemical physics, both from Harvard. She has done research at the University of Toronto, the Max Planck Institute, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. A former ballet and jazz dancer, she founded the Mainly Jazz Dance program at Harvard and now teaches at the Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet. She has written ten novels in the popular Skolian Saga, the latest being Schism (Tor, 2004) as well as two near-future technothrillers, The Veiled Web and The Phoenix Code. She currently runs Molecudyne Research and lives in Maryland with her husband and daughter.
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