Year of the Two Queens

## Combatants

* Hapan Successionists
	+ House Algray
	+ House Galney
	+ House Miilarta

* Hapan Assumates
	+ House Thane
	+ House Skela
	+ House Gheer
	+ House Maluri

## Commanders

* Crown Princess Ta'a Chume
* Lady Aleson Algray
* Lord Dalinar Miilarta
* Lord Chelik Galney
* Lady Moreem Galney

* Princess Su'ra Chume
* Lord Gadoran Thane
* Lady Psoriam Skela
* Lady Rala Gheer
* Lady Harava Maluri

The **Year of the Two Queens** was a brief civil war in the Hapes Consortium following the death of Queen Mother Ni'korish Chume. While most major houses assumed the throne would pass to the heir apparent, Crown Princess Ta'a Chume'da, a group of lesser lords plotted with the late Queen's sister, Princess Su'ra, to overstep the line of succession and seize the throne for herself.

The years before the war had seen Queen Mother Ni'korish's health gradually declining, with rule of the Consortium beginning to fall to the various ministers of the palace. With Princess Ta'a considered too young for independent rule, the Queen's sister was summoned to aid in the government's operations. Princess Su'ra, previously sent far from court by her sister due to her constant overstepping of boundaries, had begun to sow the seeds of dissent. She courted the widower Lord Gadoran Thane, a vassal of House Algray, and promised to make him consort if she ascended to the throne. Using Lord Gadoran's trade connections, Su'ra extended her cadre of plotters, assembling a number of petty nobles and lesser lords to her cause.

While Su'ra plotted, the heir apparent Princess Ta'a spent most of her time away from court, preferring the company of her companion Lady Aleson Algray on Vergill. Isolated from the capital, Ta'a was unaware of the plot against her, while being consistently fed falsely optimistic news regarding her mother's health. As such, when the Queen Mother finally succumbed to her illness, it was withheld from public broadcasts by Su'ra and her plotters. Lord Thane was dispatched to Vergill to dispose of the heir, while the usurper and her allies coalesced on Hapes.

Ambushing and scattering the Algray fleet in orbit, Gadoran Thane's forces blockaded Vergill and deployed ground troops to capture Princess Ta'a. The rapid attack was supposed to catch the princess and her entourage on a hunting trip, however heavy rains had forced them to delay for several days. This ultimately saved the princess, who was protected behind the fiercesome walls of Grayhold, the seat of House Algray. With Lady Aleson at her side, Ta'a was put to siege by Thane's forces. The lord, anxious over his failure, falsely reported to Princess Su'ra that he had succeeded in his mission, fearing that his consortship would be revoked if she learned the truth.

Motivated by Thane's report, Princess Su'ra publicly broadcasted news of the deaths of both Queen Mother Ni'korish Chume and Crown Princess Ta'a Chume'da, the former of illness and the latter of a "hunting mishap". The heads of all Hapan noble families, great or lesser, were ordered to report to Hapes to swear oaths of fealty to the new Queen Mother. Unfortunately for Su'ra, the House Galney had already received different news: the surviving Algray ships had fled to Terephon, and reported of Thane's betrayal and the ongoing siege of Grayhold. Assuming that a wider plot was in motion, Lady Moreem Galney, the heir and regent for her aging father Lord Chelik, declared that Su'ra was a usurper; Ta'a was the true Queen Mother. Eager to end the siege of Grayhold and defend the line of succession, Lady Moreem charged her bannerman, Lord Dalinar Miilarta of Tu'ana, with command of the Successionist forces. Reorganizing his ships, Miilarta moved with all haste towards Vergill and the young queen.

Meeting the Thanes in the planet's orbit, the fighting over Vergill was quick and one-sided, with Lord Dalinar striking a decisive blow to Lord Gadoran's fleet. Thane himself was overseeing the siege on the ground, and was unaware of the defeat he had suffered until Miilarta had deployed ground forces behind his lines. As he desperately fought off the sudden attack, Thane was caught again from the rear, with Grayhold's garrison launching sorties to support Lord Dalinar's attack. Caught on two sides, Lord Gadoran's troops were defeated, and the lord himself captured. With the rightful Queen Mother freed, Miilarta was given leave to take all loyal forces and advance against Hapes herself.

Shocked by the news of Ta'a Chume's survival and the victory at Vergill, the self-declared Queen Mother Su'ra Chume charged two of her courtiers, the Ladies Skela and Gheer, to prevent Miilarta from reaching Hapes at all costs. The two massed their large fleet over Arabanth, only a jump away from the capital. They believed that the sheer size of the force, which had been augmented by elements of the Royal Navy, would force the Successionists to stand down without a fight. Their underestimation of Lord Dalinar proved to be fatal.

Arriving at Arabanth, Lord Dalinar Miilarta agreed to parley with the Assumate commanders, the Ladies Psoriam Skela and Rala Gheer. He declared both to be "honorless vultures", who used Ni'korish's death as a means to advance themselves. Angered, Lady Skela referenced the size of her fleet, demanding terms from Miilarta lest he face destruction. Undaunted, Lord Dalinar refused any terms, and launched an immediate attack. Facing odds of nearly three-to-one, Miilarta exploited the unwillingness of the Royal Navy, whose ships guarded the Assumate flanks. He instead diverted all his forces into a large assault column, flying straight into the center of the enemy line. His first rank of small gunships and corvettes easily dodged the slow-firing turbolasers of the battle dragons, maneuvering through the Assumate formation whilst launching snubfighters and torpedoes, sowing chaos. Miilarta personally identified Skela's flagship, having it showered in ion fire before a bomber wing destroyed the bridge, killing the Lady of Gallinore. The mass attack left the Assumate center in tatters, and the entire line buckled and broke under the pressure. Lady Gheer's ship was boarded and she herself was captured, whilst the mostly unharmed ships of the Royal Navy surrendered peacefully and were incorporated into Miilarta's fleet. The victory at Arabanth stripped the Assumates of their last remaining naval assets, and all but won the war for Ta'a Chume.

With stories of Miilarta's victory resonating across the entire Hapes Cluster, Su'ra Chume was left with few allies and fewer options. Knowing that Hapes would soon fall, she fled the capital for Gallinore, where Lady Psoriam's young son vowed to take up the usurper queen's cause. Fueled by victory, Lord Dalinar's fleet retook Hapes shortly thereafter, and Ta'a Chume was formally crowned in the Fountain Palace. In her first official act as Queen Mother, she named Dalinar Miilarta an Honorlord, a title rarely bestowed to only the greatest of the Consortium's heroes. She then declared Su'ra Chume to be an enemy of the crown, and ordered her new Honorlord to see that Su'ra was returned in chains. Upon arriving at Gallinore, the few ships the remained to House Skela surrendered without a fight, and Miilarta's forces stormed the planetary capital Dimitor. Princess Su'ra was found dead in the city's inner keep, with poison on her lips.

The war, which had consumed the Hapes Consortium for the better part of a year, had ended. Queen Mother Ta'a Chume, alongside Galney, Algray, and Miilarta, oversaw the reconstruction of the cluster, both social and economic. Lord Gadoran Thane, captured by Dalinar on Vergill, was imprisoned on Hapes for several years, before being moved to a newly constructed prison on Maires. He died in captivity. Lady Rala Gheer, who had been used by House Requud to support Su'ra without implicating themselves, was given to Lady Requud to deal out punishment as she saw fit. Gheer was shot by a firing squad not long after, satisfying the Queen Mother. Lady Harava Maluri, who had served Su'ra as a minister but had not provided troops, was given mercy, though she was stripped of much of her lands. With her right to rule won in battle, Ta'a Chume was the sole, undeniable ruler of the Hapes Consortium.