Henri X

Additionally;

Kingdom of Darkshard

Duchy of Eastbourn

Emma Melisande (b. 597)

King **Henri X** was the King of both Silverspire and Darkshard. Additionally, he was the Duke of Eastbourn by marriage.

Ascending to the throne of Silverspire in 2E 570, seizing the throne of Darkshard in 2E 583, Henri would rule both realms independently until his death.

## **Timeline**

**2E 558 — Henri is born on 28th First Seed.**

* His father is Prince Henri Charles, heir to the Kingdom of Silverspire; his mother is Elisabeth of Darkshard, daughter of King Charles II.
* He is named Henri Philip, for Saint Philip.

**2E 570 — Henri IX dies, killed by chrondiasis; Henri Philip ascends to the throne as Henri X *(aged 12)*.**

* A faction of nobles seize power under Prince Gerald, creating a regency council to govern the realm in Henri X’s minority.

**2E 573 — Henri seizes independent rule and pretends to the Kingdom of Darkshard *(aged 15)*.**

* Escaping his watchers while on a hunt, he meets with a company of knights. Returning to the capital, Henri declares himself able, demanding the regency be lifted.

* Prince Gerald surrenders, hoping for a favourable position in the King’s court.

* Henri makes his claim to the Kingdom of Darkshard, amassing an army in preparation for an invasion.

**2E 574 — Henri personally leads the royal force against Darkshard *(aged 16)*.**

**2E 578 — Henri defeats Prince Pierre Malain at Greyholt *(aged 20)*.**

* In the most consequential battle of the war, Henri wins a staggering victory.

* Both Prince Pierre and Prince Ernest are killed on the field, leaving Charles III heirless.

**2E 583 — Silverspire is victorious in the conflict; Henri X becomes King of Darkshard *(aged 25)*.**

* Charles III perishes during the siege of Darkshard.

* A new king, Charles IV, is elected by the wealthy citizens of the city. His reign would end in a matter of months, however, with his surrender.

* Henri is proclaimed Henri IV of Darkshard. He remains in the city for some weeks, taking oaths of fealty, before returning to Silverspire.

**2E 585 — Henri marries Laurette Bailleval *(aged 27)*.**

* Henri’s marriage to the daughter of Earl Raymond Bailleval, then the most powerful nobleman in Darkshard, is chiefly counselled and organised by Duke Kingsford, the Grand Chancellor.

**2E 588 — Henri’s first child, Charles Philip, is born *(aged 30)*.**

* Charles is named for the son of Henri VI, the famed prince who served as his father’s paramount general.

**2E 590 — Henri distances himself from Laurette, expelling her from the royal court *(aged 32)*.**

* Rumours of infidelity, likely invented by the queen’s opponents, circulate.

* Henri seeks in the Temple of Magnus and end to his marriage. The Grand Priest of Dawn denies his request.

**2E 591 — Henri begins his relationship with Victoire Cabourg; Raymond Bailleval revolts *(aged 33)*.**

* Still married to Laurrette Bailleval, Henri forms a romantic relationship with Victoire, the daughter of Duke Victorien of Eastbourn. The courtship is not kept secret.

* Outraged, Earl Raymond demands the King break off his affair. Ignored, he launches a revolt to see either Henri’s relationship with Cabourg ended or, much more radically, see his rule in Darkshard brought to an end.

**2E 592 — Queen Laurette is executed; Henri marries Victoire Cabourg; His second child, Henri Victorien, is born *(aged 34)*.**

* Accused and quickly found guilty of conspiracy against the king, said to be in league with her rebel father, Laurette Bailleval is sentenced to death by hanging.

* The execution of the queen prompts a larger uprising in Darkshard.

* Henri shortly thereafter marries Victoire.

* By the end of the year, Henri’s second child, Henri Victorien, is born. He takes the name of Victorie’s father, the Duke of Eastbourn, which was also the name of a martyr.

**2E 595 — Henri is victorious over the Darkshard Uprising *(aged 37)*.**

* The rebellious nobles meet gruesome ends. Earl Raymond is notably brought to Silverspire, where he is cast off the peak of the mountain.

* Henri replaces much of the Darkshard nobility with Silvermen.

**2E 597 — Henri’s third child, Emma Melisande, is born *(aged 39)*.**

* Emma takes the name of Saint Melisande, on whose day she was born.

## **Biography**

A rare thing it is for a King in Silverspire to be born doubly royal. In fact, the last royal union was the marriage of Henri IV to Marie of Goldenheight, which saw the latter realm absorbed by the former when Henri V inherited both. Such monarchs as these, Henri V and Henri X, have proven dangerous.

When Henri V ordered his forces move across the Ruby Lake, he triggered a conflict that saw the House of Galan toppled; to be later restored by Henri VI after a series of wars that together lasted 97 years. The reign of Henri X was similarly dangerous though, quite by fortune, not so catastrophic. His rule saw the ascendancy of Silverspire over its rivals, as Henri V’s did, the seizure of the Darkshard crown, and a new golden age. The work of his later reign, however, would cause the present civil strife, and now once more order is abandoned and Galan rule is threatened.

Born in 2E 558, a year otherwise uneventful, Henri Philip was the only son of Prince Henri Charles and Elizabeth of Darkshard. He would be the middling child between two sisters: Princess Anne and Princess Elise. The year following was a great deal busier. Henri Charles would become King Henri IX following the somewhat early but expected death of Henri VIII to blood rot. Henri IX’s maternal grandfather, the once powerful Baron Edgar Damblain, would also die in the same year. Sir Raymond Marcy, son of Duke Richard of Potterhill, became the youngest man to be appointed to the Grand Council, replacing Baron Damblain as Grand Treasurer at 25.

Given to Henri was the name of Saint Philip, who, so beloved in the eyes of Magnus, could command the very sun to set. In all but his favour with the divine, Henri did not particularly seek to model himself on the saint. Far more interested in his other namesakes, the Galan Kings of Silverspire, he was drawn from a young age to the tales of wise kings and talented princes above those stories of the Temple. He would find his first passion in the history of his house, learning the names of each ruler and his every relation.

Though he would come to be taught by a number of different scholars, knights, and scholar-knights, the person chiefly responsible for educating the Prince was Urbain Magnieu. Appointed by Henri’s grandmother Blanche, evidence of Damblain influence extending beyond the death of its patriarch, the theologian and poet would oversee his studies. Literate at a very early age, he was described by Thibault Bathernay, who instructed him in rhetoric and literature, as ‘a prince exceptionally bright, whose future beckons a golden age for the arts’.

Henri was certainly studious, though it did not distract him from more active pursuits. His father, considered by some too involved in the raising of the Prince, sought to instil in him some martial ability, declaring to those opposed to the idea that no king could order a march who would not take the first step. Able to swing a blade well enough by five, he was made the Prince of Goldenheight. This Galan tradition symbolised the formal recognition of the Prince as unrivalled and unopposed heir to the Kingdom.

[Unfinished]