The Deryni Archives Part 14

903-904 Camber ofCuldi. Prince Aidan Haldane dies in Valoret, but reveals that a grandson survives. Prince Cinhil Haldane found in a monastery and brought out by Camber's children to spearhead a restoration; marries Lady Megan de Cameron.

904 December 1 -2: The Restoration. Imre of Festil deposed by Cinhil Haldane and dies.

December 25: King Cinhil crowned, age 44.

905-907 Saint Camber. January 31: Mark born to Ariella in Torenth.

June 25: Unsuccessful attempt by Ariella to overthrow the Restoration. Alister Cullen dies killing Ariella, but his ident.i.ty is taken by Camber, who officially "dies" on this date.

906 Spring/Summer: Cinhil receives homage of Sighere of Eastmarch and goes north to help quell a rebellion in Kheldour. November 14: Saint Camber canonized.

917-918 Camber the Heretic.

917-921 Reign of King Alroy Haldane.

917 February 2: Cinhil dies and is succeeded by his twelve-year-old son Alroy. The young king's regents shift the court to Rhemuth, the old capital. After the murder of the Deryni Archbishop Jaffray, Camber/Alister chosen to succeed him, but election overturned by the regents; Michaelines dispersed. December: Rhys killed; Council of Ramos begins sessions, lasting into spring, repudiating Camber's sainthood and limiting rights of Deryni in Gwynedd; Trurill Castle sacked. 918 Jebediah killed; Camber goes into limbo.

921-922 Reign of King Javan Haldane.

922-928 Reign of King Rhys Michael Haldane.

928-948 Reign of King Owain Haldane.

948 Mark, son of Imre and Ariella, attempts to retake his throne. In this century, Rolf MacPherson, a Deryni lord, rebels against the Camber-ian Council.

948-980 Reign of King Uthyr Haldane.

977 December 24: "Vocation."

980-983 Reign of King Nygel Haldane.

983-985 Reign of King Jasher Haldane.

Durchad Mor puts his armored infantry against the forces of Jasher Haldane, in behalf of Prince Mark-Imre, great-grandson of Imre of Festil.

985-994 Reign of King Cluim Haldane.

994-1025 Reign of King Urien Haldane.

1025 Ma.s.sive move against Gwynedd by Imre II (972-1025) results in anihilation of the male Festillic line through four generations.

1025-1074 Reign of King Malcolm Haldane. He marries the Princess Roisian of Meara, elder daughter and sole heiress of Jolyon, the last Prince of Meara, who had sided with Imre II. The marriage was to have settled the Mearan succession on the House of Haldane, but Jolyon's widow, the Princess Urracca, spirits away her two younger daughters, one of whom (Annalind) is twin to Roisian, and heads a party claiming Annalind is the senior and legitimate heiress.

1027 King Malcolm leads an expedition into Meara to hunt Mearan dissidents.

1045 King Malcolm leads a second Mearan expedition.

1060 King Malcolm leads yet another expedition into Meara to hunt Annalind's son Judhael.

1068-1070 Barrett de Laney blinded saving Deryni children. About this time, Lewys ap Nor-fal, an infamous Deryni, rejects the authority of the Camberian Council.

1074-1095 Reign of King Donal Blaine Haldane.

1076 King Donal leads an expedition into Meara to hunt Prince Judhael again.

1080 King Donal marries Richeldis of Llan-nedd.

1081 Prince Brion Haldane born.

1087 Prince Nigel Haldane born.

1089 King Donal leads another Mearan expedition.

1091 September 29: Alaric Morgan born.

1092 February 2: Duncan McLain born.

1100 Summer: "Bethane."

September 24: Sir Kenneth Morgan dies; shortly, the nine-year-old Morgan is sent to court as a page.

December: Morgan meets King Brion for first time at Christmas Court.

1104 January 6: Brion marries Jehana of Bre-magne.

August 1: Jorian de Courcy, Deryni, ordained priest but is discovered. "The Priesting of Arilan." November 12: Jorian executed.

1105 February 2: Denis Arilan, Deryni, ordained priest without being discovered.

Spring/Summer: The Marluk, Festillic heir, challenges King Brion and is killed. June 21: "Legacy."

July/February: Jehana winters at St. Giles Abbey.

1106 November 14: Prince Kelson Haldane born. His designation as Prince of Meara triggers a new rebellion there.

1107 Spring: Brion puts down the Mearan rebellion, but Caitrin of Meara, daughter of Prince Jolyon, escapes. Her husband and son killed. Sicard MacArdry marries Caitrin.

Duncan McLain secretly handfasts with Maryse, daughter of Sicard's elder brother Caulay, after her brother is killed in a brawl with a McLain man. To avoid bloodfeud, the two families part, but Maryse has conceived.

1108 January 3: Maryse is delivered of a son, Dhugal, but dies of birth complications; her mother, Adreana, raises the boy as twin to her own daughter, born the same time.

Spring: Duncan hears that Maryse died of a winter fever and puts thoughts of her aside, pursuing earlier inclinations toward the priesthood. 1110 Alaric Morgan is knighted by King Brion.

1112 Denis Arilan, antic.i.p.ating Duncan's ordination, has himself transferred to Rhe-muth to facilitate it.

1113 Easter: Duncan is ordained priest at Rhe-muth Cathedral, thanks to secret intervention of Denis Arilan; a.s.signed to parish at Culdi, near his family.

1114 Duncan is sent to the University at Gre-cotha for two years' further study.

1114-1115 Winter: d.u.c.h.ess Vera, Duncan's mother, dies, thus ending Duncan and Morgan's only source of Deryni training. Monsignor Denis Arilan becomes King's Confessor to Brion.

1115 May: Scan Lord Derry is knighted at Rhemuth and becomes Morgan's aide; "The Knighting of Derry."

1116 Spring: Denis Arilan brings Duncan to Rhemuth as his secretary and a.s.sistant. Summer: Duncan becomes tutor to Prince Kelson, nearly ten.

1117 Duncan's success as Kelson's tutor leads to an additional appointment as Prince's Confessor.

1118 Denis Arilan, age 35, becomes Auxiliary Bishop of Rhemuth under Archbishop Corrigan and is also appointed to Brion's privy council. "Trial"

1120 June: Brion signs a new border treaty with Wencit of Torenth. September: Morgan goes to Cardosa to observe border activities. November: Deryni Rising. November 1: Brion killed by Charissa's magic.

November 4: Brion's funeral. November 14: Kelson's birthday; Morgan returns to Rhemuth. November 15: Kelson defeats Charissa and is crowned in Rhemuth.

1121 Summer: Deryni Checkmate and High Deryni. Troubles with Loris and the bishops, and campaign against Wencit of Torenth, ending with Wencit's defeat at Llyndruth Meadows.

1121-1122 Winter: Consolidation of Kelson's court at Rhemuth. Morgan spends most of winter going back and forth between Rhemuth and Coroth, counseling Kelson and reestablishing his hold in Corwyn. Duncan travels back and forth between Rhemuth and Ca.s.san/Kierney, attending to his father's affairs and getting his new inheritance in order, privately settling back into his priestly vocation. Baron Jodrell, a bright young Kierney lord, becomes a staunch supporter and returns to court with him, where Kelson takes an instant liking to him and appoints him to the privy council.

1122 January: The Council of Rhemuth officially censures Loris (in custody since the previous summer), relieves him of his rank, and sends him into perpetual exile at St. Iveagh's Abbey in Rhendall. (Cor-rigan died of a heart attack the previous fall, before action could be taken against him.) Bradene of Grecotha elected Primate and Archbishop of Valoret in Loris' place; Cardiel becomes Archbishop of Rhemuth; Arilan is given Dha.s.sa. Various other reshufflings of bishops and sees.

1122 May 1: Morgan marries Richenda in Mar-ley, with Duncan officiating and Kelson in attendance. Afterward, Morgan takes his bride and new stepson back to Cor-wyn for the summer. Summer: From Marley, Kelson heads north to progress through his Kheldish lands and evaluate military readiness, keeping a wary eye on Torenth. Meets his Aunt Meraude's brother, Saer de Traherne, the young Earl of Rhendall, and brings him back to court as another counsellor.

Duncan spends most of the summer touring his lands and setting up feudal mechanisms for governing mostly in absentia. By the end of the summer, rumors become more strident that supporters of the old Mearan royal line are agitating for Mearan independence, sparked by dissatisfaction that a Deryni priest-duke now rules part of Old Meara.

1122-1123 Winter: Kelson further consolidates his authority, making plans to progress through Ca.s.san, Kierney, and Meara the following summer and squelch the separatist rumblings with a show of the royal presence. Courts of justice through the winter. Morgan is back and forth several times because Richenda is expecting their first child.

1123 January 31: Richenda is delivered of Morgan's daughter, Briony Bronwyn Morgan.

Spring: Young King Alroy of Torenth, only a few months past his 14th birthday, is killed in a fall from a horse while hunting. Rumors begin almost immediately that Kelson engineered the accident, fearing the power of a Torenthi king who had come of age. The nine-year-old Liam becomes king, with his mother Morag again as Regent and various Torenthi lords vying for her hand in marriage. Summer: Kelson turns his attention toward the worsening Mearan situation, progressing through Meara, Ca.s.san, and Kierney with Duncan, as planned. Morgan spends most of the summer in Corwyn, just to make sure there will be no Torenthi threat, but joins Kelson in Culdi after the ailing Bishop Carsten of Meara dies, leaving the important See of Meara vacant.

Late November: The Synod of Bishops meets in Culdi to choose a new Mearan prelate, but first elects several new itin- erant bishops, Duncan among them (Auxiliary Bishop of Rhemuth, CardieFs a.s.sistant). 1123-4 November-February: The Bishop's Heir.

1124 May-July: The King's Justice.

1125 March-April: The Quest for Saint Camber.

APPENDIX IV LITERARY ORIGINS OF THE DERYNI.

How THE SERIES BEGAN Over the years, the question most often asked by my readers (other than, "When will the next book be out?") probably has been, "How did you get the idea?" My usual response has been that I had this dream...

It's a complex process by which a dream becomes a universe that many readers regard as real, if tucked away in some other dimension. For those interested in that process, I present the stages of evolution between dream and what we now know as THE CHRONICLES OF THE DERYNI.

Though none of the following material should be considered canonical (in the sense that the novels and the short stories in this volume are canonical-that is, the "official" or "established version" of Deryni history), it certainly is proto-matter without which there would have been no Deryni series.

THE DREAM THAT BECAME DERYNI.

On October 11, 1964, I had a very vivid dream and wrote the following on two 3x5 cards when I woke.

Scene: audience chamber of a castle. The young widowed Empress (25) holds audience with her husband's faithful general (40) and his aide (20). She wears a white flowing robe with a black wimple and a simple emerald tiara. Her small son sleeps in the next room. The general endeavors to unlock the secret to the late Emperor's powers, which were left locked in an intricate emerald and gold brooch-he was unable to give her the key-was a.s.sa.s.sinated by the Blue Witch, who now rules. General is very wise and powerful man; shows Empress how to gain access to her husband's power-(he was left clues by his late Comm-Chief)- key is to jab pin of clasp through hand-10 sec. later, power transference begins, lasts 5 min. Transfer is successful; Empress tries power-works well. Possibility of love between Empress and General after power is regained and mourning over.

LORDS OF SORANDOR: THE PROTO-DERYNI RISING.

About a year alter I had the dream above, I wrote the novelette called "Lords of Sorandor." A great deal changed. The kingdom acquired a name-Sorandor-though that would change to Gwynedd in its next incarnation. The infant in arms had become the fourteen-year-old Prince Kelson. The character that would become Jehana (called Sanil in this version) aged enough to have a teenaged son and became a far lesser character-who definitely had no romantic interest in Morgan. And though the Deryni had yet to make an appearance as such, magic certainly had become a major factor.

The basic form of the universe had been established, however-and recognizable parts of "Lords of Sorandor" survive to this day in Deryni Rising.

LORDS OF SORANDOR.

-BY KATHERINE KURTZ OCTOBER, 1965.

Sanil of Sorandor stood, smoothing the dark mourning veil over her coppery hair as she had done each day for the past month. Resting pale hands on the dresser before her, she studied the green eyes which peered back at her for a long moment, then placed the simple, jet-studded circlet firmly upon her head.

"Your Majesty?" inquired a servant girl softly. "General Sir Alaric Morgan wishes to see you. Shall I say that Your Majesty is receiving no visitors?"

"Morgan? I-no, I suppose I must see him. Where is he now?"

"In the garden, my lady."

"Very well. I'll receive him on the sun porch."

Sanil stepped into the sun room and seated herself on the small, black-draped chair, spreading the somber velvet of her gown in graceful folds around her feet. Several ladies-in-waiting hovered around her person, and in a corner of the room, a young musician strummed softly on a mellowed lute.

The garden door swung open and a tall, black-leather clad figure strode into the chamber, sword and mail glinting dully in the diffused sunlight. Bowing his golden head in obeisance, he knelt at the feet of the queen in a single, fluid motion, his gloved fist going to his chest in salute. Sanil beckoned him to rise.

"Yes, Sir Alaric?"

"Your pardon, my lady. I would have come sooner, but the men have been restless under this new truce, and they feel Brion's loss deeply. He will be much missed."

"Yes, he will." She waited expectantly.

"My lady, I must speak with you alone; it is of the utmost importance."

"Sir Alaric, I... Very well." She dismissed the ladies-in-waiting with a curt nod, then motioned to a chair nearby.

"Sir Alaric, out of the love my husband bore for you, I have done as you requested. Brion spoke of you often, you know-that is, when he spoke of government and such at all." She gazed across the room, not seeing him. "Perhaps if he had told me more of what he was doing, I would have been better prepared for what happened," she said, glancing down bitterly at her folded hands. "As it was, I never knew of the constant danger he always lived in until he was already gone."

Looking up, she continued briskly. "But you didn't make this trip to hear me talk about Brion, did you, General?"

"No," answered Morgan, shaking his head. He rose explosively and began pacing the floor, his gloved hands clasping and unclasping.

"My lady," he began, "before your husband entered that last battle when he fell by the hand of the Blue Witch, he spoke to me at length of his divine power of rule, which has been handed down since his royal line began many years ago. He, no doubt, spoke to you on this subject, at least in pa.s.sing, but you prob- ably dismissed such talk as idle superst.i.tion, pa.s.sed on through the years as justification for divine-right rule. With most men, you would have been correct- but not with Brion."

He turned slowly toward her. "My lady, had he known of the plot of the Blue Witch in time, Brion could have saved himself-indeed, under the right circ.u.mstances, he could have destroyed her. But unfortunately, Brion underestimated the Blue One-and worse, he underestimated the extent of her influence among his own men."

His face convulsed in bitter remembrance as he spat out the words. "He was betrayed by a friend!"

He slammed one fist into the other hand, then recovered, remembering where he was. Turning to the queen with a strained smile, he continued.

"Do you remember Brion's aide, Colin of Fianna? Ah, poor Colin," he mused. "The Blue One bewitched him, you know. She induced the smitten lad to drug the king's wine. It was not enough to kill him, she said. It would only make him sleep.