Re: KUY Royal Congrats ▓▒░ Round 4 ░▒▓
King William Johannes Friedrich Albert Augustus (29)
Queen Elizabeth Catherine Marguerite Victoria Eléonore (deceased)
Queen Anastasiya Violetta Zinoviya 'Anya' (17), Countess of Sentursk
Lord Alexander Wilhelm Heinrich Arthur (13), Duke of Solano
Princess Cecilia Catherine Johanna Mary Alberta (9)
Prince Gabriel Anselm Johannes Leopold Charles (deceased)
Princess Althea Elizabeth Renata Valentina Aurelia / Princess Helena Margaret Antonia Louise Emmanuelle (6)
Crown Prince Leopold Victor Elias Frederick Phillippe (nb)
From the Royal House of: Valnor
In the Kingdom of: Arkavia
After the twins were born, Elizabeth was more determined than ever to give William an heir. But each successive pregnancy ended in miscarriage, and for five years the queen remained barren. So convinced were the court physicians that Elizabeth could no longer have children that they issued an official proclamation, which emboldened William's enemies to consider making a move on his kingdom. In particular, ousted Tyrene emperor Nero made overtures to his loyalists on the continent -- overtures that did not go unheeded. The day after Elizabeth announced that she was once again with child, news arrived from the coast that Nero's followers had helped him escape from the slave colony, and the outlaws now marched on Andras and Arkavia.
William knew that he should not leave his wife in her delicate state, but also knew that his country and his allies needed him. He rode to war when Elizabeth was four months pregnant, praying that she and their child would survive his absence. For a time it seemed that his prayers were answered, as the pregnancy initially progressed without complication and Elizabeth seemed healthy. But by the sixth month it was obvious that something was wrong; Elizabeth wasn't gaining weight, and she always appeared pale and gaunt. Still, she insisted that William remain at the battlefront; his only focus should be on preserving the kingdom.
In time, the Arkavian-Andrasic forces succeeded in pushing back Nero's army to the hinterlands, and William was able to return home for a respite. He was eager to see his wife and children again, and he expected a warm homecoming. What he met instead was something far more grim. Elizabeth was positively skeletal, her emaciated state made more glaring by her swollen belly. The doctors had confined her to her bed, and the king spent every waking moment of every day by her side. On a gray winter morning, Elizabeth simply did not wake. William cried out and begged the physicians to revive her, but it was no avail. The queen was dead, but the child she carried was alive. The doctors delivered a healthy baby boy, the long-awaited crown prince of Arkavia. William gave him the middle names Victor and Elias, after his beloved mother.
But there was little time for William to grieve, for Nero had mounted another offensive, this one aimed at the heart of Andras. No sooner had he buried his wife that he was riding to battle once again. It took another three months, but eventually the allied Arkavian-Andrasic forces outflanked Nero's army and obliterated it. Nero, however, managed to slip away at the last moment; some say it was an Arkavian traitor that helped him do it.
William returned home to a hero's welcome, but he was not in a particularly celebratory mood. Still devastated from the sudden loss of his wife, he was at first furious when his ministers advised him that he should marry again. But ultimately politics won out over emotion, for William recognized that with Nero still on the loose, it was crucial that Arkavia find reliable allies. He tasked his ministers to find him a suitable bride from neighboring kingdoms, and they settled on the young archduchess of Sentursk.
Anya was just seventeen years old when she married William, but she was already a widow: her husband had died in a sailing accident only two weeks prior. Anya's father Vladislav had lofty political aspirations and was eager to marry her off as quickly as possible to a man in high places -- and who is there higher than a king? William, for his part, needed a buffer state between Arkavia and the former Tyrene lands, and Sentursk was quickly becoming a military behemoth. The match made sense politically, and so Anya became the new queen of Arkavia.
So far the reaction to Anya has been mixed, as Elizabeth as much loved by all the people. But she seems to have a sensible head on her shoulders and has a knack for the niceties of the Arkavian court. William's children, however, are confused at how quickly their father seems to have moved on after their mother's death. Only Alexander, now old enough to grasp the political demands of the throne, seems to be taking the marriage in stride.