Charles Morthan IV was one of four siblings. His father died when he was only ten years old. His mother, Queen Rowan Merrotha, Lord Samuel Collins and High Lord Stephan Montgomery served as co-regents on a council together, with the two men having a majority of power over governmental issues and Rowan having a larger sway over her son’s upbringing and upbringing.
King Charles III and Lord Eric Collins were close friends. Eric served as one of Charles III’s companions from the age of ten and when Eric’s wife Leann gave birth to twin girls the two men completed a betrothal contact. Eric’s daughters would marry Charles’ sons, Charles and Matthew. Which son would marry which daughter was left for the future.
Charles III died of a heart attack at the age of thirty-seven and Eric died a few years later in a Hathorite raid but the contact was unbreakable so Queen Rowan and Lady Leann did their best by their children.
At seventeen Mellina and Nikkana had their season, where they were presented at court. This was a formality as the girls’ marriages were already arranged and they weren’t seeking husbands.
Unbeknownst to all, Nikkana and Matthew had already formed an attachment. They had been writing letters to one another and meeting secretly for over a year. As Mellina and Nikkana’s season progressed their mothers realized the depth of their connection and formalized Matthew and Nikkana’s betrothal, leaving Charles and Mellina together.
Charles and Mellina were not in love with one another, but their partners’ siblings.
This tangled web eventually led to a lot of resentment between the pair and Charles’ multiple affairs and the two children that resulted from them complicated their relationship further.
Matthew and Nikkana’s deaths were wounds that neither Charles nor Mellina ever recovered from.
Charles III and Rowan also had two daughters, Merrotha and Lily.
Merrotha suffered from Ryne Syndrome, the same blood disease that Charles III and Charles IV died from. She suffered severe migraines, seizures and bruised easily. She died from a stroke at the age of seven, two and a half years after her father died.
At this time Charles IV, now a teenager, was rebelling against his mother. When Lily, her youngest child, manifested the Gift at the age of six, Merrotha accompanied her to the Isles of the Ithrimir. She stayed there for almost two years.
Later it would be revealed that she had an affair and eventually married Taran Havensgrad, the Ithram of the Masters of the Ithrimir. Together they have one daughter, Pledyssia.
Of the four children of Charles III only Charles IV and Matthew (at this time) had children.
Matthew and Nikkana had one daughter, Lenathaina.
Charles had two living sons by his wife, Mellina, out of six pregnancies. Both of his other partners had miscarriages and other pregnancy issues which indicate that the fertility issues lie with him.
By his first mistress, Lady Susanne Dorn, he had a son, Garret Morlette. His second mistress, Lady Joan Payne, gave him a daughter, Lady Jane Grey.
At the beginning of the In Blood and Fire series it’s clear that this lack of heirs is a major issue for the family and Lithonia at large. The line of succession is a highly contested topic.
Making the family trees started as a way for me to keep track of things as I wrote, but as the world grew, I wanted to share them. While they can be found in the books I am now making them more readily available here and on my website.