Summary: Bastien reflects on what he has learned about his family history.
Bastien read about the family of Queen Kenna and King Raydan with fascination. Although he had learned the basic facts about Queen Kenna’s life when he had studied history in school, the book contained many more details. He learned how Kenna and Raydan had met, and that they had married at Stormholt Castle after defeating Empress Azura. He read about their children Adrian, Adelia, Gabrielle, Marcelline, and Leonidas. The children had all married members of prominent families, and had all had children of their own. He recognized some familiar names. Leonidas had been known as Leo to his family and friends, and Gabrielle had a son named Constantine. These names had probably been passed down through the generations, perhaps to many different lines. Royal families had intermarried for centuries, and later generations descended from the same ancestors in multiple ways. Diana had told him that this phenomenon was called pedigree collapse. He recalled Olivia saying that she was a descendant of Zenobia Nevrakis, but Adelia Rys-Lykel had married Zenobia’s son Zenon, whose surname was Drammir. Olivia must be a descendant of both Zenobia and Diavolos Nevrakis.
As he read about Adrian Rys-Lykel’s wife and children, a sentence seemed to jump off the page at him:
Adrian also had an illegitimate son, Julien Landais, who served as a guard for Gabriel Drammir, son of Zenon Drammir and Adelia Rys-Lykel.
This must be how he descended from Raydan and Kenna. Julien had to be his ancestor. He eagerly read about Julien’s life. Julien had been raised by his mother, and did not meet his father until after he began working for the Drammir family. When he accompanied the family to Stormholt, he learned the identity of his father, who had been unaware of his son’s existence. Although Julien continued to work as a guard, Adrian had acknowledged Julien as his son. Julien’s wife Susanna was the daughter of another royal guard, and their children also served as guards for royal families.
Bastien had known that his family had worked for royalty for a long time, but he had not realized just how far back this tradition went. No wonder his family had served the royals so loyally; they had always been connected.
Bastien made copies of many pages from the book. He definitely wanted to hold onto this information. When he had finished looking through all the information and copying everything that he found particularly interesting, he headed back to the royal palace.
Liam greeted him upon his return. “How did it go at the library and archives, Bastien? Did you find out if you’re related to Kenna Rys?”
“Yes, I did, Your Highness. I’m descended from Kenna’s son Adrian Rys-Lykel, through his illegitimate son Julien Landais. Julien was a guard for his cousin Gabriel Drammir.” Bastien smiled. “Julien and I have something in common, since I’m a bodyguard for my cousin, too. Although you’re a much more distant cousin, obviously.”
Liam nodded. “Yes, we do have a family connection.”
“I come from a long line of royal guards. Now that I know more about my family history, I’ve been thinking about changing my surname. Since my grandfather took his stepfather’s name, my surname doesn’t really reflect my ancestry.”
“So you may change your surname to Landais?” Liam asked.
“I could do that,” Bastien replied. “But I was thinking of going back to my oldest known male ancestor, and honoring the commoner who became a king. I may change my surname to Lykel.”
“Bastien Lykel? That has a nice ring to it.”
Bastien grinned. “I think so too.”
