#ivan the terrible beat his son to death; caligula survived an assassination attempt but was left in a coma for days that left him changed

[forgottenroderick]

The Boy King: A Prelude

excerpt from GOD'S OWN CHAMPION by Dr. K. Aa, a stunning new biography of Roderick the Terrible, himself. Armed with the recent discovery of a trove of letters sent to and from the emperor's court during his fabled reign, Dr. K. Aa has published her much-awaited new biography on the most controversial emperor in Astairan history. Available wherever books are sold. Preorder your copy, today!

EDUCATING AN EMPEROR

roderick's early life, in terms of the history annals, would appear to be a relatively quiet affair in which a little-known second son received a sterling education. in the years to come, there would be much speculation about roderick's childhood, with some historians claiming that he was undoubtedly his father's favorite -- how else could the boy have emerged w such confidence as to topple so many nations? others would cite quiet determination as his mindset -- a humble beginning overshadowed by the spectacular future, but fewer would be those few who would hit upon the truth.

the records of roderick's elder brother were detailed, drenched with near-obsessive care for a father whose favoritism would prove extreme. For this firstborn son, the finest tutors in the world were shipped from across the continent to instruct the young prince, his tutelage ranging from warcraft to statescraft, with individual scholars cultivated to instruct him in philosophy, science, alchemy, falconry, oratory, art, history, and every other pursuit a young royal might anticipate. what is less sure is the education of the heir apparent's younger brothers. did they, too, benefit from the scholastic training heaped upon their elder brother and, even, upon their elder sister?

a recent cachet of letters gives us, perhaps, a touch of insight upon the question. dated from the early part of her reign, roderick's second of many queens writes the following to her brother, godfrey of hanthom. "...and when i asked my husband whether he should suffer one man to give instruction to both his sons, when the time came for edmund and arthur to be educated, he replied that any crafty man may learn from his brother's tutors, if he cares so to do..." while the document is fragmentary, this retort does give some insight into the mind of the emperor. it seems he had already thought carefully about mining a brother's instructors for information, suggesting he may have gleaned something from his own experience of the kind.

nonetheless, the question cannot at present be known for certainty. what is certainly fact, however, is that roderick's own education, while certainly planned to be much the inferior to his brother's, was quite well attended as well, with roderick's tutors (though of less quality), instructing him on a similar variety of subjects.

this very early matter of education is the first openly observable rift between the two families of roderick's father, for it was not only lines of gender, as might be persumed by the culture in which roderick was raised, that lesser tutors were engaged: it was upon the matter of mother, for roderick and alaric were born to the old king's second wife. yet, for all the care put into his half-siblings' studies, the truth is that the surviving children of the original dynasty were all gotten on the king's second queen.

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A KINGLY FATHER

there has been much speculation upon the relationship of roderick with his father, but with the recent discovery of his body and the CT scans run over it, it seems many of the tales -- long relegated to the status of mere myth by scholas -- may indeed be true.

most readers will already be familiar with the colorful tale of the king beating his young son half to death, each blow bloodying the child till, at last, the horrified monarch gathered his comatose boy in his arms, shrieking and wailing for what he had done. most scholars have been quick to dismiss the lurid tale as nothing more than propaganda meant to drum up some scientific explanation for the horror that would follow -- yet, it may prove just that. according to the story, the boy was comatose for three days and, when he at last awakened, was never quite the same afterwards.

his remains indicate that this may, in fact, be true, his skull itself wearing the marks of his trauma. says dr. bonespert, "There is very clear evidence of brain and skull trauma from a very young age written here in the bones, badly healed over fractures showing damage to a growing child. did the king truly knock down his own child and bash his head repeatedly against the marble floor till it ran red with blood and he wept his remorse over the boy, like the stories say? who can really know? but something terrible did happen to this person in his teen years: its right here in his bones. that much we can see for certain."

THE FIRST ASSASSINS

there is another story, as well, that might perhaps account for roderick's childhood injury, though source materials say that he was in his twenties at the time, already king and beginning his bid for empire. according to sources, roderick stood before a cheering crowd, arm raised as he made a speech upon the glory of empire. writers of the time note how his eyes shone, his voice booming with certitude: this, they said, was the very image of a king in his prime.

all, however, did not agree, it would seem, for one amongst the crowd leapt upon a ledge with bow and arrow and shot at the young king. for a moment, the writer notes in horror, the young ruler stood staring at his attacker before raising his arm and pointing one finger towards him even as blood coating roderick's whole side. "he looked an angry god," writes the witness. "and next he looked nothing at all." next thing anyone knew, the king stumbled back, collapsing from the parapet. the would-be assassin was signed and hanged, drawn, and quartered for his transgression, with the ailing young king rising from his bed to witness the execution. this was to be only the second of a series of assassination attempts, with the king's -- soon to be emperor's -- ferocity only growing with each attempt.

the first assassination attempt against his own person (as opposed to one of the many poisoning schemes perpetrated in his view against his father) was, in fact, a more intimate affair. it was roderick's first campaign following his father's death, a hard-fought war against roderick's late stepmother's home nation of antilla*, almost immediately following the death of his father. roderick, himself, had gone to the front with his first wife and future empress where they stayed in a tent together. one night, an agent tore inside, threatening roderick with a with a scimitar. fortunately for roderick, he kept a knife beneath his pillow and was awakened by his wife's scream just in time. the two men fought with roderick ultimately defeating his opponent and slaying him on the spot, but not before the assassin slashed roderick across the chest.

according to legend, realizing that the assassin's blade had been poisoned, his queen quickly sucked the wound clean and spat out the poison, saving his life, only -- the legend nearly always states -- for his neglect of her ultimately to doom her mere years later. had she doomed the rest of the world in saving his life?

but whether any of this is so cannot be said: his bones bear scars enough but where each might have originated cannot be said...

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