Antone Nona Livy
Eighth Leader of the nonaLivy
Becoming the Leader of the nonaLivy is not something that Antone ever expected or planned for. His father, Rostislav, detested him. Not at first, of course. He was delighted to have another son, and he didn't even mind that his father, Ruslan (Antone's grandfather), had arranged for a "contract" mate. The woman seemed pleasant enough, asked for little, and produced a healthy son. But then, when Antone was three, tragedy struck.
Rostislav's mother died in a accident, sacrificing herself to save Antone. Rostislav was unusually close to his mother and started to associate her death with Antone so he spent more time with his older two sons. Then only a few weeks later, another nonaLivy disaster, the second one, occurred. Only three adult heirs survived, Ruslan, Rostilav, and Kesar. (Flavia, Kesar's adult daughter disappeared and was presumed dead.) And among the children, only Rostislav's sons and Kesar's new baby son, Marik, survived.
Unfortunately, during the aftermath, Rostislav overhears his father discussing "those things" with Antone's mother and realizes she is one of "those" people. In a fit of anger, he sends her away. He can't send Antone away, so he simply avoids the child. He does, of course, ensure that Antone has the best tutors and a proper upbringing as befit an heir of the nonaLivy.
Antone doesn't lack for adult familial guidance and approval, though. His grandfather spends time with him, teaching about the family's secret heritage. His grandfather even arranges for him to visit his birth mother from time to time (without Rostislav's knowledge).
So Antone grows up a bit lonely, with the knowledge he needs to carry on the family's secret tasks since his father refused to learn or have anything to do with their hidden heritage.
Antone's older brothers marry and have children. And Kesar takes a "contract" mate at Ruslan's insistence. The family has too few people and the other branches of the nonaLivy would like nothing more than to see them disbanded so they can absorb the enormous wealth and successful businesses of the nonaLivy branch. Kesar has a daughter, Aurelia, and not a son. And Ruslan arranges for the three children (who are closer in age than Rostislav's older sons) to spend time together. Antone and Marik (only 2 years apart) become friends, and Aurelia often tags along with them.
A few years later, Rostislav takes another "contract" mate. This time, she's someone he's met and chosen himself. She has a daughter, Tatiana, who rapidly becomes his darling. She grows up with her (much) older brothers' children. But she also spends time with Antone, Marik, and Aurelia.
In the meantime, the older sons take their places in the family business, and it continues to thrive. (The nonaLivy are quite wealthy, but do not flaunt it, and try to keep a lowkey presence in the Grand Society.) When Antone is 17, Ruslan dies, and Rostilav becomes the new leader of the nonaLivy.
Antone joins the business at 17 and heads off to University when he's 19, as expected, where he meets Edwin Lyard. They become friends. And Antone takes a great interest in learning about Edwin's world, an up and coming minor world with good prospects for interstellar commerce.
During these years, Antone continues to research and learn about the "things" that his father disapproves of. Basically, the nonaLivy have dimensional abilities which have value in the ongoing and currently quiescent dimensional war. Also, he continues to (carefully) research to find out why and who is targeting the nonaLivy with tragic accidents and family-wide disasters.
He knows it has to do with their dimensional abilities and that there is something that the House of Livy possessed which possibly the nonaLivy branch inherited. His reasoning is not arrogance. The nonaLivy are now the oldest surviving branch. And their parent branch, founded by one of the original Livy brothers, was destroyed (in total) by a series of rapidly occurring disasters.
One of the secrets he learned from his grandfather is that his grandmother, who saved him, was a Seer. And that his mother is a Seer as well. During his visits with her (once he's old enough), she explains that his grandmother passed her Seer abilities to him. And she teaches Antone how to control and use those abilities - especially to protect the family. This is when he learns that the nonaLivy has been protected by various Seers throughout the years, and the major family disasters happen during the transition from when one Seer dies and the next Seer takes over. Also, some of the Seers are stronger than others.
He also learns from Ruslan and his mother, that each of the nonaLivy children are tested for dimensional abilities. His father Rostislav, rejected was discovered to have none of the family abilities which is why he completely rejects it. When Tatiana reaches the age of testing, Rostislav ensures that she is not tested. His older sons do not have any of the abilities, and he doesn't want to think that his darling daughter might. Plus, he was very careful to make sure her mother was not a Seer.
Note: more to come.
Key Facts
Current Status:
Deceased
Titles
Eighth Leader of the Ninth Branch of the House of Livy
Date of Birth:
456.14.6.18 GS
Date of Death:
509.9.5.13 GS
Life:
8901 RCT
8954 RCT
53 years / 29 cycles
Spouses
Siblings
Tatiana Nona Livy
(Sister)
Children
Comments