Cloten
King of Dumnonia Cloten
"I've been dying for over fifteen years - I'm ready to be done."
Cloten was the king of Dumnonia from 3926 until his death in 3963. He was considered an indifferent ruler, and his life was defined by the romance and tragedy of his marriage to Elowen Treselegan.
Early Life
Cloten was the fourth child of King Tewdhek, and was never expected to take the throne. When he turned seven, he was sent to study with the priests of Ynys Dywyll, and was a promising student of the Ellyll, particularly Derw of the Long Memory. He had a incredible memory, and quickly memorized hundreds of songs and tales, and also showed promise in his own compositions. The priests were arranging for Cloten to attend the Coleg Cerddorion to further his education when disaster struck. A pox had swept through the city of Dumnoc, and had in one foul week taken Cloten's parents and siblings. Thus it was that at the age of fourteen that Cloten returned to a nation he barely remembered in order to become their king.
King Cloten
The newly crowned Cloten was at a loss. None of his training to date had anticipated the complete destruction of his family. The city of Dumnoc was still flying the black banners of quarantine when he took the throne, and for the first two months of his reign he could not even enter his capital. When he did, he was horrified at the devastation the pox had wrought - nearly a third of the city's population had fallen, and the survivors were overwhelmed by the task of caring for the sick and the dead. His closest advisor and support was the priest Gereint, who Cloten had brought with him from Ynys Dywyll. Gereint steadied the young king, and together they worked to stabilize a kingdom rocked by death.
Cloten was not happy as king. He sought out experts whenever he could, and granted them broad authority to carry out whatever they felt needed to be done. Some of these councilors abused the trust placed in them, and afterwards Cloten felt obligated to take many of their duties upon himself, working to learn what he did not know in order to run the kingdom. When Gereint died three years after Cloten was crowned, the king was so grieved by the loss that it seemed that he too would die.
Queen Elowen
While Cloten did not die, his councilors feared for the succession, and took measures to secure it. They invited eligible and appropriate candidates from all over Ynys to visit, and constantly reminded Cloten that it was his duty to marry and sire heirs for the throne. Cloten bore this with an air of resignation - at least until he first met Elowen Treselegan, a noble lady of Lewyon.
To Cloten, it seemed that the ballads and romances that had filled his youth had suddenly come to life. Elowen was a cousin of the Lewyon monarch, and the most beautiful person Cloten had ever seen. The two fell in love at first sight, and those who recorded their courtship described it as though a romantic story had found its way into the world, and these two were blessed to have found each other. The castle staff began preparing for an immediate wedding, and they were not disappointed - the couple was wed within a month of having met.
A Golden Year, Followed by Night
For the first several months of their marriage, the entire kingdom felt lighter. Birds sang more, and the sunlight seemed warmer and kinder than before. The people loved their new Queen, and loved their King for her sake. Everything seemed to be growing wondrous and wonderful, and when the Queen's pregnancy was announced it was greeted with a kingdom-wide celebration that lasted for ten days.
During the months that followed, Cloten was always found at Elowen's side. The royal couple radiated happiness whenever they appeared, and the kingdom seemed to run itself, with problems magically resolving themselves without requiring royal attention. As the sun set on the first anniversary of their meeting, Elowen went into labor.
Throughout the night, Cloten paced outside the birthing room, forbidden to enter by the Queen's midwives. He watched them come and go, and strained to see the future in their expressions. He could hear sobbing and screaming from within, but told himself that this was normal - that everything would be fine.
Elowen gave birth to a boy, and named the child Conomor as he nursed. Then she slipped into a deep sleep, from which she never awoke. For three days Cloten sat beside her bed and sobbed, and it seemed again that the King might perish from grief. When he finally stood up from his wife's deathbed, some thought that in a way, he had.
Epilogue
Cloten lived for another sixteen years, and did what was needed to rule Dumnonia. He ate and slept and spoke when it was necessary. But he never remarried, nor seemed to take pleasure in any thing for the rest of his life. He had been emptied by great romance - a year of burning brightly, followed by ashes and cold coals.
He was never close with his son, and seemed pained by his presence. He made sure the boy had the best education, and would never find himself unprepared to take the throne. When Conomor was sixteen, Cloten gave up on living. Officially, he fell ill. But those who witnessed his final days tell of the king simply refusing to eat or drink, to rise from his bed or speak a word. He died of thirst. He was thirty-four years old.
Relationships
Librarian's Note - Elowen & Cloten
The romance and tragedy of Elowen and Cloten has become the stuff of legend in southern Ynys, and hundreds of songs and stories have been made about them. To me, the episode has all the hallmarks of an Invasive Narrative, a story from within the Dream that reaches out and takes over the people well-suited to make the narrative live. No doubt, Cloten and Elowen were well-matched - but I suspect that once the story took over, their fates were sealed. Stories are not kind to their characters. You can read more about Invasive Narratives here.
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This article was originally written for Spooktober 2024. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2023. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
This is such a touching article. Tragic stories like that resonate deeply with me. Great article!
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Thanks!