The Vorkosigan Companion (61 page)

Approx. 200 years before Miles's birth—
Falling Free

Quaddies are created by genetic engineering.

During Beta-Barrayaran War—
Shards of Honor

Cordelia Naismith meets Lord Aral Vorkosigan while on opposite sides of a war. Despite difficulties, they fall in love and are married.

The Vordarian Pretendership
—Barrayar

While Cordelia is pregnant, an attempt to assassinate Aral by poison gas fails, but Cordelia is affected; Miles Vorkosigan is born with bones that will always be brittle and other medical problems. His growth will be stunted.

Miles is 17—
The Warrior's Apprentice

Miles fails to pass physical test to get into the Service Academy. On a trip, necessities force him to improvise the Free Dendarii Mercenaries into existence; he has unintended but unavoidable adventures for four months. Leaves the Dendarii in Ky Tung's competent hands and takes Elli Quinn to Beta for rebuilding of her damaged face; returns to Barrayar to thwart plot against his father. Emperor pulls strings to get Miles into the Academy.

Miles is 20—"The Mountains of Mourning" in
Borders of Infinity
,
The Vor Game

Ensign Miles graduates and immediately has to take on one of the duties of the Barrayaran nobility and act as detective and judge in a murder case. Shortly afterwards, his first military assignment ends with his arrest. Miles has to rejoin the Dendarii to rescue the young Barrayaran emperor. Emperor accepts Dendarii as his personal secret service force.

Miles is 22—
Cetaganda

Miles and his cousin Ivan attend a Cetagandan state funeral and are caught up in Cetagandan internal politics.

Miles is 23—
Ethan of Athos

Miles sends Commander Elli Quinn, who's been given a new face on Beta, on a solo mission to Kline Station.

Miles is 23—"Labyrinth" in
Borders of Infinity

Now a Barrayaran Lieutenant, Miles goes with the Dendarii to smuggle a scientist out of Jackson's Whole. Miles's fragile leg bones have been replaced by synthetics.

Miles is 24—"The Borders of Infinity" in
Borders of Infinity
,
Brothers in Arms

Miles plots from within a Cetagandan prison camp on Dagoola IV to free the prisoners. The Dendarii fleet is pursued by the Cetagandans and finally reaches Earth for repairs. Miles has to juggle both his identities at once, raise money for repairs, and defeat a plot to replace him with a double. Ky Tung stays on Earth. Commander Elli Quinn is now Miles's right-hand officer. Miles and the Dendarii depart for Sector IV on a rescue mission.

Miles is 25—
Borders of Infinity

Hospitalized after previous mission, Miles's broken arms are replaced by synthetic bones. With Simon Illyan, Miles undoes yet another plot against his father while flat on his back.

Miles is 28—
Mirror Dance

Miles meets his clone brother Mark again, this time on Jackson's Whole.

Miles is 29—
Memory

Miles hits thirty; thirty hits back.

Miles is 30—
Komarr

Emperor Gregor dispatches Miles to Komarr to investigate a space accident, where he finds old politics and new technology make a deadly mix.

Miles is 30—
A Civil Campaign

The Emperor's wedding sparks romance and intrigue on Barrayar, and Miles plunges up to his neck in both.

Miles is 32—
Diplomatic Immunity

Miles and Ekaterin's honeymoon journey is interrupted by an Auditorial mission to Quaddiespace, where they encounter old friends, new enemies, and a double handful of intrigue.

This article specifically attempts to address two matters: the problem of the Imperial succession and the problem of the Imperial madness. Both of these color the history of Aral Vorkosigan and his family. For this purpose there are three important family lines: the Vorkosigans with their linkages to the Vorrutyers, Vorbarras, and Vorpatrils; the Vorbarras leading to the current Emperor; and the Vorpatrils with their connection to the Vorbarras.

In
Shards of Honor
it is mentioned that Dorca inherited the Imperium through his mother's line and in
Barrayar
it is mentioned that his great-uncle had his stables built in a particular place in the Imperial Residence, giving his relationship to the old Vorbarra line more specifically. Since he inherited through his mother, his surname was probably not Vorbarra, though he undoubtedly took that name as Emperor. On the other hand, Ezar apparently was a Vorbarra and some kind of cousin to Dorca.

On his deathbed in
Shards of Honor
, Emperor Ezar says there are five men with better claims than his by blood to be Emperor. Aral Vorkosigan heads this list. Vidal Vordarian, Padma Vorpatril, Lord Vortaine, and Count Vordrozda are the four others. Since Ezar says their claims are better than his, they must be more directly related either to Emperor Dorca or to the "true Vorbarra line" that Dorca replaced.

We know that Aral Vorkosigan and Padma Vorpatril are the grandsons of Prince Xav Vorbarra and Aral has the senior claim because his father married Xav's older daughter. We also know that Mad Emperor Yuri did his best to murder anyone with any claim to the Imperium and that this eliminated Aral's mother, brother, and sister along with numerous others.

Yuri certainly noticed that Aral and Padma stood in relation to him exactly as Dorca had stood to the previous emperor. We don't know about any brothers or sisters Padma may have had, only that none survived Yuri's Massacre. We know Aral's uncle, Xav's son, was also killed. So, although Aral may claim Salic Law bars him from the Imperium, this is a legalistic argument that has had little practical force in the past.

In
The Warrior's Apprentice
Miles Vorkosigan mentions that Ivan Vorpatril, his second cousin, is his heir. Likewise, Ivan is very aware of Lord Vortaine as heir to his title and of Count Vordrozda as heir to Lord Vortaine. Indeed, Miles works out that this relationship is Count Vordrozda's motivation for charging him with treasonous intent in raising an armed force and for Admiral Hessman sending Ivan with the doomed courier supposedly sent to fetch Miles to answer this charge. It is also mentioned that Lord Vortaine's daughter, unmarried and fiftyish, would get her father's money but Count Vordrozda would get any title. This makes it obvious that Lord Vortaine has no sons. Vordrozda's maneuverings are aimed eventually at the Imperium. Since Ivan is not that close in line for the Vorpatril countship, what other title could be relevant? It is the Vorbarra heritage that is of interest relative to Lord Vordrozda.

What can we figure out about Lord Vortaine? As heir to Ivan, he must relate into Ivan's line to Prince Xav through a daughter of Xav younger than Ivan's grandmother or a daughter of Dorca. It has to be a daughter, because Vortaine inherits from Ivan rather than the other way around. All we need for Count Vordrozda to be Lord Vortaine's heir is for Vordrozda to similarly inherit from the same line via a yet younger daughter.