While the story focuses on two feuding families, that is not to say that they are the only Immortals in the this fantasy world. Within the OtherWorld, there are different nations of peoples ranging from Elves and Fey to Wolves, shapeshifters, and beings with demonic powers.
Originally, all of these beings existed harmoniously in a place called the Immortal Court. I believe I've mentioned this before. In the Immortal Court, the different groups strove to improve themselves from being open minded all the while basking in the never ending delights showered on them from Ganef. It was an unwritten rule among the Immortals that Ganef would be the only ruler of this court. Being unwritten, this rule was liable to change at some point.
And change it did. When the Delacroixes first came to the Immortal Court, the different families took notice right away that they had no love for the lack of formal structure to the court. As time went on, the Delacroixes increased their influence until Ganef himself could not make a decision without consulting the family. The moment finally came that they had spent all their resources working towards: the Delacroixes took control of the Immortal Court. Naturally, their first action was to put into writing that their family was to be the only official rulers of the court.
As more and more laws were laid upon the Immortals, the Delacroixes' influence began to wane. The Silvers took up the burden of beginning a riot that would pull the perpertrators from power. Before their plan could be put into action, the Delacroixes were informed of the mutiny brewing. With the usual pomp and circumstance of their reign, the Delacroixes put the Silvers on trial with a charge of treason. It did not come as a surprise that the family and all future generations were found guilty. The Silvers were banished from the Immortal Court. With their heads held high, the Silvers began their trek to a new life followed by those who had also been charged with treason.
Far to the North, the Silvers established their own court known ironically as the Court of Exiles. The Silvers created a home for themselves and their people. In a short time, the Court of Exiles flourished. They covertly traded goods with all of the families left in the Immortal Court while still providing enough to feed themselves. Soon, the orders for food, fabric, trinkets, and other luxury items turned into orders for armor, weapons, and willing men. Intell came from multiple sources that the Immortal Court was crumbling under the Delacroixes and that the families were preparing for an all out war.
The Silvers used the building chaos to enrich their economy. Suddenly, the orders stopped coming. The King of Exiles knew that either the war had began or the families had been discovered and exiled just as his family was. It took months before any information came to him about the condition of the Immortal court. It came to him in a passing conversation with a young artisan on his way to the southern land of Paradiso. As it turned out, the Delacroixes had found out about the conspirators but this time, they were not strong enough to fight them off. The Delacroixes had been forced to flee. The artisan said the family had gone north and as far as anyone was concerned, the Silvers could fight it out with the Delacroixes over territory.
The King of Exiles send scouts out immediately to confirm the rumors. His scouts returned with stories of nobles plowing their own fields and building their palace from stones they found in the rivers nearby. What troubled the king despite the amusement of his rivals working like slaves was that they had moved into his area of the OtherWorld. A war was bound to ravage the land yet again.
And so it happened. The Queen of Exiles had just birthed a son and no sooner was he put into his nursery then an assassin's arrow pierced his heart. The Silvers and Delacroixes raged into a new war that would not see its bloody end until Aubrey and Victoria.
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