Bad blood remained between the four kingdoms of the plateau, the system of alliances and intermarriages shifting sometimes more than once in the space of a generation. In 1520, marriage negotiations between Agraine and Steys broke down so badly that it led to the Seventy Years’ War. According to contemporary accounts, Queen Marion and King Jaimes were discussing a consolidation of their kingdoms into one by way of marriage between them. Irie and Wallis sent spies and saboteurs to the meeting place, knowing the resulting kingdom would be too powerful to fight. These agents did their jobs so well that Marion and Jaimes hated each other by the end of it, Marion declaring war on Steys upon her return to Rhondisfarne. Marion V and the next three Rulers of Agraine, Deron V, Tiberion II, and Anne IX, would all die in battle against the Steyish forces. Peace was eventually reached by the efforts of the thirteen year old Queen of Agraine, Vicaria VI, and the sixteen year old King of Steys, Charles III.
