Chapter Nine

Tristan had stripped all of the nobles loyal to Merek of their titles and lands, banishing them from the kingdom. He then bestowed the lands to those that here loyal to him. Since the demons did not eat, the lands they were given were not farmed, and a famine settled across the land. Since the people did not have enough to eat, pestilence soon followed. I begged Tristan to have mercy on the innocent people, and after many months of death, he agreed to save the people, since they did not know he was the cause of the famine, they hailed him as a savior when he provided food again. He did so by taking over the neighboring land of Arda, thereby expanding the borders of Lanos, and having a readily available source of food for the people.

On the day Cecily turned seventeen, Tristan called her and myself for an audience, informing us that a marriage had been arranged between Marius, one of his kind and Cecily. I was in shock, Cecily just looked from Tristan to me and back, as the tears welled up in her eyes. I took a step  towards Tristan, he forced me to stop, freezing me to that spot. He then brought in Marius, the man Cecily was to wed. Controlling Cecily, he joined their hand and performed the marriage rites himself, as tears streamed down her face.

When Tristan was finished, Marius led Cecily from the room. I was furious, demanding to know what gave him the right to force his sister into marriage.  Being king gave him that right, of which he was quick to remind me, his anger sending me slamming into the wall. I was her mother, yet I could do nothing to protect my daughter from the tyrant that was her brother.