Forced

Forced

Disclaimer: I'm too lazy to write another clever, witty declaimer, so... you know I don't own it... and if you want proof, see the previous chapter! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Chapter Two: Surprise!

Salazar walked towards the oak door at the end of the corridor, dreading the confrontation he was about to have with his father. Salazar had never really gotten along well with his father. They saw things in different way, had different goals in life.

Salazar sighed before he knocked on the black door. He tried his best to put up his mind shield and brace himself, but he knew it would not work. His father always knew exactly what his weaknesses were and used them to his advantage. Salazar was completely defenseless when it came to his father.

After he knocked, he had to wait a few seconds before he heard his father's cold voice ask- no, command him to enter. Salazar straightened his back, pushed the door open and strode into his father's office. He stopped a few feet from his father's desk and made a deep bow saying, "My lord."

"Hello, Salazar," Salem said, looking pointedly at his son.

"Hello, Father," Salazar said, trying to keep all traces of wariness out of his voice.

"Please, have a seat," Salem said, indicating the chair on the other side of his desk. After Salazar had seated himself, Salem continued. "I have something quite urgent to talk to you about, though I doubt very much that it will please you," Salem said.

Yeah? Well that never stopped you before, Salazar thought bitterly. He would have loved to say that out loud to his father, but he couldn't. He hated how scared he was of the man sitting before him.

Salem continued. "I have just received a letter from my old friend, Lord Ravenclaw and it has reminded me of a promise that we made to each other... that concerns you," Salem said, looking intently at his son.

Uh oh... Here it comes. Salazar braced himself.

"Well, I'll just cut to the chase, you need to get married, and soon. You may not be the eldest, but you still need to get married and produce heirs for your inheritance. You will receive one of my other estates, perhaps the one in Hollsmeade. And, you will need to run that estate while your brother runs this main one, along with a few others. You will be responsible for helping your brother bring in crops, defending our estates et cetera." At this point, Salem stopped and looked up at his son, waiting for a reaction.

Salazar sighed. "And who do you wish me to marry, Father?"

"Do you have a preference?"

Salazar hesitated. He knew his father well enough that he didn't care for his son's opinion on such matters. He knew this was a trick question. "Whoever would be most beneficial to our family?"

"Ah, right you are. You see, it would greatly benefit us to merge our household with another noble household, wouldn't you say?" Salem didn't wait for his son to answer. "Now, as I mentioned before, I recently received a letter from my good friend Lord Ravenclaw, you remember him? Yes, well, he reminded me of a... betrothal we arranged when you were but two years old. You are to marry the fair Rowena Ravenclaw."

As soon as the words escaped his father's mouth, Salazar's heart sank. He and Giselle didn't have a chance. He had known that from the beginning. If only they could find a way to run away together. But, he knew that even if he plucked up the courage to defy his father, his father would find him and assign him to an even worse fate, perhaps as a monk. "Oh," was all he managed to force out of his now dry mouth.

Salem smirked at him unpleasantly. "Do you have any objections to this?"

"They do not matter, My Lord," Salazar said carefully.

"I know, but I would like to hear your complaints," Salem said, flashing, once again, an unpleasant smile at his son. Salazar should have known that it was a trap then and there.

"Umm... I would rather not marry Rowena."

"How come?"

Well, here goes nothing, Salazar thought. "Because, I am in love with someone else."

"Oh?" Salem asked, feigning innocence. "And who is that?"

Another deep breath. "Giselle, the kitchen maid."

"Ah hah... Are you sure that you are in love with her, and would not just like to take her as a bed-warmer?"

Salazar shot his father a disgusted look. "I would never use Giselle like that!"

"Oh, so you really do love her? Such a shame that you can't be together." Salem waited for his son's reaction. When none came, he continued. "So, do you think that you should be allowed to marry Giselle, the kitchen maid, rather than the fair Lady Ravenclaw?"

"Personally, I would agree with that statement."

"Ah, infatuation has clouded your judgment, boy. Do you think that your pleasure is more important than this family's prosperity and health? Do you think that I will let you marry a... a... kitchen maid?" The last two words were spat out with such disgust that Salazar actually backed up a bit into his chair. "Salazar, you will never see that girl again. I have already sent her to a friend's estate in Balanova. No, I didn't let her go, because that would only give you the chance to find each other. You will marry Rowena Ravenclaw and that is final." He glared at his son, daring him to protest. "You are dismissed."

Salazar got up and made a deep bow before exiting. He was furious. His father wouldn't even let him say goodbye to Giselle. He didn't know how he would be able to marry another, when she was still out there.

He strode angrily back to his room and slammed his door behind him.

"Alohamora!" he said, locking the door so that he could brood in peace.

Rowena looked morosely at the stew that sat in front of her. She had barely taken two bites all night at dinner and had been twirling her spoon around and around in her bowl, trying to create the illusion that she was actually eating it. So far, supper had been silent at the Ravenclaws' dining table. Lord Ravenclaw was started to get worried about his children's silence, even if it had been a year to the day since their brother's death.

"So, I got a letter from my old friend Salem Slytherin, you all remember him, don't you?" he asked his four children. They mumbled their response, not even looking up. "Good. Well, he was particularly interested in you, Rowena."

"Oh?" she said, finally looking up. When she saw the pointed look in her father's eyes, she knew that this letter directly involved her.

"I don't know if you remember, dear, but you are betrothed to Lord Slytherin's son, Salazar," Rodd said, looking warily at his daughter. He knew that it was bad of him to talk to her about this in her time of weakness, but at any other time, she would have out-right refused.

"I don't remember that, no," Rowena said, now paying full attention to her father.

"Well, you are betrothed to Salazar. And you will soon be married," he said, looking up at his daughter.

"Oh," was all Rowena could manage.

"He will be coming here within the next fortnight to get to know you and court you." Now, Rodd was starting to get worried at his daughter's obedience. He knew that she had hopes and dreams and having a husband would stop her from achieving them. However, Rowena didn't understand that because she was a woman, she wouldn't be able to achieve them, anyway. But, Rowena was stubborn and Rodd had no doubt that she would have found a way to make her dreams be realized. However, he couldn't afford to break his promise to his friend Salem and he knew that having this alliance with the Slytherin household would greatly help the Ravenclaws, for the Slytherins were extremely powerful. Yet, it was still difficult to force this marriage on his daughter. Rowena had always been a weakness of his.

"Oh," Rowena said again. She was rather numb and wished her father would stop talking so that she could think. "May I be excused?" she asked.

"Of course, my dear," Rodd said, looking worriedly at his daughter.

Rowena got up and strode away from the table, leaving the rest of the family to enjoy their supper in more uncomfortable silence, laced with confusion.

Salazar sat in a chair in his receiving room, brooding. He was still angry at his father, even though he knew he was right. Even though Salem had many faults, he always put the good of the entire family before his own interests. Except when he took Marielle as a mistress, Salazar thought bitterly. Maybe if you had paid more attention to Mother, she would have tried to live instead of surrendering to her illness. After his mother's death, Salazar and his brother had drifted apart; Salazar hating his father and Sazlan worshipping him.

During this time, Salazar had grown especially close to his younger sister, Selena. Salazar felt it his duty to protect his little sister, seeing as neither his father nor his brother would. Now, however, Selena was visiting their Aunt in London, for Aunt Selma had insisted that the girl needed a female influence, seeing as their mother had died when she was only twelve-years-old. Salazar missed his sister bitterly, but was grateful when he had Giselle. But, now, it seemed that he didn't even have her.

Salazar was pulled from his brooding thoughts when he heard a gentle tap at his door. He said a quick spell that allowed him to see through the door briefly. He saw that the person who had knocked on his door was Lisbeth, one of the other kitchen maids and a close friend of Giselle's. He quickly walked to the door and opened it.

Lisbeth jumped slightly when he opened the door. She was always a bit of a jumpy, twitchy girl, but she seemed particularly nervous at the moment. She bobbed a slight curtsey to Salazar and he inclined his head for her to explain why she was there.

"So surry to disturb ya, suh, but umm... Giselle axed me to come up and fetch ya. She would like to erm... say g'bye." Lisbeth's eyes darted down the hallway, as if to check that no one was listening in on their conversation.

"Where would she like me to meet her?" Salazar asked her, anxious to see Giselle.

"Jus' follow me, suh," Lisbeth said, and he did.

She led him through the many corridors of Slytherin mansion down several flights of steps until they reached the music room. Lisbeth knocked lightly on the door three times. The door was opened quickly by Giselle and she ushered them in roughly.

"Giselle! I thought I would never see you again!" Salazar said, drawing her in for a passionate kiss and causing Lisbeth to blush and feel especially uncomfortable.

"Salazar, we haven't got much time! But, I had to see you before I left. I'm leaving in about fifteen minutes," Giselle said urgently. "I had to talk to you."

Salazar stopped trying to kiss her when he noticed the tone of her voice. "What about?"

"Salazar. We're never going to see each other again. No, don't try and protest, we're not. So, I had to tell you that you have to stop loving me. Look, I know that it will be painful, but otherwise, neither of us will be able to live. Look, you have to get married and I have to as well. We must promise each other that we will try to love our new partners." She looked at Salazar pleadingly. "Look, you can still have a special place for our memories, but that's all they'll be... memories. We can't make this work out no matter what. Salazar, promise me that you'll try to fall in love with Lady Ravenclaw."

Salazar was about to protest, but when he saw the look in his lover's eyes, he knew that she was right. They needed to move on. "I promise," he said, heaving a big sigh.

She smiled at him. Then, she hugged him, as he would have hugged his sister, not his lover. And, as they let go of each other, Salazar began to let go of Giselle. It would take some time for him to finally get over her, but he was ready to start fresh and meet Rowena, give her a chance.

"I is surry to break dis up, but Giselle is leavin' now," Lisbeth said awkwardly.

"Yes, of course, Beth. Sorry," Giselle said, shooting Salazar one last smile before she walked out of his life forever.

Rowena sat in the courtyard, letting the cold wind blow her brown hair around her face. Though it was quite cool out, Rowena felt perfectly comfortable in her shift and cloak. She had always loved the cold. She hated the hot summer days when her hair stuck to her neck because of the heat. She loved the cool winters, especially when it snowed. Going for walks around the grounds of Ravenclaw Manor was one of her favorite things to do. She loved walking through the woods, standing on the cliffs, sitting by the lake. It was all so calming.

She was trying to gather her thoughts. Well, she had always known that she would have to get married, even though she would have preferred not to. She had always planned on running away and disguising herself as a man, so that she could achieve her goal of opening her own school. But, what was the point on brooding on such thoughts? She would never accomplish her dream and she might as well face that now instead of lying to herself.

Ben, what would you have said to cheer me up? You always knew exactly what to do or say... Oh, how I miss you, Rowena thought to her dead brother. She had taken to talking to him about her problems and life in general. She liked to think that he could hear her.

Rowena heard a footstep and looked up, but it was dark out and she couldn't make out the approaching figure.

"Lumos!" she said, illuminating her sister, Sarah Anne's pretty face.

"How are you, Rowena?" she asked, sitting down next to her younger sister.

"All right. I was just thinking of Ben and how he always knew how to cheet me up," Rowena admitted.

"Well, I know I'm a poor substitute, but I'll try." Sarah Anne smiled at Rowena. Rowena smiled back. "Look, I know that you planned on never getting married, but I hear that Lord Salazar is one of the nicest young men in the country. Even though his father is cool ad unattached, I recall hearing that he resembled his mother more, and she was such a jolly, nice lady. I think that you two will get along splendidly. And, who knows, maybe he'll support your dream school and even help you open it, because you do need a man, Ro, even if you don't want to." Sarah Anne looked earnestly at her sister.

"Thanks, Sarah. I fell better," Rowena said, hugging her sister, and she meant it.

"Any time, Ro." Sarah Anne looked at her sister. "Look, I know that you were closest to Ben, but you do have a big family. You still have me, Sam, Tom, and Father. You don't have to be alone."

"I know," Rowena said. "It was just that Ben's death was such a blow, I am still having a hard time dealing with it."

"I know, Ro. But, we're your family. We're here to help. We love you. Never forget that, Ro, okay?" Sarah Anne said, looking into her sisters eyes.

"I won't," Rowena promised her sister.

Okay, lovelies!! Nobody's reviewing!!! How am I supposed to be excited to write more if I get no feedback?! Any way, I hope you like this chapter... I hope that the chapters will start getting longer. I just didn't have too much for the first two. Heh... Now, I really don't know much about England in the tenth century... so I'm trying my best, although that's not very good. Also, I'm sorry if the use of magic seemed a bit abruot, but I realized that I didn't have any magic in the first chapter, and this story has magic in it... Anyway, if you're reading this, please review!!

Love,

Jess