Chapter 2: Royal marriage
"There's no need to panic little sister, we're all family here. In fact, this is a celebration, you should be happy." Damien smiled and looked as though he was genuinely happy for his younger sister. This made Jade feel so much worse.
Her eyes darted towards some of her more friendly siblings which there were quite a few but they no longer had any power. Each of them looked at her with pity, before evading her gaze, they were ashamed.
Jade's heart sank and her body became ice cold, she was alone here in this room. No one would help her, no one could.
'Father, Mother,' She remembered her parents, if they were still here something like this would have never happened. She bit her lip, trying to not cry, but a part of her heart certainly broke then and there.
Damien relished in the situation, he finally felt as though he truly had the power, his genius of a sister was powerless before him. He couldn't help but act even more dramatic, pushing that his next words were purely beneficial for Jade.
"My darling young sister the apple of Muterra, you are beautiful and smart, the pride of our nation. It brings me great joy to know that you'll being turning 18 years of age soon, you'll become an adult, a woman." Damien continued to spout praises with a terrifying smile on his face whereas as Jade's became more and more pale, she had an inkling at what he was getting at, and it filled her with fear.
"Now that you will soon be of age it's only right that as your eldest brother and your king that I arrange for you a noble engagement." Damien stood up and began walking towards Jade whereas a bomb went off in her head the moment the word 'engagement' was said.
'He's planning to marry me off, that son of *****.' Although there's still arranged marriages in noble families and royalty, that's not an enforced tradition. Nearly all her elder siblings married for love and picked their own partners as that was how their Father wished it to be. But Damien clearly didn't care, he was abusing his role as King to force a royal marriage and given his feelings towards her it'd be anything but pleasant.
Jade was quite literally shaking, in this regard there was truly nothing she could do or even her siblings could do. Her brother or rather the King had full control over marriages of the royal family as long as he wished it, he could sanction their marriage. It was an old and outdated tradition but legally enforceable.
Damien walked next to his sister; his eyes full of joy as he continued to speak.
"As your brother and King, I have decided on the perfect candidate, and you shall be married to him on your 18th birthday..." Damien paused for dramatic effect and to prolong Jade's fear that much longer. He had thought long and hard about this decision along with a certain few nobles, at times he even wondered if he should really do this, but that voice was quickly snuffed out. Along with his advisors they came up with a perfect candidate that would not only send Jade far, far away from the Muterra kingdom but would also be a boon to the kingdom, as it would give them a strong ally with the chosen kingdom. That way the public and other nobles couldn't really object as it was a beneficial political marriage. Damien was incredibly fearful of the day that there was a coup and Jade denounced him from his throne but with this marriage in place that would never happen.
"You will be marrying the young duke of the Lionheim house in the Zoroba empire, it's on the western continent so you'll be shipping out in 3 days…." Damien moved in close to Jade, placing his hand on her shoulder he whispered into her ear.
"Congratulations little sister," but Jade couldn't hear him, she was in shock, she knew about the Zoroba empire as well as the Lionheim house. She wouldn't be the first to marry the young duke, nor even the second or third, but the fourth. And before you think that he's into to polygamy that's not the case, all his previous wives died or disappeared. All within the first year or two of marriage and the duke household was seeking their next victim. Many houses and kingdoms had been offered but they all rejected out of fear, afraid to lose their daughters or sisters. Damien however didn't have this fear and was more than glad to offer his younger sister on a platter even if it meant death. Luckily the rumours about the duke were only passed around in the higher classes meaning that the populace would be in the dark, thinking that this was a normal political marriage.
In regards to the Zoroba empire, it was a superpower on the Western continent, far more powerful than Muterra and in a way establishing a royal marriage between these two nations was a very beneficial prospect for Muterra, making this situation much more dire for Jade. She couldn't refuse.
Seeing Jade still in shock and terror in her eyes, Damien smiled evilly before walking up and sitting back on his throne room.
"Guards escort my younger sister back to her room; she's got some packing to do." Damien clapped his hands and two kings guard appeared from the shadows. Each one placed their arms under Jades armpits and helped her to her room.
The rest of the nobles, and royal family quickly bade their farewells to the king and left post haste. A few of them running to check on Jade to make sure she was ok.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Jade screamed as loud as she possible could the moment the guards left her quarters. She was terrified and filled with anger. She started to violently punch her pillows and break things, but her anger wouldn't dissipate in the slightest.
"That Bastard!" She cursed her brother while smashing a vase, imagining stringing him up like a pig and making him squeal. Her eyes started to see red, and her mana grew out of control causing things in the room to start floating, she was truly pissed and was about to blow.
"Screw the consequences, I'm not going to marry someone I don't know and especially someone with a terrible reputation and so far from home!" The mana in the room grew denser and denser as she spoke, and dark thoughts started to fill her mind. Her brother had gone too far, she was tempted to act on her impulses and grant him exactly what he feared. The objects that started to float endured a crushing force and begin collapsing in on themselves.
"Are you sure about that little lass, you know if you do that there's no coming back?" The voice of an old man spoke gently from behind her suddenly bringing Jade out of her seething rage, she even smiled and was tempted to cry.
"Master," Jade turned to face the old man who spoke, her eyes red. This man was the grand mage of the Muterra kingdom, the most powerful man in Muterra and Jade's teacher. He had long white hair and a well-kept beard. He was dressed in lavish blue robes with gold coloured linings giving off the air of a scholar.
Jade ran into her master's arms and cried into his chest; this man was one of the very few people she could openly complain to. The grand mage, Castor.
Castor braced himself for her charge but his body wasn't as young as it used to be and he had the wind knocked out of him, but he didn't let it show, gently stroking the back of Jade's head like a grandfather. He had just learned about what happened but was too late to oppose the decision. He teleported to Jade's quarters instead knowing she'd need some support.
What he overheard her say however was quite alarming, it was practically treason that she was contemplating but he couldn't really blame her and if she really did plan to overthrow her brother, he'd support her. But in truth he didn't want that, Jade, although incredibly talented in governing and in many other areas was not a Queen. Although she'd be great it wouldn't make her happy, she was a free spirit that shouldn't be bottled up here with heavy responsibilities. In fact, Castor had a positive opinion of her being sent to Zoroba, her marriage aside.
"Little Jade would you listen to this old man's ramblings for a little before you decide on what to do?" Castor continued to rub the back of the sniffling girl's head as he spoke. This was an important step in Jade's life.
Jade still angry and upset, kept her head against Castor's chest but nodded, she was a bit calmer now that her master was here.