The next several weeks passed by uneventfully. Ella was more relaxed now at the school since she had settled into a routine. Professor Addington had not been hassling her, Christopher had not been bothering her that much and the doctor seemed to be indifferent to her. This actually made her happy because she was still of the opinion that the less attention she got from him the better. She still got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach when she was in his class, but she could usually ignore it and carry on with whatever activity they were doing. She had gotten to see Mother Christina and Aunt Mary a couple of times recently and this made her very happy.
Nicholas on the other hand had been in a foul mood a lot lately and was trying hard not to take it out on his students. He had not been feeling like himself and felt restless much of the time. He had not had a date with one of his lady friends in the past two months, nor was he interested in seeing any of them. As a matter of fact, he had got into a small argument with Cecelia two weeks ago because he refused to meet her for dinner. He had no interest in seeing any of them at the time and he wasn't sure why. He did know that the loss of interest for any of them made his mood even darker because he didn't know what to do with himself.
To make matters worse, Erebus had been on the prowl. The ministry had been breathing down his neck about either riding the planet of Erebus or making Ella leave the planet. He was not willing to allow Ella to leave the planet because it would mean certain death for her. He was trying his best to catch Erebus off guard, but the monster seemed to be more agile and elusive now than ever. It was like he found a new motivation in Ella, and he was determined to get to her. Nicholas knew that he had a plan to use Ella as a means to gain more power to fight his brother and this gave the creature an increased sense of purpose and power. Still, he was sure he would catch him off guard one day and be able to destroy him, it had to be perfect timing though.
It was late one evening when two representatives of Parliament arrived at the school stating they wanted to speak to the headmaster and Nicholas together. Once in the privacy of the headmaster's office, the head minister announced that they had had a meeting among the parliament and it had been decided that as long as Erebus was alive, Ella Xander would either have to leave the planet permanently or get married. If she were married, she would not be valuable to Erebus any longer and he would no longer be stalking her at the school. They had decided that it would be in everyone's best interest for an arranged marriage to take place. They would not take no for an answer as they had the safety of the school and other students to consider. Nicholas assured the men that his students were safe and even though the two men knew he was right, the decision had still been made that Ella would have to be wed in order to stay on Spirotest. The decision was made by dignitaries that were in a higher court than the headmaster of the school and Nicholas, so they had no choice but to agree to the terms of their arrangement, unless of course Nicholas could kill Erebus in a timely manner.
"And who is it that you propose to marry Ms. Xander?" Nicholas was most unhappy, and his mood was dark.
"We have a couple of prospects in mind. It shouldn't be hard to find a suitable husband for the girl. We have heard she is a pretty and smart girl albeit with a timid disposition. That might actually be a positive attribute for some of those that are interested."
"How long do we have before this arrangement is carried out? I do hope you will at least give me a chance to catch our friend and behead him in the process." It made him grin to himself because he knew that both of the men were not accustomed to such graphic discussion, and he could tell by the looks on their faces that it made them feel a little uneasy with such things being spoken aloud. He indeed hoped it would make them feel as sick as they had made him feel at the insistence that Ella either leave or be married. He had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to this than met the eye. The men knew the headmaster and Nicholas would never do anything to jeopardize the safety of their students or staff. They also knew that they would never send Ella home to face certain death and that Nicholas was having a hard time catching Erebus to kill him. Was there an ulterior motive here? He would be waiting and watching to see. He didn't trust many in parliament and he certainly didn't trust the two men that had brought the news to them. There was some other evil at work here, he could feel It.
"We will only be able to allow you one month to rid the planet of Erebus. In the meantime, there will be an ongoing search for a proper husband for the girl and wedding arrangements will be made. If you can extinguish Erebus before the actual wedding day, she will not have to be married and she can stay on Spirotest. It's all up to you my friend."
Nicholas's eye grew dark and narrowed on the man delivering the news. He spoke in a deliberate tone that had an unmistakable warning in his message. "You are not my friend and I think you should take careful heed of that fact. I am not accustomed to being given ultimatums. I nor the headmaster are your average pansy you are used to pushing around and bullying. There are consequences to your actions, friend." The word friend was spoken with much emphasis. "We will continue this discussion at another time. Until then, I suggest you tread carefully and watch your back. I will be paying close attention to the process you use in choosing a groom for our bride."
The other man's face flushed a bright red before going to a light shade of pale. His eyes were wide, and he looked at Nicholas with his mouth slack and he was unable to speak at first. "Well, I'm sure you misunderstand our intentions. This is for the good of everyone involved. I assure you there are no ulterior motives here." The man partially stuttered his words but when Nicholas didn't reply, he turned and told his partner that they must leave now. Nicholas never took his eyes off of the men until the door was closed behind them. Once the door was shut, the two men looked at each other with a most concerned look. Neither one spoke, but both knew what the other was thinking. They were starting to think that their plan may not have been thought out very well. It had not been taken into consideration who they would be dealing with.
They weren't sure if a friendship with another member of parliament was worth their own health and well-being. Harvey Smedley, a fellow member of parliament had been on the hunt for a new wife since his last wife had passed away. It wasn't so much that he missed his wife because he loved her but because he missed someone warming his bed and making his dinners. It had been rumored that he may have not treated her with the most care or kindness and that his actions may or may not have played a role in her death. This was one reason why he could find no woman that would consider dating him, much less marrying him. He had talked about his problem before at a meeting among his other parliament friends. At these same meetings, Ella's situation had been brought up as a matter of interest. It wasn't that her issue was a huge problem to Parliament as they knew Nicholas and the headmaster had the situation under control, but a few of the members had seen the new girl at the school and had remarked on how lovely she was. The circumstances of Ella coming to Spirotest were known by Parliament and they knew her virginity was one reason why Erebus wanted her so badly. Every one of them knew Erebus wanted to gain power to defeat his brother and Ella was one way he could do that. They knew a virgin sacrifice would win Erebus all the power he needed to defeat his brother and gain back what he thought was his rightful place on Warbrotum. What more chivalrous of an act than for Harvey to offer to marry this girl to save her life. No one could argue that he wasn't acting in the girl's best interest. He could become somewhat of a hero and get a new wife to serve him. It was a win-win situation for him.
After their meeting had finished, Nicholas knew he had to call on Agatha and Mother Christina with the news. He dreaded the meeting, but knew he had to tell them as soon as possible. It wasn't long before Agatha had arrived at the headmaster's office. When she arrived, she entered the office and looked at both of them men.
"Well, I've seen these looks before and I know there is bad news. Please just say it and get it over with."
The headmaster spoke up. "Johnathan Mathis and Phillip Bennett from the ministry were here today. It seems they have come to a decision without involving us in the process. They are demanding that Ella either leave Spirotest permanently or that she be wed in an arranged marriage in order that she will no longer be a target for Erebus. They are afraid the other students and staff of the school are in danger because of the circumstances. They will not listen to reason. The only way out of the ultimatum is for Nicholas to kill Erebus, therefore ending the threat. "
Agatha stood there letting the news sink in. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I suppose we should get Christina on the phone and inform her." It was as if the news didn't faze her much. These past few months had been a roller coaster of emotion and nothing she heard surprised her anymore. She knew it was best to deal with the situation instead of panic and she hoped Mother Christina had the same sentiment.
Once they had the mother on the phone, they informed her of the news, and she surprisingly had a similar reaction to Agatha. "We will not panic here. I have no intention of letting my Ella be married to a stranger, but she cannot leave Spirotest either. It is the safest place for her. Also, once she is married and the marriage is consummated, the Warbrotums will know where she is, and they will come for her. They will be putting her in worse danger.
"Mother Christina, we are all in agreement with you, but we are on a tight deadline as the ministry has only given me one month to get rid of Erebus. The question is, how and when should we tell Ella about the situation that we are facing?"
"But what if the Warbrotums come?" Mother Christina was starting to feel a panic feeling come over herself. Her biggest fear was that the Warbrotums would take another child from her, and she was terrified about this. Even though Erebus had been a threat to Ella, she never worried as much about him as she was worried now about the Warbrotums.
"Mother Christina, I assure you, we will keep Ella safe. No one will be able to harm her. If Ella ever did want to get married, we have ways of keeping the Warbrotums off of our planet. She would always be protected, you have my promise."
Mother Christina felt better with him saying this even though she didn't think Ella would ever want to get married. All she wants is to come to the convent. She had thought about contacting the convent on Spirotest herself to speak to them about Ella. Even though it wasn't home, maybe Ella would be interested in living in the convent there. She would come to love the brothers and sisters there as much as she loves everyone on Trobotdom. It would take some time, but she knew she would.
"I think we should take a couple of days before we tell her. Maybe something will change between now and then and we won't have to tell her at all. Maybe the ministry will change their minds or maybe Erebus will be killed."
The headmaster spoke up and agreed with Mother Christina. "We will wait two days before telling Ella. In the meantime, we will brainstorm about how we can remedy this situation. As you said, maybe there will be some event that happens that will prevent any of this from coming to pass. There is no reason to tell the child now and upset her.
Unfortunately, two days had passed and there had been no change in the circumstances that plagued the group. Erebus was in hiding and the ministry had not changed their mind about Ella having to marry. Mother Christina made an emergency trip to Spirotest to tell Ella the news. She, Agatha, the headmaster and Nicholas were all in his office when Ella was brough in by a staff person. As soon as she walked through the door, she noticed Mother Christina and ran to her and hugged her tightly. The hug must have lasted for several seconds and when she finally released her grandmother, tears were streaming down her face. She was so happy to see Christina that she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"Sit down here child" Mother Christina patted the seat beside her indicating for Ella to sit. "We have something to discuss with you." Ella already knew something was wrong, because every time the mother came unannounced, there was something happening, and it usually wasn't good. Ella did as she was told and sat down. She looked at everyone in the room. She couldn't help but feel like she had a flush of pink go up her neck and to her face when she looked at the doctor. He always made her feel a certain way, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She tried her best to avoid his gaze, but she could feel him looking at her. He had his usual cool expression on his face, which made it very hard to read what he was thinking. She sat there holding on to Christina's arm as if to keep her from leaving. The truth was that Mother Christina made her feel safe, even around the doctor. She felt as though she could handle anything as long as she had her Gam.
Soon the headmaster spoke up, "Ella, we got some distressing news the other day that we need to talk to you about. It seems that parliament is concerned that with you here, Erebus is a threat to the school and other students."
Before anyone else could speak, Ella spoke up quickly. "Does that mean I can go home?! I don't want to put anyone else at risk, so I should leave today with my Gam!"
Mother Christina couldn't help but let out a sniffle as the true weight of what they were going to tell Ella came down on her. Ella looked at her with a very concerned look on her face. If Mother Christina was crying, it must be very bad.
"Why are you crying Gam?" Ella asked her softly. I will be ok. I promise, I'm not afraid.
"Oh Ella, dear, you don't understand" cried Mother Christina. The ministry is going to arrange a marriage for you. You will be safe from Erebus once the marriage is consummated. She was trying her best to act like the news was not so bad. That it was a way of ensuring her safety. But it was obvious she was devastated about the news as she knew Ella would not want to marry anyone, especially a complete stranger.
Ella sat there for a moment looking at her grandmother and she felt the color drain from her face. She felt all eyes on her as she digested the news. How could this be? It seemed like every time things were going well, something bad ended up happening that turned her life upside down again. She was in shock but still had a strong urge to scream. This couldn't be happening! "Gam, no, I can't get married to anyone. It can't be! I can't get married. I want to be a sister, like you. Why can't I just come home with you? I will not cause you any problems ever again, I promise! Please don't make me get married.
"Child, you haven't caused me any trouble or problems. That is not what this is about. It is about your safety. You will not be safe on Trobotdom. At least here, you are safe and after your marriage, you will be completely safe. I don't know what else we can do child, don't you understand?
Now all three women in the room were crying and there was nothing anyone could do to make any of them feel better. But soon Nicholas spoke up ..."you forget that I may still have an opportunity to kill Erebus."
Ella looked at him and was glad he was there as the meaning of what he had said registered with her. He was going to try to kill Erebus. He was going to put his own life in danger for her and she could only look at him with tears still in her eyes and thank him for trying to help her. She was not aware that he had been trying to rid the planet of Erebus since she had come there, for her sake and everyone's sake as well, but that didn't matter right now anyway. He nodded his head to her as if to say, "you're welcome". Of all of the times he had protected her, she never felt more desperate for him to be there for her now.
It wasn't long after their meeting that Mother Christina had to leave. Ella was escorted back to her room. She went straight to her bed and buried her face in her pillow and cried herself to sleep.