Hey! Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter up I've had (and am still having : ( ) exams! I've just discovered that unless people R&R, I can't tell if they've read this or not so I don't know if anyone has! If you do read it, please tell me what you think, or if you have any good ideas cos I've got a general idea, but there's room for changes! Btw… a word that some might find offensive in this chapter, but in the context it is an acceptable and inoffensive word, because it has a different meaning (if that makes any sense) anyway, its near the end so if you're likely to get upset, just skip the second to last paragraph!
On the fens of the Eastern lands of the island, there was a tall, imposing castle, made of dark stone, with high, spiralling towers. It is in this seat that the mighty Slytherin family had lived for many years. The people of this clan were shrewd and ambitious, ruthless and determined. Although not as wise as the Ravenclaws, they were highly cunning, with a particular fondness for riches and decoration. Over the years, the more adventurous Slytherins had sailed eastwards, over the choppy North Sea, to what we now know as Northern Europe, and as time went on, they moved further and further East. As a result, their castles were decorated with Eastern marble, and silks from the Orient.
At the time of our story, Rufus Slytherin was living in this castle, and he was betrothed to Merlin's second child, his daughter Selene. They ventured upon a celebratory trip to the northern lands across the sea, where Rufus' uncle and aunt were living. Because of their wealth, these people were very friendly with the muggle rulers of the land, and on the third night of the trip, a feast was help in honour of Rufus and his bride at the castle of Prince Gaius, the ruler of the province.
However, Gaius was a spoilt, arrogant man, and he had developed an enormous appetite for women. He had noticed Selene's sparkling green eyes at dinner, set off by her velvet robes, and as she was withdrawing to her quarters at his castle (where the couple were staying) after dinner, he followed her into her room, and forced himself upon her.
Nine months later, back at the castle, it was a stormy night and a grim fog surrounded the castle's walls. Inside her chamber, assisted by her maid-servants, Selene gave birth to a baby boy. The birth was long and painful, but Rufus stayed beside his wife, even though it pained him enormously to see her suffer for such a cause. However, as often happened then, she could not recover from the difficult birth, and just as the sun was rising, she passed away.
Rufus was grief-stricken, but, out of love for his dead wife, he raised her bastard son as his own. However, he cut off the help he had previously given the muggles of the settlements nearby, because of the reminder of what happened to his wife. The boy, Salazar, grew up in a lonely home, for his father never recovered from his grief, and he was raised with a profound, consuming hatred, for the muggle born that took his mother's life.
However, Salazar spent much of his time at the home of his mother's sister, Napaeae, for she pitied the lonely boy, and he spent most of his adolescence growing up among the scholars, but he preferred to spend the majority of his time not with the older boys, but his younger cousin Rowena. The two became like brother and sister, and in the evenings would often wander in the forest, Salazar looking at the night-time stars, and she conversing with the centaurs. By the time Salazar reached adulthood, he had grown into a thin man of medium height, with green eyes, paler than his mother's, and the blonde hair of his muggle father.
