Arthur Pendragon sat with his feet up on his desk, rather pleased with himself. The Russos were a powerful magical family, perhaps more powerful than they realized. It was their goodness that kept them from extending their abilities, blinding them from seeing what they could do.

Arthur knew that the Pendragons were nearly extinct. All that was left of his family was himself and Ian. What he needed was an heir, someone to inherit the Pendragon wealth and carry on the prestigious name. And not just any heir; one with great magical potential. For that he needed the mother to be from the second oldest and greatest family in the magical world. It was very fortuitous that that family had a daughter only two years younger than his son. Yes they were young, but they were old enough. The Pendragon line would survive. It had to.

***

"No."

"Honey…"

"No way, dad! I'm a senior in high school for crying out loud." Alex was shocked and upset. Her arms were crossed, and her jaw was set.

Jerry looked at his daughter, unable to help thinking how much she looked like her mother. She had the same dark brown hair that was nearly black, framing a pixie-like face with sparkling brown eyes, and the same stubborn look. It made his heart break knowing he was going to lose her.

"Dad, why does she have to do this?" Justin asked. He, Max, and their mother, Theresa, had been watching the fight from a safe distance and were just as confused as Alex was.

Jerry sighed, knowing what he had to say next would be the hardest. "If Alex doesn't marry Ian, his father will wipe our family off the face of the earth."

"Oh honey," Theresa said, stunned. It was a wonder she didn't die from the shock of learning her daughter had to get married or her family would be destroyed.

Alex was speechless. Finally she turned around and ran to her room. The others heard the door slam behind her.

"She's got a lot to think about," Theresa said softly.

"We all do," Jerry remarked, his tone grave.

Alex didn't come out of her room for two days. She racked her brains for a solution to her problem, some way to get out of the marriage, but could think of nothing. There was no magic she could perform, no place she could run. On the morning of the wedding, as her red eyes watched the sun rise, she made her decision.

The rest of the family was sitting in the living room, all of them staring off into the distance. There had been a lot of that happening lately. It took them a while to notice that Alex had walked into the room. She was wearing a white eyelet dress, ballet flats, and strategic makeup to hide the tear stains on her cheeks.

"I'm ready," she said in a hoarse voice.

"Baby…" Theresa didn't know what to say. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to choke her up.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jerry asked.

"I have to, Dad. There's no other way out," Alex replied, her eyes on the floor.

"Are you sure?" Justin asked. He was the last person who wanted to see his younger sister get married at seventeen.

"This is Alex we're talking about, Justin," Max said. "Don't you think, if there was a way out, she would've found it?" He tried to make his tone light, but his anxiety showed through. He hadn't been expecting this at all.

"Alright. Let's go then," Jerry said gruffly, heading towards the door that led to the magical world.

-----------------------------

Don't you just love cliffhangers :). Comments appreciated, hope you like it so far. As you may have noticed, this story doesn't follow any story line that's in the episodes, but I wanted to do something different.