The House of Tilaye is definitely not one of the wealthiest or most powerful in the Ethiopian socio-political sphere but they do have a good name, and own several villas and farm houses in the environs of metropolitan Dire Dawa. In the summer of 1769, Prince Ismael Tilaye, ruler of House Tilaye, sought an alliance with the wealthy and powerful House of Adugna and thus, offered the hand of his daughter Mona to their son Prince Malik in marriage. Arranged marriages are always a roll of the dice, but sometimes, it's a match made in heaven...
Prince Malik of House Adugna is one of the leading nobles in the City of Dire Dawa, located in eastern Ethiopia, dangerously close to the Somali border. In the past, when Somali warlords sought to invade Ethiopia to spread their religion and culture, the people of Dire Dawa, fierce fighters all, quelled the invasion every bloody time. Let the Emperors of Ethiopia dwell safely in Gondar City. The average Ethiopian citizen knows that he or she owes their freedom and safety to the people of Dire Dawa, whose town is affectionately referred to as the City of Sentinels.
In the waning days before Zemene Mesafint, the so-called Era of the Princes, the Ethiopian Empire carried on as it always has. Due to the Ethiopian people's strong sense of nationalism and the stability provided by the Great Solomonic Emperors, Africa's most resilient nation had nothing to fear. Let other African kingdoms fall to the sway of the Europeans and the Arabs. Ethiopia is a nation of fighters and they've never been conquered. Tough times awaited the women and men of the noble houses of Ethiopia, but for the moment, ignorance is bliss...
