One of the ten powerful houses which makes up Maldonia is House Horriss from which Artemis's mother came from and this house is the main supplier of soldiers as they make a quarter of the Maldonian army. Artemis's uncle, Lord Aethelind was a powerful man and the richest one in Maldonia. The position as the Lord of House Horriss would have befallen Artemis's mother, but she was a woman. Women didn't inherit their father's seats during that time.
That was a statement Lord Aethelind didn't stop reminding everyone of how he was born second, yet he was still able to become his father's heir. No one challenged his position. Neither Artemis's mother and nor his nobles.
