She had still not recovered from the time she had met the Grim Reaper face to face and tried to unsuccessfully plead with him. She had never expected to see that dark cloak outside of her nightmares ever again before her own death. But there he was one morning, just as looming and cold, threatening to take her baby daughter. Threatening to take the only joy she had left in life.
Once again she fell on her knees, too shocked and frightened to even know what she was saying, unsure if she was actually speaking at all.
Either way, the Grim Reaper seemed to understand, because he motioned for her to stand up and offered up his two bony hands to her. Leandra obeyed almost without noticing it. Everything was in a haze and nothing seemed real except those two fists. She reached out automatically, almost touched the one nearer to her, but then she drew back again. The last awful time was still too strong in her mind.
She had no idea for how long she stood frozen like that, it felt like forever, but she supposed maybe no time had passed at all. Then she heard a voice inside her mind, telling her to either choose or to forfeit her chance.
With her eyes closed and her hand trembling, she reached blindly out until she touched one of those terrible fists.
She could feel the fist slowly opening and see the light shining from it despite her closed eyes. Hope flared up in her heart despite everything and Leandra pushed it back again, too afraid to hope, too afraid to even think.
Only when she heard the voice in her head again did she open her eyes. "Very well. Your daughter will be returned to you." At first she couldn't really believe it. Her head was spinning, her vision blurry even after she opened her eyes. Even when she watched her daughter's spirit floating up and back into her little body she still wasn't able to move or react in any other way.
Only later, when Nadine woke up and started demanding attention, was Leandra able to fully realise she had her baby back, and only when she held her in her arms again did he relief come. It felt so good and peaceful Leandra never wanted to put her down again.
Tristan, meanwhile, was practising his sword skills. Becoming a knight was still the vision that pushed him forward, something that would make everyone respect and admire him. With a sword in hand he felt strong and confident, even if it was a practice wooden one. He would get a real one soon. And with a sword in hand, working out so hard he was covered in sweat after only a while, it was easy to believe that was all it took, all that really mattered to really become a knight. To believe that the stupid school didn't come into it at all.
When ignoring school, though, life was good. Adrian was around often enough that Tristan felt special. After all, he was his oldest son and that had to mean a bright future for him, especially when Desmond was dead. He invited Tiriel to meet his father - both Adrian and Damien, in fact - in one more attempt to impress her. And, somehow, it seemed to work.
Suddenly Tiriel was there, visiting almost every time Tristan invited her, playing darts with them, accepting Adrian's compliments and chatting happily.
There was only one possible thing that could be in Tristan's way. Or rather, one possible person. Devin, his annoying cousin, joined them far too often, trailing after Tiriel like a lovestruck puppy. Tristan tried to tell himself there was no way the lovely, confident girl would choose Devin rather than him, but at the back of his mind he still couldn't keep wondering. After all, she had chosen his stupid cousin once already.
He watched Devin and Tiriel nervously, trying to guess how close they were. Were they friends already? Were they perhaps more than friends, however unlike his dull cousin it would be?
His fears were confirmed when he saw the two of them holding hands, Tiriel all dreamy eyed and Devin grinning like a lovestruck fool. He pretended not to see them, but inside he was full of jealous rage.
After that, Tristan couldn't really take it any more. Every time Devin and Tiriel were even remotely near each other, he felt like he wanted to scream. Even when they weren't actually interacting at the moment, what mattered was that they could. What mattered was that they were obviously at ease and comfortable around each other.
He turned the full extent of his charm on Tiriel, using everything his father had taught him. He assaulted her with compliments, dazzled her with his sword skills and the great future before him.
And this time, finally, it worked. Suddenly Tiriel finally saw how good-looking he was and responded to his charm and all his other gifts.
Finally, everything was as it should be.
After Tiriel finally started showing interest in him, everything went smoothly and fast. Tristan took her on dates all around the village, usually staying out long after dark. At night the village was quiet and it felt like it all belonged to them. And unlike his slow cousin, Tristan's wasn't one to leave any opportunity unused.
When he surprised her with a kiss one night, she seemed overwhelmed at first, but she didn't resist and afterwards he could see she looked at him differently.
It was like the confident, adventurous girl became someone completely else once Tristan started pushing their relationship further. Suddenly she was shy and rather sweet, in love and rather unsure about it. She wouldn't say it in so many words, but Tristan was almost sure he was her first love, the one who tamed her. And he loved it.
The way she was looking at him, and how she blushed and looked away when he caught her, was making him feel like a king. It felt great to be almost worshipped in this way rather than having to pursue the girl himself. She even brought him flowers, leaving them by his door after dark and them disappearing again before being seen.
Not that everything was just shy and sweet, though. As long as he made the first steps Tiriel was learning fast. He wasn't sure whether she was simply lovestruck and wanted to please him or whether it was the active, adventurous Tiriel shining through, but he didn't really care about the reason. What was important to him was the action itself, that their nights together continued and each was hotter and more fun than the last.
While Tristan was enjoying himself, however, a tragedy was waiting just around the corner.
With two almost grown children Anna had not really expected to have another one, especially after her last miscarriage. When she begun to feel ill in the morning again, it took her long to even suspect she might be pregnant again. And even when she realised the possibility, her feelings about what it would mean were too conflicted for her to truly consider it.
She never told anybody else and went through the next weeks in half-ignorance, until the pain came.
Anna recognised the feeling that something was wrong and went pale, all the terrible memories rushing back. She broke down in tears, too overwhelmed by the pain and shock to do anything at the moment, to even think.
And there was so much blood...
Before Anna could realise this was much worse, much more serious than last time, she was too weak to do anything about it. She only managed one weak cry for help before she collapsed.
When she came to, Damien was bending over her, his face all scared, babbling something barely coherent. She could catch questions if she was all right, promises she will be fine, more questions and promises to help, all the while she was lying on the cold ground in pain and her husband wasn't really doing anything useful.
He helped her stand up and looked at her like a lost puppy without a master. "Can I...?" He started asking once again.
Anna didn't even know where she found the strength to scream at him. "Find a doctor... a healer... someone... even Alysanne, NOW!"
Then her vision clouded again and she only barely felt that Damien caught her before she could fall and helped her to her bed. Her last thought before she lost consciousness again was that she hoped he would finally stop hovering around her and hurry. She was feeling weaker with every moment.
She died early in the morning, before Damien could get back with any help that could be found in the village.
Damien decided to bury Anna near his father rather than in the village graveyard. They had lived free and he refused to chain his wife to the church after her death.
What was originally supposed to be a small family ceremony grew larger when more family came than originally expected. Alysanne came with her whole family, looking heartbroken for someone she barely knew. And there was Adrian, looking way older and more somber than Damien ever remembered him, as if Anna's death reminded him of his own mortality.
But when the small family returned from the funeral, life seemed to go on for the rest of them in a way young Elena couldn't understand. Her mother had just been taken away from her, completely without warning, and nobody else seemed to care. Her father seemed even more ignorant if anything, lost in his own thoughts and often disappearing into the woods for whole days. And Tristan didn't change his behaviour at all except looking bored. Even when Elena gathered her courage to ask him directly when they were once again alone in the house, he denied ever missing his mother or feeling anything at all.
Elena tried to tell herself he had just wanted to hurt her, but there were times it was just too much to bear for her. She felt like she was the only one grieving, completely alone with no one to comfort her.
