The Lorimer family may have been upset with the arrangement or grieving Alean's death, but soon there was another, happier event for them. Liam was finally getting married. And it even seemed to be for love. Why else would he marry a girl his father had not chosen for him, a girl of remarkable beauty the whole village admired but with no noble blood in her veins?

In many respects it seemed to be a perfect marriage, if only because the newlyweds could keep their private thoughts public. In love or not, though, Liam thought about being  a knight and fighting in general at least as much as about his beautiful wife. And Lianrin, while happy she was trading up and would get  a fancy title and as many pretty gowns as she would want, couldn't get an image of a different man out of her head...

Still, when they exchanged their wedding vows and accepted father Ambrose's blessing, they looked happy enough.

The newlyweds were not the only ones happy for the union for their own reasons, though, nor the only ones in a romantic mood. Lady Talia, the ice queen Dorian had spent ages wooing in vain, was in love, charmed by the bride's twin brother.
Now being family, there would be plenty of reasons to see each other, but the pair was tired of waiting. As everyone else stepped outside to congratulate the newlyweds. Talia and Talen stayed behind to celebrate with a warm embrace and some passionate kisses. Fast, before anyone would see them.

Meanwhile, baby Alysanne was growing fast and soon she was old enough to learn to read and write. The inquisitive girl was overjoyed when father Ambrose invited her to the classes he held for the village children, she felt so grown-up and important. But when she returned home on her first day with the homework the priest had given the children, her father didn't even notice the pride in her face.

Nor did he notice she might need help with her letters.
Alysanne did her very best trying to copy the shapes, but it was as if the quill just refused to help her.

In the end she gave up and fell into her bed, completely exhausted.

Luckily for the girl, the priest wasn't as oblivious as her father. He noticed her troubled looks and her silence and as soon went to check up on her.
"I have been trying! I really have, honestly!"
Alysanne's first thought was that she was in trouble, but her fear disappeared quickly under Ambrose's friendly face.

"It will be all right. Let's just try again, shall we?"
Father Ambrose went through the work with the girl and eventually the the quill started to cooperate. When they finished, Alysanne was greatly relieved.

"Thank you, Father. For everything."
Ambrose couldn't shake the feeling that her "father" had overtones that should not belong to him, but without a mother the young girl needed someone to look out for her.
He made a mental note to have a serious talk with Dorian, but by that time he doubted his words could change anything in the man's behaviour.

Dorian, meanwhile, was rekindling his relationship with the newly married Lianrin. The beautiful elf had come to him mere days after the wedding and he put on all his charm, even if her face said he didn't really need it.
"Welcome, my lady. You grace the home of your humble servant..."
Lianrin giggled and then pulled Dorian close, her eyes beaming.

When their lips met in a passionate kiss, Dorian couldn't even believe his luck. This was a clear victory over that castle brat who had humiliated him so much. To steal his wife, to woo her despite his poverty and show her things Liam couldn't even imagine... it made him feel good. And the fact that it was actually she who had come to him, that he didn't even have to try...

He was still thinking of Liam and the humiliation the brat deserved when laughing Lianrin pulled him towards the bed.
Dorian let her lead the way and just enjoyed the ride to the full extent. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted and her passion was so simple it was easy to get lost in it. And the images of punishing the brat certainly didn't hurt.

Lianrin never noticed the calculating look in Dorian's eyes. She was out of breath and fully happy for the first time since her wedding, since the awakening of this feeling.
It wasn't her fault Dorian was a real man, so well-built and strong... and it certainly wasn't her fault she wanted to live, especially when she would have to start bearing children to her husband soon.

Dorian's friendship with the lady Talia was also going well. He had come to sincerely enjoy her wicked sense of humour and sharp comments on just about anybody in the village. He was more than willing to treat her as above everyone else if she did the same favour to him. And sometimes he even learned new things from her...
"Did you know the priest has brought a boy to live with him? An orphan, some people say a future apprentice, but I wonder who the boy's father really is..."

"...and speaking of children, may I say congratulations, my lady? This little one's father must be very proud of his beautiful wife right now..."
Lady Talia smiled graciously as she let Dorian compliment her.

But when he offered her a back rub to help remove the strain, she turned him resolutely down. A baby was not making her sentimental enough to drop her ice queen facade... and neither was her forbidden romance.

As she turned to leave, Dorian watched her, momentarily dejected. But then he realised something.
That look in her face when he mentioned her baby's father... and lord Lothar's age... suddenly Dorian had a strong suspicion the ice queen was not who she was posing to be. And if the child she was carrying really wasn't her husband's, wouldn't that be an even better bargaining point than love? At the very least, it would be much more certain...

He never got the chance to do anything about his suspicion, however. Lady Talia's pregnancy soon kept her from taking any more walks to the village and before Dorian could see her again, she was dead. He only heard the lady died giving birth to a daughter, a baby which Dorian was almost sure wasn't her lawful husband's.