Damien, meanwhile, decided to spend more time with the intriguing redhead. Anna was interesting and fun, everything the nuns he grew up with weren't. And she seemed to like him back.

Damien wasted no chance to pursue the relationship and no opportunity or at least excuse to touch the girl. Even if it meant declaring himself skill in the art of back rubs when in fact he had never done it before.
Anna didn't seem to notice, though. Or if she did, she was just as happy to go with the excuse as Damien was.

She seemed so confident, so perfectly at ease with Damien's touch... He looked once again into her eyes, sparkling with delight like water in a fast-moving stream, and dived in, trusting the water not to hide any sharp stones.
He hugged her, suddenly and hard, smashing their bodies together. Anna laughed and wrapped her arms around him, pressing them even closer together. Damien breathed out in relief.
He didn't know how long they stood like that, pressed together, exploring each other's bodies with their hands. He had never done anything like that before and the knowledge of what would the nuns think of his behaviour made it feel even better.

When they finally let go, Damien's head was spinning. When he leaned towards Anna and kissed heron the lips, he didn't really know himself what exactly he was doing, only that he didn't want to seem as the clueless and completely inexperienced sheltered boy. He was a man, a hunter, and he was bold and daring...
The kiss felt awkward at first, but Damien was determined to make up for his lack of experience with enthusiasm. And it felt good, too, Anna's lips were soft and sweet like honey.

When she left that day, Damien looked after her with his mind full of contradicting thoughts and ideas. He didn't really know what he was doing and much less what he planned to do. He only knew he really enjoyed his new life and feeling rebellious.
Not all of his visitors were as easygoing and free as Anna, though.
Damien had not seen his half-sister for some time, too busy with hurting expeditions and building a house for himself, so when she turned up out of the blue, he was surprised at the sudden change. Her hair was cropped short, her eyes were teary and desperate and she looked like a lost dog. She nearly cried when she told him what had happened to her, every word begging for comfort. It was completely overwhelming.
Damien could say that he rather liked Alysanne, or at least the version of her who had welcomed him to the valley, but he had no idea what was expected of him now. What could he possibly do or say to the girl?
"Do you need a quiet place to meet your priest in secret?" He tried.
"What?" Alysanne's eyes widened in shock. "No, I..."
"Because if you do, I can hide you both here, that's not a problem..." He stopped when he saw her expression, quickly thinking of another approach, but there was no need. The girl excused herself as fast as she could and ran off.

After that, he started actively avoiding Alysanne, telling himself it would be only temporary. Only until the problem blew over. Hunting was taking up all his spare time, anyway. And it wasn't as if he didn't have other friends to talk to.
His unlikely friendship with lord Adrian continued, thanks to the man being more interested in the company of a fellow hunter than in his friend's origins. With their love of freedom and thirst for adventure, they felt like kindred souls.
When Adrian brought Damien to his private hunting camp, set up as a retreat some way from the village and its mundane problems, he should have seen it as an honour. Instead, it seemed only natural to him.
"This is my favourite place and the only way I have found to survive my wife." Adrian laughed when he was shoving his friend around. "It's simple, but only friends are allowed, and definitely no family."
It didn't seem simple to Damien, though, at least not in the most important aspects. Apart from the air of freedom surrounding everything, the tents were big and sturdy, there was fresh meat roasting over fire pit, that would have fit in a castle...

...and then there were the barrels of drink.
"Only the best ale and wine, to unwind after a long day." Adrian said and went to pour himself a cup to demonstrate.

It looked almost too good to be true, but it made sense for the highborn to only have the best. Damien tried to act like he was at home amidst this luxury and didn't wait for a second invitation to sample the drinks.
The wine truly was delicious and the day passed almost too fast, in the middle of friendly chat and freely flowing wine.

Until suddenly Damien's head was spinning and his stomach trying to turn itself upside down and inside out at the same time. It felt like how he imagined being on a ship, only worse than he would expect.
He remembered Adrian saying something he didn't understand but still laughed at, he remembered trying to look as if nothing was happening right until his legs gave way under him, he faintly remembered sitting on the cold ground and then throwing up.
After that, there was just blackness.

He woke up inside one of the tents, his head throbbing terribly. There was no one else around that he could see - not that he had a very good view and he definitely didn't wanted to get up just to check. The only sounds were those of the woods around, but they seemed strangely intensified even through the thick fabric of the tent and they felt like fire in his ears.
He closed his eyes again.
When he felt at least a bit better, he crawled out of the tent. He wanted to at least check what time it was, how long he had slept, but outside he only found rain and a sky so completely grey it didn't tell him anything. At least the water falling on his face helped a little.
For a while he sat next to the tent, trying to catch raindrops in his open mouth, but then he saw a movement on the other side of the camp. He managed to scramble to his feet just as Anna walked into his view, even prettier than ever before.
He muttered something about her being beautiful like the sun. He wasn't sure if Anna heard or understand him, but after taking one good look at him, she just took him home.

Even this experience didn't have any negative effect on Damien's friendship with Adrian. There was just a quick reassurance that this happens to everyone and the two men were back to more amusing things.
"And do you know why Alvin the uptight priest suddenly disappeared? He's actually in love! And he was stupid enough to get caught by the girl's husband..."
Adrian laughed and speculated how many secret lovers does even more uptight and strict Lorentz have to play as perfect as he does.

Damien also met Mertin, another of Adrian's young friends.
Mertin looked like a sporty, adventurous type and he seemed sincerely happy to see Damien, which was still a new and exciting feeling for him. It certainly felt good to be part of a fun crowd.

Young lord Anselm, meanwhile, had to go through another funeral. He tried hard not to cry, to look strong and in every respect to behave like a good and proper lord, but it was so hard when he felt his family was slowly reduced to nothing.
Would there ever be anything else than death? Anselm knew lady Ellara, his aunt and guardian, was expecting a child, but he could hardly imagine it happening. New life and home seemed utterly alien to the life he knew.

He still remembered the times when his older sister would play with him, explain some of the grown-up things he didn't understand, and generally make him feel better when his anxiety took the better of him. It was she who taught him to dance and explained that at least some of his future duties could be pleasant.

When she drew away from him some time later, Anselm had thought it had something to do with both of them growing or that maybe she was in love. Ennelie would spend days just lounging in front of a fireplace, watching the fire absently. It was as if all her energy and life had slowly evaporated from her.
Anselm had tried to approach her a few times, but he was always either ignored or sent away with no more than a few words. After that he left her alone, as his fear that he had done something to offend or hurt his sister grew stronger.

Ennelie had never told anyone what the problem was, never even hinted at sometimes feeling too weak to stand up.
When she died, it was a shock to everyone, her sensitive younger brother most of all.

The house was still in mourning when Ellara's labour came. When the pain started, earlier than she had expected, the panicked lady started calling for help. She had been promised there would be midwives and servants to take care of her every need. She had been promised it wouldn't hurt too much. And then the moment came, her husband was away on another of his hunting expeditions and she was alone and afraid.

It didn't take longer than a few minutes for the servants to come running to her, but she would never forget that moment of fear and not having control.
Luckily for her and perhaps even more for her servants, the whole ordeal was far shorter and easier than would be usual for a first baby and soon Ellara was washed and dressed with perfect style again and her newborn son was put into her arms. A perfect baby boy.
Ellara was fascinated with how small he was, how soft and perfect. And to think this baby could become the new lord should something happen to Anselm... it was this thought that fascinated her most of all, this thought that made her almost giddy when she was lying in her bed that night.

And it was this thought - however improbable it was at that moment when Anselm was in full health - that made her even more demanding towards everyone who failed to show her proper respect.
She was a highborn lady, a daughter of an aristocrat, a guardian of the current lord and de facto the real ruler of the village, and possibly the mother of the next heir. Everyone should greet her properly when they dared to come into her sight and if they didn't, they had to be taught a lesson.