Adrian was slowly starting to feel at home with Delia and his children, without even knowing what caused this change or even what exactly the change was about.
He loved the girl and wanted to support and protect her, but he had known that for a long time. He had a second son now, but why would that be any different than the first?

He supposed it could be something about the house itself, how it always smelled of flowers and felt full of love. Delia clearly adored her children and was happy to have them, no matter anything else, and her parents might have made mistakes in their lives, but they were not afraid to show their love for their family and for each other.
It might have been much smaller and poorer than the mansion, but to Adrian Delia's house felt warm and bright, full of life and joy.

He even felt more welcome there. At the mansion Lady Leandra was still grieving, wrapped up in her sorrow so tight she almost didn't need black gowns. She never made two steps without her daughter, but it was as if everyone else was a ghost or less than a ghost to Leandra.
When Edric showed off his school results, Adrian felt more relevant and wanted than he had in a long time. He felt like a father and the feeling was somehow stronger with Edric and Lucien than it had ever been with Desmond. Or even Tristan, if Anna's boy was really his rather than Damien's.

Or maybe the real reason was simply age.
Adrian would never admit to feeling old, despite his now grey hair, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that he wouldn't live forever. Anna had been so full of life and joy and if she could die so suddenly... and she did have a family of her own. What exactly did Adrian have, what legacy would he leave if not his two sons? It was this thought that was bothering him the most.
And it was this thought, the need to have something and someone warm every day for the rest of his life, the desire to have a legacy, that made him propose to Delia.

The girl reached for the ring slowly, almost as if she were afraid it would be snatched out of her reach again.
"Are you... are you sure?" She asked, her voice choked with emotion. Adrian's couldn't really tell which one.
"Yes." He said firmly. "I love you, remember? I promised to take care of you and the boys and I want to do it properly."
She hesitated for another moment, her eyes darting between him and the ring. And then her face brightened with pure as she finally allowed herself to believe it was really happening. She threw herself around his neck, too happy to even speak.

The following days and weeks were even happier that those before. A new home for their family was being built, Delia was still beside herself with joy and even Alysanne seemed more open to Adrian than ever before. She smiled when he played with little Lucien and it was as if she was finally accepting him fully.

But as the days passed, Adrian became more and more reluctant to do anything that would change this life, this happiness and warmth. Yes, he wanted to marry Delia and claim his sons, but... as the new mansion was nearing its completion Adrian was growing worried what life there would really be like. Delia and especially Edric was looking forward to their new lives as nobility, but Adrian didn't want to bring them to another cold house and watch them wither like Leandra and all the Lorimers he had known.
He just didn't want to risk their happiness, but by his inaction he broke something anyway.
Lucien was growing fast, but soon Adrian couldn't even enjoy the progress his baby son was making without noticing Alysanne's disapproving looks. She never came out and said anything and Delia probably never noticed, but once he had known something else, her distance was all too clear to Adrian. By the time Lucien's birthday came along, she was glaring at him from across the room and Adrian was unable to meet her gaze.

Adrian finally had put his feelings of uncertainty away, telling himself there was no way the new house would become the new Lorimer manor. And when he was standing in the church with Delia and looking into her face, all shining with pure joy, he felt almost sure.
Not everyone was as happy, though. Tristan would laugh out loud if he wasn't so disgusted with the whole thing. Here he was, being pushed aside for some other children, as if they were any more important. It was just so unfair. He was Adrian's oldest surviving son, if anyone should be moving into a whole new mansion, it should be him.
"This is such a joke." He murmured to his foster father. He wanted to continue and say there was nothing better about Delia than about his own family and she had no right to become a lady when he himself wasn't seen as nobility, but them he caught a glimpse of Alysanne glaring at him. He scowled at her right back, but stayed quiet, determined to give them all a piece of his mind later.

Tristan didn't even know Delia was to become not only a lady of a beautiful new manor, but in part of the whole valley as well. The land had theoretically belonged to the Lorimers, but was too untamed and too close to the border to be worth their efforts to cultivate it. Until now, when it was given to Adrian to keep for them, half as a wedding gift and half as a means to keep him and his children away and help ensure Nadine would be safe in her own inheritance.
Immediately after the wedding Adrian moved Delia and the boys to the new manor and started setting up his new family and life in there. The sun was shining and their future looked as bright as it possibly could.

Delia was ecstatic, not only from having a proper family and a beautiful home, but also from her new position. Nobody could dare insult her or her sons now and after all the years of listening to her mother's worries and lectures, the sense of freedom was overwhelming. Even just going to the marketplace in her pretty new dress was a great feeling.
Until one day she saw Marcus and everything she had thought she had forgotten came rushing back. All her anger, the humiliation of being forced to beg him, of even considering marrying him. Especially as she saw him watching another girl with the same expression he used to have when he watched her back then.

Delia raised her head high and strolled to the market stall near Marcus, waiting for him to notice her and her new dress and status. She didn't really know what reaction she wanted, but she wanted him to react somehow.
"That's not fine enough. Do you have any better fabric? Anything more expensive?" She asked the stall keeper, her voice higher and more shrill than usual, her eyes fixed on Marcus.
The young woman replied something, but Delia didn't even hear what. She watched as Marcus turned and his face hardened in obvious disdain. She took a step towards him, raising her chin even higher and meeting his scorn with her own.

Marcus didn't even flinch from her stare. There was no shock, no regret, no hint of apology. Delia could already feel her fists clenching when Marcus returned her hard glare and when he turned away from her and walked away something snapped in her. She would not be ignored in this way, not any more, never again.
"What are you looking at? Is there something you want to tell me? Are you ready to greet me politely as a lady, or do you still want to insult my reputation?" She snapped at him.
Marcus turned with a startled expression on his face and Delia smirked. She had marched up to him while his back was turned, but was there also just a slightest hint of fear of her new social standing?

"Well? Are you going to say anything?" She didn't even realise she was channelling the few times she had seen lady Ellara speak with anyone beneath her.
Marcus just stared at her in shock. For a while he looked like he was going to snap something back at her and part of Delia wanted him to. Just let him dig himself deeper and then reap the consequences.
"You think you are a lady, but..." Marcus started to say, his voice less sure than he would like it to be.
Delia no longer wanted to hear what he had to say. There was no point in it... and her new confidence was too fragile yet. She raised her hand and slapped Marcus across the face to shut him up, and then again just for the satisfaction it gave her.

"You... can't..." Marcus stammered, eyes wide in disbelief. "I'll..."
"You'll do what? Complain to Lord Adrian? Or Lady Leandra, do you really think she would care about you?" She asked viciously. Only after the words were out of her mouth did she realise what she was saying and what it could mean for her if she were wrong. She hid her sudden fear with a frown.
Whatever her own feelings were, Marcus believed her, at least at that moment. He looked like he wanted to cry and just watching his face gave Delia great satisfaction.

With his sister safely married, Devin felt he could finally stop worrying about her and live his own life.
The more time he spent with Katharyn the more he thought he understood Delia on some level. He felt he had met his kindred soul and every time they were together life was brighter and much easier. And what made him even happier was that Katharyn shared his feelings. She had a huge and loving heart and she may have been shy at the beginning, but once reassured, she showed her devotion with surprising enthusiasm.

At nights, Devin spent more and more time studying the stars. His life felt full of light and beautiful just like the night sky and it was when watching the stars that Devin could the best imagine all his dreams as well as things he would normally not dare even dream of. At those moments, he could believe his life to be wide, almost limitless, rather than constrained by his place in society and the expectations on him.

He was dreaming of wide horizons and unexpected opportunities and something unexpected was indeed to happen to him.
At first it seemed like an especially bright star, one Devin had never seen before, and so beautiful it was almost mesmerising. He stared at it in awe and didn't even notice it was growing larger and much brighter, until it was almost blinding.
It was beautiful and all Devin wanted to do was look at it. It was drawing him in...
And then everything went black.

He woke up on the ground, with a splitting headache and only faint recollections of what had happened. He touched his head carefully, but before he could try make some sense of everything, a voice broke the silence.
"Devin! Thank the Watcher you're all right! Are you all right? Where have you been, what happened to you?" Alysanne's voice was shrill fear.

Devin started to get up, looking around him. He could remember the light, trying to find what star it was, but he was far from his star-chart...
"Devin?" His mother was kneeling by him now and feeling his hands. Only now he realised how cold he felt. "You're like ice. What happened to you? I have never seen such fog before, is it..."
"I'm fine." Devin said, maybe harsher than he wanted to. He needed time to piece it all together and he couldn't do that with his mother demanding explanations. "I... think I just fell asleep. I'm fine."
Alysanne didn't look convinced, but she finally agreed to go back inside, to cook him something warm to eat. Devin stayed for a while, looking around the strange blue fog, a faint echo of laughing voices ringing in his ears. A memory, maybe? All he knew was, that something was... maybe not exactly wrong, but certainly different about him.