Lady Nadine was finally happy after a long time. She finally felt fully in control, a lady in her own right, with a husband who adored her and kept to his place. Which was mostly their bedroom.
When she got pregnant she actually welcomed it, despite the annoying fatigue and morning sickness. Unlike her first pregnancy, she was not adored and pampered for carrying the heir and future hope for the Lorimer line.
It almost felt like this marriage and this baby could be a do-over and completely replace the past she didn't want to remember.

A healthy boy was born, a perfect heir to answer everyone's prayers, and Nadine realised one thing still had not changed. No matter the circumstances, she still had no more desire to care for little Edmund than she has with Imogene. Babies were still wet, loud and annoying and she still had no patience for them.
But she was the lady after all and there was an army of nurses and nannies to take over the hard and unpleasant parts.

Her firstborn daughter, a relic of the past Nadine was trying to bury and forget, was spending her days alone. Mostly forgotten, mostly invisible... maybe more than just mostly, now when there was a real heir available.
Imogene tried to be happy for her mother, she tried to convince herself she really enjoyed her solitude, but she really missed her grandmother. She missed their talks, their regular chess games... just having someone see her as a real person and not a badge of shame or an outdated piece of furniture. And as much as she tried to keep lady Leandra's memory alive, playing chess on her own just made her feel even more like a ghost.

Ethan was starting to feel like the only person without a soulmate and he hated the feeling. He didn't even believe in soulmates or any other kind of love, but still... it was annoying to be the only one left out. Especially when everyone else seemed so intent to flaunt their love before him.
Evelyn and Ronan were engaged now, waiting for their wedding and sickeningly sweet about everything they did together. Adrian made sure everyone knew about him and his wealthy heiress and even Ethan's own parents were inspired by it all, despite their age.

Ethan tried to ignore it all, but the unfairness still nagged at him. Why should everyone else be happy when he didn't have anyone? Didn't he deserve admiration as well? A sweet girl to take care of him and always be on his side?
Only to find the right girl... Ethan went once again over the list of girls he knew and rejected each and every one of them as either too plain or too quarrelsome. But most of all, they all knew him and all foolishly disapproved of him already. And then he remembered the gypsy stall he had noticed at the marketplace, promising true love at a cost.
He paid the gypsy all the money she asked, hoping more money stolen from his parents would mean a better bride. He knew exactly what he wanted, a girl richer than Adrian's Adina, more beautiful than Faelyn, sweet and more admiring than his silly naive sister. He pictured all that when the gypsy asked him to visualise his true love, but underneath all these wishes there was one more. He wanted a kindred soul, someone to actually understand him.

"The Fate has spoken. Open your eyes, turn around and face your destiny."
Normally Ethan would have rolled his eyes at the theatrics, but at that moment he was too excited to even notice it. He turned around and not only there really was a girl there, looking at him with a confused expression, but it was lady Nadine's daughter. Ethan had always known he was better than the rest of his family or everyone else in that stupid village, but having his soulmate being actual nobility was the final confirmation of that fact.

Only when he started talking with the girl, his promised soulmate and true love, it went the same as with every other village girl. She didn't immediately think he was amazing and when he told her she just rolled her eyes. She didn't even laugh at his jokes and just stood there with a vacant expression on her face.

When she turned to walk away, Ethan had enough. Here was his chance for happiness and he wasn't going to let it slip away.
He never really remembered what happened just after the blue light, but he had been vaguely aware of some strange power within him. A power that might be used... he reached for it and it was there, waiting, ready to guide him in whatever he wanted to do. He barely paid attention to his hands as he fashioned a rag from his pocket into a crude doll. What exactly he was doing didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was his desire and his will to have it fulfilled.

Imogene turned back to him and he watched as annoyance and boredom slowly vanished from her face to be replaced by admiration. "Why didn't I notice before how handsome you are?" Even her voice was different now.
"Oh? And just how handsome am I?"
To Ethan's surprise Imogene sank to one knee. "Like a summer's day in the middle of this winter, like the sun and the moon, but more radiant than both, like clear water to one dying of thirst... can such perfection even be put into words? I'm only sorry I wasn't born a poet."
It was that exact moment when Ethan fell in love, or at least believed he had. Nobody had ever spoken about him in this way. He didn't even remember when had anyone appreciated him at all.

Until now. There was the same glow in Imogene's eyes that his stupid sister had when looking at Ronan, and suddenly he understood why the two of them never wanted to be apart. He could see himself in those eyes and get lost in the reflection.

And then her lips were on his, all soft and sweet and delicate, and he wanted that moment to never end. He kissed her again and again. They talked, he telling her all about himself and she listening with beautiful devotion. He joked and she laughed, her voice like a silver bell.
It was like they were both in a trance and didn't even notice the passing of time until it got too dark to see.

And still he didn't want the evening to end and go back to his daily life of being despised. For all his confidence there was still a nagging feeling that what he had with Imogene was too perfect to last. What if the magic wore out?
When he suggested she walk home with him, it was mostly out of this fear.
She said yes without hesitation, making him wonder where his limits were and what else might be possible this night.

They walked together, hand in hand, until they reached his house. Everything was quiet, everyone was asleep... and the temptation to test the limits of this night was still too strong to resist.
Ethan just looked at the bed and then they were both in it, so perfectly in sync not a single word had to be said. He was just barely conscious of casting a spell to keep his family asleep (where did he even learn that?) and then it was just him and Imogene breathlessly exploring each other's bodies.

When they came out of their daze it was early morning, just before dawn. At first Ethan thought it was all just a dream, but when he looked at Imogene, she was still there. Still real and still looking at him with admiration in her eyes. The magic had not faded.
Or at least not yet. What if he would lose her when the sun came out? He just couldn't get this thought out of his head as he watched her slowly get dressed. What if she would forget him the moment she left his sight? Ethan was desperate not to let that happen.
And when he wasn't sure magic would be enough, he knew only one other thing that would.
Just before she could walk out he went down on one knee and proposed to her.
She said yes. It might have been his magic, because she wasn't even surprised, but that one word was all that mattered. All that would ensure Ethan's happiness in days and years to come.

Faelyn's life went by without any changes. She and Geoff were still seeing each other, sometimes just to hang out and sometimes to do other things as well. Neither of them was in love with each other, but neither of them really cared. Faelyn wasn't even sure she wanted love in her life, after it had ruined the lives of both her parents. And she definitely had no desire to exchange her, admittedly risky and turbulent, current life for a marriage and a family.
When she missed her monthly blood and later started feeling sick in the morning, she at first tried to ignore it. She wanted a child even less than she did a husband and a part of her hoped if she ignored it long enough, it would somehow go away.

She clung to her criminal life as if it was a lifeline keeping her from mundane domesticity she scorned. If anything, being (possibly) with a child and afraid for her future just made her more reckless in her activities.
It wasn't just that she needed money to ease her poverty. She felt she was owed it by the society, everyone living by their self-imposed rules and punishments only made this feeling stronger. As much as she hated the whip, the humiliation and pain, she loved the adrenaline even more.

When she was caught stealing in church, she reacted with her usual defiance when she was once again dragged before lady Nadine to be judged. The guard and the village priest both called her incorrigible and called for the harshest punishment while the lady just looked bored with the whole thing, as if she didn't still bear a grudge against her whole family.
Faelyn imagined being whipped again, probably harder than before, she she just refused to take it.
"This is a farce!" She exploded. "I'm not even your subject, so why are we bothering with this? And it's not like you can have a mother-to-be whipped, anyway!"
What she had dreaded and rejected was now her trump card that would set her free. If her life had to change, at the very least it should be for the better.
For a short moment it looked like it would work, but then the lady's expression hardened again. "We will see."

And then any control Faelyn might have still had was gone. She was examined for pregnancy, a procedure that was clearly meant to be as painful and humiliating as possible. She was declared not pregnant, a liar on top of being a thief, and brought back before lady Nadine for final judgement. Faelyn would swear the lady smirked when she sentenced her to the prison mines.
She could just hold tight to her pride, as the only thing she had left. From little rebellions to plotting an escape, she was determined not to be broken, no matter how hard they tried.
When the priest came to berate her, or demand penance, or whatever a priest might want, she refused to even speak with him.

But, just like her father before her, she was to find out there were worse things at the prison mines than just hard work and humiliation.
The apparition came out of nowhere, just clear enough to see the dead man's gaunt face and dark circles under his eyes. His clothes were ragged, more dirt than cloth, and his chains looked heavy but made no sound. When he opened his mouth to scream, no sound came out, but Faelyn suddenly felt weak, too exhausted to stand up, and hungry as if she had not eaten for years. The hunger was unbearable, gnawing at her insides, way past the point of starvation.

She wanted to run, but her legs felt heavier than the rocks surrounding her. In a daze she at least made a few weak steps towards the crude tent she used for sleeping, but collapsed before she could get to its imagined safety.
She never gained consciousness again.