Delia just wanted to forget Marcus and the whole courting fiasco and move on, but he wasn't going to let her go that easily. He made it clear he didn't want her back, but still he kept coming just to show off his righteous anger and remind her nobody else would ever marry her. It would be driving her mad if it wasn't so exhausting.
And Delia just didn't see the point. She tried to be sorry for losing him, even feel guilty like her mother wanted her to, but she just couldn't help being glad to be rid of him. He was a bore, she didn't really need him, not with her white knight taking care of her, and being finally able to tell him just that felt great.

Adrian, her white knight, was attentive as ever, both gentle and passionate, and he filled all the empty places that remained in her life. The longer their affair lasted, the more at ease they both were, until they felt almost invincible. Life was good and easy, even with a small baby requiring attention. They just started meeting at Delia's house more often, to stay close to their son, and after a while even Delia's fearful parents stopped trying to stop them.

Devin remained the only one who complained: "Are you sure it's a good idea? That it's safe? I mean..."
"Stop whining already! What could happen?"
Devin could list many things, but it was clear his sister, lost in her fantasy romance, didn't want to hear any of them. In the end he settled for the most obvious danger: "If lady Ellara ever found out you would..."
"She won't!" Delia snapped back. "And even if she did, what would she do against her own husband?"

"Well..." Devin considered saying that it was lady Ellara who had political power in the area and it was her who was the scary one, but stopped under Adrian's glare. How do you tell a noble lord he wasn't scary or powerful enough?
There was a moment of silence and then Devin turned back to his sister. "And how do you plan to live? Who will support you?" He asked, trying hard to sound grown-up and responsible rather than like a whiny boy.
"I will, of course."
Devin turned back to Adrian, who was staring daggers at him. Devin involuntarily took a step back.
"Do you expect me to abandon my own son? What do you take me for? What gives you the authority to doubt me?"
Devin took another step back. He opened his mouth to reply, but found no words that would stand up to Adrian's anger. "I... I'm sorry..." He managed to stammer in the end.
Adrian just walked past him, not really acknowledging the apology, but at least he stopped glaring at Devin.

To be fair, Adrian really did at least try to help.
Devin's bad feeling didn't entirely go away, but what else he would have wanted he wasn't sure himself. Adrian brought them enough money to more than take care of the baby. Devin knew well enough he couldn't expect anything else, marriage would be out of the question even if lady Ellara wasn't alive, and the affair was far too public and official already.
Maybe this was what was worrying him so much. He felt that the anger of discovery was growing every day and his sister just didn't see it. He could see how much Delia wanted a family of her own, but somehow she wasn't able to see that could never happen with Adrian.
And that fear was something no amount of money or fresh venison, however good, could dispel.

And all this time little Edric kept growing and keeping his mother busy. He was a bright child, learning new words and making more and longer steps almost every day, and Delia was more than happy to guide him in everything.
As time passed, she was still content with her life, no matter the reservations the rest of her family had. She had a healthy child, she was in love, and she was happy with that.

The passing time wasn't as good to everyone, though.
Lady Ellara had been doing her best to hide her grey hair and wrinkles, but eventually it became clear even to her that she was just wasting time. Ellara hated not being beautiful anymore and the more she saw other, younger women, the more bitter she became. Her only son was dead, her husband was avoiding her... the only consolation she could find was that the new lady who ousted her from her rightful position wasn't any happier.
But even though she hated what her life had become, Ellara still couldn't imagine it could be almost over. Being old meant being tired, yes, it meant wrinkles and grey hair, but the concept of her own mortality was completely foreign to her until the dark figure of Grim Reaper himself stood before her.
And even then she was more shocked than frightened, unable to believe death could really apply to her.

She stood there frozen until a stern voice which seemed to come from inside her head changed her shock to anger. Her time wasn't yet up, couldn't be, and how dare anyone tell her otherwise.
NO!" She put all her righteous outrage into that one word, all her noble breeding and inborn right to command others. When the hooded figure didn't move away, she reached for the hourglass the Reaper was holding just before her eyes. She wasn't sure herself if she wanted to turn it around or simply throw it away so it wouldn't mock her anymore, but it didn't matter in the end. The Reaper appeared bony and frail, but she was unable to move him even a tiny bit.
The last thing she heard were the words "Nobody can cheat time and death. Now leave this world," echoing in her head just before everything went black.

The funeral was mostly quiet. Adrian wasn't sure whether he should feel sad or relieved or even what his role should be now that his wife was dead. And lady Leandra was clinging to her daughter, only half hearing the funeral speech. She still hadn't stopped wearing mourning for her deceased husband and found it hard to care about any other death, however much she may have wanted to.

Delia's life, meanwhile, went on without any visible changes. Her affair with Adrian had become a routine for everyone involved, to such a degree that it took months for anyone to even get the idea that Ellara's death might affect it somehow. Not that anyone knew what exactly should change and what was even possible.
Delia was mostly content, but then she started feeling ill in the mornings again.
When she told little Edric he was going to get a baby brother or sister, she tried to show and feel only joy. But no matter how much she looked forward to seeing the little one's face, there was still something in the back of her mind, telling her this wasn't how life was supposed to be. That it was one thing to love a baby born out of wedlock and quite another to have a family, with more children, without a husband.

When that feeling didn't go away after a few days, she finally gathered enough courage to tell Adrian, nervous it would break their life together. She was afraid he would be angry, maybe call her a demanding nag like he had so often called his lady wife. But instead he took her in his arms.
"I love you. You know that, right?"
Delia nodded, expecting the inevitable but...
"Then you have nothing to worry about. I will always take care of you and the children."

Soon after that Adrian took her shopping for baby clothes, fancy food and anything else she might need. Delia was so happy at the fact he was taking her somewhere in public she almost didn't hear him say how money was no problem.
That whole day she was almost floating with joy, imagining what the next steps might be. Adrian was clearly planning to make their relationship official, would he move her and Edric to the manor next?
She was so focused on her daydreams she even forgot to watch and enjoy the people in the marketplace. They might become part of her life later, she would be due some respect as Adrian's partner, but right now they were not really important.

But as time passed and Adrian made no further steps to formalise their relationship, Delia grew less sure of his intentions and her future. Edric's birthday came and went, the baby in her womb grew and still nothing happened.
Delia wasn't sure what exactly she was hoping for, what exactly she could expect. She only knew she wasn't content with silence any more, not when there would soon be a second child with an unclear status.

She loved Adrian, she trusted him, and he always knew how to calm her. It just didn't last as long as it had used to.
He invited her to the manor a few times, always half in secret and explained his love and difficult situation. She was heavily pregnant and Adrian swore he would always take care of her and her children, but he had to at least appear he was in mourning. And she always got lost in his eyes and said that she understood. She really did, at that time, while he was near her.
And when the doubts appeared again in a few weeks, she hated them and she hated herself. Anything to stop herself from hating him or his promises.

Her baby was born, a healthy boy who took her mind off everything else. He was much grumpier and more demanding than Edric had been, as if he felt he could have been born in comfort as nobility.

And life went on. Edric was going to school and doing reasonably well. Alysanne was more tan happy to help him with his studies and if Edric was dissatisfied with anything in his life, his family or the way other children treated him, he was keeping it to himself. Baby Lucien was healthy and growing every day.
Everything was well and Delia was doing her best to be happy or at least satisfied, even though her hope for a real family with the man she loved was almost completely gone by then.

At the same time, Devin was making a new friend. He had met Katharyn at the village market and felt immediately drawn to her. She wasn't as exotic as Tiriel, probably not even as beautiful, but it only took a while for them to feel they had known each other for a long time.
Katharyn was the oldest of five siblings and had grown up with her own share of family drama. Like Devin, she was used to be the quiet responsible one, always putting her own desires and feelings aside, but when she let herself relax for a moment, she was great fun to be around as well as a great and generous friend.
If it didn't feel so natural, so easy and pleasant, Devin would have wondered what she saw in him. She claimed to admire him, but Devin couldn't even imagine why.

He wasn't sure when exactly he started falling for Katharyn, when he stopped being in love with Tiriel or if he ever did. But he kept noticing her more every day, thinking about what they could do together. If that was love he wasn't sure, but did it matter?

Even after leaving the convent, Kaella didn't really expect to ever marry, to ever have any other family than Celestine. She learned to live quietly and to never ask for more than fate would decide to give her, focusing all her energy on making her daughter's life as comfortable as she possibly could. That was why standing before the altar with Dermot seemed so much like a miracle.
She had first started helping out in his house, like she did in many others, after his wife had died. Already then she had noticed how kind he had always seemed, but she never expected there to be anything more between them. Even when Dermot started inviting her and Celestine for supper, she merely thought it another proof of his kindness and only realised his feelings after he proposed to her.
As the priest recited the ancient oaths and prayers and pronounced them man man and wife until death would part them, every single word felt like a solid stone forming a strong new life.

Celestine felt like everyone was watching her, the bride's daughter who was almost old enough to be a bride herself, and while there really was nothing about the attention that would be meant to hurt her, she still couldn't help feeling strange and strangely exposed. During most of her life, she had been invisible - or wished she were.
But still, Kian seemed genuinely enthusiastic and genuinely interested in what she had to say and that felt nice. Maybe it was her dress? She was still trying to remember the last time any attention from boys her age was positive rather than teasing.

Meanwhile, Tristan was nearing teenage years as well and his problems at school were growing rather than becoming in any way better. Eventually it got so bad he couldn't hide it even from his normally oblivious father. Other children in his situation would probably fear punishment from their parents, but Tristan had no respect for either of them and felt mostly humiliated from showing any kind of weakness.
Damien's response was stricter than Tristan would have imagined, though. He had grown up thinking that both of his parents were uneducated and stupid anyway, but maybe Damien's convent upbringing meant something after all.

The fear of punishment finally appeared in the back of Tristan's mind and he wanted to defend himself, but what came was only a command to sit to his studies at once. A strict command with a promise of supervision, but still only that. If he had not been so annoyed about the whole thing, he might have smiled in relief. When he bent over the hated books with his father standing over him, he tried to at least console himself with the thought that it wouldn't last.

True enough, it was only a few days until Damien lost interest in his son's studies again and Tristan could go back to ignoring his books completely. And only a couple more days until his birthday, to which Tristan had been looking forward as the day marking his independence. After it nobody would be able to order him around any more.
He forced his mother to make him a cake like he had for Elena and made sure Adrian would be there for the celebration. He was the only person Tristan really wanted to impress.

He didn't talk to anybody else during the whole party, didn't even notice them really. The only thing that mattered to him was that Adrian laughed at his jokes.
Tristan was sure Adrian saw him as family, as his own son, and he was determined to make him proud and be a better son than that wimp at the Manor could ever be. And when knight training was suggested, he was sure he was succeeding.

The problems he had with his studies didn't go away, though. Tristan had half expected to just stop going, but with knight training on the table it was no longer possible.
A few days of honest effort and Tristan felt the worst he ever had. He just wasn't getting it and even trying didn't seem to help at all. He was getting almost desperate enough to ask Adrian for help, but even if he really could do away with the requirement, he was too afraid of losing his father's respect to ask.
He even thought of falsifying the records, but that didn't work well enough either.

The fact that his annoying, ever so lucky younger sister was excelling in everything she even tried only added insult to the injury. Even the fact that their mother wasn't the type to care about books and learning didn't help much. Even when she wasn't getting attention, she was better than him and he hated even the thought.

He was definitely stronger, though, and so at least he could show the annoying brat where his limits were. Every time she laughed or smirked at him, every time she interrupted him or done anything else he didn't like, he had ways to show her how angry he was. All he had to do was make sure mother wasn't anywhere around.

The less confident Tristan felt, the more he tried to look so to his friends and everyone else who would happen to be around. His cousin Devin was an especially especially good mood booster - shy, awkward, eager to please and easy to impress.
Every time the boys would hang out in the village Tristan would act the confident and experienced friend, all too happy to give advice to the other boy. Most of the time he didn't even need to listen to him.
That day they were speaking about girls, Devin shy as always and Tristan trying to hide the fact that most of his experience wasn't exactly of the romantic kind. So naturally when Devin pointed out a girl and said how much he fancied her, Tristan just had to brag. "If I were you, I would just go talk to her. A few words, some charm and we would be in bed the same day."

Devin frowned, but said nothing, still looking at the girl. He should have been impressed, but instead he seemed lost in thought. Tristan continued speaking, something about his imaginary experience and sure ways to get a girl's attention and after a while Devin's face brightened.
"You're right. I'll try it." He said and then Tristan watched him walk over to the girl and say something to her.
And the girl smiled. Devin was blushing bright red, but Tristan could see the girl was responding to him, leaning in, her face bright and friendly. And only now did he notice that she really was pretty, far too beautiful for his dull cousin.

For Damien and Anna, life continued like it always did. Winter made way for spring and that meant not only less worrying about cold or food running out, but mostly more space for fun. Adrian continued to be a frequent visitor, spending probably more time with his friends or at his hunting camp than at the Manor with his lady wife, and the lady wife seemed blissfully ignorant or indifferent about the whole thing.
The bigger the surprise when she turned out of the blue, walked through the door in the middle of one friendly gathering, on her face a frown that could spoil milk in seconds.
"Ellara?" Adrian stared in shock, trying hard to find the right tone and expression. "What... brought you here?"
"I wanted to see what you prefer to your own home and family! Or who!" Ellara stared pointedly at Anna, who did her best to act natural. She focused on the meal she was cooking, telling herself to not react, not try to throw the witch out.

But it wasn't enough.
Before Anna knew what was happening the lady was standing right in front of her. "I'm speaking to you. And I won't be ignored! Keep your hands off my husband, you understand?"
"What...?" Anna's anger turned into cold fear and back again. Did Ellara know about Adrian? Did she know about Tristan and why her wedding to Damien was so rushed? But surely she would say something, unless...?
"I have seen how you look at him. And how he looks at you, even inviting you to my nephew's wedding. If I ever find out there's something between you and him, you filth..." she ran out of words and just stood there fuming for a few long seconds while everyone else was holding their breath and trying hard to turn invisible.
Damien froze in place and turned away, torn between an instinct to protect Anna and fear of punishment. Devin hid his face in his plate, silently regretting ever accepting the invitation. He was only grateful Delia had stayed at home. And Adrian was standing by the door, all innocence, just waiting for his lady wife to leave.
And then Ellara just slapped Anna and turned away. "Come! We're leaving!"
Adrian followed her out of the door without another look at anyone else in the house.

Tristan remained mostly unaffected by the drama. He may have wished Ellara gone so that his father could elevate him to his rightful place, but, unpleasant as she was, she had never threatened him personally and Tristan found it hard to truly care about other people.
He had finally learned how to charm girls and was using this new skill to boost his self-confidence. He wanted to feel adult, important and, most of all, as much like his father as he could.
As much success as he had with village girls, though, he couldn't stop thinking about the one he had not tried to woo yet.

Eventually he decided to approach her. If she had smiled at Devin, who had absolutely no people skills, she couldn't be too picky.
But to his great surprise the girl didn't react to any of the lines he had spent so much time perfecting, she completely ignored his winning smile, and was less than impressed when he tried to tell her about his knight training and great future. The more he pushed, the more irritated she seemed, until she exploded.
"Will you ever stop your ridiculous bragging? I don't care who your father is or about your wooden sword. If you were really going to be a knight, you would at the very least have a real one."

For a while Tristan just stared dumbfounded. How could she just leave? How could she not be charmed? What could Devin have that he didn't?

It only took a few moments until Tristan's shock was replaced with anger. He stormed up to the girl, determined not to let her escape again.
"Don't you dare look at me like I'm some frog. I'm the prince! Or should be at any rate! If anyone is the frog it's Devin, but he's not going to turn into anything nice even after a kiss, so if that's what you're hoping for..." He finally noticed the girl was watching him with an expression that was half bewildered and half amused. Definitely not what he had intended. "What I mean is..." He tried to change tracks, but the girl just shrugged.
"Don't bother. I'm simply not interested."
Tristan watched her leave and swore to himself he would win her over somehow. After this humiliation there wasn't any other choice.

Delia was trying to tell herself Marcus was all right. He was nice, he seemed to care for her, her parents liked him... but still, even as she was holding hands with him and doing her best to woo him, something was holding her back.
She knew she needed to marry him - him or anyone else, but who else was there, really - before the baby was born or even started showing too much. She didn't need her mother's constant disapproving or worried looks to tell her that. But still she couldn't make herself to say the words out loud. She didn't have much time, but she still found herself stalling, giving Marcus backrubs so that he wouldn't see her face, and waiting for him to ask the question himself.

Her parents, on the other hand, were maybe too enthusiastic. Alysanne was her sweetest self, baking for Marcus, treating him like family already and generally just falling all over herself to please him. And Tomas was so cheerful and friendly that one would think he wanted to marry Marcus himself. Delia knew they were worried, they were only trying to be helpful, but she couldn't help feeling somehow embarrassed. Their help was just as annoying as their disapproval and she couldn't wait to get away from them.
Didn't they trust Adrian to take care of her?

And still, there were moments when it doesn't seem all that bad.
Her romance had been sweet and wonderful, but she had to face the facts, however painful. Adrian was married, he might give her love, he might even give her money, but he would never give her a home or family. And she wanted those, genuinely wanted for herself, not just because her parents were pushing her into their way of life.
There were moments when Marcus was holding her in his arms and she felt secure and wasn't that important as well? In these moments she thought that home and family were maybe more important than romantic passion.
If only Marcus would propose soon.

Throughout all this, Devin had been doing his best not to get in anyone's way. His sister was in trouble, his parents were worried and he didn't want to add more problems to the family heap. He was so successful in being invisible, it came to him so naturally, that for those weeks it was like he didn't exist at all.
When his birthday came, he didn't really expect anything and the party caught him completely by surprise. Alysanne baked a cake, complete with candles, and Tomas brought noisemakers and excitement which Devin hadn't seen directed at him since what seemed like forever. It was like something from a different world and seeing so much attention was strange and reassuring at the same time.
Delia, her belly already huge, urged him to blow out his candles and make a wish, but Devin had no idea what he wanted. He hesitated, glancing around the room. Everyone was looking at him with anticipation, their faces warm and happy.
Devin blew out the candles and wished for everyone to stay this happy forever. He wished for Delia to marry her sweetheart, their parents to have no more worries and everyone to love each other like they did now.

Soon Delia's belly got too big for her to leave the house without everyone staring at her. Marcus didn't propose and everyone tried to tell themselves it could still turn out all right. They could get married later, Marcus could adopt the fatherless baby... uncle Dorian suggested just giving the baby away, to the convent if nobody wanted to adopt it, but Delia flatly refused. Even when Damien tried to persuade her not to give up her carefree life, even when Adrian tried to argue it would be the easiest and safest solution of "the situation", as he called it, Delia could not imagine parting with the new life that was growing inside of her. Even the words, "her baby", sounded to her like a miracle and she couldn't wait to hold it in her arms.
She was completely unprepared for the pain, though. When the contractions started, she at first thought something was wrong, she was ill, maybe even going to die.

It took hours, Alysanne doing her best to coach her daughter and the boys just watching, more worried with each hour that passed. Delia screamed and pushed, pushed and screamed, until it was finally over.

She was exhausted, but holding the tiny baby, her newborn son, poured new energy into her. "He's perfect. He looks just like his father..."
"You shouldn't say that." Alysanne interrupted her daughter's reverie, her voice gentle but firm. "Nobody must know who his father is, ever. Nobody must guess." She remembered far too well what ruined her father, what the end of his life looked like. She wouldn't bear for her daughter to suffer the same fate and too many people knew about lord Adrian's affair with her already. If lady Ellara ever found out...

But Delia found it hard to care about Ellara or much of the outside world. Her baby son was real and focusing all her attention. She felt she had finally found something to ground her and give her life meaning. But at the same time she found it hard to forget Adrian, to look at her son's perfect face and not see his father in Edric's features.
At first she just wanted to show Adrian the baby, but it was too easy to reignite the romance. Delia didn't really know how exactly it happened, but soon everything was just like in the carefree days before the baby, despite her parents' silent disapproval.

Delia was so happy with her baby and easy romance, that she completely forgot about Marcus and the desperate courtship she had been forced into. But Marcus had not forgotten her.
He had been thinking hard during since he had last seen her. He couldn't miss her pregnancy, despite all the effort she had put into hiding it, but he had decided to forgive her. If she was truly sorry for her transgression, as she seemed to be, he would take her with the baby, maybe even adopt the child so that everything would look respectable. And he would enjoy all the gratitude that he rightly deserved. And then they could be truly happy, all thanks to his generosity.
It all seemed perfect, and perfectly natural and when he walked up to her door he was already imagining his future life with his loving wife.

He didn't even knock before going right in, already feeling at home. But what he saw behind the door broke his vision into a thousand pieces. There was Delia, the girl he had almost agreed to marry, in a passionate embrace with somebody else. He watched in disbelief when the man kissed her in such a way Marcus had never seen before. She should have been kissing his feet and instead she...!
Marcus could only stare, all his love and pity for her evaporating in that instant.

Before he even realised what he was doing, he rushed to the girl and slapped her, and then again and again, screaming something about betrayal and lies and about never wanting to see her again.

Delia's first reaction was to snap something suitably cutting back. Only after the words "I have never wanted you anyway" were out of her mouth did she realise what she had done. Deep down it may have been true, but... a quick look around the house told her that Adrian had quietly disappeared, probably worried Marcus would recognise him - if he hadn't already - and tell his ghastly wife.
The realisation that she was alone, that Adrian wouldn't - couldn't? - fight for her was maybe even harder than the utter disgust she could read in Marcus' face, but what was the worst was the feeling of utter helplessness.

Delia ran after Marcus as he walked out of the door.
"Please... please, I didn't mean that... I didn't mean any of that, please, just let me explain!"
She took hold of his sleeve and tugged it, desperate to stop him, to make him listen to her. He tore himself from her grasp as if her hand was red-hot, but at least stopped. He turned to look at her, his features hard and his eyes still full of disgust, and Delia realised she had no idea what she wanted to say.
She did her best, but she was only able to stammer excuses that sounded weak and empty even to her ears. She watched Marcus shake his head slowly and pleaded even more, but it was clear nothing she could say would change his mind.

And then her mother was there. Alysanne invited Marcus for fresh bread, led him back into the house and listened patiently to him ranting. Delia didn't dare follow them. She was too scared of attracting attention.
When she dared peek through a window her mother and Marcus were still talking, he looked much calmer than before, and she seemed to be explaining or maybe suggesting something. Was there still hope?

But then Delia remembered how Marcus had looked at her just a few moments before and all the hope transformed back into anger. She was just thinking about how happy she was she never needed to see Marcus and his self-important face again when her mother called her back inside.
She walked in frowning and with her arms crossed, defiance hiding her uncertainty and fear.
"Your mother says you had no choice but to agree to your lord's advances. Is this true?" Marcus wasted no time with pleasantries before asking, his tone still cold even if most of his anger seemed to be gone. "I suppose being just a girl..."
Delia almost laughed before she managed to stop herself. The idea was just so absurd, Adrian would never have forced her into anything, as if he would ever need to!
"What? Do you really think...?"
Marcus didn't even let her finish. "So that's another lie? I should have known. With your family's reputation it would have been a miracle if you had turned any different. Forget it. Forget everything."
Delia caught her mother's look of pained disappointment. "Wait! Wait, it's true! Yes, he...!"
But Marcus was already gone before she could finish the lie.

Delia expected to be punished, but nothing happened. For a while she thought this nothing was worse than if she had been punished, her parents' disappointment was clear and their sadness even more so. Tomas lost his enthusiasm again and replaced his jokes with more work. And Alysanne was quiet and seemed resigned to all the bad luck life would bring.
But then she got used to things being what they were. Her baby son was demanding attention and Delia was happy to have him. At least Edric loved her unconditionally and only wanted her love and care.

And he never judged her and never imposed society's standards on her. Her mother never seemed to be thinking about anything else. First she worried about Marcus going to lady Ellara and when that didn't happen she switched to worrying about Delia's ruined marital prospects, but mostly she seemed to worry just for the sake of worrying.
Delia went with her to church every day - she didn't dare refuse - but when she prayed, it was for freedom to live her life her own way.