After we'd had tea, the Lephards returned home and set me up in the sitting room. During our outing, they'd refrained from talking about the letter at all, instead focusing their conversations on more mundane topics, such as their garden or Hannabella's work at the opera house. Once we reached home, however, they must have considered enough time to have elapsed for me to have digested the news. They practically vibrated with the effort it took to not speak about the obvious.

I smiled and threw back my head. "You're both going to burst if you don't start talking!" I teased.

"A Countess?" Martin yelped, clapping his hands together. "You outrank nearly everyone I know, Nadia! If the Vigilant hadn't taken over Rumonin, you'd have titled land. An ancestral home, most likely!"

Hannabella held her hands to her cheeks, staring at me like I'd just done some impressive and impossible feat. "After all these years, you have a family and a name and a place to know where you came from..."

I nodded. "It's still hard to understand. I can't believe that I'm actually a Surikov. That I have a family."

Hannabella gasped. "Perhaps there are more of you? Cousins? Uncles? Aunts?" She looked to Martin.

"I can ask Galina if she can find further records. Anyone who might have a connection to the Surikovs." He pulled out a notebook, dashing down a reminder for the next day. "I think she's been working on a project to do with the Rumoni nobility for a while now. I can't remember the details, but I'm sure she'd be interested to know that a long lost member of the peerage has been found."

At that moment, the sound of the doorbell echoed through the front foyer, and Martin jumped up to answer it. It was already nearing dark, and I couldn't imagine who it might be. Hannabella, unconcerned, chatted to me about how happy she was for my news. I kept glancing at the doorway, curious as to who our visitor was, and was rewarded a few seconds later when Martin reappeared, with Ferdinand in tow.

When his eyes met mine, a tenseness melted away from his shoulders and forehead. He stood a bit taller, his arms extended toward me. I jumped up, running to him and kissing his cheek. He held my waist, smiling down at me.

"I thought you might be upset. I'm glad I'm wrong," he said.

"I'm a bit sad, but I'm feeling all right for the moment," I replied, taking his hand to lead him over to the couches near the fireplace. I sat him down before taking my place at his side, pressed up close.

"Our little Nadia outranks you now, Ferdinand," Hannabella said, her eyes twinkling. "How does it feel to be the one who is forbidden?"

I gasped. "Will they forbid me from loving a baron?" I asked, looking frantically from Ferdinand to Hannabella. Did the nobility have people who took care of such things? Men and women who made sure no woman married below her rank? I couldn't imagine it, but, then again, I'd heard even stranger rules that the nobility followed.

Hannabella burst into laughter. "Of course not! Rumoni titles are probably as good as your name at this time. Who knows if they'll ever mean something again? I highly doubt anyone will care or even know about the differences. Just like they didn't when Ferdinand was a baron and you were a ballet dancer."

Ferdinand looked uneasy, and grabbed my hand to hold it tightly on his lap. "I wouldn't know," he said, his voice a bit strained. I gave him a look, but he avoided my eyes.

Hannabella shrugged, unbothered by his snippiness, and carried on. "Well, I've just now realized that I've been neglectful! I haven't asked how your family is doing!"

Ferdinand cleared his throat, trying to sound cheerful once again. "They're struggling with the idea of being exiled in Flauns, but they're healthy and safe."

"Were they quite socially active back in Rumonin?" Martin asked.

Ferdinand nodded, then paused and shrugged. "We had already begun to lose our fortune. We had the title, but little else. Father did what he could to bribe and trade favors, and Mother was so fearsome that many ladies didn't dare to shun her from their parties and charity benefits. We were more like unwanted relatives that you have to invite places."

Martin clicked his tongue. "That must have been hard on them."

Ferdinand exhaled. "My parents grew up in the golden age of Rumonin. They remember the grand balls and Seasons, where all the nobles knew each other and were busy trying to get married and advance in position. It was a lovely time, but also one that dissolved by the time I was born. It's hard for them to realize that it has all fallen, and now people would rather work than attend parties." He shifted in his seat. "I'm afraid Katya attached herself too easily to the stories Mother and Father told, as well. It is hard for them to let go. It weighs on them to not know anyone here."

Hannabella nodded. "It's a hard adjustment, to realize that you are just like everyone else. Though I enjoy some fame now, from my singing, I know that it will fade. It scares me sometimes, but I try not to attach my worth to it." She leaned back against the couch. "If they learn to move with the flow of progress, they won't find it as bumpy."

Ferdinand chuckled. "I'm afraid that's like saying that a horse should fly." He shrugged. "More than anything, they're just lonely here. Hardly anyone speaks Rumoni, and they have the added burden of being seen as refugees. I think most of the upper echelon here thinks they are made of dust, and they don't to risk breathing on them too hard, for fear of blowing them entirely away."

Hannabella frowned. "How terrible. They must be missing their friends so much." She leaned forward, reaching out to pat Ferdinand's knee. "Thankfully, they have you now. A son, back from the dead, must be much better than a handful of false friends."

Martin held a hand up, as if asking a question in class. "Ah, yes, that reminds me. What is the plan for your living arrangements? We'd love for you to keep staying with us, but is that what your family wants?"

Ferdinand's eyes immediately cut toward me. "I can't stay with the LeClaires."

"Whyever not?" Hannabella asked, eyebrows dipping downward.

"How could I leave Nadia behind?"

The Lephards grew quiet. They'd forgotten. Hannabella glanced at me, her mouth twisted to one side.

"Why would you have to leave her behind?" she asked, softly.

Ferdinand exhaled in a half-laugh. "She can't leave you. You saved her life. She views you as one of her closest friends. It would be cruel to take her away."

I froze. Even I hadn't realized how much truth there was in Ferdinand's words. Up until now, I hadn't thought much on just how attached I was to Hannabella and Martin. Their kindness, and the way they were always thinking of me, was as cooling as a balm on a wound. Perhaps being covered in such love and attention had been the reason why the news of my real parents had not hit as hard as everyone thought it might. Because, in front of me, I had the current embodiment of all that I had missed out on as a child. Hannabella and Martin were as close to real parents as I could remember. And Ferdinand had seen it all, when I had been so blind up until this moment.

Hannabella glanced at me, and the sight of her kind face, such a refuge in all my times of trouble, made tears well in the corners of my eyes. I ducked my head, trying to hide them as my throat tightened.

"Let's go talk in the hall for a moment," Hannabella said, her voice still cheerful. She got up, crossing over to take my hand. I let her pull me to my feet and followed her out of the sitting room. Martin and Ferdinand watched us until Hannabella shut the door, but knew that this was something that we needed to do alone.

Once out in the expansive hallway and foyer, Hannabella held my hands between hers. "Nadia, why don't you want to go live with Ferdinand?"

I swallowed, not able to meet her eyes just yet. "I do want to, more than anything. But the thought of leaving you and Martin..."

"You're not leaving us forever. You'll be living with the LeClaire's until you find your own place, and that's just a few minutes down the road."

"I know, but it's just hard to imagine that nothing bad will happen while I'm gone," I replied. Nightmares of Flauns being invaded and the Lephards being dragged into the streets hid in the back of my mind. I could think of so many ways they could be killed or hurt without me there, and it made my heart seize. Perhaps the worst was a shadowy dream of Mr. Lennox, stalking along after the Lephards, haunting their every move. I knew he could no longer do harm, but his memory was still so fresh that it felt like he might step out from my nightmares at any moment.

"Nothing bad will happen to me or Martin," Hannabella whispered. "You're not a lucky charm, warding away evil. Fortunately. What a terrible job that would be."

"I'm just scared of what might come." I finally met her eyes, and the tears spilled over at the sight of her concerned frown and soft gaze.

"You don't have to be afraid, because the only thing that is coming is your future," Hannabella replied. "If you want to live your own life, you'll have to leave us and go fulfill your heart's desire. You want to live with Ferdinand. You want to share the rest of your life with him. That means you have to brave the world with him and learn to stand on your own. You don't need a silly opera singer and her husband for that."

"You're not silly," I sniffled.

Hannabella laughed. "No, I'm not. But the point remains. You're growing up, Nadia, and it's time you grabbed life and told it what you wanted. There's no point in letting fate push you around. Try pushing it around sometimes, hm?"

I nodded, swiping the back of my hand across my eyes to dry them. Hannabella rubbed her knuckles along my cheek, smiling at me the way I think my mother must have once smiled.

"I think you're right, Hannabella."

"Of course, I am. I'm always right." She chuckled. "Now, do you think we should tell Ferdinand that you want to go with him?"

She walked with me back to the sitting room. My heart fluttered against my ribs as I thought of moving back with Ferdinand, having him there every day. I missed him so terribly, and I ached every minute I was away from him. But I'd still miss Hannabella and Martin, and the home they had given me.

When we re-entered the sitting room, Ferdinand looked up with a worried tilt to his eyebrows. I smiled, to let him know that nothing he had done had upset me, and then curled into his side on the sofa.

"Do you think the LeClaire's will let me stay with you?" I asked.

A quiver at the corner of his lips revealed just how much he had wanted me to say those words. I brushed my hand over the edge of his shaved hair, marvelling that he was by my side after all we had experienced.

"I'll go home and ask right now," he said, surging to his feet. He paused, grinning at me. "I already know they won't say no. You're as much a part of my family as my sister or parents. They'll be glad to accept you."

He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before turning and thanking the Lephards. They waved him on, laughing as he dashed out the door and on his way to the LeClaire's. I smiled after him, my stomach full of fizzing excitement.