She used to believe the world would reject her, should it hear about her oddities—she still did, to some extent. But knowing that her family wouldn’t turn her away helped alleviate some of that fear.

The normalcy after Tara confessed to dreaming served mainly to prove to her that nothing had to change, she decided. She was, in a sense, a reminder of what both of her parents would rather forget—a person set aside to rule a nation that Rene had betrayed, the same nation that Adelinde suffered for without knowing more than vague details. The latter case even applied to Matteo; it was in an effort to create her that Aurik had tried to kill him.

Yet they never held it against her. Tara herself was the only one who lingered on those past troubles—the only one that saw a reason to linger. She still couldn’t say she completely understood it—that she completely accepted that kindness—but she stopped trying to pick apart their reasoning within a few weeks.

Even if she still had doubts and fears, after so long of hiding and worrying that she would be turned away, she found the fact that she was still there immensely reassuring. Even Itzun had yet to question her or her family.

August passed without event aside from Adelinde’s birthday. Tara had only gone to Adelinde’s mother’s hometown two or three times before; she appreciated the kindness of the people, many of whom recognized Adelinde if not all four of them. September came and went similarly, leaving the arts festival in October to be dealt with.

Tara knew the day came when the discussion downstairs involved it, and got dressed accordingly. They were only home to eat breakfast; they had thrown around the idea of eating in town somewhere, but they decided against it so Tara would be more comfortable. They had plans to meet with Mark as per tradition, so once everyone ate they walked the short distance to the music district’s gazebo.

The songs being played for the occasion were a mix of traditional songs and creations from other musicians around San Asari. Tara only noticed because she recognized one or two songs Adelinde had put in a published score book, undoubtedly played on purpose once the musicians noticed she had arrived.

They didn’t have enough time to settle down and wait before Mark came, greeting them with a smile that Tara still wasn’t used to. He got along best with everyone but the youngest; much like Matteo, he preferred talking and teasing over respectable silence. If someone didn’t respond, he was more likely to keep trying to prompt a word or three out of them instead of giving up.

“I assume you weren’t waiting long for me?” Mark asked nicely.

“We just came out,” Adelinde replied, shaking her head. Offering a smile to the rest, she said, “But we can start to wander now that everyone’s here.”

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Everyone but Tara murmured some kind of agreement. Out of the five, no one led per se—Tara trailed a few steps behind Adelinde and Rene, but the rest all walked at relatively the same pace. Both parents—even Mark, once or twice—occasionally looked back to confirm she was still there.

Mark didn’t let them fall into silence, nor did Matteo. The king focused mainly on catching up with Adelinde, sharing stories about things she would have had to sit through if she stayed queen. Matteo or Rene chimed in every now and then if they were able to make meaningful input.

She knew they weren’t ignoring her—her preferences meant that she wouldn't say much even if they did ask her a few questions—but Mark didn’t go out of his way to speak with her, either. While Matteo was bothered by her quietness, Mark saw it as a sort of challenge; he just didn’t usually know the best way to overcome it.

Nonetheless, once they reached the section of the shopping district where most photographers were set up and it came time to wait for their turn, Mark turned towards Tara and offered something like a smile.

“Were you going to walk around and draw stuff for people today?” he asked curiously. He nodded towards her sketchbook and the little box of pencils. “You have all the materials, anyway.”

“…Not alone.”

He looked immensely pleased she actually responded to him, even if she could muster a longer response if she had a bit more time. Adelinde and Rene gave their own little proud smiles; it could very well be one of the few occasions she ever truly spoke to her uncle.

“Think you’ll draw a bit when we get to the conservatory, then?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, I think you should.” In a kind of conspiratorial whisper, he added, “And if you could draw something with you four in it, somehow? I would actually pay you. I don’t have enough pictures of you guys.”

Tara nodded some kind of agreement, and he pulled away to carry on a conversation with Adelinde about something relevant. As they waited, one of Matteo’s friends came over, mostly to chat with him—upon noticing Tara, he went on to point out his family and request his own drawing.

Tara proceeded with the request mostly because she wouldn’t have to do much; if she sketched out the basic form and the faces, she could finish the drawing somewhere else. The Dakari-Horize family’s turn for a photograph came before she could do more than the basic idea, but it was enough for her to work off of later.

They only needed one picture of all of them; for posterity and historical reasons, Adelinde and Matteo took one extra. Once that was done, they started making their way towards the conservatory, roaming around the general area to make sure they saw everything they could.

Tara dreaded a kind of sleepiness as they walked, hesitating a second when she noticed it. Itzun hadn’t tried speaking with her since she confessed to dreaming of him—she almost thought that her family being aware of his presence might have rid her of him, somehow, even if he promised to always be there. She didn’t want to fall asleep—didn’t want to slip away during the daylight, especially with everyone there—and so tried her best to avoid the feeling and stay awake.

They all took different spots when they reached the conservatory; Adelinde took the open piano while Matteo waited to join in, with the other three finding a bench and sitting down. Tara continued drawing, going from piece to piece as she finished the last.

Eventually, she made the mistake of closing her eyes for more than a second.