Hello! This is my first Black Jewels Trilogy fanfic, and it's featuring everyone's favorite hearth witch Marian! I hope everyone likes this, because it was hard to write ^^; It takes place before and after Marian comes to the Shadow Realm via Jaenelle. So enjoy =D

Disclaimer: I don't own the Black Jewels Trilogy or any books of its kind. It all belongs to Anne Bishop

Marian sat in the corner of the room, watching as the rest of her family got ready for Winsol events that they'd been invited to. She, however, was not included, which is why she was just sitting in the first place. So she was supposed to spend another night of Winsol celebrations at home, doing "nothing useful". Ever since her sisters had been accepted as a Priestess-in-training and a Healer-in-training, her family had been invited to a few more of the festivities that took place around this time of the year than usual.

She sighed. It was bad enough when her sisters were younger and Marian and her parents had figured out that Marian's skills were in the field of hearth craft. Though she liked to bake, cook, and mend, there were just times when she could have been a high ranking Black Widow or Priestess, so she wouldn't be talked down upon so often.

"Wipe that look off your face!"

Marian drifted out of her wandering thoughts and looked up to see her father, looking down at her, wrapping his cloak around his shoulders. "You should be grateful for what you get, so stop sitting there with that look on your face," he said to her. Marian suppressed a sigh. "Yes sir," she replied. She watched as he turned and joined her mother and sisters, who also were bundling themselves up into coats or cloaks. Her sisters just sneered at her, one fixing her hair with hair ornaments that she had "borrowed" from Marian from the Darkness only knew when, the other smoothing out her dress.

"We won't be back until late," her mother said, the door opening and the others piling out. "So try to find something useful to do while your just sitting around." With that, the door slammed shut.

She stared at the door, feeling hurt that she had been left out but at the same time, she was glad because that meant she wouldn't have to try and mingle with any of the other Circles in the court her father was in.

Well, no use wondering what her family was doing for hours on end. She got up and headed to the kitchen, pulling out ingredients to bake with. She figured she might as well keep busy, and while it wouldn't be useful, she decided to bake something sweet.

But after mixing, beating eggs, pouring all the ingredients together, and making little balls of dough on baking sheets did she realize what she was just about to put in the oven, and it made her sad.

Every Winsol when she was just a little girl, her mother would pull out ingredients to make special chocolate cookies, and that was the small child's indication that Winsol was around the corner. The smell of each separate ingredient as they were added, sweets in the oven, and how they brought the family together. And oh, the taste of the cookies! They were so yummy…

Marian's eyes began to tear. It made her sad that these were some of the earliest memories she had that were good in her life. She couldn't remember off the top of her head the last time that the cookies were actually made, or when her parents had been happy with her in their lives, which made her even sadder. She guessed it was probably around the time of her first younger sister's Birthright Ceremony when the sweets stopped, since her sister was higher in Jewel ranking than her; the verbal abuse (though she felt like it had been used on her almost her entire life) probably came with her next sister's Birthright Ceremony, since she too had a Jewel ranking higher than Marian.

But that didn't matter anymore, since everyone pretty much ignored her unless some "hearth craft was needed".

She waited the evening out, taking baking sheets out, emptying their contents onto cooling racks, refilling the sheets with dough and letting them bake, repeating the process. She didn't know what else to do.

Finally, all the treats were done. Marian gathered them together and stored them into a jar that was big enough to hold all the cookies she had made. Perhaps someday, I can have a place of my own and a special Winsol to celebrate with someone I love, she thought. But how could she? She was in Terreille, the worst realm to live in since Dorothea was in control.

But still, one could hope, couldn't they?

"Mama!"

Marian opened her eyes to meet a pair of golden eyes staring at her. Guess I fell asleep, Marian thought, as she realized that she was sitting in a rocking chair in the eyrie that she shared with her two males. She rubbed her eyes, wondering why Daemonar was on her lap. "What is it sweetie?" she asked.

"I think you promised him that you'd make something sweet to eat," another voice said. Marian looked towards the doorway of the room to see Lucivar, leaning against the doorway with one of his famous smiles that had first caught her attention. Marian just smiled, picked up Daemonar, and stood up with the small child in her arms. "You want something sweet for Winsol?"

"Yah!" the small child exclaimed, a smile on his face.

She smiled as well. "Alright then, why don't you go to the kitchen and I'll be there in a minute?" she instructed. "We can make something special."

" 'kay!" With that, Daemonar used his little wings to flutter out of her arms and get to the floor. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he went running as fast as his little feet would take him to the kitchen.

Lucivar smiled and laughed a little as he watched his offspring run by him. "He really wants something sweet," he commented, leaving his place from the doorway and coming to Marian. He brushed some hair away from her face, noticing how sad she looked before she realized she had been awake. "Did you dream about something bad?" he asked her.

Marian sighed. "Just a memory from a previous life," she said cryptically.

Apparently, that answer didn't appease Lucivar because he just stood there, golden eyes piercing into her. After a moment, she said, "Alright, it was a dream about one Winsol with my…family. They were going to a party and left me alone where we lived."

Lucivar just looked at her for a moment, before closing his eyes and kissing her. When he came back, he said "Terreille doesn't hold anything for us anymore. And it certainly doesn't for you."

She smiled. "I'm glad that I'm here," she said, hugging him.

"Happy Winsol Marian."