If there was one word that Lorin would use to describe his life it would be "second".

Second son. Second option. Second best.

True, his parents never said so to his face, but their eyes said it all. Since he was little, Lorin was always good at reading people as if there were books.

Lorin always found unfair that, even though he was just a few months younger, his brother received better treatment. Maybe it was the fact that he resembled an angel. Maybe it was all about his amazing swordfighting. Sometimes he felt invisible. Either way, it was the way things were, and there was nothing he could do about it. There were lots of people with the same issue.

Lorin let it be.

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Harold was either ignorant or cruel about his situation. Lorin hoped it was the former. His big brother seemed to enjoy humilliating Lorin in swordfighting and completely ignore him when he hanged out with his friends. No big deal, Lorin kept telling himself, I can always rely on books to make me feel better.

Nowadays it seemed like poetry was the only thing he did all day. He barely came outside anymore. If he went out he would only be witness of his parents' shows of affection to Harold as he stood in the background.

Lorin let it be.

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When he was fourteen a girl he had never seen started appearing more and more frequently in their special events. She had brown eyes and long hair to match them. Her gowns were always different shades of blue and always used at least one braid in her hair.

She seemed lonely, always playing with her dog in the gatherings, so Lorin decided to talk to her.

It turned out that her name was Avelina, a baroness from the Provost family. She was brought to the Edgell's gatherings because she was meant to marry Harold. Tough luck, Lorin said without thinking. Before he could apologize for his rude words Avelina laughed. I know, she said, but it could have been worse.

Lorin nodded with a determined look.

Yes, you could have been engaged to a dragon.

Avelina laughed, louder this time. And so, she presented him to her dog, Jakke. Lorin knew he would never get along with the dog the moment the creature attempted to take one of his eyes out.

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Now, Lorin's days weren't so lonely. Avelina's parents started bringing her more frequently, which gave them plenty of time to get to know each other.

It turned out that Avelina had two older brothers herself, which also caused her to be a bit neglected and seek comfort in her dog.

It matters not, she told him, As long as I have someone, I will never be lonely.

She hugged both Lorin and Jakke as she said this, and Lorin felt something warm inside.

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Lorin decided to show Avelina his poetry books, and some works he had done himself.

Lorin, she told him, I cannot read. I do not know how.

He blushed and apologized more times than he could count. He offered to teach her how to read, but she refused.

Read to me, she said, I like your voice.

And so, he did.

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Lorin's parents started asking about the progress in Harold and Avelina's courtship. Lorin told them it was going perfectly. They sighed in relief and dismissed him. Lorin also sighed, but it was a sigh of realization. Of something he had to do.

Lorin confronted Harold about Avelina, but was never heard by the other, so he decided to talk with the baroness herself.

I know what I have to do, she said, but I want to enjoy these last few years before I become his wife.

Lorin promised to help her with that.

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Those were the days. Just Avelina and him, laughing about some secret joke or sneaking into the library at night, not without sneaking into some kitchen for a midnight snack. It was around these days that Lorin discovered that she baked like no other woman he had ever met.

He called her pastries pieces of heaven in a plate.

She called him a bespawler.

Avelina confessed she prefered to learn swordfight. She was getting secret lessons from a cousin.

Lorin confessed that he wanted to publish his own book someday, something that would captivate those who read it.

Both of them felt guilty as they kissed.

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He wasn't surprised when he didn't feel anything with the death of his father. The man was barely in his life.

He cried when his mother talked to him that night. When she recognized her neglect to him. When she said she didn't want to waste another minute. When she asked him for a second chance to be his mother.

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Harold wanted him to join him in the Crusades for the Holy Land, and Avelina encouraged him too.

You say you always wanted a closer relationship with your brother, well, now is the chance.

Before going, she gave him her favorite brooch.

Do not forget about me.

You wound me, fair maiden. I would never forget your hair, that shines like a hundred suns.

Bespawler.

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Lorin recognized that Harold made the following days a bit easier. He always knew what to say to brighten the mood, and seemed to genuinely want to make some bridges with him, so he complied. Lorin was as terrible as always with the sword, he rarely hit his target. Harold had to save him more than once. They joked about it together. Still, Lorin felt there was something missing in their relationship.

He never knew what.

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When they came back, the first place he went to was the Provost Estate. He couldn't contain his happiness when he saw her again. Her hair was shorter than he remembered, but beautiful no matter what.

I think this, he said as he took out her brooch, belongs to you.

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They returned together to the Edgell Estate, only to find that Lorin's mother had passed away due to hypothermia. The part that stung the most was when Harold announced that they would be having a welcoming feast. How could he party when their mother spent her last days alone?

He is unbelievable, he told Avelina.

Then, tell him.

He will never listen.

Lorin let it be.

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A few weeks later Harold decided to host another feast, telling everyone that he would make an important announcement. Lorin told him he wouldn't go, but was still curious about the announcement so he sneaked in as he started to talk.

...This celebrations is not only to announce my new lordship. I have decided to grant my father his last wish and carry on my engagement with Avelina Provost next month.

Lorin should have been relieved that his brother was finally taking responsability, but there was a little, green creature inside of him that wanted to tear Harold apart.

Lorin took a beer and let it be.

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As the night progressed, more thoughts against his brother emerged in his head. Why was Harold the one who got to marry Avelina? Why was Harold the one who got the lordship? He fought as well, didn't he?

Lorin took another beer.

Why did his father love Harold so much? Why was Harold the one who got everything? If Harold had died in the Crusades, he would have got to be with Avelina.

Another beer.

Harold was the source of everything bad that had happened to him. It would be easier if he just disappeared.

The last thing Lorin recalled before blacking out was his brother, laying in the grass of the gardens, before raising his sword.

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No one ever found out who murdered Harold. Nobody saw the assasin enter or exit the gardens nor the weapon used.

The residents of the castle let it be. After all, there was still another brother to receive the lordship.

He never stopped hearing his brother's voice.

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By 1225, Lorin was living in Waynemoor Castle along with his wife, Avelina.

One night, Avelina confessed that she felt guilty enjoying a marriage that happened thanks to the murder of an innocent man.

Lorin told her that the stress wasn't good for the baby. She should go back to her maids.

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A few weeks after that statement, Lorin was strolling the grounds of his castle when he heard footsteps behind him. He looked back but found no one.

A few days after that Lorin was glancing at a mirror getting ready for a gathering when a mysterious shadow appeared behind him. Once again, there was nobody there.

A day later Lorin sweared that blood was tickling down the ceiling, and Avelina told him that he should stop spending so much time writing poems at night. That it was getting to his head.

Bespawler, she called him.

Murderer, he heard.

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The voices in his head seemed to quiet the moment his son was born. The midwife smiled as she brought his son to him.

You should be proud. He is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.

Lorin gave her a small smile before taking the baby, his son, in his arms. When he looked at the sleeping baby's face, all he could see was Harold.

Later, people told Lorin that the midwife had to take the baby away because he wouldn't stop screaming and scaring the baby.

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Lorin jumped out of the largest tower in Waynemoor that night.

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Umm, hello. I am just a cat that writes.

With Harold and Lerin's story I declare ALMOST finished the first arc of The Wayne Way

The base for these two stories came from the wiki of the Wayne Family (You can find it in the DC Database) that says:

In the waning days of the Crusades, a man named Harold served as the first lord of Waynemoor Castle in Northern England until he died, childless and unmarried, at which point his brother Lorin took over the estate. Centuries later, it was discovered by Lorin's descendant -Bruce Wayne, the Batman - that Harold was actually murdered by Lorin.

I came up with the story I think happened before and after the murder. So, yeah. Coming up next: Lancelot Wayne, The Inventor.