The dynamic of the children of Belvedere began with the birth og the eldest sibling, Daphne. While a daughter of the house of Belvedere, her father was not Wolfram, Hazel's husband. It was in fact his twin brother, Andre Rousseau. He and Witch Hazel Tamore had bren lovers, but Wolfram envied his brother. He desired Hazel for her strength and cunning, certain she could produce proper children to carry on his legacy. Unaware Hazel already carried his niece in her belly, Wolfran warned his brother if he did not have Hazel as a bride, no one would. Fearing for the woman he loved and knowing the extent of his brother's power and influence, Andre vanished into the night. A fortnight later, Hazel and Wolfram were married. Less then six months later, Hazel gave birth to a healthy and fully developed baby girl.
Thus one could say the tension between the siblings before they were born. Naturally when Wolfram realized what had transpired, he was less then pleased. His attempts to rectify his error were blocked repeatedly at the hands of her mother and by her Daphne's first birthday, Wolfram decided-while nursing a broken leg among other injuries-to give up the ghost and let his brother's bastard live.
Two years later Hazel gave birth to her second child, and Wolfram's first born: Quinn Belvedere. Having a son to carry on his legacy should have quelled Wolfram's rage, but it only redirected it on the baby boy. As soon as his son began to crawl, he wanted to know why he wasn't walking. Quinn's first steps came a year and a half after his birth, which Wolfran noted bitterly was a quarter year longer then it took his half sister to master the act.
Perhaps that was why Wolfram decided he needee to test Quinn's meddle. As soon as he was walking he pushed hin to become exceptional. Everyday, once Quinn finished his breakfast, Wolfram would put his son through trests, trials, and tribulations. He pushed the boys physical and psychological limits, often shoving Quinn beyond. This went on everyday, outside Hazel's perception. All she knew for sure was some days Wolfram said Quinn earned his supper, and other days she had to sneak it to him.
As a result of the absence of innocent days, Quinn did not speak until he was five years old, though Hazel read to him and Daphne every night before bed. It was during these moments of shelter that Quinn finally broke down in tears and told his mother he didn't want to do his father's tests anymore. She was horrified to learn the truth, but when she confronted her husband he picked up the small boy and threatened his life. If Quinn didn't want to become worthy of his legacy, he would relieve him of life. Hazel backed down to save his life, but began to conspire escape with her children .
In her younger days, Hazel had studied with and befriended a young woman named Artemis Kingsley. They had parted ways aftee her marriage, because Remi surmised correctly Wolfram would turn on her and Hazel wouldn't hear if. None the less, when Remi received Hazel's plea for help, she lent aid.
A month later Hazel met with Remi and her brother, Maldoon. During the course of their secret meetings to conspire escape with the children past Wolfram's thugs, Hazel's heart awoke once more and she fell in love with Maldoon. Her feelings were not unrequited, and Maldoon became more desperate to help her escape after they shared a blissful night together.
Unfortunately one eveing Quinn woke up from a bad dream to see his mother sneaking into the wood. Confused, the child followed her. He could not yet understand the ways of the world, or the heart, so when he saw his mother kissing another man he fled home and told his father, certain she was going to leave him and Daphne behind. Wolfram did nothing to quell his son's fears, and to the contrary encouraged them.
The next night he sent two of his men to track his wife and learn more. Remi caught one of them, but the other escaped back. They moved up their time frame to that night, but when they returned to the manor Wolfram was waiting. Maldoon was horribly injured, and Hazel offered her freedom so they could escape. The departure was reluctant, and Wolfram locked Hazel in the cellar, enraged.
She might have wasted away, except Daphne figured out where her mother was being kept. While she couldn't open the door, she was able to sneak in blankets and food through a small window to the basement. This was how life played out for a while-Wolfram would begin Quinn's trials, and Daphne slipped off to give her mother items to live on.
Three quarters of a year passed, and then an unexpected sound rose from the cellar: a baby crying. Daphne tried to fend off her uncle and protect her mother, but by then she was only eight and he had no sympathy for her. Wolfram pushed her aside and threw open the door to find his wife, hollow cheeked and pale, clutching a new born son. There was no doubt this child was not his, and in her frail condition Hazel couldn't stop him from taking her son and discarding him in the woods. Despite this action he was found by a pair of twins who took him in and named him Jayden, but that is another story.
Hazel's final child was forced on her, conceived by her husband out of spite because he knew she could not survive another pregnancy. Tobias Belvedere was cut from his mother's womb three months early moments after her death. He was small and sickly, and was not expected to make the year.
Instead he exceeded all expectations, walking by nine months and mastering it at a year. Watching this son defy predictions of his health and become most gifted of the three children, Wolfram felt unprecedented pride rise in his chest. Be had found a new legacy.
Unexpectedly, Quinn found himself resenting when his father stopped testing his abilities. He was completely ignored for Tobias, and while he and Daphne had spent the first year tending to him together, his affection became bittersweet.
Quinn's rage came to a climax when he was twelve and Daphne foiled his attempt to kill their five-year-old brother. When the fourteen year old confronted her Uncle Wolfram about it, he not only did not admonish his eldest, but he took pride and embraced him. Horrified, Daphne took Tobias's hand that night and fled the home with him.
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