Chapter 53

MAGNOLIA AND KILLIAN STOOD THERE FOR LONG MINUTES, just staring at each other's faces while holding one another's arms.

It was unbelievable to them, a miracle really, as each of them thought they were the last Gottanlich to be alive.

"I'm going to be outside," Laya told them before going up the stairs to give them some privacy, but neither of them acknowledged her.

"I have so many questions," Magnolia finally spoke, her unshed tears still shining in her eyes.

"Come, let's have a seat." Killian guided her to the stairs and sat before she joined him.

They were both silent again, just drinking each other with a smile.

"I…I don't have any memories of my childhood here," Magnolia confessed, making Killian knit his brows. "I have only recently had one come back to me, the night the castle was attacked."

Killian's jaw clenched at the memory. "I'm sorry I left you in that room," he said with a hard voice.

"Why didn't you come back for me? How did I end up with Seline Lasen?"

"I am sorry," he apologized again. "After the…attack, I had to pretend to be dead. Those murderers needed to think that they had actually eradicated the Gottanlich family." He sighed. "With the help of servants and the few knights who survived, we escaped. I knew that no one could get through to you, you were safe, but they pursued us for days."

Magnolia listened silently.

"Bryst, our family butler, and I returned to the castle to get you. Unfortunately, when we found you, you couldn't even remember us." Killian swallowed hard. "It was too dangerous to have you stay with us, Magnolia. We didn't even know where to go ourselves. So we did some research and found a distant relative, or his widow. I didn't meet her directly, afraid that she would recognize me. But Bryst took you to Lady Lasen and promised to pay monthly for your expenses."

"You gave her money every month?"

"Yes, of course. I had to make sure that my little sister was well taken care of," Killian told her.

Magnolia scoffed. "You were a fool, that woman didn't use any of that money on me."

"What do you mean?" Confusion was all over his face.

"Just like I said." She shrugged. "She mistreated me and starved me."

"But–but I visited a few times a year, I didn't directly contact you, but I usually requested that you'd be brought outside. I observed you from a distance."

"Ah, now that you mention it, Lasen did take me out every few months." She pressed her lips into a thin line. "She had a few dresses that she kept in her own closet and only allowed me to wear them on those outings, or when she had important guests visit her house."

'That was why.'

"What about the rest of the time?" Killian asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"I was mostly her maid." Magnolia's words were clipped. The memories made her angry and heartbroken.

'All the years I spent in that house, I could have been with my brother. I would have faced the danger he was facing a thousand times instead of spending one second with that woman.'

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I thought I was doing the right thing."

"What happened after that? Did she convince you that selling me to the baron was the right thing for me?"

"What?" He grabbed her arms and shook her slightly. "What do you mean?"

Magnolia sighed.

'Well, at least he looks like he didn't know about that part.'

"She married me off to a baron for a hefty sum of coins." She looked at his angry eyes. "I was barely sixteen," she added with a lower voice.

Killian's jaw looked like it was about to break from the way he was clenching it. His hands fell to his side, and he could not face his sister any longer.

'What the bloody hell have I done?' His head hung down as if he was defeated by life itself.

"I went to war for a few years," he started, his voice shaking. "When I came back, I discovered that Bryst had passed away and that the monthly payments to Lasen had stopped for months."

He squeezed his eyes shut as if in agony.

"I immediately traveled to Kerika, I had hoped that the woman would have some mercy in her heart, but like you said, I was a fool." His eyes met hers again. "She told me that you were dead, that it was the plague." He slowly shook his head and looked back down to the cobbled floor.

Magnolia reached for his hand. "We are here now, both of us, Brother." She beamed with sparkling eyes. "My brother, my family, my blood."

Killian nodded at her, slowly at first, then faster as he reached his arms behind her and embraced his long-lost sister. Magnolia's tears raced down her cheeks. Happy tears.

"Yes, my dear little sister. Magnolia." Killian promised himself to find Selene Lason and make her pay some way or another.

Laya cleared her throat, getting their attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she told Magnolia. "But if we don't leave soon, we won't be able to make it back before nightfall."

"You're right." The duchess pushed to her feet while wiping her tears. She looked at Killian who also stood. "Killian, come with us," she asked.

"I couldn't impose," he answered.

"Nonsense, you're my brother," she shot back. "I would love for you to meet my husband and my son."

Killian's whole face brightened. "You have a son?" He turned from Magnolia to Laya who just shrugged. "I'm an uncle?"

"You are." Magnolia chuckled. "Don't you want to meet your nephew?"

"But I don't even have a horse," he realized.

"Ride with me, then." Magnolia was not letting her brother go now that she had finally found him.

Killian was silent for a moment, pondering the idea. Then he nodded. "Yes, I want to meet your family, Sister. I would love nothing more."

Magnolia squealed before leading the way.