Rebirth (A Remington Leith AU)

Chapter 41

It took me a moment to wake myself back up from the shock of having me and my sister found out in the same place. Especially now that Remington is aware that Lillian is alive and right in front of him. In order not to make this a bigger scene than it already looked, I asked the council member, "I'm somewhat unsure of this convenience but if it's possible, I would like to take her back to our castle for questioning." They didn't seem to like the idea yet they told me, "Traditionally, the high monarchy holds a potential criminal and questions them for any suspicion they have of the criminal before they decide on a fitting punishment. However, since she was only found today and was not seen by anybody else, we will grant your request but we'll require you to bring her back here in a day to be put on trial for impersonation of a royal figure." I nodded in acknowledgement as I agreed to the terms and they let Lillian go to come with me and Remington, who was deathly quiet as we brought her back to our castle.

We sat in our carriage as I sat close to Lillian while Remington sat across from us, his arms crossed and his expression hard to read. "Lulu?", Remington asked me as he noticed how I was very comfortable with Lillian, "Have you...already met Lillian?" Realizing I needed to tell the truth, I looked down shamefully as I was forced to tell him, "Actually...yes, Remington. I found her during our honeymoon, but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone where she was. I didn't expect her to be here and I couldn't let anything bad happen to her. Especially since no one else hasn't realized who I really am." When he fell silent after my explanation, I asked him, "Are you upset at me, Remington? I never meant to lie to you about anything..." He shook his head and held my hands in his as he answered my question, "No, my love. I could never be upset at you. I understand you wanted to protect your sister but I just wished you trusted me a little more to take your secret to the grave." Lillian spoke up then, "Don't blame her, Prince Remington. You know she cares more about the well-being of others rather than herself so she was only trying to help. I'll explain everything soon."

Once we got back, we went to a room where we dismissed the staff for some time so we could speak to Lillian without being interrupted. She looked like she was carrying an enormous amount of guilt on her face as she began to explain what had happened since the last time I saw her. "After I had met Luella, so much of my life started to feel like a lie and I needed some clarification for why things came to be for me. As much as it hurt me, I left my husband to try to find our mother who I heard was staying in a peasant village not far from my father's kingdom. But I couldn't find her for everyone in that village said she had left to be transported to another kingdom which happened to be this one. The knights at the border confused me for Luella believing she was me while I was an imposter and that's how I came into your possession. I apologize if this makes things inconvenient for you, but now I'm more worried I won't see my Thomas again, especially since we're still expecting our baby to arrive in a few months."

After hearing her explanation, I had wished for a single moment our parents had not separated us at birth and maybe we wouldn't be in this situation. But I knew deep down if we hadn't, we wouldn't have found our happiness. "Oh, Lillian", I told her, "I should have told you before, but our mother...is here with me in this castle." Her head perked up and she seemed eager to hear this. "Would you like me to take you to meet her?" At first, she seemed like she wanted to, but then she sounded insecure, "What if, she doesn't want to see me? After all, you're the one she kept while she left me to our father. I don't know if this is such a good idea anymore." I took her hands in mine as I told her, "I promise you, she could never turn you away. After meeting father, I was able to discover more about myself and maybe you might to after meeting her." My words appeared to have helped her as she finally nodded and held on tightly to my hand as I took her to the maid house where my mother was teaching the other maids how to sew warm clothes for cold weather.

Remington waited for me outside to give me and Lillian the space we needed to do this. I walked up to our mother after she was finished with the other maids and told her, "Mother, can we speak privately for some time? There's someone here who wishes to see you." She smiled as she said to me before turning around, "Oh? And who might that be?" Once she turned to my direction and saw both her daughters standing beside each other, tears had already begun to well up in her eyes and she covered her mouth in shock as she stood up to walk closer to both of us until she was standing face-to-face with the daughter she regretfully left behind. "Lillian, look at you", she struggled to speak clearly as her emotions got the best of her, "You've grown up to be so beautiful and strong. If things had been different, I could have watched you grow up and been there for you like I should have." Lillian looked moved by her immediate acceptance from our mother and ended up breaking down in tears as well as she leaned in to wrap her arms around Mother and she was embraced back to her delight.