AN: The Piarari Key is below for reference. Be sure to drop some comments as you read. Enjoy!
Piarari Key
Vasia (vah-sia): snowflake
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It was late morning the next day when we decided to explore the palace again. There was a lot to see.
"Where should we go?" I asked.
"I was thinking...I'd show you our parents room today," Kian suggested quietly.
Arissa seemed to sense Kian's emotions, and she held his hand affectionately.
"Oh..." I replied softly. I hadn't expected that, but I knew that I'd have to face it sooner or later. "Okay, let's go."
Kian led the way, Arissa had her arm looped with his, Cyris and I were hand-in-hand in the middle, and Felix followed behind us. I could tell we were getting close because the walls were decorated with different photographs of all sizes.
I spotted a portrait of the Asters and stopped in front of it. Ilaria was seated in the middle, with Kian and Mirella standing on either side of her. Marco stood near Ilaria's chair. In a way I was included too, since Ilaria was clearly pregnant.
"I wish I'd known them," I said aloud, causing everyone to stop and look at the portrait. It was silent for a few moments and then I spoke again. "Was I ever included in any of these portraits?"
Felix nodded and gestured to another portrait on the wall. This one was similar to the other, the difference being that the seated Ilaria was holding a baby girl. There was another portrait next to it that showed a young Kian and Mirella sitting with an infant me in their arms; Kian was looking at me with so much adoration in his eyes.
Kian stopped at that portrait, and gazed at it for a few moments. I wrapped my arms around him.
"I wish we could go back and fix everything," I admitted. "Make it so that the Trillium never attacked."
"If only..." Kian sighed. "I remember being angry at first, when mom first told Mirella and I that we were going to have a baby sister. I really wanted a brother...until I saw you for the first time."
Kian paused. The way he looked at me, was the same look he had in the portrait—adoration.
"You had my heart the moment I laid eyes on you, Rosanna," he admitted.
I smiled and gestured to the painting. "I can see that," I told him. I hesitated for a moment, I needed to know more. Finally I found my voice and spoke again. "Do you have a favourite memory with me?" I asked. "I'm sorry I don't remember anything from that time. I was too young."
"Every morning before school lessons, you'd cry for me because Mirella and I had to leave for the day," Kian recalled. "Eventually I thought of the idea to give you one of my toys. Mirella thought it was dumb because she felt that a baby girl wouldn't want to play with an action figure. But once I started leaving the toy behind for you, you stopped crying when we had to go to school. I guess you could say that was my favourite memory."
I kissed his cheek and my heart melted at the story he shared. I wondered if that toy was still laying around here somewhere... I'd missed out on so much! I never had the chance to truly grow up with my brother.
"I wish I could've played with you in the gardens. I wish I'd grown up in this place. I wish I'd grown up having you around," I told Kian.
"Life has a funny way of giving you what you want at the perfect time..." he replied.
YOU ARE READING
Storm's Rapture | Storms Series: Book 1 (This is a Co-Write)
Romance"The past haunts you, flowing through your veins like water..." Cyris Castellan is a young man with water magic and royal blood. When he was a child, his home was attacked and destroyed by gruesome magic users. They killed his family, orphaning Cyri...
