Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

The following morning we both woke up sore from sleeping on the couch but Al seemed much more refreshed. And determined to visit Nyla's mother.

We had to eat breakfast with the rest of the royals and I had a very dull tea party with the queen and Rosenia first. Once that was over and done with, I changed back into my comfy clothes and we made our way over to the back wall.

Nyla had been right; they weren't hard to find considering the group of children running around the neighborhood with black hair and gray eyes. Her home was on the end farthest from the castle.

Was it intentional? Nyla said that the few Kanta clansmen who hadn't fled Annalaias entirely had assimilated into the families of citizens so they wouldn't be killed. The king couldn't come after them without cause or riots would start but they still most likely tried to stay out of royal notice as much as possible to be safe.

As we approached, some of the children eyed us curiously. It made sense. They might not have ever seen another Kanta they weren't directly related to.

We knocked on the door that a neighbor had directed us to but no one answered. One of the little boys spoke up, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Who are you looking for?"

He was missing a few teeth and seemed a bit taller than the other black haired children in the group. Possibly the oldest. He was also wearing one of the hats I had crocheted. At a second glance, about half of these kids were wearing my handiwork.

They must be Nyla's children. Were the others her nieces and nephews? She mentioned that she had half-siblings with the Kanta look. This sort of familial closeness was more similar to the way things were in my world than the distance between the nobles and their extended families.

I suddenly found myself wishing my soul had been transplanted into the body of a commoner instead. Life would have been harder but from what little I had seen, it also would have been more similar to home. After all, they did wear sweaters.

With a smile, I got down on the boy's level to appear as unthreatening as possible. "Your mother bought those hats from us yesterday and invited us to come visit."

He seemed much less suspicious after that. If I weren't telling the truth, how would I know about the hats? A friendly expression crossed his face. "Follow me; she's out back in the barn."

The barn was a fraction of the size of the royal stable and consisted of a single horse, two goats, and to my delight, a litter of kittens. I hadn't seen any animals that could be considered pets in my world since arriving here so I had assumed they didn't exist.

It made sense that I hadn't seen them. Catherine du Pont was a noble and cats were considered wild animals. But things were different on a farm—they probably used cats to keep rats and birds away.

Not that I would consider this an actual farm. Based on everything I had seen, there were signs of a vegetable garden buried under the snow and they only had a few animals. If I had to guess…this family made a living by selling milk and cheese. None of the other houses we had passed had a barn.

Forgetting myself for a moment, I rushed over to the kittens, completely ignoring why we actually came. There were four of them and they were rolling around in a scattered pile of hay.

"Oh, you're the cutest thing I've ever seen!" I cooed as I bent down to pick one up and snuggle it against my chest.

Nyla, who was milking one of the goats, blinked up at me in surprise. My face turned beet red, realizing I had barged into her barn to hold her kitten without even saying hi. I lost my head in the face of the familiar cuteness.

"Mama, these people said you invited them. Did you?" the boy asked, looking at me strangely after my embarrassing display.

She nodded. "Yes, I did. Thank you for bringing them over dear. Go run and play now; we have things to talk about." The boy accepted her words and scurried back out to where his siblings and cousins were waiting.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to pick up your cat without asking. It's been ages since I've seen one and—"

Nyla shook her head and cut off my pathetic explanation with a smile. "I do not mind. But I am surprised the two of you came so soon. Come and meet my mother. I am sure she will be able to tell you what you wish to know."

An older woman whose black hair was streaked with white had been too focused on milking the other goat to pay us any notice when we first came in. But hearing her daughter refer to her made her finally look up.

She was so startled at the sight of Al that she knocked over the entire pail of goat milk. Jumping to her feet with surprising agility for her age, Nyla's mother crossed the floor and seized my husband in a hug.

His eyes widened and he looked at me frantically but I didn't know what to do either. I had never been hugged by a random stranger I didn't know!

"Alamar," the woman sobbed. "I thought you were lost forever."

Nyla tilted her head curiously. "You know this person, Mama? He knows nothing of our clan."

"Of course I know him! He is the spitting image of my dear older brother. I thought his entire family died in the raids." She let go of Al to examine his face more closely. "Sweet child, how did you survive? My husband and your parents died together before my very eyes. All I could do was take Nyla and run because I thought you were already gone."

Al slumped against the wall, taking this information in. I knew it! I knew the king and queen of Annalaias weren't his parents! Coming here had been the right idea to get information about his past.

"I…don't know," he admitted quietly. "I was under the impression that the people who raised me were my true parents until I met Nyla yesterday. Can you tell me more about my family?"

Tears filled her eyes again as she hesitantly reached out to take his hands. "I would love to. We should move inside first; it is too cold out here."