Chapter 368 - 102: The Day They Found Her

Marcus was checking the leather strap on the saddlebag that had carried the Heart Stone. The artifact itself had already been secured elsewhere, but he seemed determined to see to every last detail before calling it a night.

He glanced up as Destiny entered the room.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," she said quietly. "Can I sit with you for a bit?"

"Of course."

Destiny pulled up the chair opposite him. For a few long moments, she watched his hands work. She had known Marcus for as long as she could remember, and speaking her mind with him had never felt difficult. Even when they didn’t see eye to eye, she knew she could be honest.

Yet now, the words stuck in her throat.

Marcus caught her hesitation.

"What’s on your mind, Destiny?"

"I want to ask you about the day you and Mama found me."

His hands went still against the leather.

"All right."

"I know the story you’ve always told me," she began, choosing her words carefully. "You found me when I was a baby, and you and Mama brought me home. But I don’t remember any of it, and I’ve never really asked about what came before."

Marcus set the saddlebag aside and met her eyes.

"Why are you asking about this now?"

Destiny paused, wanting to make sure he understood her heart. She didn’t want him to think she was doubting the life he and Kalessie had given her.

"Because of what happened with the Heart Stone," she said. "It reacted to me in the clearing, just like it did during the ritual for Dane. We still don’t know why. I can’t stop wondering if there’s something buried in my past that might explain it."

Marcus listened, silent and attentive.

"I’m not saying I’m certain there’s a link," she added softly. "I just don’t want to ignore the possibility simply because I never thought to ask before."

He gave a slow, measured nod.

"You were tiny when we found you. There’s nothing you could remember, even if you tried."

"That’s why I’m asking you," she pressed gently. "What do you remember?"

Leaning back in his chair, Marcus stared down at his weathered hands.

"It was a long time ago, Destiny. Some moments are sharp, but I can’t promise I remember every small detail."

"I know."

"And you can’t take what I remember as absolute proof of what happened before we arrived. I can only tell you what was right in front of us."

"That’s all I’m asking for."

A heavy quiet settled over the room before he spoke again.

"We found you alone with that stone. There was no one around to tell us who you were, or how a child came to be in a place like that. We searched the surrounding area, but there wasn’t a soul in sight looking for a baby."

Destiny listened intently, trying to picture the scene in her mind.

"Did you know how old I was?"

"Not precisely. You were an infant, but we couldn’t gauge your exact age."

"What did you and Mama do?"

"We took you with us," he said simply. "We couldn’t just leave you there."

It was a straightforward answer, but Destiny knew the weight behind it. Marcus and Kalessie had taken in a child with no name and no history. They had no way of knowing what had happened to her, or whether someone would one day come to claim her.

"Did you ask around afterward?" she asked.

"We did. We made inquiries wherever we could, trying to find out if anyone had lost a child. But every trail went cold. No one could tell us who you belonged to."

"And nobody ever came looking for me?"

"Not that we ever knew of."

Destiny looked down at her lap, her fingers lacing together.

She had expected the conversation to be hard, but she hadn’t realized just how deeply the unknown ran. She had always known she was found and raised by them, but she had never considered how many unanswered questions Marcus and Kalessie had been forced to live with, too.

"Did you ever wonder where I came from?" she whispered.

"Of course we did. We wondered who brought you into the world, and what transpired before we crossed your path. But we had no way to find those answers."

"Did Mama ever talk about it?"

"She worried," Marcus admitted. "Especially at first. She worried someone might come to take you back, or that you’d been lost by tragedy. We couldn’t be sure of anything."

He paused, his voice softening.

"But as the seasons passed and no one came, we raised you. You became our daughter. We built a life together, Destiny. We didn’t spend our days waiting for a stranger to show up and lay claim to you. We buried the stone thinking it was just a precious jewel but you found it. We didn’t mean to keep it a secret."

Destiny nodded. That was the part she knew by heart.

She had never doubted their love for a single second. Regardless of how she came into the world, Marcus and Kalessie had chosen her every day since. They were woven into every memory she possessed.

"I don’t want you to think I’m asking because my feelings for you and Mama have changed," she said quickly, looking up. "You’re my parents. Nothing changes that."

Marcus reached across the table, wrapping his hand over hers.

"I know, Destiny."

"I just need to know where I came from. I want to understand why I was left alone, and if anyone out there knows what happened."

"I understand that, too."

"Do you remember anything else?" she asked, a small note of hope in her voice. "Anything at all that could help me figure this out?"

Marcus weighed her question carefully, regret evident in his eyes.

"I wish I could give you a name, or tell you who left you on that trail, but I can’t. There was nothing on you that identified your family save for probably the Heart Stone. We found you, and we did what any decent soul would do."

Destiny tried to swallow her disappointment.

It wasn’t his fault. He had given her everything he had, and pressing him wouldn’t bring vanished details back to light.

"All right," she said softly. "Thank you for telling me, Marcus."

He squeezed her hand gently.

"Listen to me, Destiny. Whatever you discover about your blood, it doesn’t undo the life you’ve lived with us. You don’t owe anyone a different existence just because of where you were born."

"I know."

"And you have nothing to prove," he added firmly. "Not to Vance, not to Silvercrest, and not to anyone who thinks your origin makes you any more or less than who you are."

A tight knot formed in Destiny’s throat.

"I don’t want to become someone else, Marcus. I just want answers."

"Then we’ll help you find them."

Leaning forward, Destiny wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Marcus held her close, a familiar, comforting embrace that had anchored her through so much of her life.

For a moment, she let the heavy burden of the stone, the curse, and her missing past fall away.

When she finally pulled back, a faint smile touched Marcus’s lips.

"Your mother will be glad to hear you came to talk to me instead of brooding in the dark."

Destiny let out a small laugh. "She’d probably be even gladder if you told me to eat something before bed."

He chuckled softly. "I didn’t say that."

"You were thinking it."

"I was thinking you look exhausted."

Smiling, Destiny stood up.

"Goodnight, Marcus."

"Goodnight, my girl."

Leaving the sitting room, Destiny stepped into the quiet corridor and ran straight into Dane. He had finished his duties for the night and was heading toward their quarters.

He paused as she approached, searching her face.

"How did it go?"

"He told me what he knows," she said, falling into step beside him. "They found me alone, searched the area, and asked around, but no one ever came forward. He doesn’t know who my birth parents were or how I ended up there."

Dane’s expression softened with empathy.

"I’m sorry, Destiny."

"Don’t be. He didn’t do anything wrong. He and Mama took me in and raised me. They can’t give me answers they never had."

"Did talking to him help at all?"

Destiny considered it as they walked.

"Not the way I hoped," she admitted. "I didn’t get any sudden clarity about the stone. But at least I know the boundaries of what they were told and what they were left to guess."

Dane nodded.

"That’s still a piece of the puzzle."

"It is." She glanced back over her shoulder toward the sitting room. "I need to speak to Mama, too. She was the first one to hold me that day. Maybe a small detail stayed with her that Marcus forgot."

"Talk to her tomorrow," Dane suggested gently. "You don’t need to unravel the whole story in one night."

"I wasn’t planning to."

He gave her a knowing, half-amused look.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Dane."

"All right. I’ll take your word for it."

They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

Destiny knew she hadn’t unlocked the secret behind the Heart Stone’s reaction. She still didn’t know who had brought her into the world, why she had been abandoned, or if her origin was linked to the storm brewing around them.

But she was no longer willing to leave those questions buried in the dark.

Tomorrow, she would talk to Kalessie. After that, they would take the next step together.

For tonight, it was enough to know that no matter what truth lay ahead, she wouldn’t have to face it alone.