Chapter 369 - 103: What Kalessie Remembered

Destiny found Kalessie in the kitchen the following morning, preparing breakfast. Kalessie glanced up when she entered, then set down the knife she was using to cut vegetables.

"You’re awake early."

"I wanted to speak with you."

Kalessie’s expression softened. She wiped her hands on a cloth and pulled out a chair for Destiny.

"Is this about what happened in the clearing?"

"Partly. I spoke to Marcus last night about the day you found me. He told me what he remembered, but I thought you might recall something he didn’t."

Kalessie sat opposite her. "I’ve thought about that day more times than I can count. I still wish I knew what happened to you before we found you."

She had been the first person to hold Destiny after Marcus discovered her in the forest.

"Marcus told me you found the Heart Stone with me," Destiny said. "I wanted to know what you remembered about it."

Kalessie’s gaze shifted briefly towards the window.

"That stone has been part of our lives for a long time, hasn’t it?"

Destiny nodded.

"It was the only item we found with you," Kalessie continued. "You were a newborn, lying alone in the forest. There was no note, no bag of belongings, nothing that could tell us who you were or where you had come from. Just you and that strange stone."

"Did you know it was valuable?"

"We suspected it might be. It looked precious, though we’d never seen anything like it before. Marcus and I were worried someone might see us with it and accuse us of stealing it. We had no explanation for how we’d come to possess something like that."

"So you buried it."

"Yes. We hid it somewhere safe until we could decide what to do. We didn’t want to be caught with it, and we certainly didn’t want anyone asking questions about a baby whose origins we couldn’t explain."

"Did you ever consider selling it?"

"Once, when things were difficult. But we couldn’t bring ourselves to do it." Kalessie reached across the table and took her hand. "It was the only thing we had that might connect you to your past. We didn’t know whether it belonged to your birth parents or whether someone had left it with you deliberately. But if it was the last piece of where you came from, we didn’t want to lose it."

For years, the stone had been a hidden part of Destiny’s childhood. She hadn’t understood why her parents kept it or why they had been so reluctant to part with it. Now she knew they had preserved it for the same reason she wanted answers: they had hoped it might tell them something about her.

And after what had happened in the clearing, she couldn’t dismiss its connection to her past.

The stone had reacted when exposed, and the cursed wolf had briefly regained his human features. Destiny’s blood had also played a part in the ritual that saved Dane from Hollow Death.

"There was something else I remembered," Kalessie said.

Destiny looked up.

"A wagon passed along the road that morning. I didn’t see it myself, but I heard it while Marcus was searching the area. Later, I asked around the nearby settlement to see whether anyone had noticed it."

"Did you find someone who had?"

"One woman remembered a wagon passing that morning. She couldn’t describe it properly or tell me who was driving. She only remembered the noise because it disturbed her animals."

"Do you remember her name?"

Kalessie shook her head. "I’m afraid not. We haven’t been back to that settlement in years, and I can’t remember exactly where she lived."

It wasn’t much, but it was a detail Marcus hadn’t mentioned. Someone had travelled along that road around the time Destiny was found. The wagon might have had nothing to do with her, but the possibility was worth checking.

"Thank you for telling me," Destiny said.

Kalessie squeezed her hand.

"I wish I could give you more than a memory of a passing wagon."

"You’ve given me enough for now."

Kalessie studied her face, then brushed a loose strand of hair away from her forehead.

"Destiny. Listen to me. We never regretted taking you home. We were frightened at first, and we had no idea whether someone would come looking for you. But you were never a burden to us."

"I know."

"Finding out who your birth parents are won’t change who we are to you. Whatever you discover, you don’t have to prove that you belong here."

Destiny pressed her thumbnail into the grain of the table. "You’re my mother, Kalessie. That hasn’t changed."

"Good." Kalessie smiled faintly. "Then stop looking at me as though every answer you find might take you away from us."

Destiny leaned forward and hugged her. Kalessie held her for a moment before returning to breakfast, and Destiny stayed at the table until the tightness in her chest eased.

*****

Later that morning, Destiny found Dane in the sitting room. He was seated near the window, going through a report Henrik had brought him from the clearing. When he noticed her, he put the papers aside.

"Have you been looking for me?" he asked.

"I wanted to tell you something."

He gestured for her to sit beside him. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." She settled into the chair beside his. "I spoke to Kalessie this morning. She remembered something about the day my parents found me."

Dane waited for her to continue.

"She told me they found the Heart Stone with me. They buried it. And a wagon passed along the road that morning, though nobody knows whose."

Dane didn’t interrupt.

"I’m glad she remembered something," he said.

"So am I. Even if it doesn’t lead anywhere."

"You sound disappointed."

Destiny looked down at her hands. "I suppose I hoped she’d remember more. A name, a face, something that would make all of this easier to understand."

"I know."

"No, I don’t think you do." She glanced at him, then sighed. "I spent my whole life knowing who I was. I was Marcus and Kalessie’s daughter. I had a home. Now I find out there might be an entire part of my life I know nothing about, and I don’t even know where to begin."

Dane moved closer, resting his forearms on his knees.

"You’re still their daughter."

"I know that." Her answer came out sharper than she intended. She softened her voice. "I know. That’s not what I’m worried about."

"Then what is it?"

She was quiet for a moment.

"What if I find out who I am and everything changes? What if they knew I was out there and never came for me?"

Dane didn’t rush to answer. He reached for her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.

"Those are things you might have to face," he said. "I won’t pretend otherwise. But you don’t have to decide what they mean before you even know the truth."

Destiny watched their joined hands.

"I hate not knowing."

"I know that too."

She gave him a small, tired smile. "You keep saying that."

"Would you prefer I argued with you?"

Despite herself, she laughed. It was brief, but it eased some of the tension she’d been carrying since she woke up.

"No. I suppose not."

"Good. I’m not particularly interested in arguing with you before lunch."

She shook her head, smiling a little more this time. Then the smile faded, and she leaned against his shoulder.

"I don’t want people making decisions about my past without me. Vance has already done enough of that."

"He won’t get that chance again."

She lifted her head to look at him. "You can’t promise that nobody will try."

"No, I can’t." His expression remained steady. "But I can promise I won’t make those decisions for you. And if anyone tries to take that choice away from you, they’ll have to answer to you first."

She searched his face, looking for the familiar stubbornness that sometimes made him difficult to deal with. It was there, but he wasn’t trying to tell her what to do or take the burden from her hands.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Dane brushed his lips against her forehead.

"You don’t have to thank me for that."

"Maybe not. But I wanted to."

He drew her closer, and she rested against him again. For a while, neither of them spoke. The report Henrik had brought lay forgotten on the table, and the morning carried on outside the window.