Several years before the purging trials..

It was late August, the sun breezing lazily through the crevices of land and trees and the heterogeneity of roses and flowers. A proud fountain stood in the gardens, the warm sun casting am afterglow on it, as the sun reluctantly sank lower onto the horizon.

After hours of running around, after prim and proper tea parties, dress shoes were abandoned by the doors of the palace long forgotten. Whispers of laughs in the Royal Gardens of Ilya’s palace. You. Beautiful, kind, and wonderful you. Gorgeous hair, hypnotic eyes, slim fingers, effortless dimples, and a sharp tongue.

And them. Both of them. Kitt and Kai.

Kai, the devilishly handsome youngest brother. Dark inky waves, the most alluring grey eyes you could gaze lovingly into forever as you made flower crowns with him and his sibling. Beautiful tanned skin that darkened easily in the sun, sensual lips and a perfect bone structure. At the age of fifteen almost sixteen, he was six foot three.

And Kitt. The effortlessly glowing one. Blond locks spun with hints of gold, liquidised from the sun itself. The same bone structure as Kai, and the same lips, sensual, kissable.. commanding emerald eyes, that held glints of happiness and warmth. The brothers shared that look. He was sixteen, and a little over six foot three. Barely.

Kai had gone to fetch some drinks and towels, as you and Kitt hid from everything else in the gardens. You lay on trimmed grass, as the array of oil-paint worthy colours decorated the skies in delicate yellows, pinks and burning oranges.

You hadn’t been free like this in forever. You hadn’t just run around like kids for years. All three of you. The pressures of growing up and your native responsibilities (your own, being a duchess) were heavier than a boulder on your back.

He turned to you. “I haven’t seen you this..” He paused thinking carefully. “Carefree.” He decided. “In years.”