Aveline didn't particularly care about her father or brothers much. Life would no doubt have been easier to adjust to if she had a family she could love and rely on. But it's not as if she did not know what that love was like. As Christina, she understood what kind of existence a family was. This is why her standards for kinship were higher.
She wasn't an orphan child dying to receive the love of a family. She wasn't starved for it to the point where she would accept whatever sliver of attention they could give her. She had experience her parent's love before. She knew how siblings would care for each other. She knew the extent to which family members would go for each other. And she refuses to accept anyone from the Faylinn family as replacements for that. Not when they don't even come close.
Keeping that in mind, Aveline thought she wouldn't come across anyone from the family any time soon. The one experience when she was 6 was enough. So why then is the second son of the Faylinn family standing in front of her?
Aveline was busy with her book, "The Shadows of a Forgotten Velmoria" (a curious choice for any regular 6 year old to read), when she heard Anna knock on her door. The book was quite a nice break from her regular accounting and magic theory books, talking about how Velmoria once almost became a conquered state, if not for the valiant efforts of the then King and the accomplishments of the Northern Territories. But Alas, the story would have to wait since Anna told her someone was here to visit her.
It was strange. There isn't anyone that should be visiting her. And the worrying look in Anna's eyes told her that she should be careful. Thinking back, it wasn't long ago when she had that fateful encounter with her father and brothers. Did her father change his mind and send over a knight to do away with her. "Now what spell should I use in this case" was what was going through her mind. It hasn't been long since she started learning about magic. Maybe she could blind the knight with light or something? No light wouldn't be of much help against the sharp steel of a sword.
Racking her brain as she followed Anna, it wasn't a knight that she finally came in front of. Rather, it was a a small frame of a boy she only recently saw. The boy was seated on a couch in the lounge, happily eating away at the snacks placed in front of him. Funnily enough, the first thought that came to Aveline's mind was that she would only get those snacks after hours of studying. Was Anna playing favorites?
The boy beamed when he saw her, quickly jumping off the couch and kneeling in front of Aveline. "There you are!" he exclaimed.
Aveline stared at him and responded slowly, her tongue moving without her permission. "Here I am." she answered plainly.
"Ah yeah right wait. Introductions" the boy murmured, almost as if trying to memorize a script. "My name's Everett. We met before a little while ago. Do you remember?" He asked, eyes almost expectant. Aveline could only nod. She felt a nudge at her sight, looking up to see Anna's pointed stare. Ah yes, indeed. Introductions it is.
"I'm Aveline. We did meet before, I remember." She answered.
"You don't really talk like a 6 year old." he hummed in front of her, perplexed. "You sound older than I am and I'm 13." He spoke proudly, as if being older was a milestone he achieved through great effort.
But 13? Aveline could've swore he was 11. You're a bit short for 13. Are they not feeding you? Were you somehow also involved in our mother dying and that is why they don't feed you? She thought to herself.
"I am not short!" The boy gawked back. Aveline realized she said the first part out loud. Curse this small child like tongue that does not wait for it to be told when to move.
"I'm average height for my age. And I have still to hit puberty." It sounded like a phrase he was used to saying.
Aveline didn't really know how to respond to that, so she chose not to and instead asked her own question. "What are you doing here?"
The boy seemed to have forgotten his anger on being called short and stared at Anna for a while. Whatever that look meant, it seemed Anna picked up on it. " I shall get more tea" she said as she curtseyed and walked out. Aveline was now left alone with a boy twice her age. Well it'll be easier to blind a boy without a weapon than to try anything against a knight with a sword. Always a bright side to things, Aveline thought.
"Do you know who I am?" The boy asked once Anna was out of the room.
Aveline stared at the boy, wondering if he was perhaps concussed. "You are Everett and you are 13 years old. We met once a little while ago."
"Yes. My full name is Everett Faylinn." He said, excitedly looking at Aveline as if that would matter. When he saw Aveline stare at him blankly, he pointed to himself "Everett Faylinn" and then to her "Aveline Faylinn."
It was as if he thought he was talking to someone form a different country who didn't speak his language. At this point, it might as well have been like that. Still, Aveline picked up on what he was trying to say. "You're my brother." she said, matter of factly. It wasn't like she didn't already know.
"Yes!" the boy exclaimed, as if he had spent a good part of the day trying to make her understand. Children really have no patience, thought the now 6 year old. It was cute how excited the kid was, but Aveline thought it was time to give the boy a reality check.
"I don't think your father would like you being here very much." She pointed out.
The boy looked a bit taken back. "How much do you know?"
"Enough" was her only reply.
"Hmm" he seemed to be thinking. "Let me see. The fact that you said that father wouldn't like me being here means that you understand the dynamics at play here. And you saying you know enough means that you actually know the reason as well." He seemed to muse to himself.
Are we in a Sherlock play? Is this how 13 year olds talk in this era? She thought as the boy continued.
"But I can tell you this. Father wouldn't really care if I was here." He said, eyes on focused on her. "Plus, I don't really believe in the whole cursed spawn theory. And I know our mother didn't think that either." He spoke as if he was sure of it.
Aveline stared at him. She had decided that she didn't care about her family. But she felt a weird knot in her heart. Does she still feel some sort of connection and familial love for them even when she doesn' think of them as family? The heart is a complex thing to understand.
"Why are you here?" She asks quietly.
"To get to know you better." He smiles, innocently.
At this point, Aveline has had enough of this useless back and forth. Get to know her better? 6 years have passed since she came into this world. 6 years. That's over half a decade of her not knowing her own family, of staying in a separate building as if she was a guest, as if she had no connection to the main family other than a fleeting one.
"And why now?" She manages out through gritted teeth, anger evident in her voice.
"Because I'm not afraid now." He grinned in response, eyes turning kind with a resolve unbecoming of a simple 13 year old.
That one line had enough of an answer than Aveline would have realized. As a child growing up, he probably heard the rumors about a cursed child. Growing up, he would imagine what kind of monster in was that killed her mother, and now lives in the annex. Why wouldn't they kill the monster? Is it that terrifying. A young child who lost his mother couldn't fathom that it was only a child.
Growing up, he heard about his sister. Faint whispers. He saw children in the streets, in his academy, babies siblings of his friends. Was this what the monster was like? How could such a fragile being ever be a monster?
These thoughts would bug him often as he grew up. His brother refused to talk about the topic. His father stoic in never wanting to hear even a whisper of his sister. But his curiosity never went passed his thoughts. Not until the tiny child bumped into him.
The child was small. Her auburn hair fluttered in the wind with her heavy breaths. But her eyes. Her eyes were huge. But it wasn't the size of her eyes the that struck him, but the color. They were brown like his, but not really. It was more so a brown tethering on golden. A deep color that kept changing shades as light was shown on them. And he had a flashback to a memory he didn't know he had. Of being in his mothers lap, her kind eyes looking down at him as she stroked his hair. The eyes reflecting the same shade of golden brown as he saw in the child's.
"Who do think your sister will look most like" His mother asked him once. "Like dad? Or like mom?"
"Like me!" He half shouted. What would a kid even know. His mother chuckled "Haha. But they say daughters look most like their mothers. Would you not like you sister if she didn't look like you?"
"Hmm" he thought. "A sister that looks like mom. I would love it!" He yelled excitedly. His mother was the most beautiful person there was, and having another person like that would be amazing!
"Haha yes indeed. You will love her. I know. I hope all three of you can grow up loving each other"
The memory struck him greatly. He couldn't even speak for a long while. Looking at the child now, he instinctively knew. "Are you.." my sister? He couldn't complete his sentence before his brother interjected.
After that encounter, it was as if he finally had an image to the thought. He no longer thought of a vague monster figure, or a faceless baby. But he saw his sister instead. He tried talking to his brother about it, but he would only tell him to forget about her. And the way his father spoke on that day, he knew better than to ask him anything.
"I will love her." He whispered to himself. His mother wanted all three siblings to grow up loving each other. It took him a long time, but now that he's here, he will make sure that was the case. He didn't have enough time. His academy would start in a few months and he'd have to leave again. So he had to do it now.
So without thinking much, he made his way over to the annex building. No longer scared of the monster that others spoke about. No longer scared of what his father would say. Aveline Faylinn, his sister. His sister. That is all that mattered.
******************
Over the course of the next few years, Aveline would find Everett intruding in on her time. He would visit often when he was back at the estate, telling Aveline he missed her, sharing stories about his academy, and playing games with her.
Everett was a clever child, Aveline thought. He would often think deeply about certain things that even perplexed her adult mind. He would speak about things as if solving clues. And he was instinctively smart. They would have discussions about her different subjects some times, and Everett was never one to fall behind, no matter what the topic.
She doesn't know how, but she soon became close to the boy. Even calling him brother now (something Everett insisted on for months and months). She quite liked it, though she would never admit it. Everett himself started calling her Ava, a nick name he came up with himself. It wasn't so bad. She had thought she would not care if she never saw anyone from her family ever. But it was nice to know that there was one bond she made.
Everett Faylinn would become a source of strength and confidence for Aveline. One that could not be replaced or let go off. Perhaps one of the only few people she would ever entirely trust in her life. After Anna would leave in a few years to go back to her home town and her family, Everett became the only person in the estate she would trust. And it wasn't without reason. Everett would prove himself time and time again. Even when the whole Faylinn estate would be against Aveline, it was only ever Everett who stood for her, although that is a story for the future.
Everett grew up alongside Aveline. He was the first person Aveline told about her learning magic, as well as her talents in it when she was 12. Everett had grown into quite a talented individual himself. Having graduated the academy at 18, he soon started helping in the family business, as well as creating many of his own avenues. While not talented in the sword like his brother, or in magic like his sister, he was known for his wit and business acumen. His business intellect, connections, and talent in politics would be a great help to Aveline. But that too, is a story for the future.