Killian's Promise

"Baroness Saurel," the headmaster of Killian's school greeted her warmly.

Juno winced at the use of the title. "I am not the head of my family," she corrected him. "Killian is the baron."

The headmaster's expression grew sour. "Oh yes, your brother. Well, as you know this is a difficult situation he has put us in."

"Yes, I deeply apologize for the trouble, but he is still young. He will grow from this mistake."

The headmaster didn't look satisfied. "It has been more than one mistake. Killian has become quite aggressive lately."

Juno wrapped her skirt tightly in her fist. "I will speak to him about it."

"That child-"

Juno clenched the dress hard enough that the fabric almost tore. "Baron Saurel is learning," she interrupted him. "Is this not a school to help him learn?"

The color had drained from the headmaster's face. Juno had known from the beginning that this meeting would just be a lecture. A lecture for the sake of it. But she would be damned if he looked down on Killian. A commoner calling a baron 'that child'? It was unheard of.

She would remind this headmaster how badly he needed his position. "I have already prepared a small sum to pay for any medical expenses that the Count would need to take. Let this be handled between nobles, sir. I will speak to my brother. It will not happen again."

The headmaster cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say something, but Juno cut him off again. She really was sick of his voice.

"I will go see my brother now."

She found Killian waiting for her, just outside of the headmaster's office.

"Sister-" He looked at her with large, wet eyes. Juno gripped his arm hard, steering him away from the headmaster. She didn't want to give anyone the pleasure of seeing her brother upset.

"Enough," she told him. "Let's go to the training grounds."

They walked in silence for awhile. Juno watched her brother carefully. She had seen him only last month, but he already had changed so much. Juno hated that it was this time that she had to be separated from the kids. They grew up so quickly. Even though she tried to see them as frequently as possible, there would be times when Killian, Kit, or Anya would look like entirely different people. Even Lucia had begun to speak in Juno's absence. She spoke like a real lady now and everytime she did, it sent strange pains to Juno's heart.

She told herself she had no right to be upset. She was the one that forfeited those rights to watch them grow.

Her grip on her brother's shoulder tightened. Juno had always said she loved all of her siblings equally. But she knew deep down that she was fondest of Killian. She had many fond memories of Killian chasing after her when he was but a child. She remembered him clutching onto her skirt when she brought him to the school.

But now he was almost as tall as her. The baby fat that had rounded his cheeks was disappearing. His voice cracked and squeaked and was sometimes so deep that it surprised her.

She knew she should be glad for the change. The sooner Killian come of age, the sooner they could begin the restoration of their family. But at the same time, Juno wanted to hold onto the child he used to be. She wanted him to remain small and cute forever.

She sighed, releasing him when they reached the training grounds.

"Sister," he began speaking when they found a secluded spot. Juno picked up one of the training swords, swinging it through the air a few times. "I know what you're going to say."

"Oh?" Juno raised her eyebrows. "Enlighten me, then."

"You're gonna say my behavior is not befitting a noble, but I don't even want to be baron. You were always supposed to be the head of the family, it's not fair that you're suddenly thrusting it onto me."

Juno met Killian's eyes levelly. "You don't want to be baron?"

He shook his head vigorously.

Juno sighed, brushing her fingertips across her forehead. "Fair enough. We can just have Kit take over the title. I supposed you'll have to drop out of school and go live with your sisters and I'll have to put forth the work to enroll Kit."

Killian's jaw fell open. "Kit's only seven! Why does he have to start school?"

"He's going to be baron. He needs to be prepared, we don't have another brother that can take the title."

"But why do I have to go live with Anya and Lucia? Why can't I stay with you? I know Venus is with you."

Juno pressed her lips together tightly. None of the kids knew she worked at a brothel, they just knew she had to live where she worked.

So she lied. "Where I work is women only."

Killian looked angry and Juno had to swallow the smile fighting its way to her lips. She supposed at the end of the day he was still a child.

"Why are you running away?" he snapped.

All humor drained from Juno's body. She gave him a hard, warning look.

"Baron is your rightful position. It was the position that dad was preparing for you. So why are you suddenly running away from your responsibilities?"

"Killian-"

"You talk about how I'm gonna restore the family but shouldn't that be your job? I don't get you, sister."

"Enough." Juno's voice came out colder than she meant it and she realized that she let too much of her emotions show when she saw Killian's shocked expression. She sighed, pinching her nose. "Killian you're still a child. There are still things you don't understand."

"I don't understand because you refuse to tell me!"

Juno pressed her fingers to her temples. She had always wanted to protect him. She didn't tell him about how suspicious she was of their father's death. She didn't tell him about why it was so hard for her to ascend to the baron's position. She didn't tell him why she so desperately needed to work. She did it to protect him from the harshness of the world.

But judging from the way he was looking at her, it occurred to Juno that she might have been harming him in the process of protecting him.

She wrapped her arms around Killian, crushing her brother tightly to her.

'Fine,' she conceded in her head. 'It's my loss.'

Juno was not as grown up as she thought.

"There are two reasons I couldn't be baron," she finally said. "First and foremost was to take care of you guys. Right before dad died, someone took out a huge loan in our family's name. That paired with how our mother and Venus's lifestyle habits left us in a ton of debt. After dad died, mother completely shut down. It was like she didn't even care about her children anymore. And we both know Venus is not cut out for working. I wouldn't be able to comfortable handle the baron position on top of working. And if I didn't work, who would?"

"I could've worked," Killian tried to argue.

Juno gave him a gentle smile. "You were still young. Working is harder than you think. Plus you are too smart and have too much potential to do commoner work.

"The baron position right now is not lucrative. It's going to take a lot of work to restore it to a point where our family can live without me having to work. And I couldn't dedicate the time needed to be a good baron while having to work."

Killian frowned, absorbing all the information. "You said there was two. What was the second?"

Juno squared her jaw. She had hoped he would've been satisfied with the first answer.

"When was the last time a woman succeeded a noble title?"

Killian frowned at her question. Juno knew just from the look on his face that he didn't know. She wanted to laugh, she didn't expect him to know.

"It was Duchess De Haux, thirty years ago. The duke died when their only son was two. Since the son was too young to fulfill the duties of the title traditionally the dukedom would be passed onto the duke's brother until his son came of age.

"However, the duchess had long known that the duke's brother had coveted the dukedom and she feared that when the time came, the brother would not return the title to her son. So the duchess went to her brother, our king, and asked him for assistance in taking over the duke title for herself. With the king on her side, there were fewer nobles who protested and when her son turned sixteen, she passed along the title."

Killian's eyebrows knitted together. Juno could see he was growing impatient. He probably thought that she was trying to stall for time.

"Why are you telling me this?" he demanded.

Juno laughed, bitterly. "I am a woman, Killian. Even if we weren't in debt, it would have been difficult for me to rise to the baron's position. Our father died without writing a will naming me as his successor. Though we have little power and influence, the other nobles wouldn't let me simply take over the barony. A daughter becoming baron when there are two living sons would be absurd. It would change the entire power dynamic of nobility."

"You could have fought them," Killian argued.

"You're right. I could have." There was a time, before the full amount of their debt came to light, that Juno had considered doing exactly that. After all, the baron's title was rightfully hers. Anyone that knew her family knew it. She received a letter shortly after her father's death, threatening her should she ever become baron. Then one letter became two, two became three, and before she knew it she was receiving at least two letters everyday warning her to not take control of the barony. Of course threats like that didn't scare her.

But it wasn't just herself that she had to worry about. Even if they didn't try to harm her siblings, they could shun them from high society. Just because Juno didn't care for things like parties and socializing, that didn't mean she could expect the same from her siblings. And then the debt collectors came and Juno gave up any lingering hope of ever becoming baron.

"It wasn't a fight I was willing to fight," she finally said. "I had too much to lose."