Justin couldn't quite look me in the face, turning away so his bruised cheek was faced away from me.
"Augustina, I am a fool."
It was a quiet statement. Not truly self-deprecating, but the kind that is laughing a little at oneself all the same. I hid a budding smile behind one of my freckled hands, waiting for him to go on.
"When I decided to find you I had only two clues. The first was that my sister had returned you to your hometown. The second was that you had spoken much about your family. I knew where to go and I knew, to an extent, who to ask. I had, however, forgotten one crucial fact."
I raised an eyebrow.
"I had faked our deaths and, from their point of view, had kidnaped you." He rubbed his sore cheek, wincing a little. "It's no wonder your father's a general. I didn't even know I'd been hit till I woke up the next day. I got up and left the room only to find your family waiting for me in the breakfast room, all of them, and their husbands." He winced again, this time holding his side. "I was out another hour when your sister, Junis, got me."
From there he explained everything that had happened in more detail. He had gone to the Du Bois estate and had asked for an audience with my father. When my father returned from work he met with him. At first father had not recognized Justin, not having seen me off when I left, but apparently laid him out as soon as Justin helped him put two and two together.
From there my father had called the family together, telling them that the sorcerer who was presumed dead with me had shown up. All six of my sister's showed up, those with husbands bringing their families along as well. Justin hadn't gotten much further than introducing himself when he had been knocked out so no one really knew what him appearing had to do with me other than the fact that I was definitely involved. It was Julianna who deduced that him being alive probably meant that I was also alive in some capacity.
Justin stopped, looking up at me. "Aren't you wondering," he asked, "if Jacques and Septemera are married?"
"Aren't they?" I asked, resting my chin in my hands. "I mean, he was there with you all, helping out."
Justin's expression was oddly frozen, watching me. "Not yet. They've been engaged the past two years."
"I see." I said, puzzled at his reaction.
Seeing that I wasn't reacting whatever way he had apparently been thinking I would, Justin moved on.
After Junis had gotten her hit in and he had woken up once more Justin explained the situation to my family. He did not explain, exactly, why I had left. Only that I had wished to get away for awhile. How closely my family believed that point was up for debate. He told them of our travels and my 'strange' relapses I would get if we stayed in a place for more than three days. Then he told them of the night I had been sent back, everything he knew of the time. But one thing had become clear, I had not returned home.
They deduced that it was possible I was still within the capital and decided to start searching again. Justin described how I had changed as well as he could to April and soon fresh posters were rolling out. While they waited for the prints to be done they decided to go out and look for me as well.
The day I had first seen them in the market was during their first attempt to look for me with Justin. Neither April or Marchina's husbands had been able to go and help, but Jacques was available and willing to help as he was one of my best and oldest friends. – Justin told me that last bit looking a tad bitter. – While he had been asking for me he had gotten caught up a near brawl that soon turned into a mob. He asked a young lady if she had seen anyone like me and a guy and his friends who had been harassing her saw him. Drunk though it was only mid-day they confronted Justin, stirring things up.
That moment when I had breathed his name, he had heard me. He forgot about the men in front of him and started searching the crowd desperately before Jacques came and interfered. A few minuets later Junis came to help as well. The commotion became a mob and they managed to fight their way through, rightly assuming that if I had been there I would've left once things seemed to be going sour.
The next day after mass father returned to them and in a gruff few sentences told them about a strange girl he had seen in the graveyard. Justin realized that, though he had told my family about his sister he had neglected to let them know about her specialty being transformation magic. After thinking about fathers encounter for a while he came to the conclusion that his sister might have used her magic on me. They spent the rest of the day searching for me to no avail.
Justin, more than the others, had decided the best place to find me was the merchant's market. During our travels we had not once failed to visit the markets, stocking up on souvenirs. My family relented and allowed him to put up posters in that part of the city. They split up from there, each member searching a different part of the city. From there Justin had found me and the rest has already been told.
We sat in silence a moment when he was done.
"I see." I finally said. "But, why were you searching for me so desperately? You've no debt to me that needs to be repaid as you did with the dwarves and fairies. If you think you've some obligation-"
"Augustina." He cut me off, hand landing hard down on the table before us. "How many time's do I have to say it for you to believe me? I can't even count how often I've blatantly said that I love you. I even told you earlier, when I was going over the time I had first met you."
I glanced away from him nervously, fingers curling as my mind raced. "B-but you're so- I mean, why would someone like you even-"
He stood up and leaned forward, taking his hand and turning my face back to him. "I'm glad I'm to your tastes, but understand that you are also to mine. I will tell you again, Augustina, I have truly and dearly fallen in love with you."