Early Life

Kilian grew up in Ferdorra, a small village located around the outer border of Tercier, where he lived with his half-sister Liliana and mother Carlotta.
The man who fathered him was a Vergaugh-born traveling musician that managed to charm his way into the of young, beautiful Carlotta, only to bolt quickly after noticing the child growing inside her. Saddened, but determined to raise her baby, she birthed her baby boy in the village she was born in, still living with her father on his property. Little Kilian was a happy child, quiet but kind, and never missed not knowing his father for he had his granddad to play with and learn from.
When Kilian was still a toddler, a group of knights was sent out to the bordering towns and a couple of them took up residence in Ferdorra, with tension on the Lytian border steadily growing the king had found it best to secure the area mostly made out of farm land that helped feed his people.
One of those knights was a man named Giuseppe, a brave and maybe a little rough, but educated man.
The stranger knew how to court a woman, which he proved after meeting Carlotta and her lovely little family. She fell for him in a matter of days and it wasn't long before she recognized the signs of expecting a second child, a daughter as the future would show.
Giuseppe was filled with joy by the prospect of raising his own child alongside his woman's own boy, but just a few months into the pregnancy he was called away to a different position. While this was to be expected, the forced departure angered his more than he thought it would and he made Carlotta big promised to come back, and to have it be forever.
While he did return, a few years had gone by - but he had also kept his promise. It was forever, for Giuseppe had left the life of a soldier behind to live with his wife and daughter, whom he now met for the first time. The little girl sported a darker skin than her half-brother which she got from her dad, her mothers curly, dark brown hair and a pair of deep brown eyes. At first she seemed scared of the strange, dark-haired man that was said to be her father, but with time she couldn't help but warm up to him. He himself cherished the new life he had chosen, no matter how hard it was at times when food was scarce and the cold seeped through the stone walls of their home.

Growing up in Ferdorra

Life in Ferdorra was simple.
From a young age, Kilian had lots to do and explore. The village was surrounded by large fields and a big forest streched from the west of the village to the very edge of what his eyes could percieve. Some of the better-off people there had a few animals, mostly pigs and poultry and there was another animal he got to know plenty about: horses.
His mother's grandfather owned a stable where he kept and bred horses and would sometimes sell them to knights or travelers that passed through the village, earning him some money. Kilian and his sister would learn to feed, clean, discipline and ride on the smaller animals from a young age and one of his fondest memories is a trip with his sister and Giuseppe, who as a knight knew his way around the strong, noble animals, when Kilian was around 11 years old. he would remember this day as the day he truly accepted Guiseppe into his heart as a father and leaning on his shoulder when they stopped to feed the horses had made him feel the kind of safety you only get from being with family.

Among the villagers, Kilian wasn't very integrated. He wasn't as wild as most of the other boys his age and preferred to keep to himself, only having very few people he would consider 'friends'. He enjoyed working with the animals, especially caring for and riding the horses, and spending time with his little sister, completely ignoring the fact they had different fathers, for Giuseppe had now become a parent to him, too.
His strange appearance, the bright blonde hair he inherited from his biological father paired with his clear, green eyes that had a trace of copper in them, led to him being quite known throughout the village and frequently talked about. This always mad Kilian feel like he didn't really belong with the townspeople, further leading to him staying close to his family.

War is bad, kids

When the conflict between Tercier and Vergaugh finally escalated, the king decided to pull men from the outlying villages to expand his army and fight back the well-trained soldiers invading the north of his kingdom.
And so came the day the knights reached Ferdorra in search for those very men - Giuseppe being a perfect specimen for the task. Of course he had left the army before, but it's not like he was given a choice. Unless he wanted his family to live in the ruin of what had once been their property, he had to leave them behind.
With a heavy heart he did as he was told and left, again promising Carlotta he would be back.
Kilian and his family waited eagerly, every day of every week, but the weeks quickly turned into months, the months piled up and became years.
Giuseppe never returned, and Kilian lost his second father.
With just 13 years on his head and his mother in pieces, Kilian started to almost take over the house. His grandfather, while being a lovely man and a reliable helper, was starting to become too old for the harsh work to be done on a farm and though his sister was everything but lazy, she was also still quite young and simply not able to do much of what was asked of her. Not only did Kilian take care of the property and animals with his mother every more than before, he also did the work around the house, fixing roofs and repairing saddles, gathering the little wood they were allowed to have from the forest so they wouldn't freeze to death in the winter and, of course, basically took on the role of a parent for his little sister.
Losing Guiseppe had taken a big toll on Liliana and while Kilian missed him dearly as a friend, the young girl couldn't remember a life without her father by her side and thus heavily relied on her older brother for support - which he always provided without complaint.
Apparently taking his father from him wasn't all war would be doing for Kilians life, since three years later a large patrol of Lytian knights invaded his city, burning down houses, raping women and children, striking down resisting villagers and slaughtering their stock as they pleased.
While the knights weren't bent on killing the townpeople, they also didn't seem to care a great deal for who they hurt - or who they left behind.
When the enemy knights entered his home, a group of them found his sister and pulled her out of her room, while one of them snatched Kilian off the streets and attempted to have sex with him.
The knight, who turned out to not only lead the group but be the actual prince of Lyta, ended up sparing him and stopped his men from harming Liliana in any way. Both Kilian and her were taken away from their village and brought to the King's castle, where his sister was allowed to live down by the stables and Kilian took up residence with prince Neel as his servant.