Heir of the Underground

Chapter 4: Prissayne

Prissayne stood at the base of the palace steps, an arm wrapped tightly around Eldridge, and her other hand holding Sorcha's. Snowflakes freckled the air, landing softly in her hair and on her gown of thick wool. The night sky shone brightly above, the stars twinkling and moon peeking out from behind the clouds.

In front of her stood Helios, who wore a suit of leather armor, along with a cape of fur and a sword that was strapped to his hip, at the ready. He wore a crown too. It was small, but certainly exquisite, encrusted with sapphires.

Laurent was to be arriving home at any moment, and so, Helios had ushered the whole family outside, save for their father.

As for why Helios cared so much about formally welcoming Laurent home, Prissayne didn't have the faintest clue. There was a lot of animosity between her older brothers, so Helios's grand attempts at politeness and brotherliness never made much sense to her.

Though, truthfully speaking, she couldn't say that her relationship with either brother was all that great either. While Helios stuck close to their father, Laurent was often away. In fact, he'd spent over half of his life away, in Rheolaeth. So he was nothing more than a stranger, someone who she called "brother" but knew as a mere acquaintance.

Sorcha, however, was Prissayne's twin, her other half. She knew her sister better than anyone, and even sometimes better than her own self. And Eldridge, while only nine years younger, was practically Prissayne's own child. She had taken it upon herself to raise him after their father grew bored of Eldridge's mother and had her banished from the kingdom. In doing so, Prissayne had learned to go about life with both of her siblings, while learning to live without the other two and her father.

In the distance, Prissayne spotted a carriage. The sight of it wrenched her from her thoughts, and upon further examination, she determined that it belonged to Keddeirin, as it was adorned with Keddeirin's colors: blue and silver.

She watched as it came closer, rolling down the paved cobblestone path, and then passing through the towering metal gate that guarded the palace. And once through, the carriage made its way to the steps in which Prissayne stood. Then, it stopped.

Helios gestured, and several servants descended the stairs, heading for the carriage. Two opened the doors majestically, and a third opened the carriage's trunk and began removing all of Laurent's luggage.

Without missing a beat, Laurent practically hopped out of the carriage. He wore an outfit similar to that of Helios, though his was far more colorful, stained a pale shade of sky blue. Laurent had always been a fan of pastels.

For a moment, Prissayne expected Laurent to bound forward and greet them as he often did. While not overly close with his siblings, he was still often eager to come home and get a break from Rheolaeth. Yet, rather than do that, Laurent turned, faced the carriage, and offered his hand.

That's when Prissayne noticed the woman who had been inside the carriage with him.

She was on the shorter side, though quite curvaceous, and she was so pale that she could've blended in with the snow-dusted ground. Her black hair whipped in the icy winter wind and shone a glossy shade of blue and violet, like a raven's feather, under the moonlight. And her eyes shone a strange shade of orange and yellow, similar to that of a flame.

Prissayne had seen this girl before, and recently—at the High King's ball—hadn't she? But she couldn't seem to put a name to the girl's face.

Sorcha must've been thinking the same thing because she leaned over and whispered into her twin's ear, "We know her, don't we? Didn't she sing last night?"