Heir of the Underground

Chapter 5: Prissayne

A week went by, and Aurelia and Laurent remained in Keddeirin. Prissayne adjusted to their presence quickly, growing accustomed to seeing them every morning at breakfast and each night at dinner. An easy change, it was. The presence of her brother and his odd guest didn't impact her in any other aspect of her life.

Outside of mealtimes, they hardly seemed to be there at all. Maybe she'd catch a glimpse of Aurelia in the library, scribbling away at parchment, or the sight of her playing piano for Laurent in the ballroom. But other than that, she was merely a whisper—a figment—Laurent included.

Though he was even scarcer. Surprisingly, he spent a lot of his time with Helios, and he had even paid several visits to their father, who was sicker than ever. Laurent's sudden closeness to the two older men in his life confused Prissayne to no end. She had always assumed Laurent to be resentful towards their father. But perhaps his illness had changed that? And if so, who was she to question Laurent?

On one particular morning—the unusually rainy, rather than snowy, morning which marked exactly a week since Aurelia's arrival—Prissayne was shaken awake. And when she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with her other half.

"Sorcha," she grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "what is it?"

"It's father," Sorcha hissed. Her eyes were wide, and she sounded shocked, a far cry from her usual joy and merriment. "He's dead."

At that, Prissayne sat up immediately, suddenly feeling very awake. "You're serious?" she asked. Her eyebrows raised in involuntary disbelief. It seemed that Laurent had been right to patch his relationship up, almost like he had anticipated this to occur, though who hadn't?

Sorcha gave a quick nod of affirmation. "I guess it happened last night while he was asleep. They just found out this morning."

"And how did you find out?"

"Laurent came to my room and told me. And he said to tell you and Eldridge too." Sorcha got up from the bed, and opened the curtains, letting the early morning sunlight stream in. "Helios is handling the funeral, and he's asked Laurent to make plans for the coronation."

"Already?" Prissayne frowned at the thought. Helios wasn't a particularly bad person, but he wasn't an ideal leader either. He was rather thickheaded and knew how to use a sword better than his words.

"Someone has to rule now that father is gone. Besides, Helios has basically been ruling in father's stead for the past year. This will just make it official."

She made a good point. Their father had been sick for almost a year now. It had started with a sudden fever that struck him out of nowhere, making him bedridden and often too exhausted or loopy to speak. The medics theorized that it was an ailment of the liver, but there was no way to know for sure. And there was no way to truly treat him. So he suffered daily, and he likely suffered up until his last breath.

Yet, Prissayne didn't feel even the slightest tinge of grief. Her father had never been very involved with her life. He had always taken a liking to Helios and focused on him—or his consorts. And so, Prissayne spent all of her time with Sorcha and Eldridge, and the three of them learned to rely on one another. Their father had been as good as a stranger, even more so than Laurent. And now that he was dead, it meant nothing to Prissayne except that a new king was to be crowned.

"How are you handling things?" Prissayne inquired. Sorcha was known for being the more sensitive of the twins, and so Prissayne didn't want to assume that her sister was unaffected by his death. But when Sorcha merely shrugged in response, Prissayne knew that their feelings for him really were one and the same.