Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

1.

Ailbhe barely remembered before the war, she had only been a girl when her brothers and what seemed like every man in England left. But she was old enough to know that whoever did come back, didn't come back the same. They left whatever innocence they had in the mud and blood in France.

She heard her brothers wake most nights with screams of noises only they could hear and enemies and demons only they could see. They were the nights they were blessed with sleep, a rare occurrence without self-medicating like so many of them became reliant on. Niall worked late night in their pubs while Liam spent hours working in Charlie's Yard to tire themselves out, hoping that if they fell into their beds at the end of the day, they'd be too exhausted to start dreaming. It didn't always work unfortunately.

She often wished her family had never left Ireland when they had but she knew that they had no choice. Her father had become more and more involved in the uprisings against the British occupancy of Ireland until he gave his life for the cause. A cause her mother told them was never worth giving their lives for because it would never come to anything. She had married a man who promised her that their children would be free and would never know the shackles of oppression. But he died and she refused to wait for it any longer. She had gathered her children and escaped on the boat to England before anyone thought to look for Dan Kennedy's wife and family. Ailbhe remembered very little about Ireland but knew it was where they had come from despite their brother's best wishes. They had even fought for the King to prove their new loyalty. Her brother Séan had even given his life for the war.

Ailbhe's brothers spoke rarely of Ireland. Never giving it much time nor thought. They still spoke Irish often, sang the songs and their accents were still as thick as the smog that cloaked Small Heath but they had listened to their mother when she told them to abandon Ireland and her fight, that it was not their fight.

But Ailbhe wasn't sure. Her father was a good man and he had died fighting for what he believed in and he damn well must have thought it worth it. Just like Séan did.

"I'll ask again Ailbhe, where are you going?" Niall asked, standing up from his chair and throwing the newspaper onto the table.

Niall was over six foot tall and was strong and broad from years of hard work. He was Arthur Shelby's best friend since they came back from France and where one was, the other could always be found nearby. Ailbhe was surprised Arthur wasn't with him right now but Linda had recently put Arthur on a tight leash and wasn't letting go.

"Jade got back from London this morning, we're going to the pictures with Isiah and Finn" Ailbhe conceded.

Chewing the inside of his cheek, he thought about it. Ailbhe would beg if she had to. Ailbhe just needed to get out of the house. She had had enough of her mother for one day.

Their mother was having a rough time coping again. Following the death of Ailbhe's father and when only two of her sons came back from France, she found it harder with every passing season to cope without self medicating with whatever she could get her hands on. Some days she could wake up and be at her workshop desk by the time Ailbhe woke. Some days she was the mother they always remembered, sharp as a tack and always busy.

But more days, she barely woke up and when she did she was lost in a haze of confusion, pills and booze. Ailbhe used to go to bed at night praying to wake up to mother that she recognised but she gave up praying for that a long time ago. Now, she just did her best to keep her mother in the house and calm when the blues got too much.

That particular morning, Ailbhe's mother had woken up thinking the boys were still in France, that they were all going to come home soon. Ailbhe didn't have the heart to tell her Séan was never coming home.