Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

That is a Promise

Lilith's footsteps are powerful, echoing in a way their mother's didn't. They were rapid too. Gracefully moving from one point to the other in a swift movement. The empress was nothing short from elegance. Mother once let it slip that it was impressive she picked up on it so quickly, despite coming from no noble blood.

Or... so he assumed. He never knew her mother's maiden name.

Stepping back from the door, he sinks into his bed.

Everything will be fine. Lilith would make sure nothing happened to Amity. Everything would happen the way it usually would.

Everything was okay. Everything was under control.

"DON'T SPEAK OF THEM THAT WAY!" a voice came loudly from above.

Edric sighed in disappointment. Amity had gotten better at maintaining her anger over the years, but it seemed that that was not the case today. The girl was treading a very thin line. Titan may she come out alive.

He hoped she would be okay.

Don't be daft. Everything is fine.

Perhaps he should take his mind off of things. Maybe doodle and research comet bats and their differences with snarl bats. Yes there was a difference.

That's it. He'd draw. He'd weave the lines together and knot them in certain points. Maybe he'd even draw Em. Or perhaps Mittens. Or even Lilith. That would actually make for a good portrait. The empress of the Boiling Isles, painted by the Heir to the Blight fortune.

Well... one of them.

Where was he? Oh yeah, portraits. Yeah, he'd do tha-

"OF COURSE SHE LOVES YOU'RE RELATED TO THE AWFUL THING!"

...That is terribly out of context.

He was sure it was fine.

A rush of footsteps are heard at the hallway, but they don't stop like they're supposed to. They keep on going, fading away by each second.

Okay... things were definitely not okay.

Swinging the door open, he finds that Mittens is nowhere in sight. Emira shortly opened her door too, looking for the same thing he was. Eyes dilated slightly to see his confused expression. She gives him a nod, and he gives one back. Splitting up, they go in search of their little sister.

Emira took off to the West Wing and he took off to the east. When he does not see the familiar patches of brown and green, he makes way to the stairs.

His legs beg for him to leave, head screaming "DANGER DANGER DANGER" as he draws closer to the steps. The smell of his mother's perfume practically wreaked from them. Reminding him of who lay behind the wooden layout.

But he would not be cowardly now, Mittens deserved a better brother. Edric would be a better brother.

Slowly, he lay his toes to it's creaky surface. The carpet beneath them silenced his steps, but he was careful to go slowly. He did not wish to be caught. Not now.

"You!" he heard Lilith yell from the end of the hallway.

Edric tensed slightly, but still forced his legs to go farther. The image of Amity at the verge of tears enters his mind. How terrified she was when she came home from the wailing star that night.

He had drawn that. He had been the one to endanger her.

Not now! He scolded. Mitte- Amity needed him now. Now wasn't the time to be selfish.