Heir of the Underground

Chapter 22: Aurelia

The night of the ball arrived in almost no time at all. The palace was bustling with workers, every Fey who took refuge was helping, putting up decorations, baking cakes, sewing themselves the fanciest gowns. It was certainly a sight to behold.

Their smiles were another lovely sight as well. Although they were preparing to say goodbye to their leader, they were joyful, more joyful than she'd ever seen them before. They were welcoming the future, trusting in Urd, in fate itself.

Aurelia, however, was not.

With this coronation approaching, she found that her happiness was slowly being stifled, as was Kassius's. He was anxious. He was uneager. He was imbalanced, focusing now only on the new negatives being presented to him.

She continued to spend time with him, to distract him. And it worked to a degree. But the anxiety within him still won out. It had resided inside him for far too long. It knew how to hide and reemerge when he least expected it.

This party meant that the coronation date would be set. And the coronation would mean that he'd become King of the Underground. And it meant that his father would soon be dead, at his hands.

His anxiety seemed to cover the entire palace. It didn't seem to impact anyone though. His people and the rest of his family continued on with their prep looking more celebratory than ever.

But Aurelia, she felt his fear. And it kept her moving about all day, all around her room. The moment she woke up, she found herself pacing, overthinking.

When Jacinth eventually arrived with breakfast, Aurelia found herself shooing the poor helper off without so much as a "hello." And the food that had been left for her was hardly touched. Leviathan stopped by too, asking if she wanted to train. Unsurprisingly, he had no party prep to do.

But she found herself even saying "no" to him. Even after he offered to let her fight him without him fighting back. "Consider this my party favor," he had joked after suggesting the idea. She didn't laugh. She couldn't.

It wasn't until midday, approaching on evening, that there was another knock on the door after that. And this person was not willing to take no for an offer.

Thisbie burst into the room. Her entrance was enough to halt Aurelia's pacing. Pure shock coated her face at the intrusion, to which Thisbie only smirked.

"What?" she remarked. "You don't think that you're going to the ball like that, do you?" She headed straight over to the wardrobe, throwing the doors opening and rummaging around. "I am going to find you something absolutely stunning."

Aurelia felt the need to object, to ask Thisbie to just find her something casual, something to make her blend in, but the woman seemed insistent on picking out an outfit quite the opposite. And the one she withdrew instead was certainly opposite of what Aurelia had in mind.

The girl typically wore dark blues and blacks, sometimes gray, around the palace. The dresses were always pretty, but they were simple gowns with little décor. They never puffed out too far or had a texture to them other than smooth as silk. One with a refined taste for fashion could easily call them drab and repetitive, but for Aurelia, they were enough. They were better than anything she had ever had in Rheolaeth, so she didn't long for them to be more than what they were.

But this—this gown that Thisbie produced really was stunning.

"That was in there?" Aurelia found herself sputtering. She had never noticed the gown in the wardrobe, though it was possible that she had just always overlooked it, that its bright color and fancy design had turned her off and away.