The Princess of Elfhame

Please, respectfully: shut the fuck up

Rhea 

I haven't heard from Mom or Dad in the past twelve hours, and I'm beginning to panic. 

And Prince Castien is definitely not in my room either, so when I push myself up onto my back, I make sure to just breathe through the pain rather than otherwise. 

"Hey, cus," a voice says and when I look at my door, my face splits into a grin. 

"Locke! What are you doing here?!" 

Locke, my little cousin, shrugs, and walks towards me with his hands in his pockets, before sitting on the edge of my bed. 

"I heard that your skull was fractured and figured that my aunt would go to the Undersea and sushi some fish, so I thought it might be better to just sit with you while you can't knock their heads together yourself." 

I laugh, and hiss through the pain. "Damn right." 

He sighs. "So Nara is definitely on the do not invite to the wedding list right?"

I raise an eyebrow as I laugh. "Wedding? To who? You?" 

He shakes his head. "Girl, I passed by Prince Castien in the hallway, who, for the moment, is standing guard with a sword long as a horse out there. He nearly impaled me when I tried to go into your room. Now if that isn't protective I don't know what is." 

I laugh. "It's not protective, it's him," I make sure to yell at the door so he can hear me, "BEING A DOUCHEBAG AND A TERRITORIAL BASTARD, RIGHT?" 

Locke bursts into laughter as Castien roars back "GLAD TO HEAR YOU'RE BETTER RHEA, BUT PLEASE, RESPECTFULLY, JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP." 

I laugh before remembering that my ribs will hurt and Locke wipes away a tear. 

"See?" I say as I point at the door and he shakes his head. 

"Regardless, she's going to definitely be on the do not invite list for your wedding whoever you do decide on," he clarifies and I nod. 

"Oh yeah," I grumble, running my hands up and down my arms to stop the chill. 

"Here," he whispers softly, grabbing one of my fluffy baby blankets and draping it over my shoulders before sitting back down. 

If he were my brother, he'd be my favorite. 

"So how's Adam?" I ask with interest as I cuddle into the blanket and he shrugs. 

"I mean, I'm going back to the mortal realm tonight to see him but... we're really good, Rhea. I really love him." 

I smile at that. 

If only I was half as lucky to love someone yet. 

"How do I look?" I ask feebly and he sighs. 

"You want the truth?" he asks and I laugh. 

"You can't lie, dumbass." 

Locke didn't get as lucky as I did; he got the gene where he cannot tell a lie. 

"You've... looked better. Fine, you look like living hell. You took one helluva beating." 

I sigh. 

"I guess that's what I get for Nicasia's guards to punch me in my ribs and beat me up." 

"Yeah... so, your Mom and Dad have been in meetings since I've arrived. But they leave for the Undersea really soon. And Prince Castien is going with them." 

Something in my heart beats furiously knowing that he's going to the Undersea to fight against Nicasia and I think it might be a mix between rage, fear, and maybe admiration.