Heir of the Underground

Chapter 6: Aurelia

The Elder King's funeral seemed to drone on endlessly, mostly because of Helios, who insisted on giving a half an hour speech as an introduction. He rattled off stories and happy memories that he shared with his father and spent an eternity talking about how he had "big shoes to fill."

The whole speech was positively ridiculous. And, in sitting next to all the other Goldraek siblings, Aurelia could tell that they were all thinking the same thing as her.

Helios was the only one who had truly known their father. The rest had all been ignored by him. So his passing meant nothing to them, except that a new king was to be crowned—a king with a rock for a brain.

And yet, surprisingly, Laurent didn't seem to be too upset or annoyed by the situation. In fact, he hadn't complained about Helios's impending coronation at all since their father had died. Rather, he had presented himself as calm.

It was strange to see him that way, though Aurelia couldn't seem to dwell on that for long. As proud, and confused, as she was by his acceptance of what was to come, her mind kept wandering to other thoughts, particularly from her earlier conversation with Prissayne.

"Just a friend? Nothing more?" and "Laurent just seems quite fond of you," kept running through Aurelia's mind.

She had never once entertained the idea of being more than a friend to Laurent, and she didn't foresee herself having a change of heart. Her feelings for him were purely platonic. They had always been like that.

But did Laurent feel the same way?

The more Aurelia thought back on their interactions, the more she began to doubt that he saw her only as a friend. He had always complimented her, both about her beauty and her singing talent. And he had constantly gotten himself into trouble by trying to see her when he should've been off handling business meetings. Not to mention the fact that he had gone to visit her during her church services, even though he thought her religion was a hoax. And he had blatantly invited her to go with him to Keddeirin, and then followed through with the request.

Yes—it all pointed towards him wanting something more than a friendship.

Or maybe not?

He was the only friend she had, so she had nothing to compare his behavior to, and thus, no way of determining his true intentions.

Sighing, Aurelia refocused on the funeral happening in front of her. Her worries regarding Laurent's feelings for her would just have to wait for another day.

It appeared that Eldridge was in the middle of speaking, which meant that the service was nearing an end. And considering that the Elder King been especially scarce in regard to Eldridge's upbringing, Aurelia assumed that Eldridge wouldn't talk for long.

His words flitted in through one of Aurelia's ears and then right out the other. Nothing about his speech seemed to stick in her mind. And it flew by, ending almost as soon as it started.

Muted claps filled the room as Eldridge bowed his head gently, and then waited for the rest of his family to join him at the front of the room. It was time for them to partake in the final portion of a traditional Keddeirin funeral service: burning the coffin.

The Elder King's coffin floated in an inground pool of water, sectioned off with marble. The rest of the Goldraeks made their way over, and clustered around the coffin and water. A few murmured prayers were made, and then, a guard handed Helios a flaming torch.

The sight of it was enough to make Aurelia's breath catch in her throat. The fire—it was a reminder of what she had done in Rheolaeth, of what she was even though she desperately wanted to be a human, to be normal.