Heir of the Underground

Chapter 14: Aurelia

The next morning began for Aurelia with a knock at the door. She had grown accustomed to Jacinth being the one to rouse her, to shake her from sleep and dress her until she looked more poised than a painting. But it was a knock that greeted her today instead.

Hair a mess, Aurelia forced herself out of bed, her feet cringing at the cold stone floor, and padded across the room. And with groggy, fogged eyes, she opened the door and came face to face with her visitor.

Kassius.

He stood on the other side of the door, dressed elegantly. His rubied hair was combed, though still messy, a stray curl here and there. And his outfit looked clean, finely pressed: a pair of black pants and black vest with silver threading overtop a deep violet button-up. His shoes were black too and seemingly heeled with a little buckle on each one.

And there Aurelia was, fresh out of bed, barefoot, with her twilight hair askew, and her white, wrinkled gown clutching her skin.

She flushed a deep red as his presence sunk in, the utter beauty and regality of him compared to her. Yet, she swallowed her embarrassment back enough to greet him with a smile and a gentle, "Good morning."

He returned the grin, his violet eyes alight. "Good morning indeed. Sorry if I was the one to wake you."

"It's quite alright. I'm sure Jacinth was on her way over anyway." Aurelia stood silently for a moment, waiting for Kassius to say something else. Only, he didn't. He stared at something behind her instead, lost in thought for a moment. "Can I help you with something?"

Kassius blinked a few times, clearing his mind and shifting his attention back to Aurelia. "Sorry. Yes, you can. I stopped by to talk to you about yesterday."

"Which part of yesterday?"

An awkward chuckle escaped Kassius's lips. "All of it, but first, I suppose I should address the not so savory part of yesterday."

"The poison?"

He nodded. "Yes, the suspected poisoning of the tea."

"Has Leviathan found anything new?" Aurelia wondered. There was no certainty that the tea had been poisoned, but Kassius's display of fear in the moment had shocked her to the core. She had tried not to think about the event once she returned to her chambers, but now that she was being confronted with it again, the familiar feeling of dread returned to her—icy cold. "Is someone out to get me?"

"He's not sure yet. He just began searching. Until then, I think it'd be best that you have someone inspect anything before you eat or drink it." Aurelia nodded in confirmation. Kassius continued, "There's no guarantee that the poison was even meant for you though, so don't worry too much. After all, I strictly drink tea. Someone easily could've known that and wanted to hurt me."

"I don't know why anyone would want to do that."

Kassius shrugged. "I'm going to be king soon."

"King?" Aurelia sputtered. "I thought you were just the heir."

"An heir can become king, can he not?" Kassius cracked a smirk.

"So your father is just going to hand the throne over to you?" How had no one told her about this before now? Was this a recent decision? And why?

"Well, my father..." Kassius trailed off for a moment, debating what to say. "My father isn't just going to hand the throne to me."

Aurelia's brow furrowed even more. "He's not?"