★ ▌WHO NEEDS PERMISSION? — ❛ @tcbeking.
"Regis?" she starts, approaching her older brother--the heir to the throne--with a wary step. Obligation had put distance between them as of late, made it difficult to find time to bond and uphold family ties.
"You seem distracted as of late," she says, touching her fingers together, like she's considering every word coming out of her mouth with care. "Are you alright?"
It was the succession, she was sure. Their father was falling out of his prime and strands of his hair were turning ashy, like his skin after overusing the ring. Nobody said it, but they all knew it wasn't too far out. More than a decade, they were hoping, but their father never seemed worried, always messing around and joking, no less able than he was the day she was born, even as he headed quickly into his fifties.
To her, it was terrifying, even if she rarely showed as much. She was sure it was no different for the older brother that had spent a decade without the knowing who his other parent was.
