Aspen’s POV
Seeing how hollow and broken my mother appeared to be was soul crushing. She had a vague, distant look in her eyes, and she walked behind King Olwen dutifully, but without any real direction. She might as well have been a wooden pull toy behind him. My death must have done that to her.
Tears threatened at every turn in the palace, but I had promised to let Helio take the lead, and if I started crying, my family would expect me to start talking. So I held back my tears and followed my family and Helio around, pretending for all the world that I was just another foreign guest.
Since I was basically surrounded by them, I took the opportunity to look at my siblings. Jack I knew. He wore blue with his crown prince gold cord. My sisters and Warren also all wore blue, but each in t
