“I’m going to tell Phloria how a married woman can juggle between family and career. I’m going to teach her how to communicate with her husband so that their quarrels don’t fester over time.
“I’m going to share with her all the tricks I learned to keep working during pregnancy and how to deal with babies. Gods, there’s so much that we have to talk about.” Jirni sniffled, her eyes misted by tears.
“There’s no rush.” Orion grabbed Jirni by the shoulder. “You can take your time and grieve her. Our Little Flower can wait whereas you are in dire need to rest.”
His voice was colder than he wanted, but if Orion let even one shred of emotion out, he knew that his heart would explode. He couldn’t let his care transpire without grief coming along.
Orion couldn’t express his love for his wife without the pain of the loss of his daughter trampling everything else.
“You are wrong, dear. I have no time and neither have you.” Jirni shook her head, her voice adamant. “If we don’t tell Phloria everything we kept for ourselves during all these years, if we don’t share with her all the love we feel for her, we’ll never be able to say goodbye to her.
“I need to fulfill all the promises I made my Little Flower back when she was a baby before I can start grieving her. Otherwise she’d be always alive in my heart and the pain will never stop.”
Jirni’s voice cracked and tears started to stream down her face. The Ernas bloodline would live on, but she would never hold her baby girl again, nor would she ever experience the joy of holding Phloria’s children.
“You are right.” Orion nodded, bringing her inside before she fell apart. “Please, excuse us.”
The double door of the Ernas’ mansion was slammed in front of Lith without malice. He was a good friend of the family, but their pain was private and they wanted to share it only among themselves.
Lith stood there for a while with Solus holding his hand and doing her best to be strong for him. Yet she and Tista couldn’t stop sobbing, their knees shaking as the realization of Phloria’s death burrowed its way through their denial.
“Let us bring you home, kid.” Tessa said, her voice firm despite the tears. “You’ve been through a lot as well. You have suffered much and you need your family.”
Lith nodded and turned around when he recognized Lucky’s barking coming from inside the door. The fluffy Ry was welcoming his mom back with joy until the smell of death reached his nose.
Lucky was a magical beast and as such, he knew how to speak. He chose to howl nonetheless, to cry out his pain in the most primordial and honest way he could.
Lith fell onto his knees, the pain of the Ry echoing through his bones beyond what he could take.
He howled back in a roar that alarmed the guards and made Lucky howl harder until Fyrwal conjured a Warping array and brought him away.
***
Ernas Mansion, a few days later.
Maybe it was because the death of so many Divine Beasts had forced Thrud to take a step back and wait for their resurrection. Or maybe it was because the Mad Queen wanted her enemies to savor their pain in full before the next blow came.
Whatever the answer was, the Golden Griffon was nowhere to be seen.
Lith and his family had been devastated by Phloria’s death.
To Elina and Raaz, Phloria was Lith’s first girlfriend and the only other woman they had ever dreamed about marrying their son. They had known her for almost eight years and they had always considered her a member of the family.
Lith’s parents were devastated and heartbroken. Raaz felt helpless and his trauma regressed, but he tried to act strong for his son. Elina did her best to keep in touch with Jirni, but none of her calls was returned.
Elina knew the pain of losing a child.
First Meln and then Trion. In her case, at least Meln had turned out to be a monster while Trion had returned as a Demon. Jirni wouldn’t have either consolation and Elina knew it.
Aran and Leria couldn’t stop crying at the idea that one of their aunties would never visit them again. It was the first death that afflicted them personally and they had no way to deal with it.
Nor with the sudden realization that Lith wasn’t a god.
In times of war, funerals weren’t long nor pompous, no matter how blue-blooded or loved the deceased was. Phloria’s ceremony was heartfelt but simple. Her body was exposed in an open casket in front of which her family and friends stepped to say a few words about her.
Marth and Vastor came with their respective wives. Professor Thorman, Phloria’s Mage Knight specialization professor, had come as well to pay his respects to one of his most talented students.
The Royals came there in person despite their busy schedule and Thrud’s looming threat, feeling somewhat responsible for what had happened. On top of that, it was better not to anger all the four founding pillars of the Kingdom at the same time.
The Ernas and the Myrok were grief-stricken, just like the Nyxdra household and Tessa. Phloria’s funeral had a monumental political value since one false step might anger the Kingdom’s most valiant champions and alienate them.
Morok and Nalrond were there as well, yet they said nothing. They had never spent much time with Phloria so they had known her little. But, they could see how deep the pain of their respective girlfriend was.
In moments like that, there were no magic words that could make them feel better. There was nothing the two men could do to relieve Phloria’s sisters from their pain but be there for them.
Morok was properly dressed, acted with perfect etiquette, and talked only when spoken to, limiting himself to a few words each time.
Lith wanted to give Phloria a eulogy, but he failed to muster the necessary strength.
He could still see her mouth gurgling with blood, feel the life slipping out of her body. No matter how many times he had showered, his right arm kept glistening with blood whose scent filled his nose.
Lith had thought more than once about amputating and regrowing it, but he knew that the problem didn’t lay in the limb but in himself.
‘Phloria may have forgiven me and Jirni may not resent me, but until I find a way to forgive myself, none of it matters.’ He thought while looking at Phloria’s armor, under which he could still see the gaping hole even though it had been closed with necromancy.
She was about to be buried with Orion’s latest Featherwalker armor and a replica of Reaver.
Lith wanted to speak, to tell everybody the story of how they had met during the mock exam of the first trimester at the White Griffon and how she had asked him out after the second exam.
He wanted to share with them how luminous Phloria’s soul had been and how happy they had been together in everyday life.
