Chapter 47

As planned, we left in the middle of the night, but a little earlier than we had originally planned so that I could make a small side trip.

At the gate, I pulled out my newly minted royal pass but Liam told me to put it away. Giving him a puzzled look, I asked simply, “Why?”

With a look that said he knew I wasn’t about to like what he was going to tell me, he said, “Beloved, that may be a royal pass, but it only works during daylight hours. Tae Beun and I are the only ones with the silver discs that will open the gates at night.”

I tutted in irritation but had to concede that the restriction should have occurred to me since the pass I’d been given was made of wood and not silver like the one Liam had. I tucked the pass back into my sleeve, but seethed at the fact that though I was no longer a slave, I still didn’t have the freedom to come and go as I pleased. When Liam pulled out his own pass, I wondered if it would work regardless of who was holding it.

“May I see that for a moment?”

Without hesitation, Liam handed the silver disc to me. I hefted it in my hand, noting that it wasn’t as heavy as it looked. I took a few steps forward, putting myself, or rather the disc, within a few feet of the gate since it only worked within about ten feet or so, according to Liam. I was gratified when the gates began to swing open. At least I had some way to open the gate should I really have need, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying to get my own silver pass when we returned from Otter Cove.

After we passed through the gates, I handed the silver disc back to Liam and we made our way into Magnolia, the same village we’d traveled through before when we’d gone to Twisted Pines, but instead of going straight through, we took a right onto a street that would eventually connect with the country lane that led to the small cemetery that Doctor Finestri had Emmi buried at.

The night was hushed as we walked, the summer heat feeling oppressive, especially without any wind to cool us, but the moon was half full, so at least there was enough light to see by. We didn’t speak as we walked; I was too sorrowful and Liam seemed to sense my mood. He took my hand, which comforted me, and soon we arrived at the cemetery.

There was a cast iron fence with spikes at the top surrounding the tiny graveyard and when Liam tried the gate, it was locked. It hadn’t occurred to either of us that there would be a fence or that entrance would be blocked.

“It’s probably to keep out most animals so that they don’t disturb the graves at night.” Liam explained.

I grabbed one of the bars of the gate and shook it to see how sturdy it was. It felt solid and the lock looked strong, so we couldn’t just break in and then pay for the damages later. I looked up at the top of the gate and noticed that there were no spikes above it like the rest of the fence. While not nearly as tall as the gate at the citadel, it was still too tall for anyone to jump over easily, but an idea popped into my head.

“Liam, will you give me a boost?” I showed him how to put his hands together with the fingers interlaced and then settled one foot in his palms.

“On three, you fling me upward while I push off.”

He looked skeptical but I knew that my idea would work since I was so light and he was so incredibly strong. I rested a hand on his shoulder to balance myself and then counted to three out loud and shoved off the ground as he thrust his hands up. When his hands were at shoulder height, I shifted to my wolf form and we pushed a paw against Liam’s hands, which launched us high into the air and we sailed over the top of the gate, clearing the top by several inches. We landed on our paws easily on the lush grass and turned to give Liam a look through the bars of the gate. He had an amused look on his face and when I returned to human form, he said, “I wasn’t expecting that, but it worked beautifully.”

I grinned back at him. “Our wolves jump far better than we do, so I figured it would be a relatively simple thing to do.”

I shrugged off the rucksack I’d had on my back and set it down so that I could remove a smaller bag I’d packed within it. Taking just the smaller bag and telling Liam I would be back shortly, I then followed Doctor Finestri’s instructions and soon found Emmi’s grave, which was marked by a small stone plaque engraved with her name.

In my homeland, we did not bury or cover our dead. Instead, we simply laid the body out in the open, usually in the deceased’s favorite spot such as their preferred hunting area or a place that had special significance to them. We laid their most prized possessions around their body and said prayers over them and left them to return to nature.

Emmi herself had long ago explained to me that the Zanskan custom was to cover the body in a mound of earth, which then would grow grass and sometimes flowers on it, the soil and the plant life both serving as a way to keep the body warm as the soul made its way to heaven. I didn’t fully understand this custom, but I wanted to honor Emmi’s beliefs so had come bearing the gifts needed to ensure her soul had safe passage.

I sat down in front of Emmi’s grave and opened the small bag, removing the items one at a time, which I placed carefully in front of the grave mound. There was a small bottle containing fresh water, which would slake her thirst. Next was a clay pot full of fresh, hot rice to feed Emmi on her journey. Finally, a small ceramic bowl with three large, ripe plums as a remembrance for my dearest friend.

Normally, there would be other things such as prized possessions like jewelry or sentimental items, but as a slave, Emmi had not had any personal belongings, so I was forced to do without.

When everything was arranged, I sat staring for some time at her name plaque, memories of Emmi swirling through my mind as I considered what to say to comfort her soul as it set off on its journey.

Life as a slave didn’t make for many opportunities for happy memories, but Emmi had managed to somehow create a few with me over the years. It had been her nature to make do with what she had and treasure each moment regardless of the hell that we had lived in.

Hesitating, not entirely sure if I was doing any of this correctly, I started to speak, sharing some of my favorite memories out loud so that her soul knew that she was loved and would be missed.

I spoke of her referring to a kiss as “drooly and sloppy like when a dog licks you,” which had nearly made me choke with laughter. Then there was the time that she had killed a spider, remarking how odd it was that it had died and when I pointed out that she had smashed it with a broom, her peals of laughter at her own silliness had resounded throughout the bathing house causing several slaves to look at her strangely.

On and on I spoke, telling the stories that demonstrated why I loved my friend as much as I did; Emmi defending me against the people who were cruel to me because I wasn’t Zanskan and Emmi tenderly applying ointment to my back after I’d gotten a lashing for punching another slave in the mouth after he’d called me nasty names. Emmi holding my hand as I told her about the slaughter of my tribe and Emmi putting a cold compress on my forehead when I’d gotten heat stroke from working in the drudgery for too long.

It got a little easier as I went, but eventually, I had to stop as the tears spilled down my face and I began to sob, all my heartache bending me over so that my body was hunched in on itself. I cried until I thought I’d run out of tears and then I cried some more.

Then there was a terrific screeching of metal and a moment later, Liam was there, cradling me in his arms as I wept. After what felt like an eternity, the tears stopped and I was left feeling hollow and drained. Liam pulled a handkerchief from a pocket and wordlessly handed it to me. I cleaned up my face and leaned my head against Liam’s shoulder, thankful that I didn’t have to suffer alone.

We sat there for a long time and Liam never said a word, never said any of the things most people say when confronted with someone else’s grief and I was grateful for his silence. People meant well when they said all those platitudes, but they never really made anyone feel better and certainly didn’t make the hurt go away.

When I had recovered some composure, I sat up and laid a hand on the dirt mound of Emmi’s grave. My voice was hoarse from the crying as I told her, “I promise you, I won’t give up, Emmi. I’ll find out who did this to you and I’ll make them pay for what they did. One way or another, I will make them pay.”

I stood and brushed the dirt from my hands and led the way back to the now broken gate. I had been right that the lock was strong; instead of breaking the lock, Liam had ripped the gate off its hinges and it lay to one side as if he’d flung it away in his desire to get to me.

I gave him a look and he just shrugged those mountainous shoulders, not looking embarrassed in the least. “You were crying, Xia Wind Song. I had to do something.”

I gave him a watery smile and while I fetched my rucksack, shrugging it back onto my shoulders, he took a pouch of coins from his pocket and laid it by the broken gate. It looked to be enough coins to build ten new gates, but I thought it fair compensation for the damage he’d done.

Taking his hand in mine, I turned away from the cemetery and we left to resume our journey to Otter Cove.