the boys from where I sat inside the tomb.
The amount of respect I saw in each one of their eyes nearly knocked me over further and had fresh tears springing to the surface. Liam helped pull me out of the deep depression in the earth just in time for me to see Jasper, Elle, and Liam’s mother walking out across the yard to the base of the tree that shaded Mara’s fresh grave.
Without a word, Elle walked up to me and hugged me. She kept one bandaged arm tucked into her chest, and I was so glad she was okay.
“Mara,” I whimpered into her ear.
“I know,” she cried into my neck. We held each other for a few moments before pulling away.
I wiped my eyes then looked to Liam and Cam. “Can you lower her in? I can’t feel my arms.”
I wasn’t making a joke. I literally had no strength left.
They nodded and started to gather the cloth wrapped around her and lowered Mara’s body into the grave. It was stiff with rigor mortis and unbending, a sight which made chills break out onto my arms.
Elle and I watched as they set Mara into the deep cavity I’d carved into the earth. I wanted to tell a story, an amazing story that would show everyone here what she meant to me, but I couldn’t speak. My words were trapped in my stomach, a heavy weight of grief sitting on them.
That’s when Elle started to sing. Her voice was strong yet light and full of crisp high notes. She sang a song of mourning, a more traditional one from our childhood, and it brought fresh tears to my eyes.
My shaky voice joined in, and then Trissa’s and, to our surprise, Jasper’s. No one else present knew the song, but they listened on in reverent silence. Once they lowered Mara’s body inside, Liam handed me the shovel. I was confused for a second because I’d just dug the hole. Why did I need it again? Then it hit me. I have to bury her. Throw dirt over my mother’s closest friend and one of the strongest women I knew. We don’t bury in Faerie, so this was new to me. Everyone was watching me, and although I wanted to fly away crying and not have to deal with this, I needed to remain strong for my people. I didn’t want to lose the respect Liam’s men had in their eyes for me. So, even though my arms felt like Jell-O, I shoved the tip of the shovel into the brown dirt and scooped a heaping pile into the metal.
“You’re free now,” I said to the wind that whipped past us in the meadow. “Finally free.”
After my scoop, Elle took the shovel and threw a pile into the hole, followed by Trissa, Jasper, and, one by one, Liam’s men. We went on like this until it was packed full and tamped down and she was finally laid to rest beneath the beautiful tree. I wasn’t sure when it became dark out, but suddenly I was alone, staring at the dirt with Liam by my side. His mother and Elle stood with Trissa a few feet away, and his men had gone back to the house a while ago with Jasper to make some food. A chill started to work through the open valley, and I realized everyone was waiting on me. Waiting until I’d done my grieving so we could move on.
Kneeling down, I did the only thing I could think of to honor the beauty and grace that was Mara. I placed my hand on the dirt mound and filtered my light into the earth.
Vibrant green blades of grass shot up out of the ground and then long stems of flowers, covering her gravesite.
Liam’s mother gasped and stepped closer. I’d have been worried if she weren’t already exposed to the magical side of our life, but she was no stranger to the supernatural. The stems grew buds that opened into a lush rectangle of peony flowers.
There. That was better. That was befitting of our Mara.
When I stood, Liam wiped a tear from my cheek, and we all made our way across the valley and walked inside the cabin.
Something delicious filtered past my nose, and I realized I was famished.
Joining the others around the kitchen, I gave Liam’s mom a weak smile as she handed me a bowl of chili.
The kitchen looked freshly cleaned and wiped down, but the rest of the house