Marilynn finds my eyes again.
“Skylenna?”
“Yes, Marilynn?”
She wipes her face and reaches for my hand.
“Take me to my husband.”
76. The Golden Funeral
Skylenna
A closed casket sits amonga still surrounding of red oak trees.
Silent onlookers mourning with us.
According to Marilynn, Niles wanted to be buried here one day. He assumed he would pass of old age and outlive all of us, then when it was time, he would want to be buried close to where we held family dinners on Sundays. He would want a resting place close to where DaiSzek would rest too. He wanted to be close to family.
Dessin stands on the other side of Niles’s grave, an open rectangle six feet under.
I choose to look at my soulmate, and not where Niles sleeps.
“Niles would be very happy right now. In fact, he wouldn’t let us live it down.” Dessin has his hands in his suit pockets, peering down at Niles’s grave. “Why? Because today, imagine being the main character in a funeral full of main characters.”
I look at the people who have gathered for his funeral. At Warrose and Ruth, at Marilynn and Niklaus, at my children and Chekiss, at DaiSzek. I smile at the thought of Niles taunting us with this. All the attention is on him today.
“Marilynn told me last night that Niles would have wanted me to give his eulogy, so I spent all night writing and rewriting how I wanted to do this. How does one put into words…their final goodbye to their lifelong best friend?” He looks at me with a sad smile before continuing. “I want to start by saying that I couldn’t stand Niles when I first met him. I did my best to avoid him. But my time ignoring him actually had the opposite effect. Niles worked hard to get my attention and to be my friend.”
I remember those days in the prison when their bickering became a source of entertainment for us. A little bit of light in that dark hole.
“The first time he wore me down was when I found out Niles dove through pikes of fire to break DaiSzek out of his cage during a battle with Vexamen. Before that, DaiSzek would growl at him if Niles tried to pet him. And now? Look at the way my boy won’t leave Niles’s side, even now that he’s gone.”
We all look to the spot DaiSzek is lying in, right on the edge of the six-foot hole. If he could lie in there with him, he would.
“Niles knew how to bring humor to a dark situation. He could always make my girl laugh. But through that humor, Niles was a magnificent friend. Loyal. Heroic. Strong. I knew all of this about him for years, but I gained a new, profound respect for him when I learned how he saved my daughter’s life. My friend never had the same training I had, but he used his own hands to protect my daughter from a sword. That is a debt that I can never pay back. I will never get to the chance to hug him again, to tell him thank you.”
I don’t know how I’m still standing. How I’m still keeping my emotions strapped down and kept quiet. But I listen to my husband keep going in awe.
“In the Vexamen Prison, on Niles’s birthday, he made the annoying request to have a best friend handshake with me. Eleven humiliating moves. And now that he is gone, I didn’t realize how much it would hurt that I’ll never get to do that with him again.” Dessin’s dark mahogany eyes land on me, and he pauses, as if knowing what he’ll say next will both mend and break my heart. “So, last night, I tattooed the moves on my arm…for Niles.”
Everyone leans in as Dessin rolls up his sleeve, revealing an outline in fresh ink of each movement to the handshake. The fist bump. The pinched fingers. The hug. All of it.
I drop my face into my hands and cry.
A symphony of sobs, sniffles, and whimpers echo through the forest. The wind carries each beautiful sound in swirling gusts, kicking up dust and leaves as if Niles is answering this great act of love with a smile and a wave from heaven.
I look up in time to see Dessin turn to his left, opening his arms as Marilynn collides into his chest. Her pale skin turns a deep shade of pink, and her grieving moans makes Dessin look to the sky for answers. He leans down and whispers something that makes her cry harder.
Ruth’s chair bumps my leg, and she takes my hand with a smile.
“I brought something for Niles too,” she says.
She moves to his lowered casket, pulling out a stunning golden crown from her bag.
“For the many times you stole my crown and said it looked better on you,” she announces to his grave.
Our tears are interrupted by surprised laughter.
