Her hand squeezes my shoulder.
“Does it not hurt for you?”
“Of course it does,” she says. “But I do not love as freely as you.”
“So that’s a bad thing?” She’s always telling me I give my heart away too easily.
“No,” she and Richard say at the same time.
“I want Raza to become more like you,” my king says softly. “Where we are not afraid to… love. Where we do not fear its loss when the wars take it from us.”
Jace moves away from us, a small triangular knife in his hand. Richard glances at him, his jaw tight, but then he looks back at me.
“I want you to bring your joy to Raza, not lose it like the rest of us.”
“And that’ll help them?” I shudder inside his arms.
“I hope so.”
Swallowing, I nod. A last, gasping giggle bubbles up my throat. “Then should I throw a funeral for her? And the others who died at the market?”
“No,” Fabia cuts in quickly. “Brownie funerals are not… No.”
I frown. “But they’re fun.”
“No.”
“I am confused.”
“Just trust me on this.”
I look at Richard, wanting to be sure.
“We do not have funerals here,” he says gently.
“Then what do you do with the bodies?”
“We feed them to the birds.”
My mouth opens; his tightens. “That’s so…”
“Barbaric?” he asks tightly.
“Kind.”
He blinks.
“Birds love eating, and hunting is so hard. It’s nice to know that something… kind comes from this pain. Did Saragese have her own crow? Like Maeve?”
He shakes his head. “She’ll be carried to the top of our tree and left for the wild birds. Then we will carve her name along the branch.”
I nod. It doesn’t sound as fun as a funeral carnival and orgy, but it does sound peaceful. Keeping her as a part of the cycle of life; perhaps seeing her soul in all the birds that fly overhead.
Kissing me, my king strokes his tongue inside my mouth. His hands run up my back to cup my face. “I’m proud of what you did in the Council Room,” he says against my lips.
I smile, a little bit of warmth easing into me. It’s not going to be easy, learning to make this place a home. But at least I’m doing some things right.
When we step back into the hall, I throw my arms around Marrabel. She stands stiffly for a second, then she’s hugging me back, and I know the strength my king gave me in that room is now flowing into her.
