Page 198 of Serpent In White

And now she’sgone.

It feels painstakingly familiar, this funeral. I’m holding onto so much confusion, just like when my parents died, in the exact same fashion.

It has me wondering what the forces of our landtrulywant.

What do you want, Mother Earth?

We burn our dead here in The Principality. And Rhiannon was one of us.

I don’t care what anyone says. Drake, Darian and I agreed. If her parents or anyone comes looking, we’ll deal with them. It’s what she would have wanted.

They didn’t care for her, and she didn’t care for them. She wanted to beherewith us, and so she will be.Forever.

Rhiannon’s body lies on a wooden structure, draped in beautiful linens and flowers. As in old traditions of the earth, we will sail her into the middle of the lake and set fire to it.

She will be burned up and returned to Mother, just as my parents have been.

I’m searching for the peace I need to find in it, but it’ll take some time.

The entire Regnum is gathered by Lake Willow, all in black.

We will mourn, but we won’t fear it. It’s just what we do. We move on, we persist…

Welive.

Members of the Tribe push the wooden pyre into the lake. Once it’s a few feet out, Lorn tosses a bottle with a flaming rag onto it. The bottle smashes on the pyre, and the flames begin to spread.

A tear falls from my eye as Darian curls his arm around my waist. I rest my head on his shoulder.

We don’t have the energy to pretend anymore. We don’t have the energy tohideanymore.

As we watch the body of our friend burn, I begin to sing.

Hallelujah.

My harmonies travel through the air, swirling up with the smoke. I give this to my friend Rhiannon…

I sing for her.

When my song is done, Darian, slips his fingers into mine. My face turns up to his, and we share a thought.

It’s what she would have wanted…

Darian nods to me, then to Drake at my right.She wanted me to tell the truth… I’m going to do it. For her.He blinks.And for both of you. My gifts, my treasures… My everythings.

I can do nothing more that gawk at him as he turns to face the crowd in black.

“My Regnum,” Darian’s voice booms as he looks out over all the faces of his people, gathered under solemn circumstances. What little chatter there was immediately silences. “My family. In the spirit of transparency… What with losing our new friend, I must tell you something… I’ve been living a lie.”

A few puzzled murmurs come from the crowd, all their thoughts reflecting concern and confusion.

“Rhiannon and I had a heart-to-heart, just the other day, before her untimely passing,” Darian goes on, his tone reflective. “She wanted to be one of us, and she would have been. But unfortunately, she was taken, for reasons we aren’t meant to know. Not yet, anyway. Still, she is one of us, present or not, she’shere. And so, in her honor, I’m going to tell you some things I had promised her, and Drake and Abdiel, that I would bring forth.”

He takes a deep breath, and IfeelDrake shivering at my side.

“Twenty-five years ago, when Drake and I left our home and came here to these woods we would inevitably claim, I was struggling with many inner demons. We left because we had to… Because I’d been sexually assaulted by our foster father.”

The crowd gasps, a collective breath of outrage.