AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For someone so slight, so fragile, I could not deny her strength. I admired it—admired her.
“Why are you crying, mummy?” May asked.
“Because I am not ready to let you go…”
Somewhere in the shadows behind us, Arlo exhaled a cry, stifled by a hand. I wished to find him and comfort him, but May needed me now.
“Mummy is scared,” May said with such clarity, “I am dying, and that makes her sad.”
“Are you frightened of what will come to pass?” I asked. Perhaps the question was meant for someone of far greater age. Children were a strange concept to me.
May seemed to understand. She nodded, her hand falling from Ana’s face before reaching out towards me. I flinched backwards, not wishing for her time to come to its end so quickly.She noticed, face pinching into a frown. “Are you scared of my death like my mummy, prince?”
I sighed, closing my eyes and blocking out the scene for a moment whilst I gathered my thoughts. “I cannot fear death, nor should you.”
May replied meekly, breathing taking up most of her ability to speak, “He is not scary, is he, mummy?”
“No,” Ana replied, voice a mess of grief. “He is kind.”
“Death is not something to be feared. Death is peace. It is quiet. It is relief. It is more than sadness and pain. Death…” It was my turn to choke on my words. I had to stop and clear my throat before I carried on; something strange pricked in my eyes as I did so, opening them didn’t help. “Death can be unfair. It does not follow anyone’s rules but its own. Yet, no matter when it comes, it will never let you be alone.”
“Is that true?” May blinked, as though fighting sleep.But it was not sleep that was coming for her.
“I believe you are required elsewhere more than you are here. Such a brave and strong soul. Destiny has another place in mind for you.”
“Ahh…” the small, broken child groaned as her mother covered her with a smothering of kisses. “Will you miss me, mummy?”
“So much that it hurts.”
“One day, soon or far, you will see one another again,” I said, wishing to provide them comfort.
May fought to keep her eyes open. Ana brought the child to her breast and held her close. May’s voice was muffled as she spoke, but her words rang true. “I will see you again, mummy. Just like the prince said.”
Ana could not respond through her sobs.
“Farewell brave, little May.” I stood, feeling my frozen, hardened heart shatter one piece at a time. “May you find rest without pain and burden.”
I turned my back on her. Before I fully tore my gaze from the mother and child, I noticed the faint glow was gone from the little girl’s skin. Like a candle blown out, or the stars blinking out of existence, May died in her mother’s arms.
The harrowing scream that tore out of Ana shook the very foundations of Haxton Manor. It confirmed what I had thought, the child was gone. I wished to throw myself into Arlo’s arms to hide from the grief, but he was not standing in the shadows.
Arlo was nowhere to be seen.
26
Tears blinded my vision as I ran through the gardens of Haxton Manor. Far behind me I could hear the terrorising scream of grief as itcrashed into the darkness. The very stars shuddered beneath it, blinking out of existence as though they too could not bear witness to the death of a child.
The frigid air stung at my face. It ripped the tears from my cheeks greedily, yet more spilled. My throat burned with each inhale, my chest aching as though hands gripped and squeezed. And all I could think about was the way Faenir had softened before the child, his calm and guiding voice as he eased her departure with words of comfort.
Death is not something to be feared.
His resounding voice echoed throughout my mind.
Death is peace.
Since my parents had died, I had never truly felt peace. Chaos ruled my life. I lived on the edge of a knife, kept there only by drinking the blood of the undead. Peace was a concept I had not experienced, until Faenir.
It is quiet.
