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Zoran got dressedwhile I worked a brush through my hair. Though I was itching to cut it, I also kind of loved how wild it looked. It made me look more like a queen, I thought, and I needed all the help I could get in that department.
He left his hair in a bun, slipping his fingers between mine. After a stop in the kitchen for some fruit, we made our way out of the castle and onto the beach.
The sand was soft beneath my toes as we walked, and my mood grew somber as we neared a canopy of sorts that had been set up a ways down the beach.
A few fae sat on the sand, scattered along the beach. None of them seemed to be talking or interacting, just thinking. A few might’ve been sleeping, too, despite the sun rising over the ocean.
“Is it okay to apologize to them?” I asked Zoran quietly. “I don’t know what’s really appropriate.”
He released my hand to sign, “Don’t apologize. Tell them any stories you have of their loved one’s last moments, and mourn with them instead.”
I nodded. “Will they understand sign language?”
He shook his head. “Everyone in the city knows a little, but most only know enough to say hello or thank you.”
“I don’t really have any good memories of the fae, but I could translate for you if you want,” I suggested.
“That would be perfect.”
He tucked me back against his side, and our bodies pressed together lightly.
We made our way to the first person on the beach, a woman who stood up as we approached.
“Thank you for coming,” she murmured. She looked just like the woman who had died in the Aboa, and my throat swelled a little for her.
“Of course,” I said quietly. “I’m going to translate for Flood, if that’s okay with you.”
She nodded, and Zoran released me, taking one step to the side so I could see him better.
“Isren fought until her last moments. She was a great warrior, and will be missed terribly,” I said.
The woman’s eyes watered, and she nodded roughly.
Zoran and I continued, “We were approaching an army of monsters before she passed. There was the smallest moment before the battle, and Isren looked at me, grinned, and said, ‘What a way to die.’ I told her she was going to survive, and she simply laughed. Cove told her that if they made it to the next life together, he was finally going to make her his mate. She laughed even harder at that, and we went to war.”
Tears dripped down my cheeks too, as the woman both cried and laughed. “Shewouldbe cocky about losing her life to secure the Aboa.”
“And we all knew they were in love, even if they refused to admit it,” I translated for Flood.
The woman laughed. “They’ll work it out in the Beyond.”
“Of course they will,” Flood signed, his lips curved in a sad smile as I spoke the words. “Even though we will miss them greatly until we meet again.”
The woman lost her composure then, and I gave in to my instinct to step closer to her and pull her in for a hug. She held me tightly, sobbing into my hair.
I didn’t say anything, and she didn’t either, but I held her as she clung to me.
Eventually, her tears slowed, and she released me. “Thank you,” she said quietly, her gaze meeting Zoran’s for a long moment before moving to mine. “And thank you for bringing him back to us. My sister was proud to put her life on the line beside our king.”
I wiped at my own tears. “Of course.”
She nodded at us and then stepped back, wrapping her arms around her abdomen and staring out at the ocean.
Zoran’s arm slid around my back, and he tucked me against his side once again before he walked me up to the next person on the beach.
We spokewith all of them. It only took an hour or so, but by the time we walked away from the final person, I felt like I’d been through an emotional wringer. My eyes burned from so many tears, and I was clutching Zoran’s hand like I could lose him at any moment.
He extricated his hand from my grip long enough to sign to me, “You did well.” His expression was soft and genuine.
