SWNOVELS Chapter 23
Silver Moon - Marigold
“I can’t, Finn, I can’t survive this.” I sobbed, dropping to my knees beside Sol’s bed. Finn wrapped his arms around me, kneeling on the ground beside me.
“You will, I promise, love, you will.” He whispered, pressing his cheek against mine.
“He’s dead, he’s gone!” I wailed with my head in my hands.
My own personal storm cloud brewed overhead, pouring raindrops into the room. The floor began to flood just as the door opened and Bayu walked in.
“It can’t be true.” Bayu mumbled, sloshing through the puddled water and towards his brother’s bed. He ran his fingers through Sol’s hair.
“Bayu….” I sniffed and stood up, walking towards Bay. He held out his arm and I tucked myself against his side.
“Can you stop the rain storm, Mari.” He whispered, leaning his head against mine.
“Sorry.” I took a deep breath and attempted to get a handle on my emotions. Slowly my hands stopped shaking and the rain stopped falling, but the storm cloud remained hanging over our heads.
“It’s going to be okay, little sister. We will endure.” Bayu said like a promise, rubbing his hand up and down my arm.
“Bayu.” I said again. This time he looked down at me, “You’re the king now.”
His eyes widened in shock and his face paled, like he just now realized the reality of his situation.
“I need to take his body back to the fae realm. His people need to see him, mourn him. I’ll need to make preparations.” He was speaking quickly now, pulling away from me.
“You need to grieve, too, Bay.” Finn said, stepping forward.
“I will, we will,” He nodded towards me, “Royals deal with these things differently. The people will feel offended and shut out if I don’t bring their king home to them immediately.” He said.
“Bay’s right. The people will take it personally if Bay stays away.” I agreed, “Give me a few days to sort things out here and then I’ll be there.” I looked towards Finn and he nodded in agreement.
“Of course, we’ll be there as soon as we can.” Finn said
“You two have things to deal with here, take your time. You know that the mourning period is long, his….his coffin will be on display for at least a week before the funeral.” Bayu said, his voice cracking at the word coffin.
“Let me get some warriors to help you.” Finn offered.
“No, it’s okay. I can portal us back. When a fae dies, a portal opens to take its body back to the home realm. I just have to call out to it.” Bayu explained.
Finn nodded but his gaze told me that he didn’t understand. I laughed without humor at his expression. He was adorable and clueless, even if the situation was bleak.
“I’ll see you soon.” I told Bayu, giving him a hug. I knelt down to kiss Sol’s forehead one last time before stepping back.
I backed into Finn’s chest and he wrapped his arms around me. Bayu stood next to Sol and snapped his fingers. A spinning void came out of nowhere and swirled around my brothers, sucking them inside.
“We need to go out and help.” I said, wiping the last of the tears from my face.
“No, Mari, you can stay here and grieve.” Finn shook his head, holding my damp face in his hands.
“Finn, I’m still a Luna and we still have a job to do. Everyone is mourning something, I can deal with it later. Trust me, it’ll still be there later.” I smirked, trying to lighten up the situation.
Finn wasn’t having it. He frowned at me but nodded anyway. He took my hand and led me back through the hospital and outside.
The fighting was nearly over, with just a few stragglers still struggling against our warriors. I used my gifts to round up the captured rogues, elders, and Council wolves. I entrapped them in a snarl of vines and watched as the warriors started detaining them with silver before hauling them away to the cells.
Evie wanted to set up a tent outside for the wounded and I agreed to help. Finn and Noah did the heavy lifting while we arranged the medical supplies. We wheeled out beds and carts filled with supplies, asking some of the staff to follow us outside. The wounded wolves were already pouring in to be tended to.