Blackfeather Woods Farewell

Kove waited for his turn to give his farewells, though the longer he spent standing in place, the heavier his legs became. It felt as if he was being weighed down with boulders, though he knew what it truly was—grief. Already he was making his way through the stages of grief, but it was not something so easily done. In truth, he’d rather tie the feelings down somewhere until they could dissolve, but something stopped him from doing so. Meldresi was the Queen of the woods, forever and always, even in death. She deserved the mourning of those who knew her, and the Inuit would not deprive her spirit of that. So when his time to move finally came around, he pushed his legs to go forward, avoiding the question asked by his son. The boy would know as soon as he saw her, and while the shock of such a thing would surely have an effect on him, the elder believed it to be for the best.

Entering the space housing the woman’s body, he approached her slowly with his head low and ears back. Though her soul was no longer bound to flesh on earth, his loyalty to her did not falter. He kept himself lowered as he silently gave thanks to her. He was grateful for all she’d done, as well as all she’d left behind. Then there came his farewells, which were more difficult to get through, but he’d eventually managed to do so. Afterwards, he exited the den, passing by his child on the way out. Kove’s entire demeanor seemed to droop as he settled a short distance off once more, eyes skimming over the faces of everyone else, before settling back upon the darkened entrance. He remained there, waiting for his son to finish with his goodbyes, and for Burke to give out the order to proceed with the next step. The idea of moving her body seemed disrespectful, but he knew the grey man would never doing anything of the sort towards Meldresi. Thus, he swallowed what opinions he had and continued to wait, still reeling over the sudden loss of the priestess.