Ankyra Sound There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon

Maybe you're right. Maybe he wasn't and everything had been Raleska's fault or his fault or Drageda's fault. Ephraim would never know the right answer. All he knew was that it didn't really matter now. They were speculating on what would've been if Raleska hadn't banded with Rosalyn and turned Caiaphas away. Maybe she was sick before that or maybe she wasn't. It didn't matter.

I was trying to decide that before you showed up, Ephraim said, letting all his breath out in a resigned sigh. I don't know if she'd want to stay in the grotto, float out to sea, be buried... He could only give his sister a hopeless look while he trailed off. He just didn't know Caiaphas well enough to know how she'd want her body dealt with when she died. If Ephraim had to guess then he assumed she would want to stay in the grotto forever, for that was where he'd found her, but he wasn't sure if that was the best idea.

Her body would eventually rot away and ooze black poison and crawl with maggots. It would taint the grotto and its water sources long after her body was gone, leaving only bones. It seemed fitting for a woman so hellbent on revenge and ownership of the Sound, but was it what she would've truly wanted, or only what he assumed?