Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Kate didn't believe that. She knew that Kell was a creature that lived in solitude. She had shown him friendship, but she didn't think it would be enough to keep him there with her. It was selfish to expect him to change his entire life simply because she was in it now.

 

[KieranSoares]

Abel let her be after a while, and it was Kell who returned to her after some time. "Kate...?" He asked softly. He knelt before her to take her hands. He'd noticed her long absence and had returned to make sure she wasn't beating herself up. But it seemed she had.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate glanced up as Kell knelt in front of her. She was quiet for a long moment before she squeezed his hands, letting out a little sigh.

"You should be with your sister right now, Kell." Kate said softly. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm going to worry about you, because I have a feeling you're feeling as awful as I am inside, but I don't understand why... What's hurt you so badly?" He knew it wasn't simply the loss of his sister, Kate was too lost to grief for someone she'd only known for hardly a couple days.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate actually blushed, cringing slightly as she thought about the reason why. She couldn't tell Kell...it was too embarrassing. Still, she bit her lower lip and struggled to bring up her courage.

"Because...well..." She let out a long sigh, lowering her eyes from his own. "I like you Kell." She whispered in a long rush.

It wasn't the right time and the right place to say such things, but she felt that she had to.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell was caught entirely by surprise, but it seemed calm in his expression. He tilted his head slightly, not quite sure if he was really understanding her. But when he lifted her chin and met her eyes, he realized he'd understood her correctly. He was quiet a moment, considering how he felt about her admission, and how he felt about her. He certainly enjoyed her company in the rare moments they'd been together without outside worries, and he had found himself drawn to her side since they'd arrived there, because it seemed she was the first and only one on his side in so long. He quietly made his own decision about how he felt.

His answer to her was a tight embrace and a soft kiss to her cheek. "I'm not sure I know what to say... but I know I feel the same. And... maybe once things calm down and we go back to Inverness... we can explore these feelings." He could see her trepidation, and sought only to show her it was okay.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate wrapped him in a tight hug, her face buried against his neck as he promised that they could explore what was between them when things calmed down. "I'm so sorry about Mary, Kell."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm just glad you were here with me." Kell's strong and sure arms remained wrapped around her for a long moment in the quiet, till he pulled back slightly to meet her eyes. "... Will you come back in with me? In all honesty... the last thing I want right now is to be alone. Everyone's trying to give me space, and I know they mean well, but..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate nodded as he asked her to come back inside with him. She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Squeezing his hand tightly, they walked towards the door.

"Let's go find my Da. If there's anyone here who understands what you're going through, it's him." She said softly, knowing that her father would do his best to make Kell feel welcome and provide him with the advice that he needed to get through the next days and weeks.

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's not so much advice that I need... it's a purpose," Kell admitted quietly as they stepped inside to go find Brogan. "Mary's whole life, I lived for her to keep her safe. Before her, it was our mother. So... I don't know what to do now that I'm alone."

"Now y'find a new one. But it looks t'me y'might've already found one, seein' as how ya protect Kate so closely," Brogan's words reached them as they entered the library he was sitting in. "But you focus on what y'need t'do fer Mary first, lad. Take things one step at a time."

Kell came to a halt before Brogan, and dared ask quietly, "If it's okay to ask... What did you do when your first wife died?"

"I tried t'do everything at once. I sent m'only daughter away within days without ever takin' time t'consider what she was feelin', I buried Cassie without givin' 'er a proper sendoff, an' I pushed everyone away. It was only when Julia came into my life tha' I fixed most o' that damage. If y'want my advice, lad... take things slow, but don't let yerself dwell for too long. It's okay t'hurt... jus' don't let it control you."

 

[heartofcourage]

"If you need help, we could write to Uncle Kreston. He could come and help you give Mary a proper sendoff." Kate suggested, willing to do anything in her power to make things easier for her dear friend. "Da, do you think they would come?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"If ye'd like th' help, Kell..."

"No, that's alright. I know what I need to do." Kell managed a small smile. "Besides, I'm not sure a Lunar would understand the Erygonian funeral rites."

"Well, if y'want any help, we'd be 'appy t'do anything you need. We migh' not'ave known 'er long, but she was a sweet girl, deserves th'best."

"Thank you, sir."

It was two days later, after Kell had been missing for a few hours, that he returned to the Keep of Wick to let Kate, Brogan, Cahal, and Abel know that he was ready to bury Mary, and he invited just the four of them to attend. Over this time, Mary had been wrapped up in an ornate blanket and a silken sheet and laid in a quiet room under guard so that her peace would not be disturbed. Kell brought her from this room and carried her, leading the others to the shore where he'd built an Erygonian funeral pyre. It wasn't used the same way other cultures used pyres, as it was the way of all Lunasian and Erygonian people to return their dead to the earth.

Brogan stood alongside Kate quietly. He remembered seeing several Erygonian funerals when he was younger, so he knew what Kell was doing as he gently laid his sister in the grave he'd dug under the pyre, and in beside her he laid several objects. Brogan quietly explained to Kate and Cahal and Abel, "'E's laying in a seashell fer water, a feather fer wind, charcoal for fire, an' a special white stone with an Erygonian-marked silver shard as a gift t'the earth."

Kell rose and made his way to the pyre. "'E'll light th'east leg o' the pyre. Th'east is th'direction of dawn, so th'beginning. Th'west side, which is symbolic o'death an' the end, will burn last long after th'pyre collapses. It'll either burn itself out 'r wind an' weather'll do it, but it can't be put out by people. An' while it first starts t'burn, he'll fill in the grave and set a chiseled stone over it with 'er name in Erygonian an' th'symbol of the God the Erygonians follow."

As the pyre began to burn, Kell gently filled in the grave before placing the stone at its head. He kissed his hand and pressed it to the stone before rising. Brogan then muttered, "Th'one who lights th'pyre stays awake with it til it goes out, an' only when th'smoke rises from th'ashes after the flame goes out does th'spirit pass on."

Abel and Cahal laid flowers in the grass nearby so Kell could move them to the grave after the pyre went out, and Brogan gave Kell a silver ring. Kate knew the gesture well, Brogan having taught her Lunasian customs all her life. It was traditional for the deceased's closest friend or family to light the pyre, and for an elder of the pyrekeeper to give them a silver ring to remember the deceased by. Brogan gladly took up that mantle despite Kell not expecting it at all, and he gladly wore the ring right away. Brogan and Cahal and Abel let Kell and Kate alone after paying their last respects. Kell perched quietly on one of the many large boulders on the beach beside Kate, watching the fire engulf the pyre.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate stood at Kell's side as her father and uncles gave them time. As Kell perched on the boulder to watch the pier, Kate reached up and took his hand. She wouldn't go anywhere until Mary was completely at rest. Gently, she pressed her cheek against Kell's strong arm, taking his strength and using it for herself.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell's golden eyes glanced down at Kate as she took his hand and laid her head against his arm. He didn't say anything, but it made him feel a little better that someone still needed his strength. He gave her hand a light squeeze to let her know he appreciated her presence, more than words could tell.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate smiled slightly as he squeezed her hand. It felt nice to be needed by someone. She had always been the one that was needy. Her parents had given her all the love that she could ever want, but with Kell things were different.

"How do you say goodbye in your language?" Kate asked softly, looking up into his haunting golden gaze.

 

[KieranSoares]

"To a loved one or a friend, elu'ume. 'I love you, and farewell'." he explained softly. "She spoke perfect Erygonian and English both, even so young. She was just learning Lunar too." He reflected quietly on that, remembering how excited she'd been when he'd first told her he would teach her Lunar.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Elu'ume." Kate tried out the new word that Kell had taught her. "My cousins and Uncle speak Lunar. In fact, Ruben's new baby is named Luna. He taught me a few things. Well...enough so that I can understand when spoken to."

Kate went quiet again, hoping that she wasnt distracting him from his task. After a few more moments, she looked back up at Kell with a curious look on her face.

"How do you say kitten?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell raised an eyebrow, not sure why she'd ask about such a word. But then he remembered Brogan had called her kitten, and he smiled before answering softly, "Oki-ghi. But why do you ask?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"My family has called me kitten since I was born. My Ma says its because I sounded like a newborn kitten when I cried since I was so weak and small." She shrugged her shoulders at that. "I was just wondering if it sounded any better in your language."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Better? What do you mean?" He slid down from the boulder to face her. "Nicknames like that are common in my language. My mother used to call me kanta. I think it's similar to 'cub' in English."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, kitten just sounds so weak to me. What's brave about a little house cat?" Kate asked as he explained that his own mother called him such a name when he was little.

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's not about the strength or the bravery. It's about the love behind the name. It says nothing about who you are, it's just another way your parents tell you they love you. I asked the same thing, and that's what Ma told me. It's why I used to call Mary 'deya'. It means 'flower', but it wasn't for any reason other than the fact I love her." Kell gave her a smile, "You should be proud of that nickname. It's something special that no one can take away."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I suppose you're right, kanta." She teased Kell gently as he somehow made her feel better even in the face of his great tragedy. "Mary would be proud of you. You're working so hard to change yourself into something and someone better."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You're certainly helping. You gave me something good to fight for when you stopped me from doing what Hiram sent me to do. When you let me out of that cell, I thought about escaping from you... but I realized your purpose there was as important as mine. We were both there to protect family. And, you're making all this much easier. You helped me take care of Mary, you're still helping me now, seeing her off. So... Thank you. For everything." He hugged her tightly, laying his head against her own.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate pressed her cheek against Kell's as he held her tightly. She let out a little sigh as he thanked her for being there for him the entire time. Truth be told, there was nowhere else she would rather be then there with him. Well, maybe except for Inverness. She had never thought that she would be homesick for a place, but she was ready to be home.

"I still want you to come to Inverness." She murmured softly, knowing that the decision was his and his alone.