80. Where Grief Meets Schemes

[ELARA]

To the few members of my pack who accompanied my family to Caelondor, Alina’s death remains a brutal mystery.

The funeral is a small affair held on the coast of the Cursed Gulf where Alina’s body is burned on a wooden pyre. There’s a moment where I realize I’ve attended more funerals than feasts since my arrival in this kingdom, and a cold shiver runs through me. The Goddess is cursing us, the strange thought enters my mind.

What wrong have I done though?

It dawns on me with mockery that I barely have been granted a chance to act on my own. I have truly become a pawn in a game that began decades ago in this land that’s still so foreign to me.

Eldric doesn’t care to show up. Not even for a performance. Queen Seraphina is brought to the pyre, but she doesn’t stay long, her eyes welling up with tears as she likely recalls the funeral of her own son, Kian. The rest gathered speak in whispers, discussing the most probable cause of Alina’s death. From what I hear, the most favored