she looked down at the girl's hand over hers.
"they told me," she paused for a second trying to regain her composure after her voice cracked. gemma's other hand shakily came up to rest slightly over her mouth.
"they told me to give this to you."
she folded gemma's fingers over the cold object she'd placed in her hand, a few tears slipping out the once-bright and adventurous eyes of the young adventurer.
she choked back a sob as she watched gemma's fingers go white, tightly gripping the object in her hand.
she took in a shaky breath and the room went silent. you could hear a pin drop, neither of the other two in the room dared to say anything.
gemma wasnt aware of much else other than the gentle weight in her palm. she faintly saw the tail of the royal guard's companion swish uncomfortably. only just saw the young guard's mouth move, not comprehending the words.
she dropped to her knees, her braids falling around her face as she pulled both of her hands to her chest, holding the gift close to her heart. her eyes were wide as she stared at the floor.
they're gone.
"they told us so many stories of you, of this town."
my arlow.
"they loved you so much gemma," her voice went soft, soft enough to where if it were any louder im the suffocating room you wouldnt have heard her, "talked about you every night."
they aren't coming back.
"please leave," she managed to say, almost a whisper as she tried to not utterly break down in front of these people who'd held her beloved as they took their last breath.
the guard and her accompaniment nodded and walked out wordlessly, leaving the widow to mourn her partner.
after they'd gone, gemma slowly and shakily brought her hands from her chest. she unfurled her fingers, watery gaze landing on the ethereal pink stone in her palm.
arlow was always fond of the crystals gemma would braid into her own hair.
a sound of pure loss filled the room.
the anguish from her wails clung to every surface of her empty house, now never to be filled again with the beautiful notes of a melody arlow would make up about the beauty of the waves crashing against the sandy docks and the sun on the orange horizon.
her sobs racked through her body as well as the house's bare walls in which arlow's laughter would never echo through again as they listened to a joke gemma had cracked.
they'd never interlock their hands with her own again.
never press their soft lips to hers again.
never say 'i love you' again.
she sat there for hours, long after she had run out of tears to cry, dry sobbing on the floor while clutching the small stone to her chest, anguished silence surrounding her.
