A Court of Stars and Memories

86. All Settled and Done

The next several weeks passed in a haze. Mitsi lived more on instinct than actual will, and Lysander never left her side. They spent the first day following the ordeal with Cyrus and Colette, and Mina and Corbin.

When Cyrus and Colette took them to the healer's where Micah had been taken, they found that his body had already been cleaned up and his clothes changed in preparation for his funeral.

They had decided that his body would be burned, rather than buried. It was something they all agreed upon. Micah wouldn't have wished for the body he despised to be preserved and trapped underground, even if he'd reconciled those feelings before death claimed him.

There would be a memorial stone placed for him beside their mother's grave however, for which Mitsi was grateful. She wanted a place to leave flowers and pay her respects when she visited home.

The service was held only two days later and the attendance was greater than Mitsi expected. Aside from their family, Lev Baird and his wife had attended. There were also several of Mina and Micah's business associates who came to offer their respect and condolences.

The man who owned the ranch Micah had formerly worked at came as well, and supplied two magnificent Ursa stallions who bore her brother's body out into the woods where his pyre had been built. Feyre, Rhysand, Nyx, Venelia, and Eira had all come from the Night Court.

Devlon and Jorah came too, accompanied by the Illyrians Micah had befriended during his time in Windhaven. Even Orion and Theron were in attendance. Mitsi was grateful for her friends' presence. She'd held Eira's hand all throughout the service, though Lysander kept an arm around her waist.

But only she, Mina, Cyrus and Colette, and Wynter and Ellie remained to watch Micah's body burn. They had wished for that to be a private affair, and all had remained until the fire burned out the next morning.

Colette had gathered Micah's ashes then, though Mitsi didn't know what she intended to do with them. Afterwards, they returned to Cyrus and Colette's house to stay until they were ready to decide what to do next.

Corbin stayed as many days as he could, but eventually he'd been called back to the Night Court as someone had to help with the Exchange. Before leaving, he'd assured Mina that if she wished for him to return, he'd kick Devlon in the balls and make a run for it.

And true to his word, Lysander remained with Mitsi the whole time. She was grateful for her mate's steadfast care and that his family, and hers, were willing to let him remain with her. She wasn't sure what she would do if he weren't there to face the aftermath with her.

Lysander was the one to hold her through the nights when she could find no rest or when nightmares came to plague her. He was the one who made sure she ate all that she could even though it tasted like ash on her tongue. He accompanied her on long walks so she could get out of the house and take a breath of fresh air without having to deal with society.

He entertained her by attempting to mimic her mindless knitting, which usually ended in mounds of tangled yarn, and sometimes by reading aloud to occupy her thoughts. After a particularly heavy snowstorm, he'd even convinced her and Mina to come outside and have a snowball fight which had brightened their spirits somewhat.

The Winter Solstice came and went only two and a half weeks after Micah's funeral, and the day had been bittersweet. Corbin returned from the Night Court and to Mitsi's surprise, Aramis, Mikael and Estelle, and Seren and Azriel had been invited to Wynter and Ellie's too. Mitsi had been glad for the distraction, just as she knew the rest of her family were.

They'd saved their tears for when they returned home and Cyrus and Colette presented them with private gifts. She and Mina received a matching pair of glass pendants. Shades of blue and white had been swirled inside, along with some of Micah's ashes. It was a way to remember their brother, and keep him close. Mitsi wore the pendant along with her locket almost every day now.