Waymakers (Champions of the Crystal Book 9)

Chapter 6.3

Sabrina turned to look as her siblings-in-law approached from the side of the palace. "Well, we did want to talk to them," she reminded Ford.

"Not at breakfast," he grumbled.

Cheer up, she thought to him. Scotty's got the kids; we can steal some time for ourselves after this.

Until someone else needs us, he thought back.

Aloud, Sabrina asked, "Want me to handle this?"

"I'm head of the family. It's my job."

"You're not, you know. Mara and Tirqwin are back."

"Mother's hardly back. Nor is Father."

"He's just a comlink away though," Sabrina replied. Pitching her voice louder, she said, "Kaz, Lira, good morning! Have you eaten?"

"Yes, thank you," Lira replied, as Kaz waved a greeting. When they got closer, Lira smiled at Shariara. "Hello. I'm Kalira, and this is Shorkaz. You can call us Lira and Kaz. We're so pleased to finally meet you."

Shariara nodded. "I am pleased to meet you as well. You may call me Ara if you like."

Kaz grinned, but it looked strained to Sabrina's eye. "Nice to meet you, Ara. Welcome home."

Shariara said, "Thank you." She looked between Kaz and Ford, noting the strong resemblance. "I'm pleased to get to know all of you and see where I was born."

"You'll need to go to Dansestari for that," Kaz said. Then he turned to his brother. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Shariara said, "If you want to discuss Mira's funeral, there is no need to dismiss me. I assure you I am not emotionally fragile."

Kaz blinked, and Lira sighed. Sabrina intervened. "Ara and I can take a short walk if you like."

"Actually," Lira said, "it was you we were hoping to talk to."

Ford rolled his eyes. "Sabrina is in no shape to be running errands."

"Just talking," Kaz assured them. "The problem is, Mother wants Mira's funeral to be this big state thing. But Mira would have hated that."

Lira added, "She wasn't in service, either in the government or the Miahn Councils. A small family event would be more appropriate."

Sabrina frowned. "Mara doesn't get to decide on state funerals; that's Baldaran's purview."

"He says he won't overrule her without a good reason," Kaz grumbled. "We're hoping you can talk him around, Sabrina."

Sabrina said, "I'd think Imari's funeral arrangements are enough of a headache without creating more."

Ford nodded. "I agree Mira wouldn't have cared a bit about making her funeral a big deal. But funerals aren't for the dead. They're for the living. And I think Mother may need to make some grand gesture, to alleviate her guilt."

Lira said, "But it wasn't her fault."

"She's the Guardian," Ford said. "She holds herself responsible. It doesn't matter whether the rest of us do. Look, maybe we can compromise here. Let Mother have her big state deal, but let's have a private gathering with just family and close friends beforehand. We can do it here if you want. Maybe the Academy, since she went there."

Nice, Sabrina thought to him.

Hey, I occasionally have good ideas, he replied. "I'll speak to Baldaran if you want."

Kaz and Lira nodded. Kaz said, "Who's going to tell Mother though?"

Sabrina smiled. "No need. I'll talk to Tirqwin. She'll get it from him, and likely take it better that way."

Ford nodded. "Khediva would probably like to take a look at you anyway."

"And I'll take Ara up and introduce her, if you'll wrangle the circus down here," Sabrina said.

"I'd rather go with you," Ford said immediately. "We could make Kaz and Lira the circus wranglers, since they are here with apparently nothing better to do."

Kaz chuckled, and Lira shook her head and said, "This is not a fun errand, Ford. Mira was our sister. We've been thinking about her memorial service for years now—it helped with the grief, initially. I'd like the chance to put our plans into place, because I think Mira deserves a fitting memorial, not some big, elaborate show."

"Circus," Kaz interjected. "That wasn't who she was."

"No, it wasn't," Ford said. "And that's why we're helping you. Sabrina and I will start with Father and Khediva, and I'll talk to Baldaran afterward. Once we have them lined up, it should be easy to talk Mother into our plan, especially since she's still getting what she wants."

Sabrina said, "Scotty should be able to manage the horde, especially with Asdis' help. Are you sure you don't want breakfast, Kaz and Lira?"

"We're sure," Kaz said. "With you two on the case, we'd like to get started on our memorial arrangements. Which do include the Academy, by the way, big brother."

"Just let me know if you need me to pull strings, but I don't think the provost will give you any trouble." Ford glanced at Sabrina's empty plate and stood. "I'll let you know how it goes."

"Thanks," Lira said. "We appreciate it."

Sabrina said, "Thanks for bringing this to us. We loved Mira too, and I want her to have the memorial service she would have preferred. Are you inviting anyone other than family?"

"We thought Scotty and Aurora might be appropriate—they are also family, and they knew her. Other than that, just household staff who knew her, and a few close friends of hers, mostly from her Academy days. It will probably be only twenty-five or thirty people in the end," Kaz said. "Enough so that everyone can solo if they want."

"Or sing as couples," Lira added as Ford grimaced. "Or small groups. Whatever feels right. For the state occasion, I think we'll be asked to sing as a chorus. I already have one picked out, one of her favorites."

"I'm happy to do that," Ford replied. "Ara was asking about it just now—she would like to sing with us."

"We would be very happy to have you," Lira said, smiling at her youngest sister.

Shariara said softly, "I wish I had been able to meet her."

"We wish that too," Kaz sighed.

They were all silent for a moment, thinking of how Mira would have welcomed the girl. Then Ford said, "Well, let's all get about our appointed tasks. Ready, Sabrina?"

He held out a hand to her and she took it, though she didn't need help getting up from her chair. "I need my comlink," she said.

"We can use the console," Ford replied. "Come on, Ara. Khediva will bring us up from inside."