Crown of Beauty and Vengeance

Chapter 48

Chapter 48

When Lyv and Gideon came to the room where Destan's body was being kept, they parted ways. He gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead before going off to find Thia, giving her some time to spend alone with Laurel.

Lyv pushed open the wooden doors to the open room with several large windows, paintings hanging on the walls, and a few plushy chairs situated around it. She found Laurel in one chair in front of the cushioned table where Destan lay, his eyes closed, hands resting on his stomach, and clothing changed so there was no sign of the blood that had stained his previous ones. Jai was nowhere to be seen, but she knew he'd been sitting in the second chair beside her just a little while before.

Now, Lyv took that spot, looking up at Destan and feeling the heartbreak raging through her chest once more. Looking at Laurel, Lyv reached over and took her hand in both of her own. She was wearing Destan's favorite dark red jacket, though it was far too big for her.

"Jai went to get the guardsmen who are going to help move him to the ship," Laurel murmured, her eyes glassy. She reached up, wiping away the tears that began to fall. "He sent a raven home, too, telling Mother and Father that Destan...that he's..."

"Laurel."

"Michel is coming back from Escarral, too. Being a susurrate, he already heard the whispers of what happened. He'll be there as soon as we dock." Laurel still held onto Lyv's hands, but ran her other one over the jacket she wore. "I thought he'd want to be buried in this since it was his favorite, but I...I can't do it. I can't let go of it."

"Then you keep it. You know he'd want you to have it."

Reaching up, Laurel wiped away a few more tears before looking over at Lyv. "How do I do this? How do I go through life without the one person who has been there since our beginning?"

Lyv was going to answer from experience...though that experience seemed like a lie now.

"You take it in stride," she told her. "You take it day by day. You have your family and friends to help you through it. And it will get easier. There will be moments when the grief seems to consume you, but then it will get better. You'll be able to look back at memories without crying. You'll make new ones that you will wish he was there for, but you know he will always be there. We will help you through it because you're not alone. It might feel like it right now, but you're not."

"I know," Laurel said thickly, nodding. "I know he will be."

The two sat in silence with Lyv being there for comfort. After a while, Laurel's tears dried, but Lyv could still feel her exhaustion, having not even slept the night before. She would have to ask her later that night if she wanted Lyv's help in getting to sleep.

A knock on the door made both females look up. Once Laurel called them to come in, four guardsmen stood at attention with bowed heads as she stood and walked over to them.

"It's time, my princess," one of them told her. "The ships leave in a few hours, but the crown prince sent us to move him aboard."

"Yes," Laurel nodded, trying to put on a brave face. "He's ready, just...be careful, all right?"

"Of course," he said, and all four of them bowed before going to where Destan was.

Lyv walked arm in arm out of the room with Laurel before giving her a hug. She still had some things to get together before they left for Ayveri, so they parted ways once they were out in the hallway and watched as the princess walked behind guardsmen carrying the body of her brother.