Magic Weaver

Chapter Forty One(v2)

Chapter Forty One

Four Graves and a Coronation

            Cedric stood in front of four graves, clutching four red roses in his hand. He was planning on saying something meaningful once he was in their presence, but nothing came to mind. He just missed them all so much. All of them. He owed them everything.

            “Thanks.” Cedric whispered, and placed one red rose on each mound of earth. He hoped they were somewhere where they were all happy. Somewhere Rosaline could shoot all she wanted without killing anyone, where Akeem was accepted, where the cook could be a free man. Where Lance could find his freedom. Somewhere where Cedric could see them again someday.

            Cedric felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked to see Jayson.

            “Hey Jayson.” Cedric greeted flatly.

            “Hello Cedric. Saying good-bye to Joseph?”

            “To everyone.” Cedric replied. His eyes darted back to Jayson. “Will you miss Akeem?”

            “I’ll miss them all.” Jayson responded. “They were all fantastic friends, something really special.”

            Cedric looked back to the four death stones, knew that this was the time. If he didn’t do it now, he never would. Cedric took a leather strap out of his pocket, and wordlessly offered it to Jayson to see. Jayson plucked the leather from his hand and gazed at it. Cedric could hear Jayson suck in a breath as he read the words on the back.

            “Where did you get this?” Jayson asked cautiously.

            “The cook gave it to me. It used to be mine, before I became his student.”

            Although Cedric wasn’t facing Jayson, he could sense a smile grow slowly on Jayson’s face. He was expecting Jayson to say something like ‘I knew it’ or ‘I was right, you are my son’ but he didn’t say a word. There was no need to. Cedric could feel a smile tug at the corners of his own mouth.

            “What was Annie like?” Cedric asked. “What was my mom like?”

            “She was an incredibly sensitive woman.” Jayson explained chuckling. “She sympathized with everyone, and did her best to help them when they needed her. She was also a determined, stubborn person that wouldn’t let anyone tell her what was right and what was wrong. She was always so sure she knew, and no-one could convince her otherwise. And she loved her baby boy more than anything in the world. She’d do anything for him, and when they drafted you, Cedric, there was no stopping her. I didn’t even try to hold her back because I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Still, I wasn’t expected them to…kill…her. I loved Annie so much, and I’ve finally avenged her death. I know they saw that revenge never brings you peace, but knowing where my son is, what kind of person he is, and knowing that no draft will ever be held again does bring me peace. I suppose they were wrong.”

            Cedric smiled. He felt at peace too, despite everything.

            “We should go. We don’t want to miss the coronation.” Jayson reminded him.

            Cedric nodded, and together they headed back to the castle.

            On the first floor, in the front room, every piece of furniture except for a single wooden throne was replaced by chairs. Most of the room was already filled up. Cedric took a seat next to Emily, and grabbed her hand. She looked over at him, smiled, and returned her gaze to the throne in the front. On Cedric’s other side was Ghost, his face even more pale than before, with heavy dark circles under his eyes. He appeared healthier than he had in the prison, but it was clear that he still wasn’t sleeping. There was gossip floating around that Ghost spent his nights playing his violin in the graveyard for Rosaline. Looking at Ghost’s exhausted dark red eyes Cedric was likely to believe that it was true. The road to Ghost’s recovery was a hard one for him, but one step at a time he was getting there. On Ghost’s other side, was none other than Gabriel, one of his eyes replaced by a glass one, but otherwise in perfectly good condition. The sneaky Reaper had somehow crept from the Sanctuary alive, though he refused to admit how.