The Raven's Chronicles. Rage of the Wraith

Chapter 38. Burying the Past

"It's good that we're alone," Jules looked around the old cemetery. The sun was setting, and its last rays burned on the tombstones that cast long, deep shadows.

Jules clenched his fingers on the little box he carried and looked over his shoulder. He still could see the smoke rising from sir Lenster's funeral pyre.

"I'm glad I didn't have to be at the execution," the boy admitted. He tried not to think much about the treacherous knight, but during the week he'd spend in the infirmary he'd heard gossip about him being sentenced to death. He'd heard his oldest son, Jerry, tried to plead with the Lord, but eventually had sworn loyalty to the Arvers as the new head of the Lensters' house. No one dared to say it aloud, but many whispered about Lord Kedmon having a perfect opportunity to get rid of his main rival and replacing him with a youth east to control. Jules was the only witness of sir Lenster treason, and most people found the fact quite suspicious.

"The execution wasn't public," Ravin led the way between the graves. There was a row of freshly dug tombs between the old ones: some belonged to the warriors who had fallen during the fight with the wraith, some to the few ones that Lara and Evionell hadn't managed to save and one to the Ackers' family.

There should be one more grave, Jules thought. Melissa hadn't been properly buried. The boy didn't know what exactly had happened to her body after her soul had been destroyed. He was sure Lord Kedmon wouldn't have agreed to bury her; he seemed to have easily forgotten that his father had wronged Melissa and pushed her to the path of revenge.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Ravin stopped by a deep hole dug by the fence. There was a heap of fresh soil and a shovel by it. "I would rather not have to dig it out tomorrow."

"I think I am."

Jules sat on the grass just by the hole's ridge and lifted the box's lid. Inside, three white stones rested on a piece of an old tablecloth. The boy touched lightly the smallest of them, the one he had taken from his sister's grave.

"You know, before I woke up in the infirmary, I saw Maya. She took my hand, and she was happy..." he inhaled deeply and shook his head. "Maybe it was just a dream, but I think that she... and my mom and father found peace long ago. That's silly, but..."

"No, it's not silly," Ravin squatted by the boy and posed a hand on his shoulder. "If you think it'll help you, then it isn't silly at all."

Jules closed the box and scratched the back of his neck. His hand roamed by the pocket of his cloak before he finally decided to take out the little bundle that he had hidden inside.

"That's good because I thought that maybe we could do it together..." he handed it to Ravin. He bit at his lower lip as he forced himself to look into the hunter's eyes. "I don't know what happened to your wife, Vivienne, but..."

Jules stopped short as Ravin unwrapped the bundle. Inside, there was the little red sock. The hunter's face twitched at the sign of it.

"I just thought that maybe you, too, blame yourself for something that you shouldn't..." the boy played with his fingers. "I mean that you've been always telling me to accept the past and move on. But you've never done it yourself. I understand now. You're still grieving your wife, aren't you? This is why you never date. And this..." Jules pointed at Ravin's hands hesitantly. He remembered how upset the hunter had been when they'd found the sock. "Vivienne and you... Did you have a child?"

Ravin clenched his hand around the sock. It was so small it disappeared in his balled fists. Pain broke in his dark eyes. His facial muscles twitched, his jaws pressed together.