After War Storm

Cal

Two weeks later
It had been two weeks and there was still no sign of Maria. Jake and the others had returned saying there had been no evidence of her returning to his home town, nor could we find her in the palace.

I didn't understand how we could have made no progress, in tracking her down, whatsoever.

The problem was, for all I knew, we all could have seen her. We could have tracked her down but she could have got in our heads and erased it. That was why we were trying not to split up.

I didn't even really know what she looked like. I didn't think I'd seen her before. She must have been in the palace when I was younger but I had no memory of her and I wasn't sure whether I'd seen her when she was posing as one of the maids here.

I looked over next to me and Mare was still asleep, curled up into a ball. She'd been struggling a lot with nightmares over the past two weeks and I had my fair share

Last night had been bad for us both because we could not stop thinking about today. Today was the funeral.

We'd been to see Ti's body the day after Mare had woken up and it had been traumatic for us both. Seeing him lying there, pale and broken, was the worst thing I had ever seen. I'd seen a lot of bad things in my life but seeing the lifeless body of your baby cannot be compared to anything. It is impossible to describe the pain I felt for nothing I've felt before measures up to it in any way. No person who hasn't felt the pain of losing a child can ever understand.

I lay in bed for a few more minutes before waking Mare up.

There was a constant sadness etched in her features and I wanted nothing more than to make it go away. But I knew I couldn't do that, at least not yet.

We got dressed, me into a suit and Mare into a simple black dress.

"You ready to go?" I asked softly.
"Not really, but we have," Mare spoke quietly. I pulled her towards me, wrapping my arms around her securely. She rested her head against my shoulder and I could already see how hard it was for her to hold back her tears.

This was going to be an incredibly difficult day for us both. As and as it sounds, I only knew Ti for a few days before he was murdered and yes it had effected me more than I thought anything ever could, it had been so much harder on Mare.

"I love you," I told her and Mare raised her head so her eyes met mine.
"I love you too."

-~-

Once everyone was in the hall, the ceremony began.

Mare and I were both crying throughout the entire service and soon it was time for us to speak. I went first.

I slowly made my way to the stand and turned to face everyone. Taking a deep breath, I began.

"When first writing this, I had no idea where to start. This isn't something I ever thought I'd have to do and writing a speech about the loss of my son was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. Ti was very special, or just to Mare and I but to everyone here. I had so many plans for the future, with us as a family, so many things I couldn't wait to show Ti. I wanted to give him the best life he could possibly have, with both of his parents with him the whole way. I dreaded the day I'd grow old and leave him; I never thought he would be the one to go.

"I've grieved a lot in my life, lost a lot of people I cared about, but nothing has ever been the same as the gaping hole inside me, ripped away when Ti was killed. Losing a child is indescribable and I would not wish it on anyone, no matter who they were. We all feel the pain right now, the pain of grief and loss, but we are feeling this way together. We must stay strong together and have faith that he is happy wherever he is now and that one day we shall see him again. We miss you, Ti," I whispered at the end "Thank you."

Mare and I switched places as she stood to speak. Tears were brimming in her eyes.

"Thank you to everyone for coming today," Mare began "it really means a lot to us. I'd never pictured myself having children. I couldn't see it happening nor did I want it to, at the time. Looking back now I don't know how I ever thought I wouldn't have kids. Nothing is the same as bringing a life into this world, certainly none better than Ti. I can't imagine my life without him which makes this so much harder. Every time I thought about doing something, going somewhere, Ti was always with me. But now he's gone, and I'm never going to see him again." Mare's voice cracked as the tears spilled over.

"It is very difficult for me to talk about Ti at the moment, when every thought is consumed by him and the fact he is truly gone. I miss his laugh and his smile, I miss hearing him call me Mama, I miss getting to wake him up every morning, I miss making him breakfast, I even miss the sound of his crying. I miss every single thing about him. I love you so so much, Ti and I hope that one day we will see each other again."

Just as Mare was about to step down from the podium, a knife seemingly appeared out of nowhere, hitting Mare in the side.

I was up in a second, and saw someone stood up making a run for the door. I shot a fireball at them, knocking them down. It wasn't enough to kill them but would cause them enough pain that they weren't going anywhere.

"Sara," I called and she immediately ran over to Mare.

"Nobody move," I called out to the room and everyone sat back down. "Guards I would like her to be taken down to the dungeons, I will be there in a bit. Cameron, please accompany them and make sure she can not use her ability, if she has one."

Cameron nodded and followed the two guards who picked up the woman and dragged her from the room.

I didn't get a good look at her but I knew that as soon as I was sure Mare was okay, I would find out who she was. Who would try to kill someone at their child's funeral?

Maybe the person who killed Ti.

Had that been Maria?

She was blonde but that was all I saw of the woman who had thrown the knife. I would head straight to the dungeon after this.

I hurried over to Mare and Sara but I was confused. Sara has removed the knife and had her hands above Mare's stomach but the wound was healed.

"What are you doing?" I asked Sara "The wound's healed."
"I'm trying to save the baby," she said, not looking up.

Baby?

Mare was pregnant?

No, that's couldn't be right. We'd only had sex once since Mare got back and the chances of her getting pregnant were small, right?

I was broken from my thoughts by Mare. "No! I'm not pregnant. I don't want a baby; I want Ti."

"Let's get you heard first, then we'll talk about it, okay?" I said and Mare reluctantly nodded.

"Why now?" She asked, her voice breaking "Why did that woman have to ruin our goodbye to Ti?"
"I don't know," I said quietly "but I will find out."