The Tombs of the Carmen Family in Antiva City
The casket was sealed. He had not seen his daughters face since she was a young teenager and now he never would see the woman she had become. Anger rose within him and he stood there in the silent chapel within his family tomb, his fists clenching and unclenching, his ire turned towards the former Crow he had hired to take care of his beloved daughter! How had this happened? How had she died in the Grand Cathedral itself?! And why had she been alone?! That above all else was what angered him. That she had been alone. How could he have allowed her to roam the streets of Val Royeaux when she kindled a child?! Venerio's anger had no small amount of guilt but he would not turn his frustration upon himself just yet. He was not one of the Prince's of Antiva because he moped around his estate chanting "Woe is me!" and blaming himself for the death's of loved ones. If it was not for him Maria would have not even survived a single day.
Well, him and the Mother.
As if that thought had summoned her he turned to see the veiled form of a Chantry Mother drifting towards him. She looked like a ghost herself, far too pale for an Antivan woman living in the capital. He knew she spent most of her time within the grand Chantry in the centre of the city, listening to sinners and petitioning the Maker on their behalf. That she had not risen to Grand Cleric was a curious thing for most people, but Venerio knew why even the title of Mother was too much for the woman. This was not the time to discuss her progress in the clergy though. This was a time to mourn the young woman in the stone casket.
Her hand reached out and touched the stone relief. The body had been returned to them but they had demanded it not been burnt in the tradition of their Andrastian faith. She needed to return home first. One of the Circle mages could set the body aflame without them having to watch her burn as Andraste did before her.
Andraste... They had been wrong then. It was not meant to be. The witch had been wrong.
"When will the mage be here?" She asked, her voice quiet and full of emotion but as steady as the woman ever was.
Venerio turned to her and took her hand, searching for her gaze, but Thalia refused to meet his dark eyes. He sighed. He knew she blamed him. He had been the one to insist Maria be sent to Kirkwall. That was where she was supposed to come in contact with the ring. Under controlled circumstances.
"Tomorrow. At dawn." He said quietly, gently pulling her away from the casket. "The rest of the family will be here for the ceremony - "
"No!" She said suddenly, tearing her hand from his and staring daggers at him. Her veil was torn away a moment later and she had moved another step towards the resting Chantry Sister. "They will not attend. I forbid it!" The mask of Mother Thalia slipped and the grief that was in her eyes was more than that of a Sister who had raised an orphan...
"Nereida..." He said softly, taking a tentative step towards her. "I cannot forbid them, you know I can't..." In that moment he put his own pain aside to take the trembling woman in his arms and give her what he had not been able to offer for twenty long years.
She wept against his shoulder and he stood there, his own silent tears falling. Eventually she allowed him to guide her to a stone bench nearby and there they sat, closer than they had been for too long. That their grief had brought them together was what hurt the most.
"It is their fault she was raised in the Chantry in the first place. If we had been able to..." She stopped herself and wiped away her tears. She looked at him then and allowed herself a small smile. "You have not called me Nereida for a very long time, Venerio."
"It was a sacrifice we both had to make, or all three of us would have been assassinated." He said, flatly. He had buried his fury over that fact. Had rued his own position and the demands of his title. Venerio had lived in that world but he had wanted something more. He had wanted Nereida Álvarez Delgado and their daughter and a life free of the snake pit that was Antiva. Those were the foolish dreams of a young man though and both of them had sacrificed in order to preserve the life of the child they now mourned.
"I gave up everything just to be able to raise her... and she died anyway. I watched her and protected her and she never knew who I was or that I loved her more than life itself. So many times I wanted to tell her..." Her voice strained and she struggled to keep control, but the woman that everyone but Venerio knew as Thalia would not allow herself to be broken. Not even by this. She did not have the faith that she professed to have as a Chantry Mother, but she did believe deeply enough to have lived a lie for twenty years.
"I will find whoever murdered our Maria. I will find them and drag them before us so that we may look into their eyes and see the monster, then vanquish it." Venerio growled.
"The Crows will find them. They owe us that much." She muttered. Venerio could not help but wonder if Thalia had died with Maria. More and more he saw the rogue he had fallen in love with. The enchanting assassin Nereida. The Chantry had aged her but that fire was still in her eyes.
"I know what you are thinking, but do not hope. Our love is as forbidden now as it was then." She said. Slowly she stood, her gaze fixed on the casket that held her daughter's body. When she was able to tear her eyes away she released his hand as well and glided across the marble tiles of the chapel once more. When she reached the door she half turned and affixed her veil, hiding her face from the world.
"Farewell, Venerio. Cuando usted encuentra que asesinó a mi hija me llame. Quiero que mi venganza.." For such dark words she spoke them softly, but her eyes were hard and unforgiving.
Venerio nodded but did not watch her leave. Instead he returned his focus to his daughter. He stood, took a fresh candle from his pocket and lit it on a nearby brazier. The Prince of Antiva then returned to his vigil. He would not move until the candle had guttered out and even then it was doubtful he would be roused from his sentinel station. He had not been able to protect her in life, but in death he would see her on her final journey and stay with her until the flames consumed her body.
"I thought the witch spoke true. I thought the Maker had chosen you. Forgive me my Maria. Forgive me for ever giving you that ring... for sending you away... Forgive me..." Though his tears fell in abundance they did not put out the candle.
Venerio Carmen da Parma was still there when his family arrived. He remained there when the mage told him there was nothing but ashes in the casket. He remained there when she was entombed. He stayed and he witnessed and he cried.
He had thought she was Andraste reborn but in the end all the wealthy Prince was left with were ashes.