I looked out to the crowd of funeral goers as I stepped up to the podium and cleared my throat.
"Rebakah Copper was probably the kindest soul I have ever met. From childhood she knew she would be a Dog, and from Puppyhood she was one of the best. She was born in the back streets of the lower city yet she did not follow in the life of a rag-a-muffin. She was determined to find something better for herself and her family.
At the age of eight she led the Lord Provost to the biggest gang in Cores. As a reward, though she asked for none, he took her family into his care." I paused and wiped my eyes briskly.
"Beka was the eldest of five children; Lorine, Diona, Will, and Nilo, and even through their scorn, she loved them dearly.
"Shortly after she earned the name Mastiff, she married the Rouge of Cores, Rosto the Piper."
A shaky smile came in answer to this. "She never turned sides but kept dogging Rats till her tragic death in the line of duty."
As I said this, I turned my head first to Goodwin and her husband Tom, then to Tunstall and his wife Lady Knight Sabine, then to Kora, her husband Ersken, and friend Aniki, and last of all, to Beka's husband Rosto and their two children, Ilony and Matthias.