The news was the same. Irikah ended her third call of the day with a sigh, imagining her eldest sister climbing the stairs and heading back to their mother.
The doctor had visited last night and pronounced that they were entering the final stage, before supplying them with information and supplies for the coming days. The only thing that Irikah had paid any attention to was her mother's gasping as she lay unmoving in the bed.
She had gone into work to make her final preparations, knowing that she would soon be called away for the death rituals. Like it or not, life would carry on without her.
"Lady Ektrepho?"
A courier stood at the door holding a box in his arms.
"Oh, yes, come in."
"This is for you. Please could you confirm delivery?" the courier asked, placing the box on the desk and holding out a datapad to her.
Irikah pressed her fingertips to the pad, looking at the box for clues as she waited for her prints to be verified.
"Thank you, may the day find you well," the courier said.
"And you," Irikah said vaguely, turning her back to him.
She had no idea who could be sending her a parcel, though she supposed it must be supplies that she had forgotten about. She'd redirected her family's post to the school so that they would remain undisturbed.
The box had no details on the outside apart from a small catch fitted with another small datapad, offering no information about the sender or the contents.
Irikah turned the datapad over in her fingers then pressed her thumb to it as the screen lit up. After a second the datapad beeped, and the catch clicked open.
There was a hiss as she lifted the lid, and a puff of humid air that rose to fill the room with a strong scent. Inside the box was a layer of gossamer film she recognised from the plant nursery she visited on occasion, designed to keep the contents at the desired humidity level. It was expensive, and she'd usually relied on getting her specimens home as fast as possible instead of purchasing it.
Irikah leant over the side of the box and pulled the film back carefully.
Nestled at the bottom of the box was a Damalia orchid.
She couldn't help the laugh that burst from her lips, a sound of sheer delight that she hadn't felt in months.
Tucked in amongst the flowers was a paper flower, her name curling across it in unfamiliar script. Irikah ran her fingers over it, brushing over the familiar letters of her name before making her decision. The orchid needed tending to. The note could wait.
She carried it reverently into the greenhouse and laid it gently on her workbench before gathering her tools in a dazed rush, fearing that when she turned around it would all be a dream.
Yet there it stayed, exactly where she'd put it.
It was the most stunning example of its type that she had ever seen. There was no sign of flaws or die off on its leaves, and every flower was intact.
Her initial joy started to fade away, overwhelmed by the sudden worry she felt looking at it. Not only was this orchid expensive, but it would make the school a target for collectors, and she still had no idea where it had come from.
Irikah set the orchid on a low shelf in the green house, surrounded it with plants, and rubbed her hands on her tunic as she dashed back through to read the message that had come with it.
The paper flower was a perfect copy of the one that Thane had returned to her, and she remembered the ghost of his fingertips on hers as she peeled each petal back gently to uncover the message folded carefully away in its centre.
For you, may it bring you peace when all around is dark. Thane.
Her comm started flashing, and she saw the name on the incoming call.
"Brina?"
"Irikah…you need to come now."
Her eldest sister sounded unsteady, her voice about to break, and Irikah felt the certainty of the coming moment lodge itself under her skin. Everything was about to fracture. The world would come undone while remaining exactly the same.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Irikah said, already on her feet.
Irikah threw herself through the door, straight into the waiting arms of her sister.
"Is she…"
"Not yet, but it won't be long. Go to her."
She took off up the stairs, running into her mother's room. They were all there, gathered around the bed in the golden glow of lamp light. Tivan, Ennai, her father, and finally Brina. Her mother lay still, the low rasp of her breath rising and falling as they sat and watched over her, hands clasped.
Irikah felt time drift apart, and she raised her eyes to look at the sky outside. In the gathering blackness she saw a solitary star twinkling before the veil of cloud fell over it, and covered the sky.
"Mara?" Her father's voice shattered the silence, and when Irikah looked back at her mother the rise of her chest had ceased. "Mara….Mara!" His voice broke, and Irikah heard their voices raise in a cry even as hers died on her lips.
For the first time in her life she watched her father disintegrate, her sister trying to catch him as he fell, and she heard the ragged wailing from Ennai as if from somewhere far away.
Somewhere outside in the darkness, the sea they had looked at together kept its steady hold of the beach. She knew what she had to say, and though she placed no faith in those words she knew what her mother would have wanted.
As the others fell apart Irikah rose.
"Kalahira, mistress of inscrutable depths, guide her in her journey, as she guided us in ours. Hold her safe in your arms, at this the end of one life and the start of another. Kalahira, reaper of life, anoint her. Let her rest where the traveller never tires, the loves never leaves, the hungry never starve. Guide this one Kalahira, and she will be a companion to you as she was to me."
Outside, in the dark sky, the clouds parted long enough for her to see the stars.
A weight lifted in her chest, and Irikah let out her breath as she crossed slowly to her mother's side and kissed the cooling star upon her head. "I love you. I always will. Wait for me, wherever you are."
