Chapter 3~Sharp Knife, Short Life

I sat up with Maria for two days before her breath was swept away with the bitter wind.

"The sharp knife…of a short life…" I whispered, right before I broke down. Gaius held me as I told him of the horrors we had faced over the last few months.

"Shh, shh, my dear. You must rest." He stroked my hair, as I had only known a grandfather to do.

"No!" I jumped up, "I must prepare her for the journey. I cannot rest until she is properly passed.

"You are tired, dear…body, mind, and soul. Sleep first, then you can prepare tomorrow." Gaius was such a darling old man.

I chuckled, "No," I said quietly, "The customs must be upheld. I must begin tonight."

He must have seen that there was no point in arguing, "What do you need?"

I stripped Maria's body, and washed it from head to toe and rosemary water. But it wasn't until I was finished with the task that I realized that I had no burial clothes for her. How could I have forgotten her robe? Gaius found me weeping again.

"Whatever is the matter?"

"I forgot her robe. Do you have anything I could use…white?"

He just shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid no, child." With that, he turned and left.

Later that evening, he returned with two young women, no older than myself. One was obviously a lady, the other her maidservant. The maid was carrying a white bundle.

"My dear, this the Lady Morgana, the King's ward, and her maid, Guinevere."

"You can just call me Gwen," the maid's skin, hair, and eyes were all a rich dark color, like chocolate and caramel.

"I'm so very sorry to hear about your friend. I saw her collapse at the feast. Gaius asked if I had a white gown for you to use, but I didn't. So, I asked Gwen," Morgana beckoned the other girl forward, and she shook out a simple gown.

"I hope this will suffice, my lady. It's not much, but it's the best one I have."

I almost let the waterworks flow right then and there. "It's perfect, thank you…all of you. Nothing less for such a wonderful little girl. But I'm not a lady, simply a dancer." But Morgana raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what I heard at the feast. According to you, you are Wilhelm's child…and if that's true…" she trailed off.

"Please, I do not want to think about it right now. Maria awaits."

So, they left me to my preparations. Morgana promised that he would ask the king for permission to cremate Maria the next evening. Meanwhile, Gaius tried to get me to sleep.

"I will sleep when she has passed over peacefully." I told him constantly.

Finally, Morgana came back with good news. She told me that Uther was sympathetic towards my predicament. He granted us permission to cremate Maria outside the city walls that evening. I asked Gwen to round up the girls and bring them to the edge of the city. As soon as the sun set, we built the pyre for Maria and the other two girls I had found out had passed as well. I was about to set the girls on the platform when Morgana made me look toward the gate. Two other forms were coming through the mist. It was none other than the King and his son. We all bowed, some with great difficulty.

"To what do we owe this pleasure, my lord?" I mumbled to the ground.

But he simply grasped me by the shoulders, and helped me up, staring into my eyes. "Rise, all of you. You need not bow in your current state." I translated for the girls. "I held a trial against the men who brought you, ordered them to tell me all that had transpired…but I do not believe they were telling me the truth. When you are well enough, I would like to hear your story…the real story."

"I have been ready to see those foul bastard sons strung up by their own innards for months. I will tell you, after the rights have been carried out."

He nodded, and then he and Arthur carried the girls up to the platform and waited beside us as we chanted their souls into the nest life. Gaius gave me the torch and I set the kindle alight. We watched for a while, and then turned to leave. But as I did, my head began to spin and the ground rushed up to meet me. Before I knew it, there were people all around me, yelling. Everything else after that was a blur. Someone…Arthur…leaned over me, I saw his lips moving, but I couldn't hear what he said. My vision was beginning to go black at the edges.

Then Gwen put her face next to his, I could see her say my name.

"Celestia."

Then I blacked out completely.