Mortal Coils

Aaron conducts a funeral service for Hiz.

6.

Mortal Coils

 

Without water to bathe in or to wash off their muddy clothes, Aaron and Lysa had to clean as best they could with towels.

Allea was more amused at their appearance than disgusted and separated them into two rooms, then brought them towels soaked in rain water and changes of clothing from their saddlebags.

 

As she wiped off the mud, Lysa found herself returning to the encounter with Aaron.    Thinking about it made her heart race, but that was very troubling for her.     She had to suppress those feelings.   Deeply suppress them, for that would cause some anger and jealousy from Allea.    Though the Half-Drow girl certainly didn’t have to worry about her as a rival, she wouldn’t dare admit anything.     She wouldn’t even tell Bruce.   No-one needed to know her secret.  

It was foolish anyway, and that was reason enough to suppress it.

So Lysa hurriedly cleaned off and then donned the riding leathers that she usually wore when she had no tasks to attend to as Aaron’s squire.

 

She found the others waiting for her in the stable level of the keep, which caused her to feel somewhat embarrassed for the time she had taken.    Meekly she stood by herself in the circle around the body of Hiz.    Aaron (also wearing riding leathers) cleared his throat and then spoke, “I am very sorry that I don’t know any of the official Yeshian ceremonies for funerals.   Matron Zeatt would know just what to say, but I will try to muddle through.”

After the young duke looked over to Allea, who gave him a reassuring half-smile, he began, “Yesh, our Lord promised all who believed in him that upon their death they would join him in Heaven.    We are told that this Heaven is a wonderful place of eternal happiness, where there will be no pain or death.”

“Our dear brother, Hiz, was a believer and possessed a gentle, kind spirit that reflects the love and mercy of Yesh.    I have no doubt that his spirit is rejoicing in Heaven with those who passed before him.”

“Yesh said, ‘As I have overcome death, so too shall you, if you put your faith in me.    So be comforted, as Your Lord awaits you.’   Let us reflect on the life of Hiz as we pray to Yesh to comfort us in the time of our loss.”

They all bowed their heads for a long period of time, in silent prayer.    Finally, Aaron prayed aloud, “Lord Yesh, we ask that you welcome into your Heaven the soul of our brother, Hiz.    May he find the joy and happiness that eluded him in this world.   Comfort us now, in our time of mourning.”

“So be it.”   Allea and Lysa spoke, and though the Talminor made sounds that sounded like the bellowing of animals, everyone knew they had spoken in unity the same closing of the prayer.

 

Hiz had been tightly bound in several saddle blankets and without a word of instruction, Wulf-wuf, Grunt and Bull reverently took an end of the bundle.    Lysa rushed over to grab the other corner, relieved to find that the body was surprisingly lightweight.

Allea’s voice lifted softly in a hymn to Yesh as they carried the body of the Talminor out of the stable door of the tower.

 

The rain had completely stopped, but the sky hung heavy with deep grey clouds.       The pallbearers trudged through the mud, down the slope of the hill to where she and Aaron had dug the grave.

It was full of water, and Lysa looked over to Aaron in alarm.

 

He just shrugged grimly.

But Allea’s song ended and she immediately chanted a spell, holding her hands up to the pallbearers so they would wait a moment before they lowered the body into the waters of the grave.

A yellow glow left the Half-Drow’s hands and covered the water in the grave.     A moment later most of it was gone, except for perhaps a few inches at the bottom of the hole.   

Lysa suspected that Allea had used a reverse of the common ‘Create Water’ spell, to dispel the muddy pool.   She was very grateful of it as they were able to lower Hiz’s body into the hole without getting too muddy.

Wulf-wuf started toward the two spades sitting on a mound of mud, but Lysa stopped him, “No, my friend, you and the other Talminor mourn in peace.    I’ll fill in the grave.”

The wolf-headed Talminor nodded and patted her forearm in silent thanks, then joined the other two as they slowly walked with their heads bowed, to the watchtower.

“Do you have a spell to dry up mud?”   Aaron asked Allea.

“Sorry, no, I don’t.”  She said with a sad shrug of her shoulders.

“Well, we’ll have to do it the hard way, then.”   The duke told her with a weary sigh.

“My Lord, why don’t you and Lady Allea join the others inside?   I can fill in the grave by myself.    Thankfully, it is much easier filling in a grave than it is digging one out.”    Lysa suggested, worried that Allea might be unhappy over how much time she was spending with Aaron.

“We dug the hole together, Lysa, and it is only proper that we fill it back up together.”   He turned to Allea, “My dear, we’ll still need to wash up after this endeavor, so if you could make preparations again, it would be greatly appreciated.”

 

He smiled so charmingly at the Half-Drow that Allea agreed, though she seemed a bit reluctant to leave them alone.

“We’ll be fine.”   He assured the girl, dismissing her with a pat on her shoulder, “We’ll be in shortly.   This should not take nearly as long.”

“Well, alright.   Try not to get too muddy - we don’t have many clean towels left.”

“We’ll do our best to stay clean. “     

 

“At least it is not raining.”   Aaron commented to Lysa a few minutes later as they began throwing the muddy dirt back into the grave.

“Yeah.”  She replied, her spirit somber as she glanced at the bundled form in the hole that they were burying.

“It is grim business.”  Aaron said, guessing at her mood.

“Life is so short anyway.”   She replied with a sigh, then, realizing who she was talking to, blinked once and then added, “Well, it is for most of us.”

 

Aaron stopped digging and leaned on his shovel, “What do you mean by that?”

“I meant no offense, my Lord!”  She quickly apologized, “But you are of the Elven race and immortal.”

“Only if I choose to live as an Elf.”  He smiled.

“Why wouldn’t you do that?”   She asked, incredulous that he would even debate such a decision.

“Well, for this very reason, Lysa.”   He pointed down into the grave, “We see those around us - good friends and even family in some cases- age and die and yet we stay the same.    It is rather hard to do.”

“My Lord, nearly all of your friends are Elves and Lady Allea is Half-Drow, so this should not be something you should worry about, except of accidents, of course.”    She resumed shoveling the dirt, not seeing him stare at her for a long moment.

“Lysa,” He finally said, as he too began refilling the grave, “How do you handle it?   The mortal life, I mean.   I actually chose Elven immortality shortly after my parents’ death.   I realize that even living as an Elf, there will doubtless be something that will take my life someday - a war, a spell, or an accident.    But I was wondering how do you handle aging.   Not that you are old!”

She smiled slightly at his last comment, “My Lord, I am 17 years old, and most savage Orcs are full adults by then.    My people are about the same as humans, in how we age.   I began serving in the Queen’s Honor Guard at 14, which would have been the equivalent of about 17 or so for a human.    Those of the community of Orcs that serve in the Queen’s Honor Guard live about 65 years on the average and my family, with the infusion of human and Ogre blood in our past, tends to live longer than most.”

“That seems so brief!”   Aaron exclaimed, a hint of horror in his voice.

“It is normal for us, I guess.    We have to live quickly and enjoy each day.   My mother told me that.”   The Orc girl looked down at her feet.

“What happened to her, Lysa?” 

“She was killed, along with my father and two of his brothers when Redburr’s forces first attacked King’s Reach.    My father and uncles died in battle, my mother and many other Orc women and children died afterwards, trying to escape and join with King Eleazar’s convoy as they retreated out of King’s Reach."

 

Aaron was stunned.   Lysa and her brother, Captain Bruce, had faithfully commanded their guards during the battle and had marched with the convoy as they fled King’s Reach.    But they had never mentioned anything about their families dying.

“Lysa… you never said anything about this happening!   You and your brother marched with us… did you know they were dead at the time you were in the convoy?”

“Yes, we knew.”   She did not look up but fought her emotions by shoveling dirt, “There were so many in the convoy fleeing King’s Reach that we had time to mourn without others around us.   Many in the Queen’s Guard lost family members.”

“But we never knew!    They never said anything about it!    They were so stoic; we just assumed that all of their families made it out with us.”

“Most did, My Lord.   Thank Yesh for that!   But my family wasn’t so fortunate.”

Aaron sat his shovel down and went over to the Orc girl.   She stood there with a shovel full of mud, frozen in mid-scoop, silently weeping, yet not making a sound.    Valiantly she fought her emotions.

Aaron put his arm around her and she stiffened, protesting it as she felt it was improper for a Lord to show any compassion on one of his servants.    He just took her shovel from her and tossed it down, then hugged her.

For a moment she fought it, but her need for reassurance won and she burst into tears against his shoulder.   

“I am so sorry, Lysa.”   He said soothingly to her, “I never knew.”

“You understand, my Lord.”   She said, her voice muffled from where she hid her face, “You lost your parents too.”

“Yes, but that does not diminish your grief.   Do you and Bruce have any younger siblings?”

“No… we have a handful of cousins and one of my mother’s brothers came here with us as well.   But that is all.”

“Well, you have friends here, and we do care, Lysa.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”   She whispered, gaining control of her grief and looking up at him with shame over her outburst, “I am sorry to act so immature.”

“It isn’t immature to miss someone, Lysa.”   He told her, looking down at her.    Never had he known that Orcs felt such emotions as grief.   How foolish of me, he chided himself, they are intelligent, living beings!   Of course they grieve.

“Thank you, my Lord, for your compassion.    You had asked me how we handled aging and sometimes we handle it just as I handled death.   In other words, very poorly, I’m afraid.”

“We all grieve, Lysa.   In fact, I find myself grieving now too.”   He surprised himself by saying that, for what he meant by it was that he grieved thinking that he would see the lovely Orc girl age and then one day die, while he stayed the same.   It didn’t seem fair.

“I know you do.”   She responded, her eyes again filling with tears, “It takes a long time to get over missing your parents.”

 

Aaron was relieved by her misunderstanding his statement.   He desperately missed his mother, father and sister, but he knew they would be in Flux, where one day he’d see them.    But what about those who didn’t go to Flux after their deaths?

“We should finish filling in the grave, My Lord.”   She suggested, beginning to feel uncomfortable at their lingering embrace.

“Right.”  He replied, coming out of his thoughts.  His face reddened as they both began to pull away from each other in awkwardness.

 

But before they had separated, suddenly there fell something over them like a huge heavy blanket.    It was like a white covering of snow, and had an arcane silver glow about it.     Both tried to cry out in alarm, but neither one could move as the magic net engulfed them.

The covering forced them to the ground and as they fell, they felt unconsciousness overtake them until they knew no more.