Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Boreus watched as Auster and Autumn loved each other, watched them cuddle together on the bed, and smiled before going to cuddle up with them. He would play another time, though to be perfectly honest, he hadn’t expected their kisses to go this far.
He agreed with Auster; Autumn had been acting strangely this past month. Loving him fiercely, trying to show Auster how she felt with something that approached desperation. Boreus was puzzled, but he was going to let it go for now and hold the people he loved as they came down from their highs.
He was the one to bully them out of the bed so they could bathe, and curled back up with them, one in each arm, as they faded out into rest.
Boreus smiled down at them before closing his eyes and following them down into sleep.
He woke because someone was kissing him. Opening his eyes to see Autumn pulling back with a worried smile. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” She whispered.
“It’s all right,” he whispered back. “It’s a nice way to wake up.”
She smiled, slightly shaky, and laid her head back on his shoulder. “I should go see about lunch.”
“Lunch?” Auster opened his eyes and looked across Boreus to Autumn. “I’m starving; I’ll help.”
They all got up. Dressed and headed into the kitchen. Lunch was simple: sandwiches and fruit, but none of them had the patience to try cooking a more complicated meal. Boreus watched Autumn, watched her face and her eyes. She was fine; everything was normal until you looked more closely.
Up close, if you knew enough to see it, there was an edge of the frantic there. Something that was scared in her, she was trying to hide it from them. She could probably hide it from Auster. He didn’t know her as well, but there was no way to hide it from Boreus.
But he would bring it up with her later. For now, he was going to have lunch, and then he was going to spar with them. Hopefully, that will help her relax. They’d started sparring when they’d made their house a home, reinforcing the lessons that Autumn had been given by Courage.
And it was a good way to spend time together. Autumn was still summoned to the Highest every three days, and when they went, Love would often pull her to the side to discuss something before they were dismissed to return home.
She was also beginning to pick her duties back up as Goddess of hearth and harvest. She was struggling, knowing that she wasn’t truly wanted, but Him and Auster were doing their best to help. Pointing out all the places that her name was being lifted with honesty, rather than just platitudes.
And time passed. Another month went by and the yearly festivals came around in the mortal realm. They were called to the Highest the day before, which was odd, but Autumn did as she was told and headed up to the Bastion.
Where only Light was waiting, a flower in one hand that she offered to Autumn. “I have a favor I need done, Autumn.”
“How can I serve, Highest?”
“The old man has passed away,” she said, voice choked with tears. “His funeral is tomorrow and I cannot leave the Mountain.”
“I will go,” Autumn nodded, taking the flower from Light. “He was kind to me; I will see the people for you. Give them your blessings if that is what you would have of me.”
“It is,” Light nodded. “Thank you, Autumn.”
They returned to their home, preparing, resting, and then heading down the Mountain to the barrier. Passing through wasn’t pleasant, like trying to walk through congealing cheese. But the barrier cooperated, and spat them out just above the little village.
It was draped in white, an honor for a departed soul. Boreus shifted his aspect, watching the others do the same before they headed down into the village. Boreus wasn’t sure what to do, but Autumn had been Eleni, and Eleni had overseen funerary proceedings before.
They went to the village square, where the entire population of the village was standing around the pyre where the old man’s body was lying. They stood on the outskirts of the people, waiting their turn to approach the pyre.
A willowy young woman walked up to them, eyes blindfolded, with Light’s symbol around her neck and bowed to them. “Bright Ones, you honor us.”
“We come to honor him,” Autumn looked towards the body. “Our Highest sent her blessings on your home.”
“Our Highest is gracious,” the oracle said calmly. “Come, honor our Elder.”
The Oracle led them to the pyre, where Autumn laid the flower Light had given them in the center of his chest before bowing deeply to the body. “Thank you,” she murmured, “for tea and a place in the sun.”
The three of them wandered, leaving offerings in the street of Temples, looking at the altars, bowing to the divinity they represented.
At the end of the street, there was the bare beginnings of a new altar and Autumn stopped at it, looking at the foundation where a symbol was inscribed in the stone.
Boreus stepped to her side, looking down at the tree he’d only seen once before. Compassion’s symbol, writ in the stone of what would become a new altar.
Auster reached to trace the symbol, taking a few sprigs of the herbs he was carrying and laying them in front of the symbol. “For the future,” he looked at Autumn. “For what you will become.”
Autumn leaned in and kissed his cheek.
The pyre was lit when the last of the sun vanished behind the Mountain. The wood was dry, and the oil burned hot. Sparks, the remnants of a life well lived, drifted into the sky and Boreus tracked them as they rose.
“He’ll be with his wife now,” Autumn said softly. “I hope they rest together forever, and if they do decide to come back, I hope they find each other again.”
The village celebrated, somber, but still happy. Telling each other stories of the old man’s life, of his children, and how he’d watched the lives of the village for all his years.
And when the celebration wound down, Autumn led the way back to the barrier, where they could drop their seemings and cross back to the Mountain.
They would see the Highest in the morning, but for tonight, they would go home and rest.