It seemed as though the entire elvin population had shoved themselves into Wanderling Woods, though we'd come early. But even with the enormous sea of green-clothed spectators, the strange silence the Wanderlings induced went unbroken. More than several heads turned to us as we made our way down the hill we'd appeared on. Most of their eyes landed on me.
I took a deep breath and raised my chin, smoothing back a stray hair. Keefe placed a hand on my shoulder, grounding me. According to elvin law, significant others of immediate family members of the deceased were considered close family and required to be with the rest of the family at plantings. So, even if I didn't already feel a need to be with Biana right now, technically I didn't have a choice in the matter.
Gently pushing Keefe's hand off of my shoulder, I waded through the crowd to the front, where I knew the Vackers would be, waiting to bury the last memories of Alden. I felt choked by the collective grief of the elves surrounding me. So many had known and loved Alden as I had, he had had such an impact on all he knew.
As I neared the place where a new Wanderling would soon be planted, I caught sight of the Vackers. Alvar looked just as perfectly styled as always, but his eyes were bloodshot and his face pale. He held Della's hand, whose jade gown hung off of her suddenly bony frame, though her face was as lovely as always. Fitz looked slightly haggard, as white as his brother and thin as his mother. And Biana...
Even though she was as stunning as ever, her dress was as loose as her mother's. I wanted to clutch her pale, hollow face in my hands and warm her cold hands with my own. As though she could hear my thoughts, Biana looked up at that moment and caught my glance. Her eyes widened as I drew closer, the rest of the family still staring at the ground.
"I'm here, Bia," I whispered, putting an arm around her. She leaned into me, closing her eyes.
"You look beautiful," Della murmured. Alvar nodded. Fitz said nothing, boring a hole in the ground beneath him with his eyes. We stood in silence for what felt like hours, until the Councillors finally arrived, without fanfare, on one of the taller hills. I wasn't surprised to see that they'd brought their goblin bodyguards, even though Wanderling Woods was only supposed to be for elves.
Surprisingly, I didn't hear any grumbles about breaking traditions. All I saw were stunned stares, and nobody broke the eerie silence until Councillor Emery called for Della to step forward. She was the person closest to Alden, so it was her responsibility to plant his Wanderling. Before stepping up to bury the seed, and the hair belonging to her husband, I watched as she took a deep, shuddering breath.
Biana, Fitz, and Alvar stared, strangely transfixed, as their mother placed the Wanderling seed in the earth gently and blanketed it in the dirt with shaking fingertips. A chime sounded when she straightened up and stepped back down to her family, rejoining hands with her sons.
That was when the sniffling started. Biana sobbed with no abandon, collapsing against me, tears streaking down her face without any sign of stopping. My eyes burned and a scream died in my throat. I had to hold together. For Biana. For Fitz. For Della. For Alvar. For everyone.
Soon, the line started. The line to offer meaningless condolences to the family. Hundreds, thousands of blank, gray faces-I recognized none of them. Until... I saw a blonde head rushing towards the beginning of the line, where she joined another blonde head, this one styled spikily. Sophie had found Keefe, my parents, and Grady and Edaline, who were nearing their turn at seeing the Vackers.
Thankfully, Fitz and Biana didn't notice her. They went on thanking everyone for coming dully, voices devoid of emotion. Several of the elves gave me strange looks, glancing at the crush cuffs that neither my cloak nor Biana's concealed. I just smiled at them fakely and thanked them for attending the planting.
Minutes passed, trickling away slowly like sand through an hourglass. The Councillors stood behind us, standing next to each other without making a sound. They were as still as their intimidating goblin bodyguards. I watched as Sophie's eyes found them, then the Vackers, until they locked on mine.
She was next in line, just behind Grady and Edaline. And after that, Keefe and my parents. Lord Cassius and Lady Gisela were as stately as always, my father clearly listening to the conversation Sophie and my brother were having.
"Don't be mad," I told Biana softly as Sophie stepped forward. She looked at me questioningly, then realized who was in front of her. Her face hardened, but she didn't say anything. Fitz, however, was in the middle of thanking Sophie when he looked at her face for the first time.
"I'm so sorry," Sophie said quietly, jerking her gaze up to meet Fitz's. He did nothing, only staring without a word.
"Fitz, please," I begged under my breath. He ignored me as Sophie looked like she wanted to run away, but stood her ground and took a deep breath. I could tell that whatever she was going to say next, it would make Fitz snap.
"I miss him."
"You don't get to-" Fitz exploded. I let go of Biana and stepped between them.
"Fitz, listen to me. This is Sophie."
"Cass? You're supposed to be with us, not them," he said venomously. I brushed away a tear.
"I know you're hurting now, and you have a right to. But you don't have a right to take your anger out on Sophie."
"It's fine, Cass." Sophie looked at Della, who was watching intensely. "I... I guess I shouldn't have come."
"No, you shouldn't have," Fitz barked.
"Chill, man," Keefe told him, following Sophie as she hugged Della and hurried away, Sandor right behind her. I looked desperately after her.
"Go," Biana said, the first word I'd heard out of her in a long time. I glanced at her.
"Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to leave her.
"Yes. I'll see you later," she told me in a surprisingly strong voice. I nodded, and with several looks back, walked off to where Sophie, Keefe, and Sandor had gone. There was no way to go around Alden's Wanderling.
The sapling was frail and thin, with unmistakable teal flowers dotting each branch. It didn't look like him. It didn't feel like him.
"Are you ready to go home, now?" Sandor was asking. Keefe was making his way back to our parents. I wasn't sure if that meant Sophie wanted to be alone or not.
"Not yet," Sophie told him. She started off down a winding path. I began to follow, but stopped with a yelp when Sandor suddenly appeared in front of me, sword drawn and ready to strike.
"Stop!" I yelled, so strongly that he instantly backed away, sheathing his sword. Sophie turned around.
"Sorry," he squeaked gruffly.
"I thought you were with Biana."
"She told me to leave," I said, joining her as she continued walking. Sophie looked at me, terrified.
"Was it because of what I said?"
"No, I think she just wanted to be alone. You know that it's not your fault that any of this happened, right?"
"Sure."
"It's true," I persisted. "Did Keefe talk to you? What did he sense from Fitz?"
"He said that Fitz was really only a little mad at me and that he was mostly mad at his dad. And... he said the same thing you did. That Fitz doesn't have a right to take his anger out on me."
"And you believe him, right?" I asked as we rounded a bend. She nodded and shrugged at the same time, which wasn't a great answer, but I didn't want to argue with her now. "Where are we-oh..."
I trailed off as Sophie stopped in front of two trees standing on a hill. One was narrow, pale, and slightly scrawny, and short, with golden leaves and brown seed pods. The other...
"Is-is this... is this normal?" I stepped up to the second tree.
The trunk was thick and towered far above all the other trees, some of which had been there for thousands of years. Black crept up the bark, spreading through the tree like a plague. It outlined the bloodred teardrop-shaped leaves and appeared as cracks in the smoky-gray berries. The ends of the branches, blonde in color, were the only parts of the tree not entirely taken over by the inky blackness.
"I-I don't know," Sophie said, joining me a few inches away from the tree. "It wasn't like this when I came here before."
"Sophie," I said fearfully, staring up at the enormous tree. "What's wrong with me?"