¤It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.
The love, life, and lies of Cassiopeia Vulpecula Rosier
"The Dark Lord took a particular interest in me I couldn't have escaped his service if I had tried....
...I must apologize, for I...
.now you're in the stars, but six feet's never felt so far. here i am alone between the heavens and the embers.
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It rained the day I laid him to rest. Fierce, bloated drops that thundered from the clouds. It made the foliage of the cemetery appear greener, the colors bright in contrast to the stormy gray sky. But I was far past admiring the beauty around me.
Nothing of the sort mattered anymore.
There was a steady roar that filled the air, drowning out all other sounds. I couldn't tell if it was from the blood rushing in my ears, or the rain thundering down on the roof of the mausoleum.
It didn't matter. I didn't want to hear what the officiant was saying anyway.
Dark stone, gray skies, green, so much green, and those blasted white roses. They stood out like a beacon against the sleek black coffin they adorned.
There were few things I hated more in the world than white roses.
They had been on Castor's coffin. I hadn't attended Evan's funeral, but I knew they had been on his as well. And now I watched as once again, someone I loved was buried beneath a bed of those damned white roses.
It was the only thing I had asked for. No roses. Use lilies, daisies, peonies, tulips, anything else. Anything else. But Walburga hadn't listened.
I had held back tears through the entirety of the service. But the second I saw the roses on his coffin, I felt my control start to slip.
It was cold, and dark, and smelled like death inside the Black Family Mausoleum. The hateful motto, Toujours Pur loomed overhead, carved into the smooth stone.
For a slight moment I was almost relieved there was no body to bury. I couldn't imagine laying Regulus to rest in a place as awful as this. He deserved a green hill somewhere where you could see the sky and feel the breeze. Somewhere starlight could dance on his memory.
I watched, my soul in utter torment as the empty coffin covered in white roses was lowered into the unforgiving stone of tomb.
My hands shook slightly as I took a rose from the officiant and let it fall slowly into the abyss that now held the memory of my husband. It felt that the act made his death final. This was it, he was really truly gone, and there was no coming back.
As the officiant began to speak again, I caught sight of a dark shape in the shadowy corner of the tomb. It was a large, black dog that was trying to stay hidden between several of the tombs.
I couldn't help the sharp sob that tore through me as I realized that it was no dog at all. But it stayed hidden throughout the entirety of the ceremony.
After the officiant had finished speaking, people began to leave. Some came to offer their condolences. Others simply slipped away unsure of what to say. And I couldn't even say I blamed them. There was nothing to say.
