“That we are,” Lucan agreed, his smile turning up in shadows of sinister evil.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, tipping my chin down, pretending to be embarrassed rather than near laughter at Lucan's admission.
“And her magic,” Dmitri turned his eyes back to mine with an intense expression of some secret knowledge that I was starting to believe was not all that secret. “Kiran will also gain her magic, which I understand is quite unprecedented.”
I saw Lucan squirm just the slightest, with his hand fidgeting nervously on the bottom of his wine glass and for a moment, I gloated watching him be so uncomfortable. But then my eyes flickered to Dmitri's menacing glare and I quickly lost any thoughts of misplaced pride.
“She is extraordinary,” Kiran sighed, pressing his hand firmer against my back. “Although, I must confess that I fell in love with her long before I knew what she could do. She bewitched me the moment I laid eyes on her.”
“And was it the same for you?” Deven asked of me.
I opened my mouth to answer, remembering for a moment how Kiran's eyes transfixed me in the middle of the Administration building. How he held my gaze and my electricity instantly burst to life before we even knew each other’s names. And while I paused, Kiran answered first, “Absolutely not! She made me work harder for her than anything else I have ever had to work for in my entire life. She drove me half mad, trying to get her attention and win her affection. But some things, or at least one thing in this life, are worth risking everything for.”
A shiver tingled down my spine as I had the ominous feeling Kiran wasn't talking about our past anymore. Feeling me bristle, Kiran's hand slid from my back to my side and he pulled me toward him to gently kiss me on the cheek and then released me from under the protection of his arm.
“But weren't you betrothed to Van Curen's daughter at the time?” Dmitri inquired. I wondered if anyone else felt as nervous with his inspection of my past.
“Yes, we were betrothed, but we hardly knew each other. It was arranged,” Kiran snapped defensively.
“Isn't Van Curen taking over the headmaster position at Kingsley?” added Deven, sensing the dangerous territory we were headed into, diverted conversation.
“Yes, he is,” Lucan agreed. I flinched at the idea of Seraphina's father occupying the same office as Amory. “He's had his eye on the job for quite a while, but we're all acutely aware of how long it took that old man to step down.” My eyes found a knot in the table to concentrate fully on, while Lucan and Dmitri laughed at the joke and the rest of us fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Speaking of Amory,” Deven spoke up bravely. I lifted my eyes from the table and noticed his hand trembling slightly as he clutched his napkin to quell his fears. “I don't remember hearing of a memorial service for him.”
“There was not a memorial service for him,” Lucan snarled, looking over his Regent with new found contempt.
“Oh? Then where was he buried? I don't remember his death ever announced formally, but Southeast Asia is desperate to pay their respects,” Deven explained carefully, his courage building with every word and his head bobbing methodically with each syllable.
I smiled at him, this man with wire-rim glasses, and felt a surprising kinship. He obviously respected my grandfather enough to brave incurring Lucan's wrath. His desire to honor Amory's death touched me.
Since the night on the farm when my grandfather died, not one person asked me what I did with his body. Not one person even asked me to take them to him. Immortals were obviously upset over his death, and they murmured words of encouragement to me; some had even felt his pain enough to cry with me or hold me while I lost my senses in grief. But, only one other person besides Deven, had worried enough about Amory’s body to do anything about it. And that was Angelica, after I healed her from near death with the blue smoke. When she felt strong enough, she showed me a place in a snow covered field at the back of her property where he could be laid to rest. The ground was frozen solid and the wind had whipped across our faces as we used our magic to not only move Amory's forever-sleeping body, but upturn the ground in which we placed him carefully down into.
No marker announced his presence, and with every piece of dirt and snow replaced from where I removed it from, I wasn't even sure if I could find the precise place where I buried him. But together, alone in that wintry field, we honored Amory's memory and paid tribute to the greatest Immortal that ever lived. That was his memorial service. That was the formal announcement of his death.
I opened my mouth to say something to Deven, to explain what happened, how Lucan murdered Amory in front of me. I wanted to tell him that the evil king left my grandfather's cold, empty body in the wake of his destruction as he reveled in the last Oracle's stolen magic and kidnapped my brother and everyone that I held dear. Kiran's strong arm fell across my shoulders gently and pulled me into a side hug in an effort to comfort me. His touch stopped me from lashing out angrily, and brought me back to my senses. He surprised me with his gentle protectiveness. His hand curled around my shoulder wanting to shield me from the pain he instinctively knew pounded against my heart.
Or maybe it was just a coincidence.
“I'm glad you brought this up, Deven,” Lucan lied with an air of benevolent patience. “The circumstances of Amory's death are still lacking precise details and until my investigation is concluded I hesitate to bring what little exact evidence I do have before our people. However, my intention is to hold a memorial service for him during the Winter Solstice. I thought about the All Saint’s Festival approaching, but I think Amory deserves time where only he is honored. There, the entire kingdom can pay tribute to his memory and life.”
I nearly choked on the bile that rose quickly in my throat. I sat back heavily in my chair, knocking Kiran's arm off my shoulder, and bumping the table with my knee, clattering wine glasses and delicate china. A memorial service for my grandfather? For the same man that Lucan murdered in cold blood without remorse?