The commander’s body was displayed with all the pomp the
citizens of the town could afford, and then some. On the first two days,
wailers arrived promptly at dawn, not leaving their post outside the chapel
until the sun set. They were there too on the third, although that day was set
aside for select people to pay their last respects before burial the
next morning.
Even the wailers paused to bow when Lady Allegra came to the
chapel to say her farewells. The solemn commander’s ward was a familiar figure
to them all. They shuffled aside, with their eyes on the ground to let her
pass.
“Please,” she said in a quivering whisper that carried to
the furthest honor guard in the room. “I’d like to be alone with him, one last
time.”
The head guard nodded, and they all filed out.
Allegra leaned over the casket, the shaky note in her whisper
all gone now. “I have never wished harder for the existence of an afterlife, just so
that I’d have the satisfaction of knowing you are suffering in it.”
She took in the sight of the cruel face, knowing its mouth
would never scream at her again, and the hands, which would never strike her
for forgetting a lesson. Then she gave a satisfied sigh. “I wish I was the one
responsible for your condition, but I’ll thank time and the diseases you
fostered with your vices for doing their job. However, I will be responsible
for the remaking of this city, you can count on that. My alliances have been in
place well before your first wheeze. Everything you’ve created will come
undone. This city will heal.
You always preached about forgiveness being healing, along
with other things you obviously didn’t really believe. But I think I will work
on forgiving someone. Myself. For not forgiving you. I don’t know if I ever
will, but I don’t think I have to in order to do what needs doing. I’m looking
forward to the first day I don’t have to think about you. That will be enough.”
And with that she left, the body in the chapel behind her
and a new day in front.
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| Photo by Maxime Gauthier on Unsplash |
Song Choice: Look Back in Anger by David Bowie
Liner Notes for This Groove: This short fiction was created for Poets and Storytellers United's Weekly Scriblings #19. I'll be taking one (maybe two) weeks off for a break after this. LOL, I was going to take off anyway as my husband and I had plans to go off and do something fun for our 25th anniversary. But even though we'll be celebrating at home, I'll still be taking my break.
