14th night of the Month of Ice, 6:00, Moonrise

It’s a somber night, the sky clouded and air cold with the threat of snow. The people of Neth wake slower and there are not cheerful sellers at the market. The people know better than show their joy when their royal family is in mourning.

Apollodora, second born of king Zeno, Infans and future advisor to prince Artemy, known to her family as just Dora behind doors, was mourning the hardest. Dressed in all red, face blotchy with shed and unshed tears. Sad as only a niece can be after loosing her favorite family member.

Her uncle, Mikhe, was just like her, an Infans, titleless and second born to the heir to the throne of Neth. Dora would never rule-not that she wanted to, who would want to lead that many people, to judge and punish?- just like Mikhe, and he had taught her everything he knew, who to listen to at the council, what documents she needed to read and when to push the king to do something. 

And now, Uncle Mikhe was gone forever, killed in cold blood, when Mani was absent in the sky, no witnesses, godly or human to the most horrible crime. 

Dora watches as the rest of her family breaks their fast in silence. Father the most affected, while mother seems to be deep in thought. Her brother doesn’t even look sad, but Dora is not surprised, Artemy hated their uncle. He’s devouring his bowl of fruit and spiced meats, from time to time, dropping a piece to the floor for Saghira to scavenge, his bowl of rice almost forgotten to the side. Meanwhile, father has not touched his plate and mother os mostly moving the food of hers around. Dora looks down at her own plate. She had asked the chef for the blandest food, as she did not feel like her stomach could handle even the littlest bit of flavor without throwing it back up. As result, her plate held only a simple vegetable soup and a piece of bread. 

“At what time is the Baru?” Asks Artemy suddenly, breaking the silence that had taken over the grand dining room of the Lunar Palace.

“As soon as we finish” growls father lowly, eyes fixed on his full plate. “The Nocturnals will attend also, but will leave before the omens are given”

“Are grandfather and aunt Wina attending also?” Asks Dora 

“Father will” says father “But Wina is not allowed”

“What!? Why?” Exclaims Dora. How is that fair? Why is the older sister of the victim not allowed in? 

“Aunt is not part of the family” interrupts Artemy before father can answer “She married uncle Firo and renounced the Drest name. Did you miss that day of class?”

Dora grumbles but doesn’t say anything else. Is not fair. She knew how much Aunt Wina loved uncle Mikhe, her littlest brother that she loved to pester, like Artemy did with Dora. She couldn’t even imagine the pain her aunt must be suffering, not being allowed to see her brother one last time before he joins Ayth. 

“She will be able to say her goodbyes afterwards Dora” says mother with a gentle tone “The cemetery allows all”

With a slight sob Dora nods and decides it’s time to eat her soup. The last thing she wants is to faint in the middle of the Baru. She had never attended one, but Artemy had. Their grandmother Bacchia had died when Artemy was a child and Dora just a baby. 

He had told her in gruesome detail everything that had happened; taking special pleasure in describing the entire dissection process and the smells that accompanied it. It wasn’t a secret that Dora dreaded the day that a familiar died, not just for the emotional pain, but also for the Baru. Dora did not want to faint in front of the Haruspex and the Nocturnals. The Haruspex had that strange ability to transmit his displeasure and disdain even with his face covered. Also, fainting-or even worse, throwing up- would have the added terrible bonus of being teased immensely by Artemy until the end of time itself. 

Is while Dora ponders the possibility of becoming laughingstock for her older brother, that father gets up from his seat, food untouched and mood getting worse by the second.

“We leave in ten minutes” he says right before disappearing behind the doors to the dining room.

It stays quiet after that, with only the sound of cutlery and the faint noises of servants walking around. Dora takes her spoon and ponders it for a second, would it be worse to eat or to stay hungry? 

“Such vanity, sister. Is your reflection that good of a sight that you must look at yourself in spoons now?” Teases Artemy, making Dora jump and then glare at him.

“Shut up” she growls in response, then pouts “I just don’t want to vomit at the Baru”

Mother makes a comforting noise and gets up from her chair to seat on the arms of Dora’s chair, petting her head gently.

“My sweet, the Baru just requires your presence, there’s no law forcing you to watch anything” says mother, kissing Dora’s head and giving her a smile.

Dora frowns, but that would be disrespectful, wouldn’t it? 

“Bari won’t care if you close your eyes, Dora” interjects Artemy. His plate of meat is now empty and Saghira has abandoned its shelter under the table to wander around the table, looking for more scraps. 

“Exactly, my sweet” smiles mother “Bari just wants us to accompany our family before she takes them away, with time, one becomes accustomed to it, but is healthy to be sick at the sight. No one will judge”

With a swallow, Dora looks up at Artemy, that smiles sincerely and pets Saghira’s enormous head when it approaches him and bumps against his shoulder. 

“I won’t laugh, Dora. I got sick that one time, you know? I even ran away!” He chuckles.

Dora nods, but inside she still wonders; this will be the last time she’ll be able to say goodbye to uncle, and she decides, that she will try to see, even if she gets sick or faints. She owes that to her uncle, the one that smiled at her always and gave her sweets in secret. 

Yes. She’ll watch and say goodbye. That is, after all, what the Baru is for, the omens are just an afterthought in her mind. Who cares about the future when she’s still living in the present?