Chapter 92: Preparations for Zena’s Farewell

Chapter 91: Preparations for Zena’s Farewell

The air inside Zena’s home was heavy with the weight of the dead. Orion could swear it smelled like the dead also but he may be exaggerating.

The curtains had been drawn to dim the sunlight, muting the noise from the streets beyond. Outside, the early rhythms of the Festival were only just beginning but here it felt like another world entirely.

Orion stood in the middle of the main room, Ronan who had called out to Orion using a megaphone wasn’t even in the home yet.

Two coroners moved respectfully along the edge of the room, preparing their tools for the temporary preservation ritual. One murmured an incantation along with Madam Tyler over a small bowl of clean water while the other laid a clean white shroud on a table they had brought with them.

Zena’s body lay on her bed, as though she had simply dozed off. Someone, likely Rita had combed her silver-threaded hair back and straightened her dress. Even in death, Zena looked stubbornly dignified.

The front door creaked open. Orion didn’t need to look to know who it was.

"Alpha," Ronan’s voice came, bright with smug amusement. He stepped into the room holding the same megaphone he’d used to summon Orion minutes earlier. "Before you glare at me, I was doing my beta duties."

Orion turned, his face blank for a heartbeat before a slow, wicked grin broke across it. Without missing a beat, he lifted his hand and extended his middle finger at Ronan.

Ronan burst out laughing, the sound low and rich in the quiet space. "Oh, don’t do that. Respect the dead please." Ronan told him. "And besides, you are not exactly sleek at sneaking off."

Behind him, Daniel coughed into his hand to cover a chuckle. Caspian simply raised an eyebrow, the lines around his eyes deepening with something that was not quite disapproval but not quite amusement either.

Madam Tyler who had finished with the incantation, shook her head and muttered something under her breath about "uncouth men" before stepping farther into the room.

"You really had to use a megaphone?" Orion asked him.

Ronan shrugged. "I’ve always wanted to use it and besides what better way to get your attention than to use this?" Ronan asked him as he placed the megaphone on a stool.

"And you got my attention, yippee." He told him dryly. He glanced toward Zena’s still form, and the smile slipped from his face. "This is the last thing I wanted to be doing today."

The words hung in the air. Even Ronan, irrepressible as he was, let the silence linger for a moment before moving closer.

Madam Tyler was the first to break it. She folded her hands neatly in front of her, her robes whispering softly against the floorboards. "We must discuss how she is to be laid to rest."

Orion turned to face his council, his expression hardening back into that of a leader. "We honor the dead swiftly," he said. "That’s our way. A body is not meant to linger between states."

"Yes," Madam Tyler said gently, "but this is not any other day."

Caspian snorted, a sharp sound in the quiet room. "Don’t tell me you’re suggesting we keep her here longer. You’ve lectured every family for years about doing things quickly, according to the old ways."

Madam Tyler’s head snapped toward him. "Caspian, have you lost your ears or just your sense? This isn’t about the old ways... it’s about the meaning of this day."

"Oh, here we go," Caspian muttered, rubbing at his temple.

Daniel’s lips quirked as though he wanted to step between them but knew better. Ronan leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching with a kind of lazy amusement. He’d seen this dance before, everyone has seen it before.

Madam Tyler took a breath and smoothed her robes. When she spoke again, her voice was steadier but still edged with heat. "Zena was the oldest among us after you, Caspian. And though she was sick, she remained respected. This festival honors those we’ve lost to the enclave — families torn apart, homes destroyed. Do you think it means nothing that Zena lost her entire family to that attack? Today of all days, the people will be thinking of their dead."

Caspian’s eyes narrowed. "So you’d have her body sit in limbo for theatrics?"

"This isn’t theatrics!" Madam Tyler snapped. "This is ritual. This is respect. Let the people honor her tomorrow, when they are ready. Not today, when they are consumed by their own mourning."

The coroners shifted uneasily, but said nothing. This was a discussion amongst the elders.

Orion watched them both for a moment, his arms folding across his chest. His eyes flicked to Ronan, who raised his eyebrows in a silent question: Well?

"I’m inclined to agree with Madam Tyler," Daniel said finally, his voice even. "Zena was part of the old guard. People will need space to grieve before they can celebrate her life properly. And tomorrow... tomorrow they will be calmer."

Caspian opened his mouth, then closed it again, his gaze flicking toward Zena’s still face. Something in his shoulders softened. "She hated waiting," he muttered. "Always said funerals should be swift, like tearing off a bandage."

Madam Tyler’s expression softened just slightly. "And yet she attended every ritual I ever called for, even the ones she mocked and even while sick."

Caspian gave her a sideways look. "You’re impossible."

"You’re insufferable."

Ronan’s mouth twitched. "You two should get matching chairs at the council table," he said under his breath.

That earned him a sharp look from both at once, and Daniel had to turn away to hide a laugh.

Orion exhaled slowly, the sound like a growl caught halfway in his chest. "Enough," he said quietly, but the word carried weight. The bickering stopped. "We’ll do as our customs allow: the coroners will preserve her for one day. Tomorrow, at dawn, we’ll hold the burial. Today the people will have their festival and their private grief. Tonight we’ll announce it officially."

The coroners bowed slightly. "As you command, Alpha."

"Thank you," Madam Tyler said softly, the fight gone from her voice.

Caspian grunted. "Fine. One day. But not a heartbeat more."

Orion moved to Zena’s bedside, his hand brushing the air just above hers but not quite touching. For all his composure, there was a flicker in his eyes a private grief, quickly masked. "She deserves better than a hurried ritual," he said, almost to himself.

Ronan, unusually subdued, stepped forward, "I’ll handle the public announcement tonight," he said. "Make sure people know what’s coming."

"Good," Orion said. "Keep it simple. No theatrics."

"Who, me?" Ronan’s grin returned, but it was faint.

The coroners began their work quietly, setting bowls of clear water at each corner of the bed and unrolling the shroud. The scent of crushed herbs rose into the air. One murmured a prayer under his breath, an old one, older than the pack itself.

Madam Tyler turned to Orion. "I’ll prepare the blessing for tomorrow’s rite," she said.

Orion nodded.

Daniel glanced toward the window, where muted drumbeats drifted in from the distance. "It’s strange," he murmured. "All that life out there. All this quiet in here."

"It’s the festival," Ronan said, leaning against the wall again. "Life and death, side by side. Always has been."

Caspian gave a short, approving grunt. "At least you understand something."

Ronan only smiled.

Orion straightened, his eyes hardening back into the steel of command. "We’ve decided," he said. "Zena will be preserved until tomorrow. The burial will take place at dawn, with full rites. Ronan, handle the announcement. Madam Tyler, prepare the blessing. Caspian, coordinate with the coroners to ensure everything’s ready."

He looked at each of them in turn. "She will have the respect she’s earned."

For a moment, no one spoke. The only sound was the murmur of the coroners’ prayers.

Then Ronan clapped his hands once, softly. "All right. Let’s get to work."

One by one, they began to move, Madam Tyler sweeping out to prepare her rites, Caspian lingering just long enough to touch the edge of the shroud before following her, Daniel offering a nod to Orion before slipping outside. Ronan stayed a moment longer, watching the coroners with an odd expression on his face.

"You okay?" Orion asked him quietly. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Ronan blinked, then smirked. "I’m always okay. It’s sad though, I thought she’d out live old man Caspian."

"Yeah...me too." Orion told him quietly.