The courtyard emptied slowly.
Grief moved like a slow tide.
Wolves drifted away in quiet clusters beneath the fading grey sky while the last echoes of the funeral bell dissolved into the distant forest, and though the ceremony had ended the air still carried the lingering heaviness of sorrow that clung stubbornly to the stone walls of the estate.
Elara remained standing near the wooden platform.
She did not hurry away.
The carved plaques had been carried off by families who would now place them beside hearths or bury them beneath quiet trees where memories might rest beside the fallen, and watching those grieving figures disappear through the iron gates stirred a deep ache inside her chest that refused to fade even as the courtyard grew quieter.
A group of female wolves lingered nearby.
Their whispers carried softly.
