3
Candles
1,583
The entire city of Littiaga wore a heavy coat of snow, but her streets were beaten bare by the many paws coming too and fro.
The Daja, up upon the hill was more alive than it had been all winter, for every traveler, everyone who lived outside of the city walls , were gathering inside it for the Festival of lights.
In one of the private chambers restricted from the public, Jade stood at the window, staring down at the busy courtyard.
"Are you going to make Vrell take care of everything?"
She didn't turn as her sister joined her at the window.
"No."
"So what are you doing right now?"
"Enjoying the view."
Jasmine laughed roughly "Better to enjoy it up here than actually be down there."
Jade turned "Didn't you just come from there?"
"Yes," Jasmine's smile faded into something much more tense as she set a small silk bag on the windowsill "Here they are."
Jade untied the string and gently plucked out the two small black candles.
"Do you think that the black is appropriate? I know it's for parents, but red didn't seem respectful."
"Black is good," Jade murmured absently, tracing over the names of their adopted parents carved into the wax stumps "It's right."
"Good... You think this is the right thing to do?"
Jade sighed "They haven't had candles burned for them in ten years. They are our parents just as much as Kif and Tigretta, we never thought otherwise, have we?"
"No," Jasmine conceded "I just... I don't know, it doesn't feel like burning a candle is enough."
"It isn't," Jade set the candles down "One candle, one night a year isn't enough for everything they did," tears glistened at the edges of her eyes "I know that."
Jasmine swallowed back the lump in her throat "But we do it anyway."
Jade didn't answer, she'd gone back to tracing the names on the candles.
The emotionally charged silence was broken by the whisper of faberic dragging along the floor. They turned as Vrell stumbled around the corner, the edges of his robes stained and soaked with the dirty slush of the courtyards.
His shoulders were slumped from the weary hours of organizing the many guests and his face was tight from keeping his temper in check, but he smiled when he saw Jade and she smiled back, but they were both wan and holding back a flood.
Jasmine could almost taste the tears.
The Festival of lights was supposed to be a time of honor and release from the painful emotions, a beautiful way to remember lost loved ones. Maybe Jasmine was doing it wrong or thinking about it too much, but she usually spent the hours after crying.
Freya had just finished convincing her overexcited daughter to take a nap- it had taken nearly half an hour and repeated promises that the little girl would not miss the lighting of the first candles- when the window shot open and a lump of blond fur and snow tumbled onto the floor.
Freya looked on with no surprise as her husband stood up and shook the snow from his fur, only tossed him a rag to mop up the puddle that was spreading around his feet.
"What?" He asked of her silence "Why are ye mad at me? Ah gotchya candles."
"I'm not mad," she clipped, turning away from him.
"Well then what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
He crossed his arms "Well there's something wrong. Look, Ah even mopped up my mess."
He flicked the wet rag up to demonstrate his effectiveness in cleaning and smacked himself full on in the face.
She snorted as he yanked the rag of his face and flung it on the table.
"Oh aye, ya laugh when Ah make a fool o' meself," He rolled his eyes and pulled a small pouch from his belt and set it on the table "Ye'd better check to make sure they got the names right."
She plucked out the two black candles and read the names carved into their sides.
"They're right," she murmured, clutching them "thank you."
"Just glad they're right."
She nodded as she realized that the bag wasn't empty and she pulled out another pair of black candles.
"Oh, those are mine."
She nodded slowly, reading the names "I thought you weren't going to light any."
"Ah,weel, Ah thought I could nae hurt anythin'," he shrugged lightly, as if he didn't actually feel anything significant "Honor their memory an all that."
She smiled thinly "Yes, all that."
He paused tilting his head "You're not alright are you?"
"No, I'm not alright. This is supposed to be a peaceful time of remembering and I feel anything but peaceful," she put the candles down to wipe at her eyes "I don't understand how everyone else is so...happy."
"That's cause the way you lost your parents was anythin' but peaceful," he slipped an arm around her shoulder "Most everyone out there lost a family member to old age or somethin' and it's sad, but they've got a lot of that long life to celebrate. So no one's gang to blame ya when you're sad cause you've got somethin' to be sad about."
She shook her head "You make no sense sometimes."
"Oi! Ah make plenty o' sense!"
"No, not really, but you think you do," she pecked his cheek "Thanks for trying."
Freeta pinned her ears back as she heard the familiar clattering along the path and hoped that he was simply on an errand to another part of the Daja.
The door to the infirmary opened with a creak, letting the biting teeth of winter come blasting into her sanctuary.
"Freeta, are you in here?"
She pinned her ears back "Well, I wouldn't be anywhere else, would I?"
"Well, clearly not," he came clattering into the second room, where Freeta was sitting slumped at a table surrounded by candles and wax shavings.
He paused and his throat tightened as he counted; two black for her parents, three green for her children, one white for her mate, and one red for Shift. Seven.
He swallowed.
"What do you need?" She asked sharply digging colored wax out from under her claws.
"I was wondering if you...if you needed help...getting your candles.."
"No," she said flatly.
"Did you carve out the names yourself?" He asked, picking up the red candle and tracing over the symbol of Shift's name.
"Yes... I felt bad about making them carve in all the names. It was so busy and... there was such a long line."
He nodded, pretending that he believed that she had done it for any other reason then that she couldn't have stood to let anyone do it but herself.
"Is Lyra going to light any?"
"No. She can help me."
"Have you seen her by the way? I've been looking for Jon-tai and I thought they might be together."
"No, I haven't. She's probably hiding. She hates the crowd."
"In all honesty, I'm not particularly fond of our quiet Daja being invaded. I understand that they don't really have anywhere else to go or stay, but I wish they'd at least packed a lunch."
The sun was almost gone and everyone was gathering, the residents of Littiaga on their roofs with their candles, and the guests along the walls of the Daja.
Lyra stared at the backs of the terrifying strangers, with their terrifying scents and their terrifying voices, she wanted to stand at the wall, watch the starting ceremony, but she was terrified.
"Hey!"
She jumped and whirled around as a voice rasped behind her.
"Hey, hey it's just me!" Jon-tai shuffled out of the dark corner "What are you doing?"
She sniffled and held up two black candles.
"Oh."
She tilted her ears.
"No, I don't have any to light. Do you have matches?"
She shook her head.
"Here," he pulled her further away from the crowd and set her two candles down on a small flat stone "I have some matches. I'll help you, okay?"
She nodded.
He smiled in the dim light and picked up one of her candles, feel the smooth unmarked sides "You didn't get their names carved into it?"
She shook her head.
He bit down on his lip and tugged his small knife free from his belt "Do you know their names?"
She shook her head.
"Oh... Here, I can mark out this one as mother and this one as father, is that okay?"
She bobbed her head happily and wagged her tail as he began to slit the symbols into the wax.
Vrell shivered as he stepped out onto the balcony, above all the rest of the city and the Daja.
The tall white candle, standing on a brass base, was waiting for him and one of the servants standing by with a brazier.
He nodded his thanks and stepped up to the candle with the flame in his hands.
He glanced to either side, Jade on his right, Jasmine on his left, Jade smiled faintly and Jasmine kept her eyes fixed in her candle.
He took in a deep breath and held up the tiny flame high, then slowly brought it down and lit the white candle.
Jade and Jasmine lit their candles simultaneously.
Then, those lower on the Daja lit their candles and like a glowing pool of light it spilled out over the walls and spread until the whole city was an ocean of candlelight.
