I clung to her, sobbing, because I was a daughter who had lost her mother. Despite our rocky relationship, she did love me, and I did love her. She was the only person that knew what it was like to be Queen, to give me advice, to shepherd me into this world, and she was gone.

I alowed myself an afternoon to realy feel the loss, to feel the new hole that had been torn inside of me. That was al the time I had to mourn Elora, and then I had so much more I needed to do. But for that one afternoon, I let myself cry over everything we’d never been able to have, and the moments we’d shared that were worth treasuring.

Wila eventualy puled me away from Elora’s body so Garrett could begin the funeral arrangements, and she took me to Matt’s room. He hugged me and let me cry, and I’d never been more grateful for my brother. Without him, I’d feel like an orphan.

Tove stayed with me in Matt’s room, not saying anything, and eventualy, Duncan joined us. I sat on the floor with my back leaning against the bed, and Matt sat beside me. Wila had sobered up rather quickly, and she sat on the bed behind me, her long legs draped over the edge.

“I hate to leave you like this, but I think I should I go help my father.” Wila touched my head when she stood up. “He shouldn’t be doing this alone.”

“I can help him.” I started to push myself up, but Matt put his hand on my arm.

“You can help tomorrow,” Matt said. “You’re going to have a lot to do. Today, you can be sad.”

“Matt’s right,” Wila said. “I can handle this for now.”

“Alright.” I settled back down and wiped my eyes. “We need to keep this to ourselves if we can. Keep her death quiet, and hold off on the funeral for as long as possible. I don’t want the King to find out.”

“He wil eventualy,” Wila said gently.

“I know.” I rested my elbows on my knees and turned to Tove.

“How long do I have until I’m Queen?”

“Three days,” Tove said. He leaned back against Matt’s dresser, his legs crossed at the ankle. “Then somebody has to be coroneted.”

“So we have three days.” I let out a deep breath, my mind racing with al the things that had to be done.

“We’l keep this quiet,” Duncan said. “You can arrange a private funeral.”

“We can’t keep the death of the Queen secret forever,” I said.

“We have to begin to prepare now.”

“I’l be back as soon as I can,” Wila said, offering me an apologetic smile. “Take care, okay?”

“Of course,” I nodded absently.