I lit the candle and pushed it into the river’s current, straightening as I watched it float toward the sea. It was for my beloved, taken from me last summer by raiders. I had already lit ones for my Father and Mother, gone these long years.

The sun finished setting, and I could see the flickering parade bright against the dark cloak of night. One each for those still loved by the living. I blew out the brand I was holding and took a deep breath. Tonight I should be dancing around the bonfires that dotted the hillside, lost in the drumming, in the touch of my beloved.

Instead I was mourning still, my skin burning with the hidden memory of him. I remembered fragrant nights of straw and bonfires when we danced together till the next sunrise.

This was the closest I would ever be to him again, this night when the veil was thinnest.

A sob caught me by surprise and I fell to my knees with the strength of it. Lashed by the sudden storm of grief, I could only ride it out, my cries echoing harshly in my ears.