Egbert Yarrow stood watching as men filled in the grave. He had to look strong. He had to pull through this. It would be what she would have wanted - him to be as strong as she was. The tears which streaked down his face told a different story. How could he be strong when the only thing that made him strong had been taken away? Each shovelful of dirt that landed on the grave was another reminder that she was now gone from him. He felt cold - dead on the inside like the still body in the coffin below him.
Several serious looking men approached him carying a tomb stone which they showed to him asking for his approval of the simple message carved into it. With watering eyes he looked over the tombstone which read:
Ariagne Yarrow
Died aged 17
Most beloved daughter
How could so few words describe his daughter? She was so complicated, so rich and full, so scared, so scarred. She had come such a long way in such a short time from a spoilt brat to a young woman full of the promise of life.
Memories flooded in: memories of when he held her in his arms for the first time as a newborn wriggling little thing. Memories of when she was about five and fallen asleep in his lap after he had told her a little story of something insignificant - his precious little child. Memories of when she had run home giggling after kissing her first lad. Memories of when he caught her arguing with Carlotta. Memories of when she vanished for those lonely months. Memories of when she came back a changed woman in the company of an elf. Memories of when she told him her tales of terror from her time away. Memories of when she sheepishly went up to him and told him about a drunken night when she had got married to a common lad named Allandar. Memories of when she confessed her love to him for her lad Allandar.
Egbert rubbed his hands over his face, trying to take the tears away. Why do the young always die before their time? He had been sitting down in his study when they broke the news to him - two bodies had been found dead in the Chetwood. Ariagne and her lover had been found dead from stabbing. There were no witnesses. No one would ever know what happened. Such a low end for such promising youth. Tragedy in its worst form. The killer would never be brought to justice and the world would keep on turning without them.
Everything he saw reminded him of his beautiful daughter. He knew before the funeral even began that he would leave Bree lest he be haunted by her ghost forever. The business would sell well and he would send the money to those that Ariagne talked about so dearly. If only he knew where dwelt the elf Daerundros, or where Carlotta Oakenweed had gone after her banishment from Bree, or what family poor Allandar had. Still, he had a few people on his list to donate money too including Ariagne's poor mother and those that took Ariagne on her business trip to Forochel. How much he wanted to give the money to Ariagne for a wedding fund! How much he wanted to give the money to Ariagne's children that would never be.
He would leave. He would keep some of the money and use it for safe passage away from his home town. Perhaps one day he would return but he doubted it. No, he knew he would never return. This was a trip to take away the grief and he doubted he would survive. Ariagne would not live on through him. She would live on through those whose lives she had touched with her love and beauty. She would live on as a ray of light in the dark town of Bree where happiness never dwelt. She would live on through his tears.
At least she would never see the pain that her loss had caused him.
At least she was safe.
At least she was peaceful at last.
His brave Ariagne of whom he was so proud even to the last.
The men put down their shovels and turned away, allowing him just a moment to be with her again. Slowly, he dropped to his knees and bent down to kiss the freshly dug earth under which her body lay, his tears moistening the ground.
"Goodbye my most beloved daughter. I love you so much."
And then he stood, he turned and he walked away, never to return to Bree again.
