Chapter Four - Goodbye My Friend

I gradually opened my eyes, to find I was facing the window at the far end of the room. Not recalling where I was, I sat up quickly looking around before sighing as it all came back to me. As I wiped my eyes I realised I was under the covers. I didn't remember falling asleep but I was pretty sure I never got in the bed. Just then there was a knock on the door, "I'm coming in" said a voice before from behind the door. Paige walked in and came over to where I was. Wondering how I got here I asked, "Did you mo-" before I have a chance to finish my sentence she replied, "Yes. I moved you. When I came back in you had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable looking position so I thought it was best that I did." I looked at her. "Oh. Right. Thanks." I was still unsure about what had happened between us. "It's only been a few hours. The preparations for your friends send off are finished. That's what I came for." I sighed looking down at the sheets. "Oh yeah.. I'm coming." I responded as I climbed out from beneath the covers. "I put your belongings inside the wardrobe. If you need anything it's all in there." she said as she left the room once again.

I walked over to the wardrobe and pulled the heavy wooden doors open. I put on some tidier clothing and attempted to find my way to the castle gardens. On the way back through the dining hall I noticed a vase of wildflowers. Marie always used to put wildflowers in my room back home. I thought it would be fitting to finally exchange the favour. I grabbed them and continued looking for the way out. "Over here!" Paige shouted from the door at the end of the room. "Follow me!" I dawdled along behind her as she guided me to the gardens.

It took a minute or two for us to get there but when we did I was completely gobsmacked. Just the garden alone was equally as beautiful as the whole of what I had seen so far put together. Somehow the sky over the garden seemed to shine brighter than it did else where. There were blossom trees all around, some of which were sky blue instead of pink or purple and the grass was the most vibrant green you could ever imagine. In the center of the garden there were was an archway made of bamboo. There were many chairs with people in them gathered around the stone coffin in which Marie was lay.

The amazement I felt soon disappeared as I walked up to Marie and placed the wildflowers in her hand. I looked across to Paige, "I stole them from your dining hall. Sorry." She smiled back. "I really don't mind at all." she said, before taking a seat. I took a seat next to her. "Who even are these people?" I asked. "Most of them are my family who live here and the rest are townspeople who saw you carry her through the village earlier. They might not have known her or know you, but they can still feel your pain. I doubt there are many people here who haven't lost at least one close person in their life." I remained quiet looking at the ground. Once a few guards had turned up to keep an eye on things, Paige stood up in front of everyone. "As you all know. My friend Luke here has lost a dear friend. But-" she paused. "you should also know that I am to blame." I looked at her and she looked back at me. "I am unbelievably sorry. I wish so much that I could go back and make things turn out different." She turned to look at Marie. "Marie.. I will never forgive myself for my actions. I imagine you were an incredible person. It would have been nice to get to know you. Rest well." I tried my best to contain my tears. I did not wish to say anything as I knew there wasn't enough combined time in the world to say all the things I wished to say. Instead, I simply whispered, "Goodbye my friend. I will never forget you." As Paige sat down, music began to play as they carried Marie to where she was to be buried, between two blossom trees. It was a slow piano melody which made it harder to keep away the tears. I made conversation to prevent them while sniffling. "I play piano you know.." I said to Paige. She put an arm over my shoulder to comfort me. "Oh really? That's really nice. I love the sound of piano, I'm not much good at playing it though. There is a beautiful glass piano in the music room, perhaps you could teach me some time." I smiled a little. "Yeah, maybe." As they began filling the hole in which they had placed Marie, people came up to me one by one and shook my hand. "I'm glad you could join us here, I'm sorry for you loss." was amongst some of the comments I received.

After everybody had cleared out, Paige stood up and offered me a hand up too. I took it and as she pulled me up she said, "Oh, she will get a head stone soon too. We've got somebody on that." I smiled slightly. "Yeah. Thanks. All this means a lot. She'd have found this place amazing. It's the perfect place for her." She smiled back. "I'm so glad. You should go back inside, I have some things to take care of. When I'm done we will have dinner with the rest of my family alright?" I nodded in reply. Just then she kissed me on the cheek and walked off. I stood still in confusion again. I really had no idea what was going on between us. Perhaps the things we'd done or said don't mean the same thing around here. I just didn't know. I decided to make my way back to my room.