He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was relieved that she was leaving this part of the task to him. No one should ever have to dig up their loved one. Every shovel full of dirt was as heavy as his whole heart, a stone of sorrow that pulled at his soul even more than his arms, and there was a sick dread in his chest at what shape the body would be found in. Even knowing that it was necessary to return Sascha to life didn't make the current task all that much easier to bear in the immediate present.
"Snow an' water? 'Least th'Greatwood is clean again. We'll get y'there after this. An'... Alys? Why don't we leave Sascha - her body, I mean - somewhere safe til you've got th'rest? We can put her - it - in th'cellar here. Or maybe there's a place in th'Refuge." At least Flowerbirth in King's End was chilly enough that rot wouldn't be as much of a problem as it would be in warmer regions. And while Halo would be even better, he wasn't about to suggest taking the little bear's body back there again so soon.
He turned over another scoop of dirt, growing slower and more careful the deeper he went. The ground was hard and it wasn't easy to be gentle but the courier did his best to break the earth apart without doing anything to damage what was lying an unknown distance beneath. Alys's voice washed over him, offering welcome distraction and comfort that Tal needed as much as she did. "Yeah? What... what'd they say about it?" He was as desperate for something else to talk about as she was and he grasped gratefully for the thread she offered.
"Snow an' water? 'Least th'Greatwood is clean again. We'll get y'there after this. An'... Alys? Why don't we leave Sascha - her body, I mean - somewhere safe til you've got th'rest? We can put her - it - in th'cellar here. Or maybe there's a place in th'Refuge." At least Flowerbirth in King's End was chilly enough that rot wouldn't be as much of a problem as it would be in warmer regions. And while Halo would be even better, he wasn't about to suggest taking the little bear's body back there again so soon.
He turned over another scoop of dirt, growing slower and more careful the deeper he went. The ground was hard and it wasn't easy to be gentle but the courier did his best to break the earth apart without doing anything to damage what was lying an unknown distance beneath. Alys's voice washed over him, offering welcome distraction and comfort that Tal needed as much as she did. "Yeah? What... what'd they say about it?" He was as desperate for something else to talk about as she was and he grasped gratefully for the thread she offered.
