Arc 716, 3rd Trial of Ashan
The grey, cloudy sky so clearly reflected the emotions that churned within the young nobleman. The scent of rain was in the air, the atmosphere charged with energy, a storm brewing above. The third in line to acquiring the title of Baron, trudged slowly through the slightly overgrow grass, stones protruding from the ground carved into tombstones, names and dates etched into the surface of each. He was alone in the city’s graveyard that sat just outside the outer walls.Today was the hardest trial of the arc for him. It was the trial his mother died four arcs prior.
It was the beginning of the downward spiral that sent him on the path he now found himself on. It started out small, spending more and more time away from home, distancing himself from his family that so reminded him of her. The family she had fought so hard to keep together. He slowly began to transition after time passed and began spending his time in the wine cellars, the place Mary and he sampled new wines that came in, gossiped and bonded over. It made him feel close to her again. Like she never left.
But then as more time went by, he realized he was tasting wine with a ghost. She was gone. And he was alone.
That’s when it got really bad. The tasting turned into drinking and the drinking into heavy consumption. It began affecting his day to day responsibilities and he became lethargic, sarcastic and indifferent. His father, began to notice which brought on the regular fighting, further distancing them and hardening their relationship. It was Mary that had kept them united. But without her, there didn’t seem like much hope for them.
Quincy came to a stop in front of a small gate and waist high fence. He unlatched it and stepped towards the stone structure that housed her remains. The baron had built it for her in her honor. The nobleman stepped past the pillars that stood beside the door and placed the flowers he carried down in front of it gently.
“Tulips were always your favorite, Ma.” He spoke softly, gaze downcast. “Eli and Jared wanted to come but they…they were busy.” He didn’t know where either were. They almost acted as though their mother never existed. He rarely saw his family, whether intentionally or because of conflicting schedules, he never knew. Nor really cared for that matter. They may have all lived in the same home but one would never know it.
He could feel his eyes filling up with tears as he looked at the etchings in the stone, ‘Mary Elizabeth Andaris, 662 – 712 Arc, Beloved Mother and Wife.' It was almost more than he could bare.
“I love you, Ma.” He couldn’t stand to be there and he all but ran to the gate, the landscaping swimming before his blurry eyes. In his haste, however, he had forgotten the gate was there. That is, until he ran into it, catching his boot in the elegantly designed bars and went sprawling, the gate all but kicking him out.
Quincy laid there, on the cobblestone path, motionless, staring up at the dark clouds that hung over him. The disheveled noble rolled himself over and leaned against the now closed gate. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a flask. He typically didn't drink hard liquor, preferring wine, but it had been a rough day and the quicker he could forget about it, the better.
He couldn't even begin to think how this day could get any worst.
