Page 83 of Owned By Two

The human undertakers had done a good job with James’s body.

It had taken me some time to get used to the idea of someonedressing upa body and puttingmakeupon it, as well as all the other crazy things they did to make the dead body look as alive as possible.

What the obsession was with trying to make it look alive when it was already dead was beyond me.

Death was beautiful, an honor, nothing more than a period at the end of the sentence that was life.

I supposed it was like trying to look young even as you aged, attempting to fight nature and cling to what society said was beautiful.

The truth was, there was a great deal of wealth and treasure in getting old — you had real experience and had been through all the trials and tribulations that the young had not.

And many of them wouldn’t live through it.

The oldhadsucceeded and that was something to be thankful for.

The Elkik attitude toward the dead was to let the body be as it fell — no matter their condition.

This was done as a sign of respect to the fallen, so their friends and family could see the great struggle they had endured to combat Death.

There was never any defeating it, but you could meet it with honor.

I had earnestly asked the human undertaker if, when a body was lost in battle, it was his job to make a completelyfakebody for the family to grieve for.

He looked at me like I was insane.

I was surprised by how life-like James appeared lying on his deathbed…muchbetter than he had when he was alive if truth be told.

But even relaxed as he was in his casket, they hadn’t managed to completely iron out the deep thought lines on his brow.

He was just as thoughtful in death as he had been in life and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him up in his human heaven, issuing orders in an attempt to continue to grow his empire even there, and plot to take over the place.

He would live in the afterlife as he had lived in life, of that, I was sure.

I leaned down and kissed James on both cheeks, shut my eyes, and muttered a prayer of protection under my breath.

It wasn’t much, but it was all I could give him.

I would repeat the prayer for him each and every day I was alive.

He had been a good boss and I would never forget him.

I left no gifts in his casket as it was the Elkik belief that you left the universe precisely the same way you had entered it:

With nothing.

Saying goodbye to James was just about the hardest thing I ever had to do…

Until a few minutes later when I had to do the same thing with Lizzy.

I turned to find her, and found she was keeping herself busy by fussing with various Earth flowers and ornaments.

She was dressed in another dress I had designed for her — very much last-minute and done in a rush — but I was pleased to see her wearing it.

It was full-length with few adornments and a veil that she could pull up to conceal her face if she wished.

I thought it was a nice touch as she could disguise any tears she might have streaming down her face.

She kept herself busy for the most part, issuing orders to servants and funeral staff, making various comments to a holy human male who wore fetching flowing robes and carried a worn book in his hands.

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