We’re going to have a memorial for Elizabeth. Alex asked me to meet up with her and ride with her to it.
I’ll happily keep her company.
As we rode there, she told me about her relationship with Elizabeth.
We’d get into fights more times than I could count. She was always scolding me for being too reckless. And don’t get me started on all her stupid rules!
Before her I never had that, you know? I know my mom loved us, and tried to provide for five kids as a single mom as best she could, but…it wasn’t enough. She wasn’t there. I had to figure out how to keep food on the table, how to keep our clothes clean, where to hide the things you cared about so they wouldn’t get stolen. I was always bailing James out of trouble but there was no one to catch me when I fell.
Until Elizabeth.
When I did something stupid, she was the one who picked me up at the station. When I failed, she would tell me to try again. All those rules weren’t her trying to make me into someone else. She was helping me be my best self. It was love, and I was too stubborn to see it.
Elizabeth was the first person to see me as not just some angry kid raging against the world, but as someone better. Someone who could be a hero.
Poor Alex, she was especially close to Elizabeth. This is so hard on her
We arrived at the funeral and Lisa gave Alex some advice about grieving. I guess she has experience loosing a mother, too.
Time to mingle, see what everyone has to say about Elizabeth.
Derek asked the soul riders to tell him about Elizabeth, since he didn’t really know her.
Linda talked about her knowing better than anyone what it’s like to be a soul rider, since she used to be one herself.
Anne said Elizabeth taught her to be herself, even under the pressure of her parents and her family’s reputation.
Linda added that she admired that Elizabeth wasn’t afraid to show that she didn’t have all the answers, but encouraged her to seek them out and learn as much as she can. Even when she was keeping things from us, she was doing it to protect us.
Derek asked if we’ll be okay without such a great leader, and we admitted it will be hard but we’ll get through this together.
Herman told stories of Elizabeth first coming to Jorvik. She struggled to learn to ride on just some training horse before she found her Concorde. She was shy and nervous around horses at first, but she loved them as much as anyone filled with the light of Aideen. One day while they were out on a ride, her horse spooked and ran off into the forest with her. Later she returned, having not only stayed on the horse’s back, but managed to calm the horse down. Something must’ve happened out in the forest that day, because ever since then she was an amazing rider.
Herman also talked about Starbreeds and how they often reflect their rider. Soul riders, too, will start to reflect their horses when their bond is strengthened. Every Concorde he’s met, and that’s three generations now, has beamed with pride. Before Elizabeth met him, she was determined but shy. She would let others take credit for her accomplishments. When she bonded with Concorde, his pride rubbed off on her and her confidence blossomed. She embraced her talents and no longer let anyone push her around.
Spymaster said that when he first heard what had happened to her, his first thought was that he had never returned her hairbrush. He didn’t even notice he was crying until one of his little critters came to comfort him. Grieving is a funny thing, and everybody does it differently. It’s those little silly moments, like swapping hair products, that he will miss the most.
Mrs Holdsworth expressed regret that she couldn’t have known Elizabeth better. The druids don’t look too kindly on witches, and Elizabeth had her own reasons to not trust witchcraft. Still, she always had the utmost respect for her.
Nic said he could’ve been a druid if he wanted, but he was too interested in exploring, and it would’ve required him to stay put. He sensed that Elizabeth was the same way, and that she missed that she couldn’t go wandering. They would regularly have lunch together and she would bake him banana bread in exchange for stories of his adventures.
Captain Brus said he remembers Elizabeth as a firey-haired teenage stowaway who ran away to Jorvik to make a difference. Around thirty years ago he was asked by the keepers of Aideen to dock his boat in a certain place for an hour, and then take off. No cargo to load or unload, just dock for a while and then leave. He knew better than to ask too many questions of the druids, so he did as they asked. Soon he found why he’d been ask to dock there. He found Elizabeth hiding under a tarp in a lifeboat. She was shivering, wet, and half starved. He took her up to his cabin and got her tea and sandwiches and listened as she told him about the wicked home she was escaping, the strange dreams that had been haunting her, and the strange symbol that appeared on her leg. It was the symbol of the sun circle. He’s worked with her many times since then, both when she was a soul rider and after horrible tragedy broke apart her sisterhood, and she has always shined bright with the light of that stowaway who fled to Jorvik long ago. She was a girl who gave up her name and became a “Sunbeam”.
Maya said she wishes she got to know Elizabeth better. She was always a little afraid of her. She seemed to look at her like she expected her to mess up at any moment. Alex said that’s because Maya snuck into the Stone Circle once, Fripp was so angry.
Aw, poor Maya just wants to be a hero like Alex. Also, it sounds like Alex spends all her time after missions crashing on Maya’s couch and eating all her food. That’s so cute
Agnetha explained that all the red wild roses are because they were Elizabeth’s favorite flower. She said she wants to plant a whole bunch of them around Jorvik to remember her.
Elizabeth’s horse, Calanthe, will need someone to look after her now. Rhiannon first suggests Avalon, but he protests that he doesn’t have enough time to care for a horse right now. Evergray, on the other hand, really needs to stop hitching rides with me. Plus Calanthe seems to like him. I think they’ll get along great.
Concorde is too young to really understand what has happened, but she can feel the loss of someone so strong in the sun circle. The other guardians reassured her that Elizabeth’s soul will live on in her memory.
Finally, the memorial is over. The soul riders got together for a meeting.
Without Elizabeth, we’re kind of on our own now. We need to figure out what’s next for us. We decide to focus on two things we need before we can fight Dark Core and Garnok.
We need to heal Fripp. We need his guidance.
And we need to figure out what to do about Concorde. Anne can’t very well ride into battle on a foal, after all.