Chapter 151: Chapter 134 – Cleaning A Grave with One’s Hands

"Cleaning graves has long been a semi ritualized part of Al-Shan culture. Those with great wealth would often arrange elaborate ceremonies and hire professional cleaners, to show their affluence and their respect to the dead. However, what's considered the highest form of respect and dedication to the departed, was actually well within even poor folks' means. It is the act of cleaning the graves yourselves, with your own two hands, that is considered the highest form of respect given to the dead." - Elmer Wachowski, scholar of culture from Port Serda.

It was not a long walk to the gravesite of Calais Edrunviel and Samantha Ambervale. A mere fifteen minutes worth of journey for the group, as they soon spotted the small grave, buried in snow, and set slightly within the small grove of trees, facing the frozen lake.

 

When Cal's parents were still alive, that spot used to be their favorite spot, as it was positioned just right to see the sunset shine beautifully over the lake, and before her mother died, she had requested to be buried there. Her father had requested the same of her near his passing, and she had respected his wishes.

 

"Father, Mother," Cal whispered as she knelt before the grave, and reverently cleaned the piled up snow with her bare hands. The cold wasn't even a bother for her, and she had not bothered with gloves.

 

Besides her Khal-Est and Idania solemnly knelt down as well, as they joined her in the work of cleaning up their father's tomb with her. The rest of the family looked on solemnly from behind them, while some like Lorna and Unitia gave prayers according to their respective faiths for the departed.

 

It took them ten minutes or so to cleanse the small tomb - really just a smallish rectangular stone pillar, with Calais and Samantha's names engraved on its front face in Al-Shan scripture. Beneath the pillar lay a small stone chamber that housed urns filled with the ashes of Cal's parents, with room for several more as it was traditional for tombs to be familial in Al-Shan.

 

Together they had polished the stone clean, and Cal went to the lake to cleanse the receptacle for incense, as melted snow had permeated its contents. The upper layer of the lake was frozen, but she simply punched hard and broke the ice, before she washed the brass receptacle in the frigid waters until it shined again.

 

Then she filled the receptacle with fine ashes, solidified it into a neat, low mound, and set it before the gravestone. The stone plates for offerings to its sides, she also took to the river and washed, to be filled with offerings of fruits her father used to love - with each half sibling carrying some from their own region -, arranged carefully on the plates, and placed back where they were.

 

Cal then took some incense sticks from her pendant - not the finest incense sticks, but simple ones that smelled of sandalwood, that used to be a favorite of her father, and mother too - and passed some on to her half siblings while telling them what to do with it.

 

They each lit five incense sticks, knelt before the grave, prayed for a while with their eyes closed, before they gave a deep bow, and reverently placed the incense sticks in a neat formation on the prepared receptacle.

 

After they paid their respects, they stood aside and gave way, as Unitia knelt before the grave and paid her respect to her late husband. She had asked Cal for some incense too to respect the customs of the land Calais had chosen as his place of eternal rest, and Cal gave her seven as befit her seniority.

 

For Vark, Elaina, and Sidonie, she gave them three each, while Leila and Ilena - helped by her mother since she was still too young to really understand - had a single incense stick each.

 

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After they all paid their respects, Cal took out a broom with rough bristles, and swept the snow in the area surrounding the grave away. The rest of the family joined her in the endeavor, and fifteen minutes later that patch of land had been cleared of every sign of snow.

 

"Celeysria, child, why not build a roof over the grave instead?" Asked Unitia after they had cleaned the area and was readying to return.

 

"Father had not wished for it," replied Cal as she remembered the days when her parents were still around. "Before he died, he had asked specifically for an uncovered grave, to return to nature, in his words."

 

"That… does sound like him, indeed," sighed Unitia with some sadness, but also some relief that the man she had loved had not changed much in the centuries they had been apart. "Thank you for bringing us to visit him, child. For that you have my gratitude."

 

"There is no need for gratitude, Aunt Tia. We are family, and I just did what I'm certain my father would have liked me to do."

 

The family then walked back to the farm where Zhang Wen and his family lived, and along the way, while Unitia was occupied with teasing Ilena, Idania leaned close to Cal and whispered in a very low voice that only the two of them could hear.

 

"Thank you, sister, for having given my mother closure at last," Idania whispered to Cal's ear. "She had always pined for father these long centuries… and this visit… might just be what she needed to move on with her life."

 

"I only did as was proper," replied Cal in return, in a similarly low whisper. "But I am glad that it has aided her so, and I'm sure father would be happy as well."

 

Together they walked, slightly more somber than before, but also with relief of having done what they came for, and before long they had reached the farm.

 

Originally they had planned to return right away, but when they heard that Zhang Wen had already ordered a suckling pig and two chickens butchered and a feast cooked up, they couldn't turn down his offer of hospitality without feeling bad, and thus stayed the night at the farm instead.

 

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