Kaelen died in the spring, on the day the first gold flowers opened their petals to the sun.She was sitting on the stone bench, her hands resting on the blooms, her eyes fixed on the horizon. The witnesses had gathered for the equinox celebration, and they found her there at dawn, her breathing still, her face peaceful. The gold flowers around her pulsed with a light so bright that the garden seemed to hold its breath.Solenne knelt beside her and closed Kaelen's eyes. "She is with them now. All of them. The Archivist, Clara, Morwen, Seren, Iriel, Winter, Ash. She is in the soil. In the roots. In the watcher."The witnesses wept. The gold flowers pulsed, and the watcher's attention was soft and warm.She is welcome, the watcher said. I will witness her. I will always witness her.---They buried Kaelen beside the others, the gold flowers already beginning to grow around the new grave.Solenne tended the soil, her hands gentle, her voice soft. A young woman named Mira—named for the wi
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