The burial ceremony at Père Lachaise had unfolded under a pall of autumn drizzle, the Voss plot a somber enclave amid crooked tombstones and whispering oaks.
Dignitaries in black, media cordoned at the gates, Victor's mahogany casket lowered with mechanical precision into earth that had claimed so many titans.
Speeches droned with Vivian's eulogy of legacy, Julian's clipped tribute to resilience.
Eleanor stood apart, veil shadowing her face, the locket from the archives burning in her pocket.
A puzzle shelved amid grief's weight. The glow she carried since her nights with Calder persisted, subtle but undeniable.
a softening in her posture, color in her cheeks, an inner light born of reclaimed autonomy, unnoticed until now in the chaos.
The cortege wound back to the Château Voss, g
