Chapter Six: Mark: In which I spend a lot of time in mourning
Mother was dead. No one knew the cause. She was just dead. Father and Julian were home from the war and Grandmother had come to see us.
Earlier that day, Grandmother had pulled me aside and said to me:
"Mark, your Grandfather and I have decided to leave our house in the hands of a friend. I'll be staying here with you to keep you company until you're old enough to join your Father and brother in the war." For the first time in my life, I was truly happy. I missed Mother but Grandmother was the one person who actually taken care of me.
The funeral was the fourth day after Mother's death. We all met at the Temple of Pluto. The chief priest met us at the door.
"You are the Magnius family?" He asked.
"Yes." Father said.
"Enter." The priest said. We did.
The temple was huge and spacious. It was filled with statues of Pluto that lined the walls. It had a closed in feeling that creeped me out. I knew that the god of the dead was watching me as I walked through his temple.
We walked into another room. This one held the alter.
"You have the sacrifice?" The priest asked. Father brought forth a young calf that Julian had carried. The priest nodded.
"That will work." He said. He took the calf and laid it on the alter. He offered up a long lengthy prayer to Pluto, then sacrificed the calf.
We offered up prayers to Pluto, knelt by the alter, kissed it, then walked outside.
Grandmother put her arm around me.
"Everything's going to be alright, Mark." She said. I burst into tears and buried my face in her shoulder.
