My throat closed up. The strength drained from my legs. I pressed my palm against each other to steady myself.

“Why?” The word scraped past my lips.

But Roland remained silent, his presence solid beside me as I stared at the strange grave my father had become.

Behind us, a familiar figure stood.

My uncle. Who barely stood up for us against father. He looks like one blow away from being buried beside our father.

Uncle’s head snapped up. His eyes met us, but there was no recognition there. Just confusion, then fear. He scrambled further under the shade of a tree lacking its leaves, his movements unstable and uncoordinated....