(Reggie's P.O.V)
A week had gone by since my father's death. It was quite a stressful feat to plan the funeral and tell all my family members (there aren't too many of those anymore). But alas, I succeeded with the help of the remaining circus performers who knew how to correctly plan a funeral.
The beginning services have already passed and now all that was left was the burial itself, which I was particularly hopeful for. I invited the Haven's performers' crew; a small bunch who were very close to my father when he was alive. I was hoping at least a few would show up so I could say goodbye to them, as they had retired after the ringmaster had been bed-ridden and could no longer lead.
The carriage bounced along the dirt road peacefully, everything was shrouded with black and grey as we passed the many gravestones on that cloudy morning. The line of Brougham carriages that followed us were all black and everyone was dressed to match the sleek obsidian cabins. It was gloomy and dark but in a way, I sort of admired the morbid aesthetic, despite the current event.
What's "night cats" in Latin? Or "cats of the night?" I asked myself, but eventually, I turned to Tae, who sat next to me, calmly minding her own business as she stared thoughtfully out the window. I asked her if she knew any other languages besides English.
The girl looked at me with curious silver-green eyes, "Why do you ask?" she wondered.
"I'm trying to think of names for the new circus. But I want it to be something unique," I answered honestly. Tae thought for a few moments, her eyes gazed endlessly at the opposing wall. All we heard for several long seconds were the clamping of the horse hooves and the rattling of the wheels.
But eventually, she answered, "No... but I'm sure you could find a book somewhere,"
"Perhaps..." I hummed and returned to my thoughts as I stared off into the distance, listening to the sound of the wheels underneath me and the horses' hooves clamping against the gravel path.
The brougham soon halted at the gravesite, knocking me out of thoughts and giving me a sensation that resembled that of being woken up suddenly. I stretched quickly while yawning and took up my coat and hat. The footman opened the door to the cabin and stood patiently as I hopped out with my coat on my arm and a tattered black newsboy cap in hand. Once my feet touched the floor I put the hat on and extended my hand for the small girl who was waiting to step out behind me. Tae looked absolutely stunning in her black dress, with her hair brushed back into a neat bun and adorned by a small black and blue hairpiece. The hairpiece had a small vail that crossed over her eyes and made her seem at least ten years older. She had a cobalt blue ribbon around her waist and thin lace gloves on her hands... She was the epitome of elegance in that attire and I admired her for it.
The girl took my hand and hopped down, and with our hands still interlocked, I thanked the footman and we followed the crowd of close relatives and friends to the gravesite. We eventually found ourselves walking beside the casket, and behind a distant cousin of mine whom I could never remember the name of. We didn't speak; in fact, he never even turned around to acknowledge me.
On the contrary, a voice I haven't heard in a long time greeted me instead. I heard the gentle voice say, "Hello, Reginald" and my head immediately swivelled in all directions, searching for the source. I found it standing right across from me, she was smiling sweetly at me, however, her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
"Oh, good morning, mum," I lifted my hat to her as a gesture of respect. My mother chuckled softly, "My! Have you learned your manners finally? That's shocking!" she joked. Despite my melancholy, I smiled at her. She had a fair point.
"But other than that... Dear lord! You've grown to be so handsome!" Mother complimented. I blushed at her compliment.
"Thank you, Mum," I said quietly. The casket, which was being carried by a group of six men, abruptly stopped in front of a professionally chiselled monument. This monument I specifically requested to be carved a certain way. It was a devil of a time to be finally ready, but the artist who carved it did a fine job; so, I have to forgive him for the long time it took him. The memorial itself was simple; it had my father's name on a brass nameplate, the years he lived below it, and an inspiring quote at the bottom. But that wasn't so interesting as the statue itself, which was an angel posed with one arm above its head, and the other holding a plaque that read:
The Founder of our Haven will forever be in our hearts.
"Oh, what a lovely statue!" My mother complimented as the men lowered the casket into the ground and the pastor prepared the honourary words he would say. I gazed at the intricately carved stone, feeling proud of my ingenious decision.
"He was really proud of his circus, so I thought it would be nice to have a stone based on his pride and joy," At this, my mother laughed softly in amusement, I cast her a confused look.
"He did have an addiction to all of his artists and special acts, didn't he? Ah well, just remember that his true pride and joy was you, dear... He did everything he could to make you as happy as possible and live a somewhat normal life," my mother smiled at me, and I smiled back, relieved to know that she wasn't taking my father's death too hard. "And I'm glad to hear you'll be following in his footsteps...I just hope you'll make the Haven more interesting."
I chuckled, "Actually, I was thinking of changing the circus entirely. I want to change the theme to my own liking." I said honestly; Mum's appearance changed as a disappointed frown crossed over her lips.
"But why? The Haven is everything Brian worked hard for!" she protested quietly, as the pastor had started speaking.
"I'm aware of that. I guess I'm just tired of the Catholic-based, country fair-style carnival. It's so... well... calm and safe. I mean, I know that makes it okay for the children but I want my circus to be daring and perverse! I want people to have a morbid curiosity about this new circus and have a feeling that they're on the edge," I explained, relaying my thoughts to her. She seemed reasonably appalled by my choices, which were so drastically different from Da's but that was the truth. At last, she finally sighed and took my hand in hers.
"In that case, you go and terrify your audience!" she encouraged.
I smiled and thanked her, before wrapping my arm around her shoulder and hugging her close to my chest. I watched the burial continue without moving, but eventually, I had to let my mother go so she can throw a handful of dirt on the casket.
I watched as Tae did the same as well and returned to my side. That's when my mother finally noticed her, as she had been relatively a ways away and my mother paid no attention to her.
"Oh! Reggie, who's this little one?" she asked, giving Tae a kind smile and placing a hand over her bosom in a gesture of surprise. Of course, with Tae being quite shy towards strangers, she hid behind me and gave my Mum a scared look.
"This is Tae Vlamorae. Da had to venture a little into criminal territory to save her from her father," I explained subtly, as purchasing live people are now illegal in America and Da had to do just that to acquire Tae. Unfortunately, my mother didn't quite understand and her brows furrowed together with uncertainty.
"How do you mean?"
"Well... um... Tae was sold to Da by her father to be used in the show. Thankfully, Da had no plans for her to perform at all and only wanted to give her a better home."
"Oh my goodness!" Mum gasped in shock, however followed up her exclamation with, "So, what's her significance to the circus? If she has one at all?" She met my eyes with a guise of intrigue. This is when a smile crossed my lips as I realised most of my ideas for the new circus had come from Tae. She was the one who encouraged me to retain a prominent cat theme and gave me ideas for attractions, including a curiosity tent. Even now, as I looked at her, I had decided to give my new circus a colour scheme of blue, black, and gold. Everything about my circus pointed to Tae as my beginning.
"She's my inspiration," I answered fondly.