The funeral was, of course, a staid affair. Everyone dressed in black, or at least dark, respectable colors. The eulogies had been given, the tears had been shed. The fallen had been interred.

Now came the wake, the reception after the funeral. An event room at a local hotel had been rented for the occasion. Here, family and friends gathered to remember the man they had lost. They ate, drank and celebrated his life.

Or they tried to, at least.

Among the participants, a lovely young woman mingled. She didn't say much, but rather listened and nodded along when people spoke of the deceased.

Sonja Wu blended in with skill. A gift of Spring, perhaps. The Emerald Courtiers fared well in social gatherings. As a result, no one really questioned the presence of this woman no one actually knew. They assumed she was a work acquaintance, or a friend of the family, perhaps. The Beast played the part as needed.

In truth, she had no clue who the dead man was. She had crashed this funeral reception. Not her classiest moment, to be sure, but Sonnie was here to investigate a question.

What was the draw of Sorrow?

Why did the Winter Court gravitate to this particular emotion? Especially such a depressing one? Desire, Wrath, Fear. They were much more... lively. Indeed, Desire and Sorrow seemed flip sides of the same coin.

She could draw it off of the mourners, and she did so. That was no issue. The Courser didn't like it, however. The Glamour was cold, distant.

Sorrow made her heart ache, bringing to mind what she had lost in her life. Her family, her home. Everything she had know before her Durance. It was impossible for her to go back, and this Glamour only reminded her of that.

The grief-stricken look on her face, as a result, was real. At least it helped sell the idea that she belonged here at this wake.

As a member of the Spring Court, Sonnie avoided thinking about this sort of thing. Like many of her Court, she indulged to bury the pain. Food, drink, partying, sex, art, sports, whatever the vice. Desire, though, was also a celebration of what they had. A sort of gratitude to the idea that one could rebuild their life and carry on.

She had come into this place thinking that Sorrow was merely a form of Desire. The desire for what you had lost and could not regain. It made a certain amount of sense, but the reality was different. There was none of the Glamour of Desire here. The emotional energy wasn't the vibrant charge she was used to absorbing.

Sorrow was a fundamentally different taste, and she didn't like it.

Perhaps the Winter Court knew something she didn't. Naturally, the Silent Arrows understood this emotion better than anyone. It was their domain, and they likely had insights she would never grasp.

No, as with her testing Fear last autumn, Sonnie knew Sorrow wasn't for her. If anything, this experiment only reinforced her sense on belonging in the Spring Court.

Oh well, at least there was free food.