The Great Lie (Part 2)

Mira stopped holding her head. Her forehead was now straight. She looked up, checking her surroundings.

“You okay now?” Leonard asked her, touching her shoulder.

“I am fine,” she said, her voice a bit raspy.

She took another sip of her beer. Kasian moved his full glass to her. Just as he did it, the young woman appeared next to him, now with the plates full of food.

“Is the ale not to your liking, my lord?” she asked him. “Perhaps you’d like a sip of wine?”

“I am not thirsty,” Kasian smiled at her.

Mira kicked him under the table.

“Do take something to eat then,” the young maiden encouraged him.

He wanted to reply to her, but loud shouting got their attention. They all turned around to see a man with a black robe standing near one of the tables, his hands spread wide.

“All heed the words of the Moon Princess, our saintess, for only she can save this world from the calamity of the Red star and bring salvation to your souls!”

The young waitress standing next to them clicked her tongue. With the wooden tray under her hand, she went to the priest. Her father, the inkeeper, was also right there.

“That man surely had to lose his mind,” Mira commented. “How can he think it is a good idea to step into the territory of Silgorod and spread the words about the woman who decimated this kingdom?”

“Don’t you dare spitting this nonsense!” the old inkeeper yelled at him.

“You are not welcome here! Go away!” his daughter echoed.

They threw a bucket of water at him. When that did not help, the inkeeper caught him by the high collar of his dark robe and threw him outside.

“What a nuisance,” rumbled the inkeeper, returning behind the counter.

“Heavens! What was that?” one of the guests of the tavern asked.

“Why did he even come here? He has spoiled my day,” another one added.

“And spouting such nonsense. Their saintess may have won them a war against us, but they still suffered heavy losses.”

Leonard turned to the guests, talking to each other. He almost jumped out of the chair, but Mira caught him by his forearm. He settled down, clearing his throat.

“Heavy losses?” he asked the guest. “I heard our army was utterly humiliated in the battle.”

“That is what everyone thought in the beginning, even His Majesty,” the guest turned to him, explaining more. “But later, they returned to the battlefield to reclaim the bodies of our warriors to give them a proper burial. There, they found out that among the corpses, many of the Lunarias soldiers and priests were lying. ”

“Is that the truth you are speaking right now?” another of the guests asked.

“I just came from the capital,” the guest confirmed. “It was spoken by the high priest during the last mass. Their numbers were greatly diminished. I think this is why Lunaria’s priests started crossing the border and spreading word about their holy saintess.”

“So they are lying about their victory?”

“They still won, but it was far from a triumph.”

Leonard turned back to his party. “If that is true…” he whispered. “I was there and I did not even realize that this happened.”

“You almost died,” Mira said. “You did not have time to count the corpses.”

“There is something strange about that priest,” Kasian said, interrupting them.

“He is just stupid,” Leonard said. “Or he is just listening to the orders of his princess.”

“That’s not it,” Kasian said. “He reeks of death.”

“Really?” Mira got up. “I did not notice. I was too occupied with his words. Let's go find him before the village loses patience with him!”

“For that, maybe it is already too late,” Kasian said.

They all ran out of the tavern, looking for the strayed priest. They had no idea where he went, but the village was small. They found him after a few minutes, lying in the middle of the wooden platform, where the booths were standing just when they entered the village. Now the market was closed and empty.

The middle-aged priest was there, dead. His robes disheveled, multiple wounds could be found on his body.

“He won't tell us much anymore,” Mira shrugged her shoulders, leaning closer.

“Did they beat him?” Leonard looked at the wounds. “Or maybe even stabbed?”

“They did,” Kasian confirmed, squatting lower next to his body. “But something is strange here.”

Mira kicked the body with her boot. As the priest turned over, from one of his wounds a pile of worms fell out. They were squirming around in the sun, trying to hide back in their host. A strong odor of decay filled the air.

Leonard turned his back to the corpse, pressing his palm into his mouth.

“Don’t you barf there!” Mira yelled at him and then looked at Kasian. “What do you think?” she asked him.

Kasian stood up, coming closer to Mira, leaving the dead body behind.

“It looks like he was dead for days,” Kasian said.

They started returning to the tavern. Leonard walked next to them.

“Dead for days?” he said. “We just saw him in the tavern, walking and talking. He did not look dead at all. He even interacted with those people there.”

“A walking corpse then,” Mira stated. “That would explain why Kasian was able to feel death from him. So he was already dead, but someone animated him and sent him here to spread word about his saintess.”

“But who?” Leonard asked, confused.

“Looks like we have a skilled necromancer in the Lunaria,” Mira smirked.