Right and Wrong (Part 1)

“When will it be my turn?” Mira howled.

It was already evening, and the servants were closed in their quarters, while the priests prayed in their churches. Only Mira was walking around as if the Silverhold belonged to her. Kasian was next to her, trying to quiet her.

“You're like a small child,” he told her.

“I don’t want to hear about it! We came here to investigate the Moon Princess!”

Kasian stepped in and covered her mouth with his palm.

“Are you insane? Do you want us to be executed?”

She bit him on his palm, but he did not even wince. Seeing, it did not help at all, she licked his skin.

Kasian pulled his hand away immediately, wiping it on his pants.

“Why did she already make you her personal servant so quickly?” Mira spat. “And Leonard will be her guard starting today! I want to talk with her. I want to see her use her magic properly. When will she notice me? ”

Leonard sighed. “It's not that I wanted to become her personal guard. Sanguis just won the tournament.”

She turned to him. “You made a pact with a battle weapon. Didn’t you tell me, Sanguis promised you, that you would never lose a fight with him?”

“It did, but winning a fight and executing anyone on sight are two different things.”

Sanguis hanging on Leonard’s back purred like a tame cat.

“It needs to listen to your orders,” Mira said. “So you just order it.”

“Sometimes, it possesses me,” Leonard said. “It spoke through me. I told you that.”

“What a master you are,” Mira shook her head. “A warrior who loses every fight and a master with a servant who won't listen to him.”

Leonard knew Mira did not mean anything by that, she was just sarcastic as usual, but it still stung. She was right. He made only a small improvement during his training, he did not do anything during their siege of Lunaria. He won the tournament just because Sanguis was so bloodthirsty, it was literary moving by itself, wanting to cut them.

He wanted to change, but sometimes, wanting wasn’t enough. Sometimes, during our lives, we won't get what we want, and it doesn’t matter how much we desire it.

“What do I do, though, when she attempts to give me her blood?” Leonard asked.

“Why just not to spill it over Sanguis?” Mira recommended. “It should enjoy that, right? Two issues fixed.”

The door to the main church connected to the princess's tower split open, the crowd of people spilling out. The evening's mass has ended, as the moon was already rising in the sky.

The trio was standing nearby, looking at them. Many people recognized Leonard now and were waving or nodding to him. Leonard repeated the gestures, feeling worse after each wave.

After everyone left the church, the priest appeared on the stairs. Closing the door behind him, his sharp dark eyes swept through the courtyard, seeing three people wandering around. Recognizing one of them, he clutched the staff in his hand, coming closer.

“We just came into this kingdom, and you are already a celebrity,” Mira said. “Our dear hero.”

“Mira, just be quiet,” Kasian said. “Someone is coming to us.”

They all looked at the priest coming to them.

“Wasn’t this priest the whole tournament next to the princess?” Mira asked.

“Yes,” Leonard answered her. “His name is Soren. He was the royal advisor of Silgorod.”

“Did he recognize you?” Kasian asked, lowering his voice.

“Yes.”

“Should we expect troubles? What is he doing in Lunaria?”

“He said he is going to finish my job.”

“He is going to kidnap the saintess?” Mira asked. “Same. He is kinda cute. But we need to stop him. We want no saintesses in Silgorod.”

Soren stopped. He could clearly hear Mira's comments. He turned to Leonard, his cheeks burning, eyes sharp.

“What are you doing here?” he asked him. “And why does that girl know of my plans? You are worse than a gossiping woman, spreading words where they do not belong.”

“I am taking back my words,” Mira said. “He is annoying.”

“I am not talking to you, wench,” Soren looked at her. “Women should be staying at home after dusk.”

“And a sexist, too. God, I hate that so much.” Mira stepped before Leonard, between him and Soren, her eyes blazing. “Listen, boy,” she said. “I saw things in the darkness that would make you pee your holy pants.”

“Go away, I don’t hit women.”

Soren was able to control herself, but Mira could see the steam coming from his ears. She didn’t know why, but the words just kept coming out of her mouth, naturally, as if she had been making these kinds of remarks her whole life. It was easy, provoking him.

“If you don’t want to die, stop barking and be an obedient dog,” she said.

Pulling down her hood, her long silver hair now glistened under the moonlight. It was only now that Soren recognized her.

“You are that sorceress!”

“Not sorceress,” she said, “but a necromancer. About time you learned the difference, boy.”

“You were supposed to be executed with Leonard that day. We found the dungeons in shambles after that explosion.” He was furious now. Turning to Leonard again, he shouted at him, “You conspired with that witch and now stand guard over the Moon Princess? You have betrayed the kingdom of Silgorod!”

It was Leonard who stepped closer now. “Silgorod is not my kingdom. I told you from the beginning that I have no desire to protect the country, which summoned me here and gave me a role I never accepted, just because of some prophecy nonsense. I tried to help you, but you never thought about it.”

“You tried to help? There was no difference with you there,” Soren said. “I swear, I need to kill you just here, right now.”

He clutched his staff in both of his hands and pulled out the top part. A sharp, thin blade peeked out of the staff.

Kasian took Mira around her shoulders and stepped with her backwards. He pulled her hood back over her head, hiding her silver hair. “Just stay put,” he said to her. “More commotion, and be sure your Moon Princess will be right here.”

Leonard took down Sanguis, holding him firmly in his hand. The blade was excited about the upcoming battle, buzzing.

“Very well,” Soren said. “We should've done that in the beginning.”

Soren jumped ahead, his sharp sword slicing the air with a whoosh. Leonard moved his hand, and Sanguis jumped forward. The blades roared. Leonard made one step back, prepared for a second strike.

“Why are you always so hotheaded?” he asked him. “You were an advisor. You used to be calm and think twice.”

“I just hate you. You destroyed everything I held dear.”

“And so you are going to take the Moon Princess now?”

“I just hoped you came here to do the same. I understand now that it was never your intention to return to Silgorod and finish your role.”

“My role is to protect the saintess now,” Leonard said. “And I don’t want to give her to a kingdom that does not hesitate to attack another one to take what is not theirs.”

“You are just a coward,” Soren spat.

He attacked Leonard again, trying to cut him, stab him. Every drop of blood that will fall onto the grass under their feet will be worth it. He slashed and hacked, but Leonard reflected each of his strikes, as if his heavy sword was light as a feather.

“I am not your dog!” Leonard yelled at him.

He lunged forward, with Sanguis in his hand. Hitting his sharp sword with full force, a loud ring echoed. Soren’s thin blade broke, both halves of it flying away into the distance. The force was so strong, Soren fell onto the ground, his breathing heavy.

Soren thought he could see a red flash near the hilt in Leonard's hands. Maybe it was just a glint of gemstone shining under the moonlight.

Leonard screamed. His voice was distorted. He moved his hand again, ready to stab Soren, nailing him into the ground. Ready to kill him.

Realizing it was Sanguis who screamed just right now, Mira jumped forward. Kasian followed her.

Leonard swished with his sword down. Sanguis' blade barely hit Soren, stabbing the ground near his neck.

Leo leaned onto the hilt, sweat forming on his temples. His breathing was also heavy.

“Mira,” he said, his voice raspy. “I think this sword has possessed me. Do something, quickly, or I will kill him.”

Mira pulled the sword out of his hand, out of the ground. Sanguis jumped out into the air, ready to slash the meat, break the bones. Mira turned around and hit Kasian standing beside her right in his side. A terrible, loud crack cut the silence. The heavy blade broke one of his lower ribs, sinking deeper into his waist.

“Mira!” Leonard yelled, his mind now clear. “Are you trying to kill him?! Are you crazy?”

Mira pulled the sword out. The fresh blood spilled, sinking into the blade, a few drops flying through the air. Kasian collapsed, falling onto the ground.

“Kill him?” she echoed, confused. “Kasian is already dead.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you realize that?” Mira asked him. “I told you multiple times. I am a necromancer. He is my servant. I am raising the dead. He is dead.”

“But I thought that…”

But he thought… what? He was just not thinking at all. Kasian was able to feel the death lingering in the air, just like Mira. He was afraid of fire, because corpses were burned. He never ate or drank, because he didn’t need to. He died in his original world, but he was dead in this world, too.

“But… how did that happen?”

Mira was not listening to his mumbling. She knelt on the grass next to Kasian, looking at his wound. Putting both her palms on it, she closed her eyes. He was in horrible pain. He grunted after each breath, clenching his teeth. He put his hands on hers, his palms wet with cold sweat.

“Stop,” he said.

“Just don’t talk,” Mira answered him. “I will heal it quickly.”

The inky spells were now gliding through her cheeks. His wound closed immediately. Mira opened her eyes, inspecting his skin.

“Does it hurt?”

“It would hurt less if you just stopped using me as a cutting board,” he smiled.

“Dummy.”

The sounds of blades ringing in the air and the shouting attracted multiple witnesses. People started peeking through the windows, opening the doors. Even the holy saintess herself stepped out of her tower.

Kasian took Mira immediately, and they hid in the shadows near the wall. Leaning against him, she could hear his heart beating slowly. Kasian was undead, but he was different than the corpses which the saintess raised. His body was still like that of the living. Because she was the one who raised him. Even though she was also the one who killed him…

“Tell me, Mira,” Kasian said to her, interrupting her thoughts. “Didn’t you say that Princess is controlling people with her blood? That man... How is it possible, he is still able to talk about Silgorod and wants to harm her?”

“I… don’t know,” she whispered. “Is he so royal to his kingdom, that her powers have no control over him? Or he just guessed what was happening, and he avoided it somehow?”

The guards and priests were accompanying the Moon Princess walking, but she shooed them away with a wave of her hand, coming closer to the men. Seeing both of them out of breath, and two weapons lying nearby, one broken and the second one bloody, she quickly guessed what had happened here.

“Leonard! You were supposed to visit me now. Why are you doing here, fighting with one of my priests?”

“He is the one who attacked me, Your Grace,” Leonard said.

Soren did not say anything. No shouting about traitors and Silgorod now. One word, and they will extremely quickly find out that Soren is from Silgorod.

“Is that the truth, Soren?” she turned to him.

Only now he sat up on the ground. Glaring at him. He was not saying anything. He lowered his head.

“Forgive him, Your Grace,” Leonard spoke on his behalf. “He is just jealous that I ended up being the hero, he always wanted to be – your personal guard.”

“You mutt!”

“Silence!” the saintess stopped them. “Leonard, come inside with me into my tower. We will talk there, and I will think about your punishment.”