Chapter 6

-Lord of Death-

“What do you mean your love?” 

The spirit is silent for a moment, before letting out a small laugh. “Oh come on Ven, even you know what love means. Before we ascended and became spirits, Life and I were married. Sort of. Of course, that was so long ago that most mortals wouldn’t be able to fathom the idea of still loving someone after all this time, but it’s true. I love Life, and it loves me still, I can tell,” it says fondly, an unusual tone for this spirit.

“Now go and rescue my love. It can only be here by residing within a mortal’s soul, like I do with you. We wouldn’t want Tavatta to dispense of my love’s mortal body.”

Sighing, I ready myself to go out onto the rock plains before stopping at the gates into our town. Tavatta stares back at me, before dropping a body at my feet. “My Lord. This one said he wishes to speak with you, about a spirit?” They bow unceremoniously, and a young woman rushes forwards from behind my warrior.

Placing my hand on my sword, ready if the woman tries anything, I relax when I realise that she was simply going to the man. “Please, help him. He’s going to die!” She exclaims frantically, and Death chimes in helpfully. “My my, what an interesting soul. You should definitely patch this one up - my love is hiding in his soul.”

Grunting my acknowledgement, I crouch down, rolling the man onto his back and letting out a small sigh at the sight of his blood-soaked shirt. This is going to be a nuisance.

“Tavatta, carry him. Carefully, mind. He can die after we’ve spoken, but I’m curious what this one has to say,” I explain, standing back up and regarding the woman. “What are you doing in my territory?”

She blanches slightly, before gesturing to the man in Tavatta’s arms. “He’s my brother! I can’t leave without him,” she says quickly, taking a step towards him. 

“Let her in. If she’s telling the truth, then she will have known this man for his whole life. He has a very interesting soul, Ven. Just what was Life up to?” Death ponders in the back of my mind. Nodding, I let Tavatta take the man to the infirmary, following behind my warrior and the woman, keeping an eye on them.

Keeping Tavatta stationed at the door, I allow the young woman into the infirmary room with myself and the unconscious man. I intend to find out who she is while the physician works, and hopefully the man will wake up soon.

“What is your name?” I ask, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other. Today has been a long day so I really can’t be bothered with the whole ‘evil lord’ intimidation tactics. This woman will probably either never leave my territory again, or she’ll die here today, so it’s not like it matters anyway.

“Anna,” she lies.

“It’s Lisette. She’s a princess of a country that was overthrown by ours several years ago,” the Death spirit helpfully explains. 

“I see. I don’t like liars, Lisette,” I say firmly. She blanches, suddenly sagging forwards, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ve been running away for so long, I just- I just want to live in peace. But they’re determined to kill me.”

“Who is ‘they’?” I inquire, although I suspect she means our imperial family.

“The king. The princess. My brother is Princess Agnaria’s fiancé,” she explains, which surprises me. I don’t exactly keep up with news, being in such a closed of area, so I hadn’t realised that the princess was engaged.

“Interesting. I was also not aware that she was engaged. However, this woman is not lying,” the spirit says confusedly. 

“And yet he was injured by an imperial guard, was he not? Why would the princess try to kill her own fiancé?” Might as well ask Princess Lisette, since she seems to know about this.

She shakes her head, another tear falling from her eye. “That blow was meant for me. I haven’t seen Hector in over six years; he must have been following me after escaping from the princess. He appeared out of nowhere and shielded me.”

Very interesting.

“Indeed. But that man is not Hector,” the spirit scoffs. Frowning, I wait for it to clarify. “Well, the man is, but not the soul. Prince Hector’s soul died when he was 15 years old - I remember it well. The spirit of Life must have done something strange.”

“Your brother is dead, is he not?” I ask. Surely Lisette would know if this wasn’t her brother? If he really did die so long ago?

The princess’ eyes widen and she shakes her head adamantly. “No! He’s alive! He’ll survive this! He’ll make it through!” 

The physician clears his throat, a grave look in his eyes. “My Lord. It appears that the blade used was coated in poison. I have provided him with the antidote, but it is down to him now. It is most likely that he will survive though - based on these scars, he must have survived through quite the battle previously. The poison will be nothing compared to that.”

Standing, I go to the other room, taking a look at the freshly-bandaged prince. The physician is correct - there are deep stab scars littered over the man’s torso, including one to the heart. In fact, it’s rather miraculous that he managed to survive a wound like that.

“The body did not survive,” a voice whispers in my head, but it isn’t Death. “Death is correct. This man is not Prince Hector. The body is, but the soul is someone else entirely. When the Prince’s soul died such an untimely death at a young age, I took another soul that recently had its body die. I brought this soul from another world, and now I need your help, Death. Fate is determined to kill this soul.”

If I hadn’t spent years talking to the spirit of Death, I’d probably have just had my mind blown. But as it stands, this somehow isn’t that shocking.

“How interesting. What a trouble-maker you are, Life. Oh, how I’ve missed you, my love…” I tune out Death and Life as they profess their love to one another, instead focusing on the man in front of me.

“Princess Lisette. Did your brother nearly die when he was 15?” I ask, turning to the young woman. She nods instantly, coming to stand at my side, her smile sad as she looks at her brother. “Yes, it was so strange. He has always had bad health, and when he was 15 my brother caught a fever. He was unconscious for weeks, before waking up miraculously one day. He was absolutely fine, except he suddenly had scars all over his body. We never found out he sustained such awful injuries.”

“And did he act slightly differently, after this?” Glancing at her, I watch as Lisette thinks for a moment. “I…suppose so? He seemed more…mature, and wise, after then. Before, people would think that we were the same age, despite him being five years older than me. But afterwards, he was noticeably less childish. We assumed that a near-death experience matured him slightly.”

More like actual death.

The spirits have gone entirely silent in my mind, probably having a reunion, so I’ll just have to wait until the prince wakes up. Then I’ll get the whole story. 

What an interesting person who has appeared in my territory.