“Your uncle sounds worthy of death,” Rami said.
“He’s worthy of more than that,” I said. “The people were easily swayed by his venomous lies. Not to mention that he’s a Sunsword.”
Elyse almost tripped over a stone. “A Sunsword?” she asked after correcting her balance.
I nodded. “Every member of House Chauzec has been Fated.”
The blond bishop tilted her head at me, as though she wanted to ask about my own history with the Lord of Light, but she kept quiet.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Rami said warily, “what exactly were these stories he spread about you? Whatever allegations he leveled against you must have been rather serious for the people of Brakith to turn so vehemently against you.”
“My uncle,” I answered, my words tinged with bitterness, “is a skilled weaver of tales. If he hadn’t been a Sunsword, he probably would have made an excellent bard. It’s a long story, and I’m not even sure where to begin.”
“We have more than enough time,” Elyse said, clearly interested. “We’ve seen no one on these forest roads. Barely even a wild animal.”
It was true. Every day, I’d had my undead soldiers comb the forest for wildlife for us to eat. Even with dozens of skeletons and zombies, it had taken over an hour to collect a few hares.
“Where do I start?” I asked.
“From the beginning,” Elyse said with a smile.
“All right.” I sighed. “While I was away on my pilgrimage to Luminescent Spires—”
“Wait, what?” Elyse gasped, her mouth hanging open. “You, Vance Chauzec, went on a pilgrimage to Luminescent Spires. . . to do what?”
I chuckled dryly, but before I could answer, she continued.
“You said your entire house has been made Fated,” she mused. “Yet before you became a necromancer, you were just a simple assassin, weren’t you?”
I nodded. “I wasn’t destined to tread the same path the other Chauzecs traveled.”
Elyse bore an expression of genuine pity. “What happened?”
“Elandriel.” I couldn’t help scowling.
“Who is he?” Rami asked.
“Elandriel is a Seraphim,” Isu answered through her teeth. “The mouthpiece of the Lord of Light.”
“I spent years training not only to be a knight but a holy warrior. It must seem unbelievable to you all now, but I was once entirely devoted to the Lord of Light. My dream was to become a Consecrated Knight, like my father.”
Elyse shook her head. “All this mocking of me, saying how much you hated the Lord of Light and his followers. You yourself wanted to become a Consecrated Knight, of all things. By the Lord of Light himself, I can hardly believe what I’m hearing.”
“I only wanted to become a Consecrated Knight as a stepping stone to achieve my ultimate goal,” I said. “To become one of the Blameless.”
Elyse threw her head back and roared with laughter. “I’m sorry, Vance,” she spluttered between bouts of laughter, “becoming a Consecrated Knight was stretching it, but to imagine you as one of the Blameless?”
“It is hard to imagine him taking a vow of chastity,” Isu concurred with a sly smile.
I had to laugh at that, and I was grateful for this moment of levity.
“I guess I hadn’t truly considered the, uh, full implications of that particular vow,” I said.
“It was a good thing that you failed in that quest,” Isu said. “What a waste it would have been for a man like you to have been kept from the world by being cloistered away like that.”
“Indeed,” I said. “Sometimes, failing to get what you want can be the best thing in the world.”
We headed off the road into the woods, lighting our way with torches. As the moon was still almost full, there was also a decent amount of moonlight to illuminate our way, and I navigated by checking the position of the stars. We hiked in silence most of the way. While there was nothing in the woods I was afraid of, it was simply easier to move quietly and not draw attention to ourselves.
Eventually, well into the morning hours, we found a shady spot near a stream that cascaded over a steep, rocky course down into a ravine below, and here we made camp. When we’d established a small fire, I started a stew with the day’s leftover meat and a few handfuls of root vegetables.
“Why did you fail to become a Consecrated Knight?” Elyse asked as the pot simmered.
“That’s a question I’m still trying to figure out the answer to,” I said. “But now that I’ve become the God of Death, the answer is becoming a lot clearer.”
“How so?”
“When I went to see Elandriel, I demonstrated my faith and devotion. I asked that he—well, the Lord of Light, with Elandriel acting as his mouthpiece—make me Fated. In return, I would serve him faithfully and tirelessly until the end of my days. I said it, and I meant it, with all of my then-pure heart. Do you know how he responded?”
“How?” she asked as she spooned the hare and root vegetable stew into bowls.
I accepted a bowl. “The asshole laughed at me. I’m not just talking a light chuckle. He roared with sidesplitting laughter, laughing so fucking hard that he fell off his holy fucking throne.”
“Uh, who are you calling the asshole,” Rami asked. “This Elandriel character, or the Lord of Light?”
“Both of them,” I said as I shoveled the stew into my mouth. “Fuck them both. They’re both assholes.”
“Vance!” Elyse gasped. “You can’t… you can’t say that about the Lord of Light!”
“I’m a god now, and I can call any other god an asshole if I want.”
“A minor god,” Isu was quick to point out. “Don’t get too big for your boots, Vance. The Auras have a nasty habit of cutting the arrogant down to size very quickly.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, “it’s just hard not to be bitter
