Tuesday struck a pose with one hand on her hip and one hand on her chest, which she puffed out proudly while she pronounced, “I am Tuesday, mighty magic caster of the deep woods. This is my sister, Hannah, the…” She paused and scratched her head for a moment, her ears flicked about and her tail danced like there was music for it to move with before she answered, “almost as mighty magic caster?”

  The fear that the mob exuded before, twisted away from its path and became a mix of confusion and uncertainty, with heads scratched and doubtful looks, drawn faces, and even a few disbelieving snorts from those who found the very idea absurd.

  Hannah rolled her eyes but remained seated. “I have a feline that wasn’t as convincing as you thought, sister.” She said with a glance up Tuesday as her little whiskers twitched, and her sibling’s proud and puffed up pose collapsed.

  She let out a deep breath as she slumped and said, “Oh alright, so I’m not Tuesday the mighty. We found a magic crystal when we got lost in the forest and we used it when some big hungry wolves showed up. We called for a guardian, the crystal broke into dust bits, and he popped up.” Tuesday admitted and put her hand on Varus’s head.

  ‘That lasted even less time than I thought.’ Varus thought, and even though he remained motionless atop the cart of bones, he could feel the glance of Lithia down at him, and knew they shared the same sentiment.

  He didn’t need to be a man of wisdom in life or unlife to know however, that the moment of silence in confusion and disbelief was crucial, and he silently urged her, ‘Say something. Convince them!’

  Lithia did not disappoint.

  She coughed into her hand to draw the mob’s attention to her, then in the voice found only in those taught from childhood how to speak to the public she said, “I’m afraid that’s true.” She lied, “The good news is, that means the undead is completely safe. He’s under their control. The undead were summoned by him at their behest, hoping to find somewhere safe to live.”

  “Somewhere to live? Not find their parents?” Louis asked with an incredulous air, and again Lithia did not disappoint.

  “No. They have none. No family. No place to call their own. No one to look after them, nothing but a monster to guard them, and if no one takes them in, no hope for tomorrow.” She held out her arms toward the crowd as she exhorted them, “I brought them to you, good people, because I had hoped that you were the true children of the Mother goddess, who comforts those alone in the dark, and of the Father god, whose love for the lost is as warm and comforting as a winter flame. They have nothing, if you won’t have them, they need your warmth and love to survive…so please, will you welcome them into your hearts?”

  The timber of her voice was tailored to touch the hearts, and for good measure there she let her eyes well up with unshed tears, “In a hard world, the most precious treasure is kindness, and it is one of the few gifts that costs nothing, and can give so much back… please… please will you help them?”

  ‘Smartest person I’ve ever met.’ Varus thought to himself as he played his part and remained as still as a stone statue, save for the faint motion of his white hair wafting in the breeze.

  Tuesday had reclaimed her seat, and snuggled up close to Hannah, their tails entwined together as tight as they could while they embraced. Cheek to cheek, they looked out over the crowd as if fearful of rejection.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  But that fear was without basis. More than a few of the villagers were moved to tears, instinctively drawn to protect the small ones on the wagon, their desire to do so was redoubled by the moving words of the valkyrie adventurer, and set more or less at ease by the lie for the moment, the villagers chattered swiftly among themselves.

  ‘I’ll have to steal her speech, that was marvelous.’ Varus chortled internally, and somewhere behind him out of view he felt the stares of some familiar characters.

  ‘Too sappy for my taste.’ The protagonist said with a harumph followed quickly by an ‘Ow!’ and he rubbed it with mock seriousness.

  ‘Ass.’ His wife replied as she struck his bicep with her fist, ‘It was a lovely speech, absolutely worth a few days of interruption.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I’ve been busy, several days' interruption has made my fingers twitchy, but I promise if things go well, I’ll write more about you tonight.’ Varus promised them, and the priestess interjected her own thoughts upon his own.

  ‘I-I-It’s okay. W-We are al-always h-here when y-you are ready.’ Her soft little stutter was no doubt accompanied by a deep and nervous blush, not to mention a wringing of her staff, and Varus cast a grateful thought through time and memory to the people who laid the foundation for his stories with their very lives.

  ‘My friends, I know I told you that you all were quite the characters when I lived. No, when ‘we’ lived… but I’m so glad that it was true in fiction too. This would be much harder to bear otherwise.’

  The imaginary figures faded to nothing as the villagers came to a consensus and a man stepped forward from their ranks.

  “I am Louis, village chief.” He introduced himself and made a very slight bow toward the wagon of bones and those who rode it. “We are happy to welcome these two, but there is one small problem.”

  Tuesday and Hannah let out tiny, fearful whimpers that Lithia was entirely sure were fake, but no less effective for it, as it prompted the village chief to twitch as if he were worried he’d hurt their feelings.

  “Which is?” Lithia asked as gently as she could.

  “It’s that one.” Louis answered and pointed to Varus. “Elder Liches are dangerous, and even if he’s a summoned monster, that’s a big ask. We’d feel a lot better if you exorcized it.”

  “I’m a valkyrie, not a priest.” Lithia pointed out, “But even if I were, I doubt there’s anybody in a thousand days' travel who is strong enough to get rid of him. Maybe I could beat him if we fought,” she lied and did her best to suppress her blush as she recalled the way he humiliated her with simple birds of all things, “but even a summon will defend itself if attacked, and that’s a problem. But how about this,” she said and raised one finger to pause the objection she felt he was about to offer, “how about if I stay here too. I can keep an eye on the village monster, and I can earn my keep by hunting in the forest to bring in extra meat, furs, and other things.”

  “Deal!” Louis shouted, and then spat into his palm before thrusting it toward her.

  Lithia hopped down from the wagon, took two steps past the undead horse, took off her glove, spat in her palm, and clasped his hand in hers, applying just enough pressure to be respectable, and matched his sharp nod with one of her own. The wet and sticky smack of their hands was crude, a far cry from the noble conduct she was taught, but she didn’t mind. ‘A peasant may not say a lot, and their rituals may be a little less clean than things back home. But what they say, they mean, and their dirty rituals actually mean something.’ She thought and could not hold back a smile full of relief.

  “Now, who will they stay with?” Lithia asked, and Louis responded with a smile a little too clever for a man who never got much time to practice cleverness.

  “Since you’re here, I think they should stay with you, that way you can keep a closer eye on that one too. We have an old house nobody lives in, you’re free to set up there. Then… maybe we can have a feast to welcome you all to your new home, eh?” Louis winked, and Lithia stared dumbly at him for several long, long, seconds.

  It took every fiber of Varus’s will not to burst out laughing as Lithia was roped into her unexpected role, and clearly had no idea how she’d got there.

  Behind them, it was Tuesday who was the one to speak, “So… we can stay?”

  “Yes.” Lithia answered, a mix of disbelief and relief warred for control of her voice, only for relief to gain a victory when the two girls on the wagon threw up their hands with a long, loud cheer of…

  “Yay!”