Rites of the Dead

"Sorry I am late sir." The guard said upon his return. "I had to go get a priest from the temple. It is imperative we perform the rites on the deceased. If not, she will rise again as an abomination." He pointed to a man in white robes with a long white staff. "This is Bishop Fern. He will be handling the late woman's rites."

"It is a pleasure." The bishop said. "I see she faced such a gruesome death. What a tragedy these noble duels are. To think they are sanctioned by the state. It is hard to believe that such barbarism is not only allowed but encouraged."

"Your opinion is known Bishop." The guard replied. "Please just do the rites so that she doesn't come back as a monster please." He then turned his attention to Joshua and pulled out a parchment. He unrolled it to reveal an itemized list of all her possessions. "If you could just put your bloody thumbprint here, we will be all sorted."

The guard handed Joshua a tiny dagger to poke his thumb and held the parchment up for him to stamp. Joshua took the blade and made a tiny cut on his thumb and squeezed it so that a tiny pool of blood would rise up. He then took his thumb and pressed it on the document before him and rubbed it to get a good print.

As he did the document began to glow as her name was removed from the top of the parchment and replaced by his. After the change the document stopped glowing and the guard rolled it back up. "Alright. I will take this back to the vault of records and file it." He said. "You are now free to do whatever you need to do."

The guard then left.

"Oh, heavens and gods we beseech you on this night." The bishop said with his arms out above the corpse of the woman. "Please grant this woman's soul peace so that she may once again enter the cycle. Allow her passage to the great beyond and set her free from her mortal coil. Oh, great Deter, god of rebirth, please grant this woman your grace."

"Interesting." Joshua said as he watched the priest. He then turned to Gina who was watching as well. "Does this happen every time someone dies?"

"It is supposed to." Gina said. "Although this is the first time, I have seen a Bishop perform the rites. They really do have so much more skill than the apprentices that normally do it. It's so pretty."

A soft beam of light was extending from the woman's corpse up into the heavens. Golden sparkles darted around the beam, moving in whatever direction they desired, but always moving upward. Finally, a bright blue ball emerged from her body and started to ascend to the sky.

"Is that?" Joshua asked.

"Her soul? Yes." Gina replied. "She will no longer come back as an undead. Her soul has been put to rest and will find peace in the beyond."

After the Bishop was done, he lowered his arms and watched as the blue orb disappeared from view. It seemed as if his eyes were moistened as if he were at the verge of tears.

"Knight Joshua." The bishop said. "Please refrain from murdering another. It blackens the soul. You can tell a lot about someone from the passing of their soul. You can see their life and their pain. You can see what really made them as a person."

"Oh? It just looked like a blue orb to me." Joshua said.

"Indeed, her soul was blue." The bishop answered. "Sometimes the soul is blue, others it is red, or black. Very rarely the soul can even be white. It is the sins one commits that taint the soul and change its color. By hers being blue it means her soul was consumed by pride, it is common among the nobility."

"Still, that doesn't show you their pain or their struggles." Joshua said. "That only shows you their sins."

"It's a special skill of mine." The bishop said. "When I look at a soul, I can see everything about that person's life. I see how they chose to live, and how they died. Remember my words, do not let your soul be stained black, do not murder again."

The priest started to walk away, but as he got thirty yards apart from them, he turned back around and yelled. "Please come by the church sometime. I would like to pray for you." He then turned and walked away.

"Okay well that's done now." Joshua said. "Timothy, can you take us to my new house please?"

"It would be my utmost pleasure, sire." Timothy said with a bow.

"Remember you can just call me Joshua." He replied. "You are a paid employee now, not a slave or servant."

"I still feel that sire is the best way to address you." Timothy said. "Please remember that you are a knight my lord and that certain etiquette now applies to you. If I addressed you in such a cavalier method, then surely the guards would seize my head from my shoulders. We must always remember out stations."

"I am not going to argue about it." Joshua said with a sigh.

"Very well then sire, please follow me." Timothy said as he started walking down the cobblestone streets in the moonlight. Joshua, Gina, and the other workers followed him. After turning down an Eastward street and a Southward street, they came to a large house that was three stories high sitting next to a large open-air park.

The house was more than large, by Joshua's standard it was a mansion. Aged brick outlined the entirety of the exterior aside from windows.

"Very nice house." Joshua said.

"Yes, sir." Timothy said. "The bath is located on the second floor to your left from the stairs. There is also a guest bath, should Miss Gina decide not to join you in the master bath. To get there take a right instead of a left."

"Alright Gina, well let's go get clean." Joshua said. "I am tired of having all this blood on me."