Child? Justice? The woman’s words made no sense. Completely confused, Lorelei ushered her escorts and the still wailing woman to her tent to escape from curious glances. The scene had attracted enough attention and some of the refugees had started to gather. The problem was that the kneeling woman was almost livid, so Rish and one of Noah’s knights had to half-carry, half-drag her inside. Commander Lucas wanted his men to enter as well, but Lorelei firmly refused. To placate the rest of the knights guarding her, she allowed two of them to remain just outside the tent's entrance. Any more than that and it would look too much like a prison. She left Anuk out together with Jessup and Saya. No matter what was going on, it seemed serious enough. It was not good for a child to witness this.

The quiet dimness of the tent calmed the crying woman a bit, leaving her a quietly sobbing mess in Lorelei’s feet. She sighed and knelt down so that her eyes wet on the same level as the distraught binshi.

“Now, good woman, would you explain to me what has brought you such misery?” Lorelei tried to sound as soothing as possible.

“My lady… dear lady shimshi…” Struggling, the woman lifted her wet face peering at Lorelei. “Please, lady shimshi, bring justice for my little girl.”

The emotion was too much for her and she again slumped on the ground. Lorelei threw her escort a questioning glance. Rish was pale and her face was rigid. She remained silent, which made Lorelei seriously worried. Why wouldn’t she say anything? Instead of her, the knight who helped them bring the woman in cleared his throat.

“My lady, there was an accident.” He hesitated for a moment. “I don’t want to burden the lady’s ears with something like that…”

“Go on and speak freely.”

Embarrassed, the knight coughed, clearing his throat.

“An hour ago, we found a drowned body near the camp. A young mixed girl. Thirteen at most. This woman is the mother.”

“It wasn’t an accident, lady shimshi!” suddenly the woman interjected. “My Danika didn’t drown! She was murdered. That’s the only way! She wasn’t even supposed to be here! Someone killed my baby, your highness! Please, give me justice!!”

“What!?” Lorelei’s eyes widened.

Murder? Such accusations were no joking matter. Seeing as the woman was getting more energetic due to her anger and desperation, she decided to use the moment.

“Madam, please tell me why do you think someone murdered your daughter?”

“I told you, lady shimshi, she wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near here.” The distraught mother wiped her tears. “Danika… she went away from here two weeks ago. She was supposed to be with those nuns on their island. I didn’t want her to go! I told her that the Mother Above is protecting us and we will be fine. But she said that if she pretends to be an orphan and goes with the sister there will be more food for her little siblings and me. I should have stopped her! My poor baby!!”

Lorelei frowned at those words.

“Tell me more about this, sir…” She gestured towards the knight.

“Aiden,” the man replied, furrowing his brow. “Some people went fishing around noon and discovered the body in the thicket not even half a kilometer from the camp. It hadn’t been too long in the water, a day at most. The fishermen brought it here since they thought it might be one of the refugees. The news spread and then this woman came and recognized the body. It really is an unfortunate accident…”

“I swear in everything holy, your lordships!” the woman sobbed desperately. “There is no way this is an accident! Those nuns have harmed my baby!”

Lorelei’s eyes closed and she bit her lips. Thoughts were flying wildly through her head and she wasn’t able to gather them. This was really, really bad. If the mother was speaking the truth, this was implicating that the sisters from Widow island were somehow involved in a child’s death. No, not simply death but murder! Such accusation against the Church of the Two Gods was equal to heresy. If the child was a limerian and part of the congregation, or of wealthy background, the situation might have been different. But from what Lorelei could deduce from the mother’s words, the family did not worship the Two Gods but were followers of the Morning Star. In addition to that, the child was of mixed blood. This was the worst possible combination.

Lorelei knew that the consequences of a hasty accusation, especially when the victim was considered barely human by the people of Norden, could be devastating. She couldn’t imagine the conservative Church having a more positive attitude than the locals. Now she understood why sir Aiden was so insistent before. The easiest way to resolve the problem was to pronounce the child’s death as a drowning accident. Like that there would be no qualms with the Church and no danger of excommunication or other retaliations. Lorelei immediately and completely dismissed the thought. A mother was kneeling in front of her – crying and begging for justice. She had to do something. But what? Her fingers touched the white pendant on her neck and she felt its strange and comforting warmth. Right. What would Noah do? The figure of her husband holding a sword in hand violently swinging it around suddenly emerged in her mind. Subconsciously she shook her head and her lips twitched. Well, there had to be another way.

Opening her eyes, Lorelei stood up and helped the crying woman to get on her feet. Then she turned to the knight standing beside them.

“Sir Aiden, show me the body.”

Her resolute words caught everyone by surprise.

“No, my lady!” Rish and the knight shouted almost immediately. Then they started talking over each other.

“I can’t allow such a thing!”

“This is not something a lady should witness.”

“Contact with the dead would defile her ladyship!”

“If you get ghost-touched, it could endanger your life!”

“His highness will never allow it!”

“The dignity of house Norden…”

“Enough with the nonsense!” Lorelei raised her voice, forcing them to go silent.

She summoned every bit of will and courage she had and donned her most dignified expression. Cold smile on her lips, she lifted her chin and tried to imitate Noah’s calm yet menacing tone.

“I believe you did not hear me the first time. By my authority as the duchess Norden, I order you to show me the body.”

There was an audible gulp from her two retainers, their eyes becoming huge. Lorelei couldn’t know that, for a second, Rish thought she heard the voice of her master coming from the mouth of their frail gentle lady. This was so confusing that it made the binshi freeze. The two guards hurriedly bowed and sir Aiden obediently led the way.

***

When they came to the small tent where the body was kept, Lorelei turned to the girl’s mother.

“Madam, allow me and my aid to see your daughter’s body alone. I promise we will act with utmost respect.”

“Lady shimshi, I leave everything in your hands. Bring justice for my poor child.”

Lorelei only nodded and lifted the flap, but then hurriedly held her hand to stop sir Aiden.

“You shall remain outside. Only Rish will be accompanying me.”

“But my lady…”

She just looked him in the eyes. Soon he averted his gaze and was forced to capitulate yet again. Shaking his head, he thought that his lord and lady were a stubborn match made in heaven and stood guard outside. Overcoming another obstacle, Lorelei entered the tent followed by the pale Rish.

The inside was well lit and some incense was burning near the makeshift wooden table. On top of it, covered with a piece of black cloth, in which Lorelei recognized a knight’s cloak with the Norden coat of arms, lay the girl. Lorelei clenched her teeth and pulled the cover away. Beneath it, the small body looked almost sleeping. But the peaceful air was deceiving. If one was to look more carefully, there were sand, seaweed, and grass tangled in the long ash-white hair. The purple lips stood in stark contrast to the bloodless pale face. The girl was still dressed in a thin torn dress of indiscernible dark color that was sticking to her skin, accentuating the budding curves of her young body.

Lorelei rolled up her sleeves, leaned closer, and stretched out her hand but Rish grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“Lady Lorelei…” The binshi looked a bit unwell. “Please, don’t… there is no need to touch the body. The aura of death will stick to you and make you sick. The ghost of the girl might haunt you…”

“Rish, let go.” Lorelei gently shook her off. “This is something that has to be done. Besides, I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“T-then let me or some of the knights do it!” The young woman sounded almost desperate. “If you get ghost-touched it could be fatal!”

“The mother wouldn’t trust the knights. And you, being from the inland, don’t know what to look for, Rish.”

“But you do, duchess?!”

“I hale from a port-town.” Lorelei threw her a side glance. “Drownings were not uncommon there. Besides, I believe this is your first time seeing a dead body.”

“No, my lady,” mumbled Rish, a bit ashamed for showing her weakness in front of her mistress. “But it is my first dead child.”

“You can wait outside if you want.”

“Definitely not! The lord will skin me if I do such a thing! But… What if the girl’s ghost decides to curse you?” Rish just wouldn’t give up.

“And should you be the one cursed?” snapped Lorelei but then added more calmly. “But don’t worry. No such thing will happen. I know that’s your belief, but in truth, there are no such things as ghosts. My teacher always said that superstitions come from a lack of understanding of the human body. I have helped him around dead patients many times and here I am today without a curse or a scratch. Besides, even if there were ghosts, this child knows that we are here to help, so it won’t harm us.”

Lorelei just ignored any further protests and leaned again over the girl. Beside her, the young binshi gritted her teeth and her hand clenched around the small knife in her pocket. It was made from prime elder wood; it should be enough to protect her mistress. From the corner of her eye, Rish could see the looming dark shadow, surrounding the body. It was like turbulent wisps of black smoke, swirling around, with tendrils ready to extend towards their victim any minute. The young binshi gulped and a bead of sweat rolled down her neck. If it was Gerash or Lady Shana, there would be nothing to worry about. But her powers, especially when Rasha was not around, were… meager. She couldn’t even clearly see the shape of the ghost, not to mention being able to communicate with it. Nevertheless, she could feel the sadness, malice, and hunger coming from the girl’s shadow. It was enormous! Her protection charm would be useless against it. If she acted rashly the ghost could feel provoked and make its move. For now, it was only looming around, biding its time, but for how long? The moment it decided to attack, all Rish could do would be to push her mistress to the side and try cutting it down with the elder-knife. Even if she got ghost-touched, her binshi blood and the emergency tincture would protect her long enough for Gerash to treat her.

But then something unexpected happened. Before her very own eyes, the black shadow moved to the side the moment Lorelei’s fingers approached the body. Rish blinked several times in disbelief. It was real. The angry black tendrils were shrinking and turning colorless – a definitive sign of the ghost being purified. But how!? The young binshi knew that her mistress was just a normal person. She couldn’t even see the spirit and was totally oblivious to the current situation. Yet right now the grudging apparition was slowly dissolving into nothingness. Was it possible that Lorelei… no. Even the members of the Church of the Two Gods, although being able to purify malice, could do so only with a lot of preparations and special herbal concoctions. And her mistress was definitely not a binshi, so her possessing any shamanic powers was highly unlikely. Was the spirit truly sensing that they had no ill intentions and were simply trying to help? But most spirits were not able of such deep thoughts and could rarely communicate clearly with the mortal world without the help of a strong medium like lady Shana. Well, it hadn’t attacked the fishermen either, but most of the inhabitants of Norden carried on their body small protection charms against ghosts at any given moment that had probably confused it in the beginning. Was it due to Lorelei’s twin-drop? No, this was not how the twin-drops worked. Dear Mother Above! Now that she thought about it, did Lorelei even have a protection charm?!

Rish realized that was not the case and shuddered. It was a huge blunder on their side! Since carrying a protection amulet was a common practice in Norden she had never thought of Lorelei not having one herself. But how could she have an amulet? She was from the mainland. She did not know the customs here and with all the confusion after the duke’s return, they had forgotten to give her one! Ildemar and Yalda were safe places since Gerash and the rest of them performed regular cleansings, but this place… The sisters from Widow Island could only ward off some harmless lost souls, but not something this big and evil, and the small rituals of the resident binshi were not sufficient. The tribe had left this place unattended for too long. It was a horrible mistake that could be fatal! Right now, the appearance of this ghost…

To Rish’s amazement, by the time she could finish her thought, the last wisps of the black aura dissipated into the air without leaving a trace. She loosened the grip on her knife, her fingers still secretly shaking in her pocket. What was that just now? She had to speak with Gerash and his highness about this.

In the meantime, without suspecting anything, Lorelei looked carefully all over the girl’s body, as if searching for something. When she reached the neck, she lingered a bit and then gently turned the head to the side. At that point, Rish could not bear it any longer.

“How can you be so calm, my lady!?”

“I am a physician, Rish,” came the distant reply, while Lorelei continued her observation. “And my master was a very… hands-on type of teacher. I have seen my fair share of death. And therefore, I can tell you for sure, that she didn’t drown. The mother was right. Look here.”

Now Rish too bent reluctantly and looked at the spot on the pale skin where her mistress was pointing. The next moment she gasped and a low curse escaped her lips. Well, this explained all the malice and anger the spirit had. A strange trail of clearly visible purple dots crawled around her neck.

“It almost looks like a necklace,” whispered the binshi.

“Not quite.” Lorelei pointed again, this time at the girl’s thin wrists where red swollen marks were clearly visible. “What does this look to you?”

At first, Rish thought that her mistress is talking about the rope marks but then she saw a dirty bundle of strings was sticking between her tightly clenched fingers. With some effort, the young woman pried the little fist open under the mortified gaze of her escort. A black and white tassel rolled out.

“Mother Above! I-it’s a rosary tassel!” stuttered Rish with dread written all over her face. “Oh, no, no. But why? How? This is really bad, my lady!”

“I know.” She swallowed hard and steeled herself for her last task. “But it might just get even worse if my fears come true.”

Saying this, Lorelei closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. Despite the burning incense and the stench of weed and mud, her keen nose had detected something else. A bitter-sweet fragrance, that was dreadfully familiar to her. It was almost as strong as the one she had smelled on Noah. And there had been some remnants of white and pink powder on her skin, that the short stay in the water hadn’t been able to wash away completely. Black poppy and makeup. This was a very bad combination, especially on a child. Lorelei gritted her teeth. Then she lifted the torn skirt that was covering the girl’s lower body.