Page 34 of Courting the Dragon King

“The peace treaty is needed. The peace treaty must be completed,” the spirit said. “My bloodline must be saved!”

Wraith should probably leave now. No reason for Konrad to wake to his presence. He sat up. He winced as his body reminded him of what he’d been up to earlier that night. He’d been so frightened of Konrad. He’d been dreading the wedding night.

But instead it had been … wonderful. Far better than he had ever thought it would be. And it had been far better than sex with any ghost.

As quietly as he could, Wraith stood up. He glanced around the room. How will I find my clothes? Maybe Wraith would need to light a candle. But that might wake Konrad. He’d also need to find a candle.

“It needs to be done. It needs to be done. It needs to be done.” The voice grew more strained. The voice faded as King Alaric moved towards the balcony. “It needs to be done.”

Dim moonlight filtered in through the sheer curtains. The dead king passed through them and the windowed doors, out onto the balcony.

Wraith glanced at the bed and the sleeping Konrad, who he still could not see. Wraith crossed to the balcony, opened the door, and stepped out. He closed the door softly behind him. He wrapped his arms around his naked body, wishing he’d found his clothes.

King Alaric’s translucent and swirling form appeared clear beneath the moonlight.

“If my lineage fails, then everything will have been for nothing. The kingdom will descend into ruin. I must put a stop to that.” The dead king paced back and forth. “The treaty must be finalised. It must be.”

These thoughts must have consumed King Alaric in life.

“Your Majesty.” Wraith bowed.

King Alaric startled and looked to Wraith, as if only just realising he was there. The dead had differing levels of awareness of their surroundings.

“Your son Konrad and I have married. The treaty is almost finalised. Your kingdom’s future will be secured. You can be at ease, Your Majesty.”

Strange, but Wraith had always found it easier talking to the dead than the living. Probably because he had far more practice.

“You do not need to worry,” Wraith said. “You can rest in peace.”

The king stared at him for several seconds. “Good. That is good. I am glad.”

Wraith hesitated, then he held out his hand. “If you wish, I can help you move on.”

The Bone Door had not appeared, which meant King Alaric had not been ready to move on on his own. With a thought, Wraith summoned it.

He heard it open behind him. A gust of icy wind blew, stirring his hair. Wraith fought not to shiver. He really wished he’d at least brought a blanket with him. The breeze whipped in all directions. The king’s clothes blew and stretched towards the door.

As if frozen, the king stared at Wraith’s outstretched hand. Then he lifted his gaze towards the Bone Door and the beyond. He took a step back. He shook his head.

“No,” King Alaric whispered. “Not yet. When the treaty is finished. When my kingdom and my bloodline are safe and secure, then I will go.”

Wraith could force him to pass on. He’d done so with other ghosts before. But he’d never liked doing it. He preferred to wait until the spirit was ready and willing. He normally only forced spirits on when they seemed particularly distressed. Or if they’d physically manifested and were causing problems for the living.

“Not yet,” King Alaric said once more. Then he faded.

Wraith dropped his hand. The door behind him clicked closed. The wind died away, and the air warmed. He glanced behind him, but Wraith already knew that the Bone Door would be gone.

Most of the time, the shadow king and queen cared little for what Wraith did. But he knew they would have been angry knowing he’d tried to help King Alaric pass to the other side. Instead, they’d have wanted Wraith to inform them. Then perhaps they would have tried to use the dead king’s spirit in some way.

Wraith did not like that idea. The shadow king and queen had never valued his talents of assisting the dead to pass from this world and on to the next. Reapers practising their ability did not help win wars.

Still, whilst he lacked the ability to reanimate and control skeletons or corpses, as a reaper, he’d always had the ability to see, speak to, and interact with dead spirits. This meant he’d been good at one thing during the war, creating the living dead. One did not necessarily need to be able to see or talk to the spirit to create the living dead, but it helped.

The living dead, unlike the reanimated, kept their essence, which was sometimes called someone’s spirit or soul. This made them better at combat in general, as they kept their memories and skills from before death. They were like living soldiers except, well, dead. Which made them even more useful, as they were difficult to destroy.

During the war, Wraith had created dread knights, a type of living dead.

Poor and impoverished peasants would send their children to training camps to train to become dread knights. It was a way for these children to gain honour, glory, and wealth beyond that which would have been possible in their villages, where they would remain locked in unending poverty and struggle.