Chapter 163

My party and I walked up to the castle. It looked just as busy as ever but I could tell morale was low after Jasper's death, you could tell by the way everyone looked. The guard at the gate recognized us and waved my party off to the side.

"Lilith and company, Head Priest Nathaniel has been expecting you today. Asher here will take you to one of the meeting rooms." He waved a young man over, he appeared to be a squire if I had to guess. I gave my thanks and followed the young man through the halls. Things were somber as we walked through the castle, it seems Jasper was pretty well loved at least among the guards based on how everyone was acting.

The young squire hadn't spoken at all until we reached one of the doors. "Nathaniel will come to meet with you as soon as he is available. Please wait here until then."

We entered the meeting room, in the center was a large rectangular table with six chairs on either side. Torien had a grimace on her face as soon as we entered. She looked around the room with a furrowed brow before following me to sit down.

"Is something wrong Torien?" I asked.

She was silent for a moment before replying, "This was one of the rooms I had to clear out. There were several... former maids here."

I sighed. "I understand. I wouldn't want to visit the servants' quarters again either. It's too... sad."

We sat there quietly for about half a bell, the atmosphere of the guards combined with our memories of the castle made it hard to feel like talking about much more. It was a relief when Nathaniel finally opened the door and led in an old-looking man with a maid following behind pushing a tea cart. We all got to our feet as the three of them shuffled into the room and took their places across from us at the table. The maid poured everyone a cup of tea and left the kettle on the table before quietly leaving.

Nathaniel nodded. "Lilith and party, this is one of my friends, Reid. He worked with the Tamin church for a while before converting to the teachings of Morkinnen. He's one of the few people who can shed some light on the questions you were curious about and also be willing to tell you. Before that I'd like to talk about Matilda, I'm sure you're curious after discovering her brother in yesterday's raid."

"I am. Were the two allowed to see each other?"

"I let them meet yesterday," Nathaniel replied. "After some discussions, the city has decided to free all of the prisoners regardless of whether or not they were previously slaves, including her brother Finn. His collar has already been removed and because of his sister's circumstances, we're going to allow him to stay in the castle with his sister. Unfortunately, that means he'll also be held as a prisoner for the time being but the two of them insisted on it regardless. Because of the situation with Sera Faelyn Morrister, we're keeping the two of them locked in one of the upper-floor rooms rather than the dungeon. Not that the dungeon is considered secure after everything that's happened. Finding an unaffiliated beastfolk in there didn't inspire confidence but since you vouched for him I'm respecting Jasper's wishes and leaving that be."

Nathaniel took a moment to drink some of his tea before continuing. "We haven't released any of the slaves working directly for the cult, such as that blond dog beastfolk Matilda pointed out. We will still need to question them for a while and their freedom depends on how invested in the cult they are themselves. No one wants to release people who would just attack the city again."

"Understandable," I agreed.

"How is that woman who lost a lot of blood during the raid?" Bella asked. "Has she been seen by healers since I treated her?"

"Ah, vice-captain Scarlett. She's woken up and has already been informed of Captain Jasper's death. She's recovering, so for the time being Bertrand still has command of the city guard. Physically she's in good shape now, she received some additional attention from healers that can handle blood loss but... she's not in a good place mentally."

"Trauma?" Bella asked.

Nathaniel snorted. "In a sense. She's pissed and with no one to take her anger out on right now. She left the castle this morning and hasn't said if she'll be back. I'm praying she'll come back soon because losing Jasper was already a huge blow. Sure he was strong and capable but his real strength was his affability, he'd managed to keep all of the guilds and merchants happy even through this disaster. The only reason we've done as well as we have is because so many people respected him and were willing to work with us. Handling the food shortages alone wouldn't have been possible without him."

"Isn't that desertion?" Silva asked.

Nathaniel shook his head. "This is a city guard, not a standing army. Though I could see how you could confuse the two. Bertrand could choose to have her fired for leaving her post but what good would that do? No, it's better if we just consider this part of her recovery. We'll decide what to do with her if she doesn't come back in a reasonable amount of time later." He cleared his throat. "Sorry, we seem to be getting a bit off-topic, forgive me. That's all I wanted to inform you about regarding Matilda, let's switch topics to what I promised in return for the journal and witness you delivered me."

I nodded and looked at the other man who hadn't spoken this entire time. "Can you tell me anything about the 'Order of Lilith?' I want to know why there's a cult going around with the same name as me."

Reid nodded. "I can talk about that a little yes, though the way you frame it is actually a little bit odd to me. May I ask where you heard that name?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I was questioned by a Tamin Paladin in a [Zone of Truth] about it. She seemed to suspect I was related to this cult."

"A simple case of mistaken identity I presume. You see, the 'Order of Lilith' actually relates to a prophecy rather than an active cult, at least at the time I was still a priest of the Tamin church about thirty years ago. If you were the figure in this prophecy I assume things would be more apparent and you surely wouldn't be an active [Demon Hunter]"

"What can you tell me about this prophecy?"

"Unfortunately the prophecy is rather old so a perfect translation is impossible. At the time I was there, there was a lot of debate over the meaning of several parts and how... metaphorical things were. I'll relate everything I can tell you about it, it informs a lot of the church's prejudices."

The old man took a sip of his tea and smacked his lips. "The prophecy tells of a woman who is born a demon with twisted horns. This demon has the power to corrupt and twist souls to her benefit. She surrounds herself with a harem of female beastfolk slave-wives and uses their combined power to corrupt people further, quickly raising an army of the weak and downtrodden by sharing her power with them. This army is said to be fiercely loyal to her for she helped them at their lowest point, an army made up almost entirely of beastfolk prostitutes and former slaves. I've been using the word 'corrupt' a lot but that meaning was still often debated at the time I was with the Tamin church. The only sure thing was that there should be some kind of physical transformation that occurs in addition to the increased strength. The next part is even less understood, which is rather unfortunate because I believe it is what focuses a lot of the Tamin church's most disagreeable behaviors."

My neck was tense and my teeth were clenched. From the outside, this might not appear to line up with what people know about me but if you knew my history, it describes me to a T.

"This army the 'Lilith' in the prophecy raises becomes a secret order that quietly spreads across the 'land,' another ambiguous translation, and 'sparks' several rebellions that attempt to overthrow the aristocracy. The prophecy isn't clear on which aristocracy and if this part was successful or not. Regardless this event becomes so destabilizing that 'gods descend to the earth to quell the mortal's strife.' That statement on its own would be frightening enough but the last bit is what really motivates the Tamin church. 'These wars of men become the wars of gods. None of which are spared from the hands of change and the pantheon is born anew from the ashes of the old, the prelude a mere warning of what is to come.' That prelude is usually interpreted to mean the first war of the gods, meaning that this prophecy is essentially an apocalypse scenario. Throughout the entire time I served the Tamin church I never learned if they even follow an actual god at all. After spending so much of my life with that church I eventually came to the conclusion that the Tamin church only exists because of an ancient tablet they found, and not because they truly worship any gods that direct them."

He sighed and took another sip of tea. "I, like many others that corrupted church targets, was weak and vulnerable when they found me. I was quick to join their church just to have something to eat and a place to stay. It shames me to say that I was once a devout priest of their twisted religion. The more I learned about this supposed tablet though the more I became convinced it was completely contrived to protect kings and queens and their power. This prophecy doesn't speak of any timeframe, any triggering event other than a specific demon coming to exist, and only names what kind of people to target. Beastfolk, prostitutes, slaves, and 'women who lie with women' as the Tamin church says. It gives its members moral zealous justification to harass people and protect all aristocracies because any of them could be the one that triggers a supposed armageddon. Perhaps if the Tamin church would stop stoking conflict with the beastfolk, or support the abolition of slavery like some of the other churches, this armageddon would cease to be a threat. But no, it simultaneously teaches its followers that they're trying to stop the end of the world while also setting the stage for the prophecy to be fulfilled if it even is real."

I was completely frozen, caught entirely flat-footed. If the prophecy was true then we were right before things got really bad. The old man must have seen my reaction because he spoke the next words more gently.

"Don't worry miss. You've just happened to get unlucky by coincidentally matching a few of the church's targets, not unlikely considering how long the Tamin church has existed. Lilith isn't a common name in this part of the world to be sure but your variety of sheep-kin isn't well known here either. The fact that you are a titled [Demon Hunter] proves that you're not their prophesized 'Lilith' though. I wouldn't take that as a guarantee they won't bother you but it's hard to argue you're the one in the prophecy when you are proven not to be a demon by a Morkinnen priest's [Zone of Truth] and are well known for killing demons. There is no shortage of guards in this very castle who personally watched you killing many demons just a few days ago. The only thing the Tamin church seems to hate beyond anything else are demons so that should help you stay out of their crossfire."

"Right," I hoarsely replied. I could feel the confusion, concern, and disbelief through the bond. I wasn't the only one of us caught off guard here. I rubbed my face. "I'm sorry, this news is... a lot. This completely puts into perspective my dealings with them. I'll have to be even more careful around them than I have been."

The priest nodded. "That would be prudent. I know better than most that their entire church is made up of overzealous nutcases. Don't let your guard down near them. This is also distasteful to say... but I would consider going under a false name when dealing with them. Just the name alone may be enough for many of them to attack you."

I sighed. "I believe their higher-ups already know my name, the person who told me of the 'Order of Lilith' in the first place only did so because I had given her my name. She probably wrote down my description and circulated it before I even finished leaving her tent."

"It's up to you but I would still recommend using an alias, even if that alias is quickly discovered. If nothing else the rank and file will be less likely to attack you."

"Fair enough. Thank you for your time." I nodded to him. "Thank you as well, Nathaniel. I don't intend to stay in town much longer, I still need to go to the capital to get cartography training. Only a few days at most."

The former Tamin priest frowned at that. "Be careful when you're in the capital dear, tensions are rather high right now after Baron Morrister's death. Many nobles are on their guard right now, despite him disagreeing with most of them on many policies, the death of a noble always puts the rest of them on edge. I would avoid their attention if possible, there's no doubt that many would try to recruit a talented demon hunter into their political games."

"I'll take the advice to heart. Thank you for your time and thank you for setting this meeting up, Nathaniel, it's been... enlightening."

My group stood up and left the room then the castle.

I wasn't able to quiet my swirling thoughts on the way back to the brothel.