Marius dos Hellespont is a scoundrel of the worst sort: he’s an opportunistic liar, an occasional con-man, but maybe worst of all, he often makes a living as a “corpse-rat,” stealing valuables from soldiers’ dead bodies after recent battles. It’s grim (and highly illegal) work, but it’s been making Marius enough money to feed himself and even take on an apprentice. Everything changes when, one day after a major battle, he comes upon the corpse of an actual king and tries to steal the crown.
When a dead soldier mistakes Marius for a real king, the corpse-rat finds himself transported to the realm of the dead, because just like living people, the dead need a king too, and the position happens to be vacant. It quickly becomes clear that Marius is about as far removed from actual royalty as possible, so the dead make him an offer he can’t refuse: he must go back to the land of the living to find an actual, real king for the dead. If not, his life will be forfeit.
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