The Vampire & Her Witch

”Do you still intend to bring Samira with you when you confront Owain? And is she willing to go along with you?”

Nyrielle’s question cut to the core of why Ashlynn had gone to visit Samira in the first place. When Ashlynn finally confronted Owain, she intended to reveal what he had done to conceal his crime. She wanted proof, not only of his attempt to use an imposter to conceal her ’death’ but of his infidelity as well.

In order to settle things with Lothian March as peacefully as possible, she intended to assert her claim over the march as its Marchioness, but to do that, she also had to give the barons of the march a reason to rally behind her and abandon Owain.

Owain’s attempt to murder his own wife wasn’t enough. He’d claim that she was a witch, and things would quickly devolve into an exaggerated lover’s spat in the eyes of the Lothian Court. It was Owain’s actions afterwards that were the most damning, and Samira was her best proof of how far Owain would go in order to deceive the rest of the march.

But bringing Samira to the scene of a battle, especially when she had yet to give birth, put not only the young woman in danger, but her child as well.

When Ashlynn arrived with Ollie to visit the expectant mother, she found her with Old Nan and Noomi, all of them gathered before the hearth in Ollie’s sitting room, chatting and crafting while Noomi’s son, Saku, crawled about on the rug, happily batting about a ball of yarn.

”Lady Ashlynn,” Samira had said at one point while they were chatting. ”I, I know that you are very busy and I’m already honored that you came to visit,” she said, clutching her knitting needles and the half-finished cap she’d been working on. ”I have a request I’d like to make in case I don’t get to speak with you again before...” she said, her voice trailing off as she traced a hand over her large belly.

”We haven’t had time to become good friends yet,” Ashlynn said warmly. ”But at the very least, you and my sister are good friends, and I’d like to be your friend as well,” Ashlynn said earnestly.

Samira had been one of Jocelynn’s few companions while she was in the Summer Villa, and even though things had been strained between the two women at the start, for many of the same reasons that things were awkward between Samira and Ashlynn, they’d eventually formed a small friendship as Jocelynn taught Samira the things she’d need to know in order to present herself as a noblewoman in order to maintain the charade.

If Samira had done nothing other than keeping Jocelynn company and giving her genuine friendship, Ashlynn would have been willing to give her a great deal. Considering what she’d come to ask for, she felt like there was very little that she would deny the young woman.

”You don’t need to be formal with me, Samira,” Ashlynn said, placing a hand on the young woman’s hand. ”Just tell me what you want.”

”It, it’s about a name for my little one,” the expectant mother said, blushing awkwardly at how casual Ashlynn was being with her. She’d come to understand just how high Ashlynn’s status was as both the daughter of a count and the wife of the next Marquis, but both of those identities paled in comparison to her identity among the Eldritch as the Mother of Trees.

That was especially true with members of the Heartwood clan, like Noomi and Old Nan, who revered the Mother of Trees as something close to the Holy Lord of Light, or at least the Great Prophet. For Ashlynn to be so familiar with her... it felt a bit overwhelming, but she pressed ahead with her request anyway.

”I’ve already spoken to Sir Ollie,” Samira started awkwardly, glancing at the young knight who had accompanied Ashlynn. ”If I have a son, I plan to name him Olver, in honor of the man who rescued me from the Summer Villa,” she said, her face heating as she recalled her fumbling attempts to maintain her charade when Ollie came to rescue her.

Yet, looking back, he’d been a perfect gentleman, despite having been wounded in the raid on the Villa. And he’d helped her to bring Noomi and Saku away, which earned him a place in Samira’s heart that no one could ever displace him from.

”But, if I have a girl,” Samira continued. ”I’d like to name her ’Lynnda,’” she said, giving the name that Ashlynn had used when they first met, while Ashlynn was posing as a serving girl in the kitchens to spy on the Summer Villa. ”I can’t tell you how much your kindness meant to me when we first met, and everything since then... It’s been so much, and I’m so grateful,” she said.

”I, I hope you don’t mind,” Samira finished quietly. ”But, it would mean a lot to me...”

”Of course you can,” Ashlynn replied quickly, taking Samira’s hand in hers and bringing it to her chest. ”I think Olver is a good name too,” she said, looking at the blushing Cypress Witch. ”You could also use Olivia if you wanted to, and I’m sure Ollie would still be quite proud,” she teased lightly. ”But if you want to use Lynnda, then I’m honored,” she said, returning her attention to the soon-to-be mother. ”Truly.”

”You see?” Ollie said warmly as he took a seat on the rug to play with Saku, who had abandoned the ball of yarn to cling to Ollie’s boot when he bumped into the young knight. ”I told you that she wouldn’t mind.”

”She’s not like the noblemen you met in Lothian Manor, or the noblewomen you met there either,” he added as he considered the things he’d heard about the young noblewomen who gathered for tea whenever their fathers or husbands brought them to Lothian Manor. Evidently, Samira’s encounters with those noblewomen had been... unpleasant, to say the least.