The Vampire & Her Witch

”...Owain intends to marry Jocelynn as part of his coronation.”

Those words were enough to freeze Ashlynn’s blood in her veins, and for a moment, Nyrielle’s hand on hers under the table was the only thing that kept her from standing up to rush for the stables and the fastest horse she could find.

”Four days, my love,” Nyrielle said quietly, pitching her voice for Ashlynn’s ears alone. ”Time enough to think before you move. You can rescue your sister and destroy Owain Lothian, but without understanding and a plan, you will also destroy many of your hopes for what comes next...”

Nyrielle was right. She was right and Ashlynn knew it, but that didn’t make it any easier to remain in her seat when she wanted to retrieve Water’s Edge from her bedchambers to personally remove Owain’s head from his shoulders.

But if she did that, Nyrielle was right that she would destroy her hopes of establishing a lasting peace afterwards. Lothian March balanced on the edge of a knife, ready to fall into chaos and anarchy with the slightest shove in the wrong direction. If she couldn’t supplant Owain on the Lothian Throne, taking her place as Marchioness, then a civil war between the barons over the throne was all but inevitable.

Some of them might surrender to her, others would ride against her, and still others would look to stab their neighbors in the back during the chaos and confusion, hoping to come out on top when the dust finally settled.

The lords would plot and scheme. Armies would march, and people would die by the thousands... But if it was the only way to keep her sister safe from Owain’s claws...

Ashlynn clamped down on the thought as quickly as it stirred within her mind. She loved her sister, despite everything that had happened, and hearing that she’d suffered under the cruel hands of the Inquisition felt like twisting the knife in her heart that Jocelynn had placed there nearly a year ago when she revealed Ashlynn’s secret to Owain.

”Marcel,” Nyrielle prompted, hoping her spy master would have additional information that might help her beloved pass through this moment of crisis. ”What else have you been able to learn? Is there anything else that might be useful? Tell us now so those who can move in daylight hours can make good use of them.”

”I haven’t had time to write out a report. I stayed until the last minute to learn everything I could,” Marcel said. ”But there are a few things, including one other piece of good news.”

”I managed to place a man in Lothian Manor,” Marcel said, unable to suppress the smile of pride that formed on his lips. ”One of my nephews, Jean, is also the head cook at the Gilded Horn. Percivus executed the previous head cook for ’conspiring against Marquis Bors’, though few believe he was truly guilty. Jean has inserted himself into the kitchens to ’fill in’ for the late Master of Kitchens.”

”Master Baden?” Ollie said, his eyes open wide in surprise. He would never claim to be a friend of the demanding head cook. He’d been on the receiving end of his blistering tongue too many times to count, and sharp blows from his wooden spoon had ensured that Ollie would never think of him as a friend. But, despite all the abuse in the kitchens, he’d never once wished the man dead.

”He’s really dead?” Ollie asked as the icy fingers of panic briefly gripped his heart. They’d just been talking about Master Baden’s chestnut soup a few days ago, and now he’d been killed? It made no sense.

But the fact that Percivus had seen fit to execute a loyal servant like Master Baden meant he could have targeted anyone, and Ollie had to remind himself that Marcel had already confirmed his parents were safe before he could get his heart to beat normally again.

”Master Baden and the physician, Hess,” Marcel said, nodding to Ollie before returning to his explanation. ”Lady Ashlynn, I managed to slip orders to Jean when I arrived in Lothian just before sunrise last night, and tonight, he confirmed that he’s following through on both of my instructions.”

”Tonight, before she visited the dungeons, Jean prepared a meal that was designed to attract your sister’s attention,” Marcel explained. ”One of her maidservants has already made it known that she desires a meeting with him. If she meets with him before he receives other instructions, he’ll inform her that she isn’t alone, and that Master Isabell is working with me to secure a method for her to escape.”

It still wasn’t guaranteed that the message would reach Jocelynn’s ears. Jean wouldn’t deliver the message to a servant; he would only give it directly to Jocelynn. From what Marcel had learned so far, Jocelynn was spending as much time as she could outside the manor, visiting the temple to prepare for her sister’s memorial.

She might not receive the message until it was too late to do anything with, if she received it at all. But sending it was better than doing nothing, and once Marcel understood how quickly things were unraveling in Lothian, he hadn’t hesitated to put a few of his own contingency plans into motion, even without the chance to consult with Ashlynn or Nyrielle.

”Jean is doing one other thing for me,” Marcel said with a smile on his lush, crimson lips that revealed a hint of his fangs. ”A celebration like this requires many, many hands doing labor, and the kitchens are busy preparing small feasts every night for the barons as they arrive,” he explained.

”I might not have had time to summon men from Otker for this,” Marcel continued. ”But, in the name of delivering an excellent feast, we’ve closed down the Gilded Horn so that Jean can use as many of my ’staff’ as he wishes.”

”From today onward, I’ll have at least two dozen trusted men laboring within the walls of Lothian Manor,” Marcel promised. ”Their orders, for now, are to keep an eye on Jocelynn, but they won’t intervene unless she’s in immediate danger.”

”Two dozen men?” Ashlynn repeated as she finally pulled herself back from the edge. ”And they’re already inside the walls...” she said softly as an idea began to form in her mind.

”Tell me something, Marcel,” Ashlynn said as she leaned forward in her chair while her mind began making rapid adjustments to her plans. ”What news do you have about the barons arriving in Lothian City? Specifically, have Baron Loghlan Dunn or Baron Tybal Aleese arrived in Lothian City yet?”