The Vampire & Her Witch

The final arrival was announced by the sound of laughter even before the tent flap opened. A young knight who couldn’t have been more than twenty-two or twenty-three entered the tent with his arm around a young woman who was gazing up at him with such obvious adoration that it made Ollie feel slightly awkward just witnessing it.

”Sir Bedwyr Riverstone,” Loghlan greeted the young knight with a warm smile. ”And your lovely bride. Married life seems to be agreeing with you both.”

Ollie rose once more, offering the young knight a bow that Sir Bedwyr returned with enthusiasm before clasping Ollie’s hand warmly.

”It does indeed, my lord,” Sir Bedwyr said, his own face lit up with happiness. He was a handsome young man with dark hair and the kind of open, honest face that suggested he’d never told a lie in his life. His wife, whom he introduced as Lady Esme, was perhaps a year or two younger, with auburn hair and freckles scattered across her nose like copper coins.

”We were so worried when we heard Lord Liam was missing,” Lady Esme said, her voice soft but sincere. ”Bedwyr wanted to join the search parties immediately, but Riverstone Village is so far away from everything else; it was all we could do to make it here in time.”

”We’re just glad that you’re able to join us,” Mairwen assured her. ”The journey from the northern border isn’t an easy one, and you don’t get as many opportunities to meet the other lords and knights of the March. This will be good for you,” she said with a warm smile.

”Thankfully, the search is over, and Liam has returned safely,” Mairwen added, smiling once again at her son.

As the young couple took their seats, Ollie settled back into his own chair, aware that he was still the subject of increasing scrutiny from all the assembled knights and their families. It was Sir Brennus who finally voiced what everyone was clearly thinking.

”So,” the older knight said, leaning forward with undisguised curiosity. There were some things that his lord couldn’t say directly, and some questions that he couldn’t ask, but Sir Brennus was more than willing to take up the social burden on behalf of his liege lord, courtesies be damned. ”Sir Ollie Heartwood, was it?”

”Forgive me for being blunt, lad,” the well-dressed knight said. ”But you’re a bundle of mysteries, and we’re seeing strange things from the demons this winter. When a strange knight turns up out of the blue, bringing our missing lord with him, but without the company of his escort... You have to expect us to have at least a few questions about your origins and your intentions.”

”Sir Brennus,” Liam said quickly in a warning tone. ”You don’t need to worry about Sir Ollie’s intentions. He’s loyal to Lady Ashlynn, and he bears us no ill will. I’d trust him with my life, and more, so please, treat him kindly as my guest, and my friend if Sir Ollie doesn’t find that to be too presumptuous.”

”I don’t have a problem calling you a friend, Lord Liam,” Ollie said, though there was a trace of hesitation in his voice. ”It’s the same with you as it is with Inquisitor Diarmuid, though the circumstances are a little different. You’ve been working hard to make things right, and I respect that. Intentions matter, and people can change. Lady Ashlynn believes it, and so do I.”

Around the table, the mood suddenly shifted. Why was Liam speaking to a simple knight as though he had to win the other man’s favor? And why was the knight speaking to a baron’s heir as though he’d done some great wrong that had to be atoned for?

Combined with the way he’d casually mentioned being on friendly terms with the Inquisitor from the Holy City, everyone’s estimation of the young knight’s importance and influence changed yet again, but they still didn’t know what to make of him.

”I didn’t realise that you were one of Lady Ashlynn’s knights,” Sir Bedwyr said awkwardly as he missed half of the cues that had the more experienced noblemen pausing to reevaluate the young knight. ”My condolences for your loss. I know it’s not the same, but I was away from home when my father passed, and I have a sense of what it feels like to wish you’d been there, even if being there wouldn’t have changed anything.”

”If you need someone to speak to later on,” the young knight offered generously. ”My tent is open to you.”

The information about the attack on the Summer Villa had been well circulated among Loghlan Dunn’s knights by this point, though the baron had withheld the information that Lady Ashlynn had been captured alive.

The death of Sir Cathal had resounded through the community of knights, and many of the younger knights, like Sir Cynwrig and Sir Gavin, had received lessons from the respected knight. Everyone had at least briefly mourned his passing, and at the same time, everyone knew that he’d been the only knight defending the Summer Villa at the time of the demon’s attack.

”I appreciate the offer,” Ollie said after exchanging an uncomfortable look with Liam Dunn. ”But I’m fine, truly. And so is Lady Ashlynn,” he added quickly. ”I don’t know what you’ve heard about the attack on the Summer Villa, but whatever you’ve heard, it isn’t true. At most, it contains a tiny bit of truth, but most of what you’ve heard is either speculation or one of Owain Lothian’s lies.”

”That... that is a very bold claim, young man,” Loghlan Dunn said carefully as his gaze shifted between Ollie and Liam. ”Many people have choice words to say about our next Marquis, but few would dare to call him a liar without very strong evidence, and even then, they wouldn’t say it loudly.”

”How is it that you know that we’ve been lied to about the attack on the Summer Villa, lad?” Loghlan asked, though most of his attention had drifted to Liam rather than the mysterious knight who had arrived with his son. ”And why should we believe your words?”

”Because Sir Ollie was there at the Summer Villa, Father,” Liam said directly, since it appeared that the topic was unavoidable.

”He was there... and he fought in the battle.”