The Vampire & Her Witch

An awkward look passed among the Stormbrooks before the woman in the bed spoke, her voice hoarse but steady.

”Sir Ollie still has work to do,” Lady Cerys said. ”And it’s going to be dangerous. But I’m certain he’ll be fine. Your son is the man who fought death itself to save my life, and I can’t imagine he’d let himself die before he has a chance to see his parents again.”

That wasn’t entirely true, and Cerys knew it. On the voyage down the River Luath, Cynwrig had explained to her just how close Ollie had come to succumbing to death’s siren call once he knew Cerys’ life had been saved. But now that Ollie was free of that danger, she was certain that he’d treasure his life more... the same way he’d taught her to treasure her own.

She paused, and the green eyes that had watched Ollie’s bewildered parents so carefully when they entered softened into something like reverence.

”We all owe your son a great debt,” Cerys continued. ”Bringing you here, keeping you safe, it’s a small repayment, but it’s the one we can make tonight.”

”I still don’t understand,” Jamys said, taking a seat next to Lilee as he tried to process everything he’d heard. ”I, we, we haven’t heard from Ollie in more than half a year. So when... ? And how...? And what is this work he has to do?”

”Here,” Eira said, setting plates in front of their guests before she started to efficiently pile food up on their plates. Slices of three different sausages were quickly joined by soft, plump rolls, and a salad of wilted winter greens as she continued to speak.

”You should eat while I explain,” Eira said calmly as her hands moved with the neat, precise motions her etiquette tutor had drilled into her so that she could serve at a high table if she were ever called to do so. ”I can’t tell you everything, but I shared a carriage with Sir Ollie from our camp in the wilderness all the way to Maeril, and we spoke of many things,” she said with a light smile on her lips.

”Ollie earned his knighthood the hard way,” Eira explained as Cynwrig joined Cerys sitting on the bed, beckoning for Dalwyn to join them so they could listen to Eira’s story. Dalwyn’s eyes were almost as bright as Lilee’s as he leaned forward, ready to hear anything about his hero that he didn’t already know.

”He met Lady Ashlynn at the Summer Villa, and as a reward for his help, she apprenticed him to Lord General Thane,” Eira said, glossing over several parts of the story that she knew she couldn’t reveal to them in order to focus on what was most important. She paused, however, when she realized that neither of their guests had touched their food. ”Is something wrong with the meal? We can send to the kitchens for something else...”

Jamys swallowed heavily, glancing between the charming young lady and the plate in front of him with a deeply conflicted expression.

”I, I appreciate the kindness, your ladyship,” he said hesitantly. ”But, if we’re caught eating from a lord’s table...”

”Nonsense,” Cynwrig said, though his tone was sharper than he’d intended. ”Whatever rules the Lothians use to manage their house don’t matter in this room. You’re our guests, and in my house, there’s no one I wouldn’t break bread with. That goes double for Sir Ollie’s family and friends,” he said a bit more gently.

”Please,” Cerys added from her spot on the bed. Her voice was a little strained, and there were tears in her eyes as she realized, perhaps for the first time, how dire things were in Lothian Manor if the household staff was too frightened to even eat something that was meant for the lords of the realm. And this was the place that Ollie had grown up in... No wonder he was so humble. ”Please, a meal is the least of what we can do.”

”Just eat,” Lilee said, elbowing her reluctant husband as she took a large slice of sausage and popped it into her mouth, whole. Her ears were already burning at the way everyone was so focused on them, but the instant she bit into the sausage, her eyes went wide at the explosion of juices and flavors in her mouth. Rich, savory, meaty, with plenty of herbs and spices she hadn’t tasted often enough to be able to name...

”Delicious,” she murmured, finally relaxing enough to enjoy it as Jamys joined her, starting with the same dark sausage she’d tried and having a visibly similar reaction to the flavor.

Across the table from them, Eira smiled as they finally began to relax.

”Now, where was I?” Eira said as she resumed her tale. ”Right, Ollie apprenticed under Lord General Thane, the same knight who trained Dame Sybyll Hanrahan, and over the summer, he was tasked with building a village for hundreds of displaced refugees,” she explained.

Lilee blinked at the unfamiliar names and even more unfamiliar title. Lord General? What sort of person was that? It sounded important, but when she looked at her husband, he just shrugged, seeming every bit as confused as she was. And Dame Sybyll Hanrahan? Since when had the Hanrahans knighted a woman?

But the young lady telling the story didn’t seem to notice their confusion as she continued giving them the highlights.

”He received his title and took the surname Heartwood after that,” Eira continued. ”Now, he rules over his village as its knight, though I feel like his duties to Lady Ashlynn will keep him away from his village more than he would like.”

”He mentioned building a home for you in his village,” Eira added before they could even ask exactly what sorts of duties Ollie had to a woman who was supposed to be dead. ”He said that it was hard for you to provide a place where you could all live together, so, as long as you want to come and live with him, he’ll see that you have a place in his village.”

Eira felt a little guilty sharing that piece of information. It should have been Ollie’s offer to extend. But she wanted to make it clear to them just how much their son loved and cared for him, before they learned that he’d become far more than a witch.

If they had something to look forward to, even if it was as simple as knowing their son wanted to care for them and give them a place to live, then when they learned that he was a witch...

Eira just hoped they’d understand that no matter what he’d become, the love Ollie had for his parents had never waned.