The Vampire & Her Witch

”Would that be enough to balance the scales for you, Lord Erling?”

Lady Ragna sat perfectly still in the silence that followed Lady Ashlynn’s offer. She wanted to speak up, to question why Lady Ashlynn would be so generous and to ask what strings would come with such an extraordinary offer when her son had done so little to deserve it.

Of course, Ragna understood that Ashlynn would need to move quickly if she expected to build a coalition to resist the Church and the Kingdom of Gaal, and promoting a few of the existing lords was a quick way to gain some initial goodwill, but it risked sowing even more grievance than the gratitude she’d harvest, especially if she intended to remove the Leufroys from power entirely.

Ragna had learned far too well the unexpected costs that could arise from seemingly innocent generosity. Early in her tenure as Erling’s regent, she’d been the recipient of several ’kind’ and ’generous’ offers of support only to be asked years later for repayment of favors in kind.

They’d been painful lessons, and they were ones she’d ensured Erling understood when he inherited his father’s throne. Now, however, as much as she wanted to speak up, it was time for her son to make his own decision. If he asked her for advice, she would give it, but if he didn’t... Well, she would still offer up her thoughts, privately, once their audience with Lady Ashlynn was over.

But ultimately, the decision belonged to her son.

”There have never been counts in Lothian before,” Erling said after taking several moments to consider what Ashlynn had said. ”I don’t know what’s expected of one or what it would mean for Fayle to become a county.”

”Before I make a decision, can you tell me more about what you would require of me, and of my vassals?” Erling asked.

”In some ways, your role would be similar to my father’s role in Trevarthan,” Ashlynn said. ”Or my uncle in Keating. A baron is concerned about what happens within his domain, the readiness of his knights and the bounty of his harvests. He is the captain of a ship, trusting his officers to see to their sections and ensuring that his vessel can fight when called upon.”

”A count is an admiral of his fleet,” Ashlynn continued. ”He must look beyond the horizon to the affairs of the world that could sink his fleet or lead them to bounty. It isn’t enough to tend to your own lands anymore; you have to ensure that there are safe harbors for your ships wherever in the world they may travel. That means more time away from home, making arrangements with other lords and executing the will of the lord you serve beyond their borders.”

”A count isn’t just a baron with a larger domain,” Ashlynn concluded, repeating a lesson she’d received from her father long ago. ”His responsibilities are different in character, not simply greater in scale.”

”Does that mean you’d be sending me south to do business with the people of the Southern Steppe?” Erling asked. ”Or east, to handle matters in Keating?”

Erling swallowed heavily when he mentioned Keating. There was only one rough pass through the mountains between Fayle Barony and Keating Duchy, but if he was responsible for the Leufroy lands as well, that meant two more passes to guard, and two different baronies on the far side of the mountains, plus the forces of the Duke, the Kingdom and the Church.

”Do you expect me to lead your armies in war?” Erling asked, his tone turning fragile as the implications of what Ashlynn had said settled over him.

This morning, she’d claimed that she wanted to find a way to coexist with the Kingdom and the Church, but even with the revelation that her witches and vampires could rival Exemplars, none of the barons expected that she could do anything more than delay the inevitable. War would come, one way or another, and his people would be caught up in it. The question was, when war came, where would he be standing?

”Your days of claiming that you aren’t a soldier or a warrior will come to an end,” Ashlynn said. ”Loghlan can finish out his years as a ruler without changing, but Liam has already taken his place as an apprentice to one of my witches. He recognized that he doesn’t have the strength to hold the territory his family has been granted and he’s working hard to gain it.”

”This is the difference between a human count and a lord who follows me,” Ashlynn added. ”The Eldritch way respects the strongest in a nation, rewarding them with rule of their nation and placing on their shoulders the burden of defending it. The kingdom we’re building won’t be founded on purely Eldritch ways, nor will it resemble the Kingdom of Gaal.”

”But I expect you to put your bow to use for more than just hunting game, Lord Erling,” Ashlynn said firmly. ”Like Liam, we can teach you and help you to grow strong enough to hold your own against Templars and Inquisitors. You may grow even stronger than Loman Lothian with his Bow of Stars. But if you accept this offer, you will fight.”

”And if I refuse your offer?” Erling asked as he drew a deep, unsteady breath. ”If I want to remain as I am without taking up these burdens?”

”Then I leave you to rule over your lands as you currently do,” Ashlynn said, doing her best to hide her disappointment. ”I owe you that much for all the years you’ve kept your end of the bargain and the support you offered last night.”

”But Lord Erling,” Ashlynn said as she rose to see the young baron out. ”One way or another, someone will rule that corner of the realm. You can either become that ruler, or kneel before the next person I choose.”

”I’ve learned all too well what happens when you can’t do anything beyond accepting the arrangements of others,” she said, looking at Erling with cold emerald eyes. ”The days when you can rule your lands the way you did in the past are coming to an end. I’ll protect them as long as I can, but if you don’t find a strength of your own and a will to take control of the ship beneath your feet...”

”I’m afraid the day will come when your people need you to be their protector and not simply their lord,” Ashlynn said. ”If you aren’t prepared to protect them when the time comes, then Fayle Barony may suffer the same fate as Wolstan’s Freehold...”