The Vampire & Her Witch

Caun’s Light wasn’t the most modern ship tied at the docks. In fact, the vessel was likely one of the oldest ships still sailing the river, even if it wasn’t quite old enough to have carried the Lothian lord the ship was named after.

Caun Lothian had led the forces of the Second Crusade to an unbroken series of victories over the Eldritch across much of what had become Lothian March, but in the end, he’d broken his armies on the fortifications of the Vale of Mists and retreated to establish the capital of his domain at the lazy river bend where Lothian City now stood.

Taking a ship that bore his name on their journey to the Vale of Mists tickled Jocelynn’s sense of irony, but whether the name was a bad omen for their journey or not, she couldn’t say.

”If it’s a problem, I could probably do something about it,” Ollie offered, his boots crunching in the snow as he joined Jocelynn and Albyn. ”It might damage the wood beneath the paint if I did, though,” he said, frowning at the gilded script across the vessel’s stern that proclaimed its name.

”I don’t think it’s worth the trouble,” Albyn said, shaking his head as he looked at the ship. She was old, several decades old at least, and it was likely that nearly every plank of the ship had been replaced at some point or another.

”A ship’s name is an important thing,” the former pirate continued. ”It shouldn’t be slapped on lightly, and it’s worse luck to sail on a ship with no name than it is to sail on one with an infamous one. Besides,” he said, as though to reassure himself. ”It looks like it’s more of a pleasure craft for ferrying lords about than a working man’s ship. I wouldn’t begin to know what to name a ship like that, so better to leave it as it is.”

”What do you think, Captain?” another voice called as Liam Dunn made his way over to the group. ”You don’t have many sailors with you. Are you certain we don’t need to bring out any of the ship’s normal crew? I’ve only been aboard her once, but Lord Bors had a crew of at least twenty men, and we don’t have even half as many.”

”The hardest part is getting underway and docking in Maeril,” Albyn answered confidently as he watched members of the Blackwell household staff already moving toward the ship with the limited luggage that would accompany them to the Vale. ”She might be a luxurious ship, but she’s not very large. Five hands are more than plenty.”

Jocelynn nodded unconsciously at Albyn’s calmly competent answer. Looking at the ship with its hull that had been painted dark blue, trimmed with yellow and gilded lettering, it was obvious to her at a glance that most of the ’crew’ were likely servants and attendants meant to wait upon the ship’s passengers rather than men required to sail the ship.

Next to one of her father’s dromons, with a crew of more than two hundred men, it would have looked like a river trout beside a swordfish, but for short journeys with a few dozen passengers, it was more than sufficient and likely very comfortable as well.

”Just get your men inside before Sir Ollie gets to work,” Liam said, clapping a hand on the weathered sailor’s shoulder. ”The fewer people around him when he calls the wind, the better. No disrespect, Sir Ollie,” Liam added quickly. ”But...”

”No, I understand,” Ollie said, looking a bit sheepish. ”It’s better for people to be inside from the cold anyway. So long as there’s someone to steer the ship, that should be enough.”

”You’re a brave man, aren’t you, Sir Albyn?” Liam said, squeezing the new knight’s shoulder. ”You must be to have earned even Owain Lothian’s praise.”

”Brave enough to do the jobs that need to be done, your lordship,” Albyn said, frowning at the young lord who seemed to be in a hurry to get away from the Cypress Witch. For a man who served as Lady Ashlynn’s herald, it was hardly a flattering look

”Good, good, hold fast to that, and don’t hesitate to call for Sir Beathan and his men if you feel the need,” Liam suggested before turning back to Ollie and Jocelynn. ”I’ll make sure your family is well away from you,” Liam said in a voice too quiet to be heard by Ollie’s parents. ”And I’ll watch over them for you, so just do what you need to do and don’t worry about them wandering where they shouldn’t.”

”Lady Jocelynn,” he said in a lighter tone as he offered his arm to Jocelynn. ”May I have the honor of escorting you aboard? We really should get out of the way.”

”Oh, um, of course,” Jocelynn said, taken slightly off guard by Liam’s sudden insistence in separating people from Sir Ollie. Still, she accepted his invitation graciously and followed him along with Samira and Ollie’s parents as they boarded Caun’s Light.

Yet, she couldn’t help but look back at the flame-haired witch standing all alone on the snow-covered dock. His expression was a little sad and almost resigned, as if he expected that people would want to avoid him.

Maybe it was because he was a witch, Jocelynn thought. In the Vale, Ashlynn said that witches were accepted and respected, but here, perhaps it was still too soon for even Ashlynn’s closest allies to overcome a lifetime of fear and prejudice against people like Sir Ollie and her sister.

And yet, hearing the tone in Liam’s voice, she suspected there was something more to it... Something that made others want to flee from the man who made her feel safer than anyone outside her own family ever had, and she couldn’t understand it.

Was this what was waiting for her if she became the Olive Witch? Or was it something else entirely? She didn’t know, but looking at Ollie, standing still in a sea of activity, she was determined to find out.