The Vampire & Her Witch

”As much as some people might have wished otherwise, I’m very much alive...”

The crowd responded to Ashlynn’s declaration with scattered applause and a few loud cheers, but the reaction of most of the crowd was far from enthusiastic.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

”I know you barely know me,” Ashlynn said, leaning against the railing of the platform and addressing the crowd in the same way she’d once watched her father address a gathering of dockworkers from the deck of a ship.

”I wish I’d had time to come to know you all,” Ashlynn continued as her expression turned briefly dark. ”Owain had other ideas, and I barely survived our wedding night. Sir Tommin and Sir Broll buried me in the wilderness west of the march...”

This time the reaction was louder, punctuated by startled gasps and a handful of outraged cries, but still... What did this have to do with them?

”For the past nine months, Owain and Bors lied to you about what happened,” Ashlynn said. ”They lied to you about their plans, lied to you about their crimes, and they lied to you about the sacrifices they would demand from you in the name of another pointless, futile war!”

This time the response was more widespread. No one liked being lied to, and Owain’s announcement of a triple levy had come only a few days before. Many in the crowd muttered, but only one person, a burly man who wore a leather apron under his winter cloak, actually spoke up.

”We’ll win this time!” the man in the crowd shouted, raising a fist up high. ”Or we would have, with Lord Owain to lead us,” he added, lowering his fist as he glared at Ashlynn. ”We could still win with Lord Loman to protect us. Where has Loman gone? Why isn’t he the new marquis?”

”Aye,” another voice in the crowd called. ”Lord Loman is a blessed one, next to be an Exemplar they say! If anyone can fight off the demons in Lord Owain’s place, it’s Lord Loman!”

For a moment, Ashlynn considered telling them the truth, that Loman had been defeated at the Battle of Hanrahan and that he’d sacrificed the lives of his own men for the power he needed to resist Dame Sybyll’s attack... She wanted to tell them that Loman was nearly as bad as his brother, and that they’d find no salvation following him.

But she couldn’t. Not here, in Lothian City. Loman had spent the past several years building a reputation not only as a man of faith, but as a man of the people, dedicated to charity and selfless service.

Tearing Loman down now would cost her too much. She could only shatter so many beliefs at once before the people rejected her entirely and Loman... For all that he’d done, it wasn’t worth sacrificing her best chances at peace just to tear him down.

”My brother-in-law is a man of faith,” Ashlynn said instead. ”He’s been in my care since the Battle of Hanrahan. But by his own oaths, he cannot inherit his father’s throne. He’ll return soon,” Ashlynn promised. ”I imagine he’ll want to pay his respects to his father and he may choose to return to the Great Temple with High Priest Aubin...”

”But Loman Lothian cannot lead this march,” Ashlynn said firmly. ”And he has no place on a battlefield.”

”So who will protect us?”

”Who will take the throne?”

”What will we do if the demons come?”

The crowd began to churn and roil like a pot starting to boil, and at the edges of the crowd, Ashlynn saw several people starting to slip away, muttering about running while there was still time to run.

Seeing it all, Ashlynn suppressed a sigh. She’d hoped that she could do this with words, but it seemed like words wouldn’t be enough to carry the day by themselves.

”I will protect you,” she said, allowing a slight thread of power to infuse her voice as she spread her arms wide. A faint evergreen scent filled the courtyard as she projected an aura of peace, serenity, and the safety of sheltering under the boughs of a mighty tree.

For the moment, the power held. The people pushing toward the edges of the crowd slowed, turning back to hear her words, and the anxiety she saw on many faces began to ease, giving her the opening she needed to press forward.

”When I came here last year, I didn’t just come to marry Owain Lothian,” Ashlynn said. ”I came to help the people of the march prosper. I came with the hopes that you could enjoy the same quality of life my father’s people in Blackwell enjoy. My husband revealed himself to be a monster and a murderer, but I still have the same hopes to help the people of the march,” Ashlynn said.

”Go home to Blackwell!”

”This is the frontier! We have demons here! It’s not like your safe home by the sea...”

”A woman can’t stop the demons from killing our knights! We need a hero like Lord Owain, or, or Lord Liam, who knows how to fight the demons!”

”Oh?” Loghlan Dunn said, stepping forward to address the man in the crowd. ”You think my son Liam would be a capable lord for you? You think he would keep you safe?”

”Who’s he?” some in the crowd muttered, failing to recognize the Baron of Dunn. Others, however, quickly explained to their neighbors who the gray-haired lord was, triggering even more whispers that certain rumors must be true.

”Lord Liam should be the next marquis!” the burly man in the leather apron said. ”We all heard of his victories this summer and every year the past three years! If anyone can replace Lord Owain, Lord Liam can!”

”I heard Liam defeated three whole demon villages this summer!”

”I heard it was five!”

”Lord Liam looked out for his villages too! Dunn wool trades in Keating now and I hear his villagers all make two full sovereigns a year!”

Once someone had offered up Liam’s name, it spread through the crowd like wildfire, with each person finding a new story to tell or a rumor to resurface from many months ago.

”Your son is quite popular...” Ashlynn said quietly, flashing Loghlan a wry smile.

”He was a useful tool for Bors to elevate Loman’s reputation; that’s all that this is,” Loghlan said, shaking his head. ”Bors had to sing Liam’s praises and spread his accomplishments in order to build a brighter halo for the son he favored to take his throne...”

”Liam’s done well, despite some stumbles,” Ashlynn said. ”I’d hate to tear him down...”

”Bah, that’s a father’s job, Your Dominion,” Loghlan said as he held his hands up to call for silence. ”Let me help with this part...”