The Vampire & Her Witch

”Before her majesty, all. Will. KNEEL!”

Thane’s voice echoed through Lothian City, rising amidst a thousand whispering voices from every shadow and dark corner of the city.

Atop the walls, Adala and Charlotte held each other close, keeping the warm blanket around their shoulders as they knelt on the cold stones of the wall.

For once, Charlotte was glad that Adala had insisted on watching from the edge of the battlements. This way, they still had a view of the handsome knight on his dark stallion as he commanded the whole world to kneel... and the world obeyed.

Only Isabell remained standing, seemingly immune to the herald’s command, but even she said nothing, ignoring her role as gatekeeper or toll collector or whatever she was and deferring entirely to the Lord General, Thane.

In the inner bailey of Lothian Manor, Ashlynn watched as the knights, lords and ladies of the realm sank to their knees to receive her beloved. For a moment, she considered offering them shelter, particularly the members of Dirar’s retinue who had yet to submit to the fledgling empire’s rule...

In the end, however, she let them face the power of Thane’s Voice of Command for themselves. Rastlan seemed to struggle the most, but even his pride only allowed him to remain standing for a handful of heartbeats before he too sank to his knees, leaving Ashlynn, Sybyll and High Lord Dirar as the only ones still standing in the inner bailey.

At the heart of the city, in the cathedral of the Great Temple, Thane’s spoken command arrived like a whisper rather than a shout. Few shadows fell in the brightly illuminated hall and the gilded spires atop the Great Temple pulsed with a faint golden light as the power of Thane’s words wrapped around them.

Here and there, members of the congregation dropped to one knee, though they weren’t entirely certain why they had, and a few rose immediately after. One man, however, knelt of his own volition, addressing the congregation as he did.

”One hundred years ago, Cellach Lothian led the priests, Inquisitors and Templars of this church to slaughter Her Eternity’s family and burn her city to the ground,” Ignatious said, his voice ringing off the chapel’s vaulted ceiling as he knelt beside the altar.

”For one hundred years,” he continued. ”She has refrained from doing the same to this city. You need not give her unthinking obedience,” he said. ”And you need not worship her as you’d worship a saint...”

”But respect, you can offer, along with your gratitude,” Ignatious said, nodding his head in the direction of the gates. ”And just as the Saint Teacher called on us to learn from those who are different, guiding the Great Prophet to thirteen Great Teachers, each with their own thoughts and advice, I call on you now to learn from someone who is different, and welcome her into our city with a sign of respect.”

For a moment, no one in the cathedral moved. Then, a few heartbeats later, Gaius, the gray-haired old soldier who had challenged Ignatious the night before, surprised everyone by becoming the first to kneel.

”Not obedience, and not worship either,” Gaius said when he saw dozens of eyes falling on him from across the cathedral. ”But... His Worship saved my life,” he said, nodding his head at Ignatious. ”And he said that ’Her Eternity’ saved his. And if my old knees can bend in respect,” he said, looking at the parents of young children standing uncertainly nearby. ”Well, at least give it a try...”

Moments later, Gaius was joined by Bosh, Yastin and several young men who encouraged others to join them in kneeling for the arrival of the Harbinger of Death.

Not everyone knelt. In truth, it was less than half the congregation who were willing to welcome Nyrielle on their knees, and even fewer in the chapels and shelters on the temple grounds where some of the most faithful still waited eagerly for the temple’s gates to open and release them from the ’vigil’ that had gone on longer than anyone had thought.

But for Ignatious, those that knelt represented a seed. One he hoped would take root and thrive in the days and weeks to come.

At the south gate, while people who had knelt without realizing they’d even moved took stock of their situation and that of the people around them, Isabell stepped forward to address the Lord General.

”Lord General Thane,” Isabell said, her voice ringing out across the valley with the crisp clarity of a bell. ”You and your mistress will always be welcome in this city, and no gate will bar your entry,” she said, raising one hand and gesturing at the gate below.

The men who should have opened the iron-bound wooden gates remained kneeling, holding their positions as if waiting for permission that even Isabell couldn’t give. Thankfully, Isabell hadn’t expected them to help. Instead, the gates shuddered slightly as Isabell enveloped them in a layer of glowing green energy before pulling them open from where she stood.

”But Lord General,” Isabell added, speaking for the benefit of the audience on the walls and in the streets as soon as the gates stood open. ”While we will always welcome you and Her Eternity, welcoming an army into the city is a bit much, don’t you think?”

”Army?” Thane said with a rich chuckle that caught many of the kneeling observers off guard.

”Her Eternity has brought no army. Like any great lady, she travels with a small honor guard,” Thane said, as if it were only common sense. ”But she is accompanied by several others the city should know, each with their own honor guards,” he said, pulling a small, tightly rolled scroll from the pouch at his waist and unrolling it for dramatic effect even though he clearly had no need of notes to complete his introductions.

”Accompanying Her Eternity, I present to you...”

”...Princess Jocelynn Blackwell, Sister of Her Dominion Ashlynn Blackwell, and her Templar Guard...”

”...Madame Zedya the Mesmerizing, Handmaiden of Her Eternity, and her Great Claw Guard...”

”...Lady Heila, the Willow Witch, Lady-in-Waiting of Her Dominion, and her guard of Tuscan Giants...”

”...Sir Ollie, the Cypress Witch, Knight Guardian of Refuge...”

”...Virve, the Oak Witch, Captain of Her Dominion’s guard...”

”...Wolstan the Freeholder, Progeny of Her Eternity...”

With each name Thane spoke, the eyes of the people on the wall grew wider as the Lord General introduced one exalted personage after another.

By Eldritch tradition, the witches of Ashlynn’s coven and Nyrielle’s progeny could have approached the gates to be received on their own, much as Dame Sybyll Hanrahan had done. Now, however, there were half a dozen of them in Lady Nyrielle’s retinue alone, and Thane’s list didn’t stop with the vampires and witches.

”... Aspakos, Commander of the Fourth Army and the Sorcerers of Sundered Earth...”

”...Hauke, Heir to the Four Peaks and Apprentice of Her Dominion,” Thane said, rolling up the scroll at last and tucking it away.

”So you see,” Thane said with a charming smile, allowing his voice to echo across the city. ”These few hundred soldiers and sorcerers are no army. If Her Dominion summoned her armies to march to war, her forces would cover the hillside and stretch to the river.”

”What you see here is just a humble honor guard...”