The Vampire & Her Witch

Ashlynn stood with her eyes closed as Nyrielle’s chariot and the long line of carriages rolled into the inner bailey.

She could feel them.

Not just Nyrielle, whose heartbeat echoed within her own chest, quickening as her lover drew near.

She could feel Ollie, though for some reason he felt weaker than he should, as if he were on the edge of drifting off to sleep, or if he exerted some great effort. Ashlynn’s brows furrowed as she pulled on the thread of energy that bound her to her Cypress Knight, feeling with senses that didn’t require her eyes until she felt a faint echo of Ollie’s power not far from her tired witch.

”Ah,” Ashlynn said softly as comprehension dawned. ”So that’s how he did it...”

Thane’s Voice of Command had limits. The more a command opposed a person’s own nature, the easier it was to resist. Telling people to ’listen well’ when they were already primed to do so didn’t require much effort beyond the tremendous area that Thane projected his voice to. Telling the people of Lothian to kneel to a noblewoman was also something that few would resist.

But to affect the entire city at once should have been beyond even him... unless he had the help of his dedicated apprentice knight and the power of a witch’s blood. Part of her wanted to scold Ollie for pushing himself so hard when he’d already done so much, but that small voice in the back of her mind was quickly overwhelmed by the warmth in her heart as she considered all the reasons Ollie must have had to offer his support in this way.

Besides, while Ollie’s presence felt slightly weak, he rode in a carriage with Virve and Heila, both of whom radiated a potent, reassuring strength as their carriage rolled to a stop. Finally, after far too many days apart, their coven would be together again.

But the presence she savored most, the one that set her own heart aflutter, had just spoken, giving the people of the city and the audience in the inner bailey permission to rise, and it was at that moment that Ashlynn opened her eyes.

Nyrielle’s presence rolled through the inner bailey like the surge of the incoming tide, and even though she’d given the people permission to rise, none who were kneeling seemed able to make a move. For Ashlynn, however, that dark, chilling presence lifted her up like a ship on the sea, promising her an escape from the shallows she’d been floundering in since the night Owain died.

For five days, Ashlynn had struggled all but alone, and the few trusted people she’d kept at her side had barely been enough to manage the daunting challenge of securing the city, and with it, the Verdant Hills. But now, now they would face the rest together, along with the people who had become as close to them as any blood kin.

”Everyone may rise,” Ashlynn said, extending her hands out wide as she projected the aura of a tree’s vast, sheltering boughs, offering a place of sanctuary for those who found Nyrielle’s unrestrained presence too overwhelming to resist.

”You’re too kind to the weak,” Nyrielle said, just as the lords, ladies, knights and visitors in the inner bailey had started to rise. ”If they are to be the foundation of our empire, I fear for our future,” she said as she strode forward, walking across the snow-covered ground at a slow, gliding pace.

Behind her, Thane moved silently into the place Nyrielle had left, refusing to leave Jocelynn alone, but few people noticed as all eyes followed the Harbinger of Death’s approach.

”They are weak because they weren’t allowed to grow strong,” Ashlynn said, smiling at her lover despite the apparent severity of the topic. ”They’re like children. They need parents like pillars to hold up the sky until they’ve grown tall enough to shoulder the burden alongside us.”

”They’ll have to grow quickly,” Nyrielle said, coming to a stop just half a pace away from Ashlynn. ”I see what protecting these leeches has done to you already,” she said, reaching out and cupping Ashlynn’s cheek. ”I won’t have them feeding off your generosity and kindness like parasites. You are too precious to me, my darling, and their lives are far too pitiful to rob you of even a day of delight.”

All around the inner bailey, lords and ladies felt their breath catch in surprise as they watched the Demon Lady of the Vale, the nightmare who had haunted the entire march for more than a hundred years, reaching out to Ashlynn with such tenderness and affection.

A heartbeat later, their hearts sank as one, and several swallowed heavily as their minds caught up to the conversation, hearing Ashlynn refer to them as children while Nyrielle referred to them as parasites. Were they really worth so little?

But thinking of how Ashlynn had carved her way to the heart of Lothian Manor on a night that it should have been the safest and most secure, with only a fraction of the forces available to the Vale of Mists, even the staunchest among them, like Sir Gilander and Tybal Aleese, were forced to admit that their resistance would be no greater than a child attacking an armored knight.

”You know I delight in caring for others,” Ashlynn said, placing her own hand on Nyrielle’s cheek and gazing into her lover’s midnight eyes. ”For my family, my coven, and all of our people. So help me take care of them. Just give them time to prove themselves and you’ll be impressed by how far they can go and how quickly they can get there,” she said.

”Some of them have already made great strides,” Ashlynn added, glancing briefly at Hugo where he stood beside Sybyll and the few other lords she’d allowed to be part of her party as they greeted their guests.

Along the far wall, Telent felt his mouth go dry as he listened to the conversation. Was this... Was this the negotiation to determine their fates? Two women, talking like sisters about whether the lords of the march were children or bugs? Deep in his chest, a fire of indignation smoldered, and his gaze hardened as he watched the women closely. For a moment, he’d considered convincing Brighde to abandon her schemes and to accept that they’d been defeated before they could begin.

But now, his heart hardened, and his resolve grew firmer. They could treat him and his family like bugs if they wished... Soon enough, they’d learn that even a small bug could hold a deadly bite!

But Ashlynn and Nyrielle seemed oblivious to Telent’s growing bitterness, speaking as if they were in a world of their own, without a care in the world for the thoughts of those around them.

”You take care of everyone in the world before yourself, my darling,” Nyrielle chided lightly. ”This can’t go on.”

”Not the whole world,” Ashlynn protested. ”Just our little corner of it.”

”And who is going to take care of you in this little corner of the world you’ve claimed for us, hmm?” Nyrielle asked. ”When you don’t even care for yourself.”

”You will,” Ashlynn said, smiling up at Nyrielle from just inches away. ”You always do.”

”I’ve been taking care of your sister,” Nyrielle said lightly. ”You place all of the most precious things in my hands.”

”Your hands are the safest,” Ashlynn answered without a moment of hesitation. ”Even when I can’t trust myself, I can always trust you.”

”You shouldn’t,” Nyrielle said, bopping Ashlynn gently on the nose with the tip of one finger. ”Your family I’ll treasure, but if these others want my protection, they’ll have to prove themselves worthy. If they can’t, I’ll destroy them myself before I let them doom you.”

”I know,” Ashlynn said, leaning into Nyrielle’s touch. ”But I won’t make you. If they betray me,” she said, closing her free hand into a tight fist. ”I’ll swing the sword myself. They get a chance to prove themselves, but only one...”

”Good,” Nyrielle said gently. ”I like this fierce side of you,” she added with a smile. ”You should make sure they don’t forget that it exists.”

”And you should show them a gentle side,” Ashlynn countered. ”So they know how much more you are than the monster they’ve been taught to fear.”

”Gentle, is it?” Nyrielle said with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she leaned forward for a kiss. ”Then, how about this...”