The Vampire & Her Witch

Half an hour later, on a hilltop overlooking the site of the arena, Ashlynn stood with Nyrielle, Thane, Heila and Aspakos.

Rivers of light flowed through the night as the attendees of the grand spectacle made their way home. Many were tired, and the cold had finally begun to seep into their bodies, but few would find sleep quickly once they returned home. They’d seen too much.

Already, pubs and taverns in Lothian City were filling with the first attendees of the event to return to the city. By dawn, a dozen different versions of the evening’s challenges would be circulating through the city, and twice as many by sunset.

Bulletins would need to be drafted and criers sent among the people to spread the truth, or at least, as much of the truth as Ashlynn and Nyrielle were willing to have told. Erling had fought bravely but lost to the Southern Steppe’s champion, Khorijin. Reynold had triumphed over Taghai in a resounding victory. The Captain of Lord Dirar’s Stone Guard had died at the hands of the Commander of the Empire’s Fourth Army.

There was peace between the Aleese and the Southern Steppe. Reynold had taken the position of the vanquished Rastlan and would follow Lord of the Blood, Dirar. There were no longer any barriers to the Southern Steppe joining the Empire. And, most importantly for some, Lord Tybal had kept his life.

Now, all that remained was to tend to the aftermath.

”Tell me something, Aspakos,” Nyrielle said, turning her cold, midnight gaze to the sorcerer who had played a pivotal role in the conclusion of the peace between the Aleese and the Southern Steppe. ”Do not obfuscate before me. What prophecy did you divine to propose such an outlandish agreement between Dirar and Tybal?”

”More importantly,” Ashlynn said, reaching out to rest a hand on Aspakos’s shoulder. ”What did it cost you? We could have accepted a lesser peace, even at the cost of Tybal’s life...”

”I doubt that would have been a lesser peace,” Nyrielle said with a short, sharp huff. ”That man can’t be trusted to tend an herb garden, much less a Ride.”

”Nyri,” Ashlynn chided lightly, keeping her attention on Aspakos. ”Truly, if you’ve taken on a greater burden to find your way to this outcome, Aspakos, tell me. Let me find a way to lighten your burdens elsewhere before you’re crushed beneath the weight of what you carry.”

”Thank you, Your Dominion,” Aspakos said, preening under Ashlynn’s attention. ”But you needn’t worry about me. There was no prophecy at play tonight,” he said. ”Only a bit of deduction, wrapped up in a bit of mystery and theatre.”

”No prophecy?” Heila said, staring at the sorcerer in disbelief. ”Then, the bit where you predicted that Dirar would name Khorijin as the next Captain of the Stone Guard... That was just your deduction?”

”You heard him yourself, didn’t you?” Aspakos said. ”He hadn’t begun to consider Rastlan’s replacement. But once he did, it was natural that his mind would turn to the only person to emerge victoriously tonight. Once the seed was planted in his mind, he could work out for himself whether or not he would have considered her for the position.”

”Clearly, he concluded that he would have at least considered her,” Aspakos said, holding up his hands helplessly. ”In a moment like this, it isn’t a large leap to consider that he would have eventually chosen her. He might have his doubts, but when a ’prophet’ speaks as though the thing had already been decided...”

”But what about the destiny you said was waiting for her with Lord Erling?” Heila said. ”You sounded like you knew something, and you said there would be tragedy waiting for her if she was pulled away from him too soon...”

”I have eyes and ears, Lady Heila,” Aspakos said with a light chuckle. ”She carried him out of the frozen forest and offered to marry him if no one else would,” he said. ”Whether a friendship forms between them or something more, who can say? But if we take that chance away from them and press a heavy duty on her, whatever friendship they can form will be thin and confined by their mutual roles.”

”Khorijin is likely unique in the Stone Guard,” Aspakos said. ”I do not know that she belongs there. She is a skilled hunter, but a Scholar and Musician in a troupe of Warriors is going to spend a great deal of time as the odd one out. I have no doubt that she would have dedicated herself to her duties, but I’m uncertain they would have come naturally to her. This way is better, don’t you think?”

”So all of it was a bluff,” Ashlynn said, shaking her head in disbelief. ”How is it that you don’t have a reputation as a charlatan on the far side of the mountains?”

”Because I’ve seen enough with the Founder’s Art to recognize some patterns,” Aspakos said, tapping the side of his broken beak lightly. ”And my deductions are correct often enough that people put their faith in them.”

”What about the claims you made about Reynold’s ’destiny ’?” Thane asked. ”Is he truly blessed by the Sovereign of Wanderers?”

”That much, at least, is true,” Aspakos said. ”The signs are there to see. A scattered blessing found its way to him. How much that will influence his fate, who can say?” Aspakos said with a shrug. ”Comets blaze brighter the closer they come to the sun.”

”On a path of danger, I believe that Reynold will shine brightly,” Aspakos concluded. ”But that same path may bring his destruction. Or he could fade into mediocrity when he meets a woman who can’t bear to see him ride to war. His fate is in his own hands. At most, I’ve given him a little nudge and provided the Southern Steppe with a ’sign’ from the Heavens that will smooth his way in his new role.”

”One of these days, you’re going to do something that you think is clever,” Nyrielle warned. ”And you will doom yourself with your own words. In the future, I expect you to consult with me before you attempt a stunt like this...”