The Vampire & Her Witch

As midday approached, Ashlynn slipped quietly from Nyrielle’s bed, dressing by the light of the crystal lantern before leaving her lover to sleep away the remaining hours of the day.

”Sleep well, my love,” she whispered from the door of the room before slipping out into the dark corridors beyond and returning to her own bedroom to freshen up and retrieve a small wooden box that clinked faintly when she picked it up.

Ascending the well worn spiral stairs at the end of the hallway, Ashlynn entered the large, round room that occupied the entire top floor of the tower. Previously, there had been little here other than storage for the residents of the tower, but Ashlynn had ordered several changes to be made as part of converting the tower to her coven’s use.

Now, a large circular table dominated the center of the room, set low to the ground and surrounded by piles of pillows and soft blankets. The walls of the room were lined with simple bookshelves, many of them filled with texts taken from Nyrielle’s collection but the amount of empty space on the shelves made it clear that Ashlynn expected to expand her coven’s library over time.

The side of the tower that overlooked the fortress now hosted a small wood stove that kept the room pleasantly warm despite the autumn chill in the air and a tea kettle had already been set atop the stove, adding the faint aroma of jasmine and rosehips to the scent of woodsmoke in the room.

In time, Ashlynn intended to add overstuffed chairs along with a real hearth and several other simple comforts to the communal space she modeled after Amahle’s home in the Briar. There would be dozens of differences, she was certain, she wanted her coven to make the space their own after all. But even though the work had only just begun, it already felt like she had come home when she entered the room atop the tower and found her coven waiting there for her.

Heila looked the most comfortable, dressed in a simple tunic dress with a wide leather belt at her waist holding her Severing Knife and a coiled whip that never seemed to be far from her side these days. As soon as Ashlynn entered, the Willow Witch rose from the table to pour a fresh cup of tea, setting it on the table and gesturing for Ashlynn to join them.

”Do you need me to fetch you something to eat, Mother Ashlynn?” Heila asked when she got a close look at Ashlynn’s pale complexion. She’d expected that Ashlynn would need a restorative meal after tending to Lady Nyrielle the night before and she’d even prepared a snack for when Ashlynn returned to her chambers before dawn, but even when the sun broke above the horizon, Ashlynn still hadn’t returned.

”We’ll get something soon enough,” Ashlynn said as she set the wooden box down on the table with a heavy -CHINK- sound. ”The tea will be more than enough for now, thank you.”

”Are, are you sure that you’re fine?” Hauke said, shifting uncomfortably on a soft cushion as he tried to emulate the others present. At Ashlynn’s request, he’d dressed simply, draping himself in robes that were pale, icy blue and lacked any of the intricate patterns and embroidery that most of his wardrobe featured.

It wasn’t the simplicity of his outfit that caused his discomfort, however, but the softness of the room’s furnishings. In the High Pass, the only thing that was ever ’soft’ was freshly fallen snow, and while it could be relaxing to lay on for idle moments, no one would suggest piling up snow in the great hall to use as a seat. He could have swept the cushions aside to sit directly on the stone floor if he wished, but as the only person present who wasn’t a witch he felt uncomfortable doing anything that would make him stand out any further.

”I can help, I can help,” Talauia said, fluttering over to sit next to Ashlynn and placing a hand on her forehead. ”It’s not fever but if you’re sick, if you’re sick I and brew something for you in just minutes, you just watch,” she said, looking anxiously at Ashlynn’s pale complexion.

Ever since the battle in the High Pass, there had been too many things that needed the help and care of a witch, including watching over Virve while the Oak Witch completed her transformation with the seed from the Ancient Oak and tending to Hauke’s injured father, Ritchel. Now that she was finally getting to spend time with Ashlynn again, her heart ached to see her friend in such a worn out and exhausted looking state.

”She’s fine, she’s tougher than you think,” Virve said with a hearty laugh as she set down her delicate teacup. After years spent wearing armor and dressing mostly for fighting, very little of her wardrobe looked ’feminine’ but for today’s festivities, she’d made an exception, pulling out a patterned dress she’d taken a fancy to during their last visit to High Fen City.

The shimmering gray and silver tones of the dress were meant to invoke a sense of serpent scales, but to Virve, they reminded her of the deep, shifting fog of the Vale of Mists and the glitter of sunlight breaking through clouds after it rained. The cut was modest and even if the colors didn’t exactly compliment the new russet and gold hue her fur had taken on, she liked it and that was all that mattered to her.

”Lady, I mean, Mother Ashlynn always looks a bit pale after Lady Nyrielle feeds from her,” Virve explained. ”A hearty meal with plenty of meat and she’ll be fine in no time.”

”I could go for a hearty meal,” Ollie said as his stomach grumbled in agreement. Dressed in a loose fitting tunic and breeches tucked into soft leather boots, Ollie looked a little too well dressed to duck into the kitchens for a snack, even though he’d avoided the finery set aside for later this evening. But even if he’d been dressed as a kitchen boy again, he was certain that Georg would chase him out of the kitchens rather than let him have a preview of the evening’s feast.

”I feel like I’ve been ravenous ever since my vigil,” he added, looking slightly embarrassed at the sound his stomach had made. ”Was it, was it like that for anyone else?”

”I stuffed myself so much I felt like I’d turned into a hog at a trough,” Heila said, blushing faintly as she remembered how often she’d handed Jacques or Talauia an empty bowl, looking at them with pleading eyes for yet another portion of whatever delectable dish they’d prepared for the evening’s communal meal. ”I think it was half a moon before I felt back to normal.”

”Well, since it sounds like everyone is more than ready for a meal, I won’t keep you all here any longer,” Ashlynn said with a mischievous smile and a twinkle in her emerald eyes. ”The feast won’t begin tonight until an hour after sunset. Between now and then, I’ve brought a challenge for each of you,” she said, tapping the wooden box firmly enough that it emitted another -CHINK- sound.

”That is, if you’re up to a challenge?” she asked with a wide smile as she looked around the table at some of the people who had become as close to her as her own blood kin. For a moment, she wished that Jocelynn could be here with them because the challenge she had in mind was exactly the sort of thing her younger sister would have adored. Since she wasn’t, she would just have to do her best in her sister’s place and make sure they had their own opportunity in the future to make up for missing this one...