The Vampire & Her Witch

”M-my Lady,” Hugo stammered, momentarily caught so off-guard that he completely forgot his etiquette lessons and how he should respond to such an extraordinary offer.

”I, I won’t let you down,” he said several heartbeats later as he scrambled off the bench to kneel at her feet, folding his hands over one knee and bowing his head low. ”For as long as my service is acceptable to you, I’ll follow your every order. You can rely on me for details large and small and you can trust that I’ll never act against your wishes.”

For a moment, Ashlynn said nothing. She could hear the sincerity in his voice, and she could feel the deep desires that drove him... But beneath that, she also heard terrible pain, and every word of the oath he swore spoke of the deep wounds that his father and Owain had carved into Hugo’s heart.

A gust of wind sent dead leaves skittering across the garden path, and she pulled her shawl tighter, though the chill she felt had nothing to do with the weather. Looking down at him kneeling on the damp, cold stones of the path that led to the bench, his cream undershirt’s puffy sleeves were the only bright spot in his otherwise muted, dark brown outfit.

Even though he’d traded the finery he brought back to the Vale of Mists from his father’s manor for an outfit that matched the style favored by men like Thane and Ollie, he looked less like a knight and more like a wounded scholar desperately offering himself as a tool because that was all he’d been taught he was worth.

Hugo wasn’t just offering his service, he was offering to become an implement of her desires, a tool of her whims. It was the sort of uncritical obedience that men like Owain Lothian and Ian Hanrahan demanded, and when he said ’for as long as my service is acceptable to you,’ he made it clear that he considered himself to be disposable.

Hugo had demonstrated that he had a kind heart, and that he possessed the courage to help build bridges between his people and the Eldritch, but he was also badly scarred by the men who had abused him until now.

One moment turned into two, and Hugo began to tremble in anxiety at the thought that he’d done something wrong, that he’d somehow ruined his chance at the last moment or offended Ashlynn in a way he didn’t understand. But.. he meant every word he’d said, so he didn’t know what the problem was.

Silently, Ashlynn cursed the men who had been so cruel to the gentle scholar kneeling before her. Hugo was right, in a way. He would never be the sort of knight that Ollie aspired to be, but that was fine. He should be free to become the best version of Hugo instead of being beaten into a poor imitation of Ian Hanrahan or Owain.

But like this, he could never survive the trails of a seed of witchcraft.

Before her conversation with Nyrielle, she never would have considered bringing Hugo all the way into her coven. There were precious few spots left in the small coven she’d originally intended to form and the remaining ones were already spoken for.

But... when she thought of adding Witches of the Fruit to her coven in addition to the Witches of the Branch she already had, she had to admit that there was a fruit that suited Hugo well, and as her Steward, it would make sense to bring him all the way into her coven.

Unfortunately, as he was today, giving him a seed of witchcraft would only lead to his death, and she knew that he wouldn’t have the strength to refuse the seed if she offered it. He was too beaten down, too eager to please, and too hesitant to stand up for himself to recognize that he wasn’t ready to face those dangers and to hold himself back until he was.

”I welcome you into my service, Sir Hugo,” Ashlynn said formally as she stood up from the bench, reaching out to help him to his feet. ”But I don’t want your unthinking service. I don’t need a Steward who only does what he’s told, I need one who can tell me when I’m wrong.”

”You have a keen mind, Hugo, and I want you to use it,” Ashlynn added. ”Don’t just do what I tell you to, do what’s right, just like you did in Hanrahan. Can you do that for me, Hugo?”

”I, I can try,” the scholarly knight promised. What Ashlynn was asking for sounded incredibly difficult, especially once he’d seen the miracle she performed when they arrived in the Vale of Mists. Owain and his father might lash out at him with fists or blunted swords, but Ashlynn’s power was so much greater than either of those men, and the idea of telling her that she was wrong, about anything, sent chills down his spine.

But he would try. He would dig down as deep as he had to, and pray to the First Warrior every night when the stars rose if that was what it took to find the courage, but he would find a way to do it, because he believed. Not in the First Warrior or the Ascended Swordsmen or any of those things.

Rather, he believed in the vision that Lady Ashlynn had shared. One where humans could live side by side with the Eldritch and they could put an end to the constant wars that only benefited a handful of lords and those who could profit from conflict. And he believed that she was the one who could make that dream a reality... So he would do whatever it took to help her realize that dream.

Ashlynn, on the other hand, hoped that she could find a way to help Hugo heal from the scars his service to Owain Lothian and Ian Hanrahan had left on his heart.

Hugo had already demonstrated that he could stand up for his people. Once he proved to her that he’d healed enough to stand up for himself, then she would talk to him about a place in her coven. There was still plenty of time, and she wouldn’t risk his life just to have one more witch by her side. He deserved better than that for what he’d endured and he’d earned better than that with his deeds in Hanrahan.

”Come back inside, Hugo,” Ashlynn said as she turned back toward the doors leading into the ancient fortress. ”It’s cold out here, and I’m sure you’d like a chance to warm up before you need to come to dinner tonight. We can discuss your duties later, but for now, know that you have my trust.”

”Thank you, my Lady,” Hugo said solemnly as they entered the ancient fortress. ”I promise, you won’t regret giving me this chance.”

”I’m sure I won’t,” Ashlynn said with a wide smile. ”Now, to see if Liam Dunn has made a similar decision...”