The Vampire & Her Witch

Liam’s endorsement wasn’t a light thing. At the moment, everyone at the gathering had come to recognize that Liam understood the Eldritch in ways that they were only now coming to recognize. He hadn’t been gone for long, but in the days since their young lord had disappeared, he’d seen a barony fall, miracles performed, and countless other wonders that shaped the opinion he offered now.

If it had been anyone else, they might have treated such an endorsement with a healthy dose of skepticism, but coming from Lord Liam, the heir to the barony, it was difficult to say that he didn’t have their best interests at heart when he spoke up for Sir Ollie.

Baron Loghlan shifted in his seat, drawing all eyes to him as he prepared to weigh in on the matter. When he spoke, his voice was measured and thoughtful, and he spoke with the firm tones of a lord who understood that this moment was about more than just one knight’s shoulder.

”The choice is yours, Sir Gavin,” Loghlan said firmly. ”And I’ll respect your decision either way. You’ve served this barony faithfully for years, and if you choose to refuse Sir Ollie’s offer, no one here will think less of you for it.”

He paused, his gaze flickering to Sir Ollie’s raised hand, still glowing with that faint jade-green light, before returning to Gavin.

”But I’ll confess,” Loghlan continued, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity that he couldn’t quite suppress. ”I would very much like to see a demonstration of Sir Ollie’s ability to heal such an old wound. The priests of the Church did what they could for you, and we’re all grateful for their efforts, but if there’s a chance that witchcraft can do what they could not,” he said, cutting himself off before adding the words ’... and we could sorely use your sword and shield at our side in the days to come.’

There was a hint of deeply buried frustration in Loghlan’s voice, and he did his best to conceal it, but from the look in Mairwen’s eyes, he knew he hadn’t succeeded entirely.

Sir Gavin didn’t know, but in the days following his return to the barony after the tournament, Loghlan had sought out his own priest to see if anything further could be done for Sir Gavin’s injury. The answer he’d received had been anything but positive, no matter how pretty the words the priest wrapped around the answer had been.

”The Holy Lord of Light places many paths in life before us, my lord,” the priest had said. ”But sometimes, the choices we make, the risks we take, and the places that our paths intersect with the paths of others combine to close off the path we thought we were destined to walk.”

”The Holy Lord of Light cannot protect a man from the consequences of his own actions, my lord,” the priest continued, as if he were giving a sermon. ”Sir Gavin’s days as a great knight and warrior have come to an end. The Holy Lord of Light has already seen fit to bestow one miracle on him, preserving his life and limb enough that he may still be a good husband to his wife, a good father to his child, and a good leader for his villagers.”

”These are all fulfilling destinies to pursue, Lord Loghlan,” the priest said firmly. ”Your knight should embrace them. Far too many men do not receive so much in this life, no matter how much they struggle.”

”I’m willing to pay whatever it takes,” Loghlan said stubbornly. ”If it’s a matter of opening the treasury...”

”Please, my Lord Baron,” the priest interrupted. ”Some things can’t be bought with any amount of gold. Not for one knight in a small barony on the border of the kingdom,” he said, shaking his head in a gesture of sorrow and helplessness that felt hollow even then. ”The heavens aren’t easily moved for just one man, my lord. You need to accept that, just as much as Sir Gavin does.”

The answer had never sat well with Loghlan, especially when it came with the implication that the Church could intervene, and they were capable of healing such a wound, but they were unwilling to do so for a small, insignificant knight in Dunn Barony.

Now, when Baron Loghlan looked across the table at Sir Ollie, he wondered if the young man understood how significant his offer truly was to the barony, beyond just healing an injured man’s wound.

If there was one thing that the Dunns never had enough of, it was strong, capable knights like Sir Gavin, who were in the prime of their lives, and with war looming on the horizon, Baron Loghlan needed men like Sir Gavin more than ever.

Of the barony’s ten active knights, three were even older than Sir Brennus and Sir Padraig, with sons that were only a few years older than young Cadeyrn. Those young men needed years of seasoning before they could ride into pitched battles like the ones Loghlan had participated in during the War of Inches, yet their fathers had grown too old to do much more than command from the top of fortress walls.

Others were like Brennus and Padraig, old enough that they had no business on the front lines but more than capable of acting as a reserve, wading into battle for brief, furious exchanges when it would help to turn the tide before falling back to the rear.

Then there were men like Sir Bedwyr. Young, capable, and strong, but without the wisdom and experience to act independently. He could be the sharp point of a spear thrust toward the enemy, but he could not easily be given independent command. In a few years, that would change, but he needed those years to gain skills that went beyond the competent use of his weapons and armor.

Men like Sir Gavin were rare treasures. It had taken him years to reach this point, but he’d tasted both victory and defeat, and he’d learned the lessons that came from both. He could be trusted to lead men in independent actions, whether it was a flanking charge by cavalry in a large battle or a raiding action behind enemy lines, and he was still strong enough and resilient enough to get through the fighting that would follow.

So when Loghlan looked at Ollie across the table, the question that he really wanted an answer to was whether or not the young man understood his ’gift’ was to the barony. If he understood that restoring Sir Gavin wouldn’t just give a man back the use of his limb, but would give Baron Loghlan back the use of one of his most valuable knights.

Ollie didn’t know the baron well enough to know everything that had passed through the older man’s mind when their gazes met across the table, but he understood that this was more important to the baron than just healing one man. So, when he saw the question in the other man’s eyes, he gave him a firm nod in reply.

Whether it was something that would strengthen an enemy or not didn’t matter to Ollie. It was the right thing to do. It was what he believed Lady Ashlynn would do, and that was all the reason he needed to offer his help. The rest... he was certain would work itself in time as long as they were able to get past the current crisis.