The Vampire & Her Witch

Hours had passed by the time Jocelynn emerged from the lower decks of Caun’s Light, carrying two cloth-wrapped bundles and two steaming tankards.

She’d known the luxurious ship was making a swift passage by the feel of its movements, but she was still taken aback by the speed at which she saw the snow-covered countryside rolling by when she reached the ship’s deck.

The wind was cold and fierce, and her fur-trimmed cloak fluttered around her calves and ankles like a banner begging to be unfurled as she climbed the short steps to the aftercastle where Albyn stood at the ship’s wheel.

”You shouldn’t be up here, my Lady,” Albyn said quickly, slipping a loop of rope around one of the wheel’s pegs as he rushed forward to take one of the warm cloth bundles from her hands along with a tankard of hot, steaming ale. ”I can take the rest to Sir Ollie,” he offered as he set his own portion down on a small table next to the wheel. ”You should stay below until we reach Maeril.”

The sandy-haired sailor had thought it strange when lord Liam insisted that everyone, including as much of the crew as possible, came below for the passage. He’d found it even stranger when the young lord emerged from below decks a few minutes later with a heavily padded arming cap that he offered up ’for his ears’ as if the stout leather cap he’d worn at sea wouldn’t be enough to keep him warm through a short winter voyage.

It was only after they’d sailed several minutes west of Lothian, when Sir Ollie used his witchcraft to summon the wind, that Albynn realized the cap had nothing to do with protecting him from the cold. Now, after hours of doing his best to shut out the sound of the wind and the voices that it carried, Albyn wished he’d pressured Devlin into coming with him, or any of the other Blackwell captains, so they could man the tiller in turns.

”It’s fine, Albyn,” Jocelynn said, shaking her head as he reached for the bundle and tankard she still held. ”I’ve yet to properly thank Sir Ollie for protecting me from Owain the other night. Let me at least bring him something warm before I go away.”

”Fair enough,” Albyn said reluctantly as he bowed his head. ”And thank you,” he added as he reached for the tankard of ale. ”I needed this more than you might know,” he said, taking a heavy swallow of the steaming ale.

”Of course,” Jocelynn said, pausing to really look at the man who had become one of her staunchest protectors during her stay at Lothian Manor. He looked... tired. As if he hadn’t slept in a day or more, and there was a watchfulness to him that she’d only seen in the days before Percivus arrived to capture her.

”Albyn,” she said, pausing to select her words with care. ”Would it be better if we stopped for a bit? We seem to be making excellent time,” she said, gesturing to the snow-covered trees they were sailing past. ”A quarter or half an hour won’t make much difference, and both you and Sir Ollie could come below decks to rest.”

”I’ll be fine, my Lady,” Albyn said, giving her a smile that was genuine and warm, even if it looked a bit tired. ”Sir Ollie said he’d sleep in the carriages once we reach Maeril, and I intend to do the same. Just give me a few days before I have to do this again.”

”Fair enough,” Jocelynn replied, giving his own words back to him. ”But call for rest if you need it. Nothing is so important that we can’t take a few hours longer getting where we’re going, or a whole day if we have to,” she insisted before turning to take the remaining bundle and tankard to Ollie.

While Albyn stayed close to the ship’s wheel, Ollie had found a space for himself at the base of the ship’s mast, close to where the wagon carrying the Sacred Sapling had been secured to the deck. He sat calmly with his back against the mast, undisturbed by the rocking of the boat as he gazed out at the countryside.

The area around him swirled with the faintest traces of a jade green aura, looking like bits of spray from the ship’s prow caught in the eddies of the wind. His pale eyes had taken on a stormy look, and the area near the mast seemed a bit dimmer than the rest of the ship.

Those winds carried more than just dancing lights. The closer she came to Ollie, the more she began to hear faint voices drifting on the wind...

”...as soon as I can, my love, just wait a little longer...”

”...isn’t home without you here. Now that you’re gone, what’s left for me?”

”...can’t take her away from me, I won’t let you!”

”...come back to me, I’m lost, please, just help me find...”

The voices pulled and tugged at her, and for one terrifying, heart-stopping moment, she felt like she’d been surrounded by dozens of people, all crying out for the homes they’d left behind or the people who gave their lives meaning. In that moment, she heard another voice, one that was all too familiar...

”...I’ll light the way for you, just keep going forward...”

Tears sprang instantly to her eyes, but she blinked them away, stiffening her spine as she forced herself to keep moving forward, crossing the last few paces between herself and the Cypress Witch. She expected that it would get even worse the closer she came to him, yet as soon as Jocelynn came within a few paces of him, the gloom fell away, replaced by a scent that was clean and crisp like freshly cut grass or new-grown leaves, and the winds died away.

”Sir Ollie?” Jocelynn called, doing her best to shake off the cold that had nothing to do with the winter winds. ”I, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

”No, not at all,” Ollie said, shaking his head as he turned his attention to Ashlynn’s younger sister. ”You didn’t have to come out here; you could have sent Beathan or one of the other Templars,” he said, though he made no motion to stand or to take the food Jocelynn had brought.

”I could have,” Jocelynn said. ”But... It didn’t feel right to leave you up here on your own,” she said as she sat down on the deck next to him. She placed the tankard carefully on the deck beside him, followed by the bundle that she began to unwrap.

”Thank you,” Ollie said, flashing Jocelynn a slight, tired smile. ”You don’t have to stay,” he offered politely. ”It’s cold out here today.”

”Are you sending me away, Sir Ollie?” Jocelynn asked as she finished unwrapping the simple lunch she’d brought up from the ship’s galley.

Master Jean had been thoughtful when he prepared their traveling meal. There were thick slices of what Jocelynn had come to refer to as ’Everything Bread,’ a rustic, crusty loaf that contained everything from diced carrots and onions to ground sausage and even bits of cheese. One of the servants had fried the slices in a bit of butter to give them a crust before slathering them with a full-grain mustard to provide a bit of tang to the dense, dark bread.

Beside the slices of bread, there was a pouch full of nuts and dried fruit, a pair of boiled eggs still in their shells, and a slice of rich spice cake that had been cut to the same size as the Everything Bread.

”No, I’m not sending you away,” Ollie said, shaking his head as he gratefully accepted the slice of bread Jocelynn offered him. ”It’s just that, I know Sir Albyn would head below if he could,” he said, gesturing at the captain standing at the helm with his tankard of ale in hand. ”And you saw how Liam was,” he added helplessly. ”So, I won’t be offended if you go.”

”But, what if I don’t want to go?” Jocelynn said, feeling exceptionally bold. ”Will you still chase me away?”

”I don’t want to chase anyone away,” Ollie said quietly around a mouthful of food as he met her gentle seafoam gaze. ”But sometimes, it happens anyway...”