The Vampire & Her Witch

Ashlynn’s warning about the northern border landed in the Great Hall like a bucket of cold water.

Some, who had become caught up in the anticipation and excitement of witnessing the rise of lords who had long been denied the opportunity, found themselves suddenly much less envious of their exalted peers.

Lothian March had fallen. The Bloodroot Empire was rising, but that empire had just taken a tremendous bite out of the Kingdom of Gaal, and it was unlikely that the crown would let them go without a fight. It was even less likely that the Church would tolerate them ’consorting with demons.’

Liam Dunn’s appointment as the Lord Commander of the Protectorate of Dunn and his charge to raise an army five times the size of that which any Baron had ever commanded was impressive... But it also placed him squarely on the front lines of a war that would arrive far sooner than anyone wished.

Ashlynn let the crowd simmer for a moment before moving to her next appointment, though this one caused far less of a stir. Hearing that Dame Sybyll Hanrahan would become the Lord Governor of Hanrahan surprised no one after seeing the treatment that Loghlan Dunn had received, and while some raised an eyebrow at the appointment of a one-armed man as the Lord Commander of the protectorate, Jalal quieted the murmurs with his answer.

”I’ve followed the stars of the First Warrior nearly all my life,” Jalal said, smiling broadly when Ashlynn announced his appointment. ”I had thought the time to dance with blades had come to an end for me, but it seems like I was ready to give up too soon. Don’t worry, your Dominion,” Jalal promised. ”I’ll train our soldiers well and sharpen their claws and blades. By the time you have need of my army, it will be ready to answer your call.”

The traditions of the First Warrior and the Ascended Swordsman weren’t entirely the same, but after everything they’d heard so far, the knights in the Great Hall were slowly coming to realize that they weren’t as far apart as they might have thought, and knowing that the man leading the army of Hanrahan followed the same guiding stars as nearly every knight in the room put a good many minds at ease.

The peace of that moment was short-lived, however, when Ashlynn conferred the title of Lord Governor on Erling Fayle. Or rather, it shattered the moment she described his territory.

”You will oversee the Rides of Fayle, LeGleau and Leufroy,” Ashlynn said. ”Though who you appoint as the Lord Gardener of Leufroy is up to you. Lady Adala has no interest in her family’s lands, and Lord Valeri has vanished despite my command that no lord would leave this manor until we welcomed our guests. If you strip the family of their lands and title, I will not object,” Ashlynn said, prompting an immediate outcry from one of the tables at the edge of the Great Hall.

”You can’t!” Tulori Leufroy cried as he jumped to his feet. ”We don’t even know where my father went,” he protested. ”It’s not right to strip us of our lands for... for whatever he did. Adala,” Tulori said, turning to his sister at the table closest to Ashlynn. ”Please, you have to tell her...”

”Tell her what?” Adala snapped. ”Tell her how our family preyed on the Fayles when Lord Governor Erling’s father fell in the War of Inches? Or should I tell her how willing Mother was to see her daughter sold like chattel to the highest bidder?”

”I never found out which you would have preferred, Mother,” Adala said, directing an icy gaze at the woman sitting next to her brother. ”Lord Samso offered the service of two knights and a hundred men to fight under our family’s banner in the Holy War, but Tueler the Slaver offered three hundred slaves trained as warriors and half a dozen women to warm Father’s bed... Was that the better offer?” Adala asked.

”Did either of you even care what happened to me in the Iron Kingdom?” Adala asked, clutching Charlotte’s hand as she poured out her grievances before all the lords and ladies of the land, human and Eldritch alike. ”And if you were willing to treat your own family like that, then why would Her Dominion or Lord Erling ever trust that you would treat your people any better?”

”Sister, that isn’t fair,” Tulori said, looking briefly to his mother for support. ”Tell her, Mother, tell her that it was all Father’s doing,” he pleaded.

Lady Betrys, however, couldn’t meet his gaze, or anyone else’s for that matter. She clutched her hands in her lap and hung her head low as Adala’s words landed on her like a lash. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, but no words escaped her lips.

”What kind of useless lord are you, Tulori?” Adala asked rhetorically, giving full vent to the fury in her heart. ”Her Dominion wants her lords to be Gardeners, men and women who will care for and nurture their people. But when have you ever cared for anyone but yourself? All you care about right now is that you’re about to lose your inheritance and you’re looking for any excuse you can find to say it’s not your fault and you shouldn’t have to lose anything....”

”When did you ever speak up for me, Brother?” Adala asked as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. ”When did you ever tell Father that it wasn’t right to send me so far away? When did you ever once, just once, try to protect anything other than your own interests?”

”Our family doesn’t deserve to rule over a pigsty, much less a Ride,” Adala said. ”So sit down, and shut up, and stop acting like you’re entitled to something you never worked a day in your life to earn.”

”Adala, that’s not fair,” Tulori insisted before turning to Erling to plead his case. ”Lord Governor, I spent years in Keating learning how to rule our lands. I’ve studied hard, and I promise, I can help our people prosper. It wasn’t easy being away from home all those years, but I did it because...”

”Because Father sent you and you had no choice,” Adala said. ”And because you liked making rich friends in the Duchy so you could feel more important whenever you came home.”

”Lady Adala,” Erling said, stepping into the middle of the family feud at last. ”I understand,” he said gently. ”I have plenty of history with your father to know full well how he ran his barony, and I had a chance to take your brother’s measure recently when we rode in Lord Owain’s hunt,” he said, turning his gaze back to Tulori, who swallowed heavily at the reminder of his performance during the hunt for the Imperial Bull Elk.

At least he hadn’t fallen off his horse the way Serge Otker had, but... it was hard to say that he’d done anything worth being praised for that day.

”I made mistakes when I was a young lord,” Erling said. ”But I was fortunate to have a mother who did everything she could to see that I grew up well. Growing up in Fayle wasn’t easy, and ruling it has been even harder,” he said honestly.

”Tulori,” Erling said, frowning at the young lord. ”I have yet to see anything from you that makes me believe that you could grow into the kind of lord I need to nurture a Ride,” Erling said honestly. ”But I understand that you’ve only recently come home and the standards you’ve been held accountable to have not been the ones I would set.”

”Her Dominion has given us a year to fill the open positions within our domains,” Erling said. ”I intend to search for a worthy lord to rule over the Ride of Leufroy. That lord could very well be you,” Erling said, opening a door for the young lord. ”But only if you can prove to me that you’re the best choice available among everyone who could be set to rule those lands.”

”And if I see schemes from you,” Erling warned. ”If I see attempts to reach the top by shoving others down instead of lifting your people up higher... then for the sake of the protectorate, I’ll exile you myself.”