The Vampire & Her Witch

Morwen stared at Adala in open-mouthed amazement as Adala publicly eviscerated what little remained of her family’s reputation in the march, or rather, in the Bloodroot Empire. Never in her wildest dreams could Morwen have imagined herself doing what Adala had just done... and it wasn’t the first time either.

On Midwinter’s Night, Adala had testified against her own father, decisively taking Empress Ashlynn’s side while half of the lords in attendance were still trying to figure out what was happening, to say nothing of choosing sides.

”You’re amazing,” Morwen said before she realized her lips had actually moved, but once the words were out there, she was glad to have said them. ”Truly, Lady Adala, you... you’re amazing.”

”Isn’t she?” Charlotte said, wrapping both arms around Adala’s waist and pulling her into a fierce hug. ”I’m proud of you,” Charlotte whispered in Adala’s ear, setting her lover’s cheeks aflame. ”I know that wasn’t easy, but I’m glad you got it out. After today, I doubt you’ll have to see them again.”

”Good,” Adala said as she used a handkerchief to blot the tears from her eyes. ”Good riddance.”

”You don’t think your brother will find a way to redeem himself?” Reynold Aleese asked, though his tone held little help for Tulori. Like Erling, he’d seen what Tulori was made of during the recent hunt, and he wasn’t impressed.

”He’ll be lucky to avoid exile,” Adala said. ”I... I might ask Empress Ashlynn if she’ll give my mother the same offer that Empress Nyrielle gave Lord Garrik. It would be best if they left, but... I don’t want her to suffer in exile,” she said, pursing her lips as she confronted the tangled knot of emotions in her heart.

”We can talk to her together,” Charlotte promised, giving Adala another squeeze. ”And I’ll come with you when you go home to collect your things.”

”Take Barsali with you,” Olwyna offered from across the table. ”He looks frightening but I promise, he’s kind and honorable,” she added, bestowing a radiant smile on the serpentine warrior. ”With him beside you, I doubt your family will give you any trouble.”

”I can bring brothers too,” Barsali volunteered as he nodded in a combination of approval and relief that Olwyna had suggested a way that he could help the young woman. ”We’ll keep you safe,” he promised.

”Thank you,” Adala said. ”I, I think that Sir Elgon will come as well. He helped me collect my things from my family’s guest quarters in the manor but... I’ll be happy for the company,” she said, genuinely touched by the warmth she felt at the table.

”I still don’t know quite where I’m going yet,” Adala admitted. ”I guess... The Vale of Mists when Empress Ashlynn’s academy opens. But the sooner I can say goodbye to the place I was born, the better...”

While Adala shared a tender moment with her tablemates, Lady Eira’s attention shifted quickly back to the empresses as Ashlynn and Nyrielle moved on to the next important matters concerning the newly established Protectorate of Fayle.

She still didn’t know where she would find a place for herself in the Empire, but each new announcement from the empresses sparked a dozen new possibilities... she just had to find the one that was right for her, and if she was very lucky, the one that would allow her to keep up with the recently elevated Lord Commander Liam...

”You are in an unenviable position, Lord Governor Fayle,” Nyrielle said, looking at the young lord who Wolstan had first brought to her attention so long ago. From what she’d seen of him so far, she was impressed. But she’d seen far too many impressive young men falter over the years to leave one of their empire’s most important borders completely in his hands.

”The mountains between your protectorate and the Duchy Keating are small, humble things next to the Umber Mountains, but they are rough, rugged, and treacherous to traverse but for a few passes. Those passes present a threat to our empire that cannot be ignored, and I cannot give your protectorate even the months we’re giving Lord Commander Liam to build an army to guard it.”

”I understand,” Erling said, nodding in agreement. He’d expected this. Beyond the men he’d trained to hunt horse thieves and poachers, he had very few professional soldiers in Fayle. LeGleau wouldn’t be much help either. While they were more prosperous than his homeland, that wealth didn’t extend to maintaining well-armed soldiers who could guard mountain passes against the might of a duchy.

Of the three Rides that made up his protectorate, only Leufroy boasted a cadre of well-trained soldiers who had routinely fought alongside Owain Lothian’s men, but those soldiers were the ones whose loyalty he could count on the least. When it came to raising an army, he truly was in a precarious position.

”Good that you do,” the Midnight Empress said with a smile. ”But this is precisely why we stand together as an empire, and why the armies of the empire, even if they reside within a protectorate, serve the whole of the empire. Uncle Tausau,” Nyrielle said, turning her attention to one of the side tables.

”I know the move will be painful,” Nyrielle said with gentleness that surprised everyone who had just watched her bullying Lord Garrik. ”But now that Hamdi has fallen, I fear the Tangled Wood won’t be safe for you to return to. When the High Pass thaws, we can send a force to collect the rest of the Mongrel Horde, but would you consider settling your people in the Protectorate of Fayle?”

”With you as the Lord Commander of Fayle, I can trust our flank is protected,” Nyrielle said. ”And the irregulars of the Third Army will form a solid core for fighting in the rugged mountains.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the table Nyrielle was looking at, expecting to find a handsome, pale-skinned man who resembled the enchanting Midnight Empress. After all, her ’uncle’ couldn’t be an ordinary person. Though perhaps, some thought, he would be withered and ancient. Nyrielle herself was more than two hundred years old, so her uncle must be even older, they reasoned.

Nothing, however, prepared them for the beast of a man who stood to answer her call...