The Vampire & Her Witch

Tausau’s frame was bulky and broad, and he stood head and shoulders taller than the tallest knight in the room. His arms, however, were far too short and slender for his frame and his face resembled that of a bear with strange patterns of loops and whorls of darker fur as if someone had drawn a design with dark finger paints.

Many of the Eldritch beings in the room were strikingly different from humans in a variety of ways, but this man, this Tausau, resembled the ’Twisted Ones’ from some of the most nightmarish horror stories ever told in the march.

And this was Empress Nyrielle’s ’uncle’?

At the opposite end of the table, Brighde swallowed back the lump that formed in her throat and did her best not to shrink back in fear. She’d expected, when she first saw this monster seated at their table, that it was some sort of slight directed at her family and the other, evidently ’lesser’ lords and knights...

But if this was the uncle of the Midnight Empress, a Lord Commander of a protectorate, then... Then how many other horrors were lurking in the dark? And how was she supposed to curry favor or gather useful information from creatures like that?

”You know I always planned to go back home in a decade or two when this was done,” Tausau said in a voice that was surprisingly light for someone with his thick, heavy frame. ”Now that our Sire has fallen,” he said with a sigh. ”I’m worried you’re right, your Eternity.”

”Lord Governor,” Tausau said, turning to Erling. ”I’ve thirty vampires of the Mongrel Horde with me, and twice that many more across the Umber Mountains. We’ll become your monsters in the mountains to keep the passes safe, along with the rest of the Third Army’s gladiators, woodsmen, hunters and misfits. We’re a ragtag sort, but fierce where it counts,” he promised.

”All I ask from you is the deepest lake in your domain,” Tausau said. ”If you have one deep enough that light won’t reach the bottom. I have a lass to lay to rest,” he said solemnly. ”And I fear many more in the years to come...”

”Ragtag or not,” Erling said, looking directly at the misshapen man and refusing to look away. ”I’m glad to have your help. As to a lake, I know there are several in Leufroy, but whether they’re deep enough or not...”

”There’s one,” Adala said, hoping to help. ”High up in the mountains of Leufroy, it’s called Lake Fastrada after my great-grandmother. My family has a hunting lodge there and even though the lake isn’t very wide, it’s so deep, no one’s ever found the bottom, even lowering ropes down from boats. You can have it,” she said decisively.

”Adala!” Tulori erupted. ”You can’t do this. It’s not yours to give,” he protested.

”Who says it isn’t?” Adala countered. ”Hasn’t our family done enough harm? What’s one hunting lodge and a lake next to guarding a whole protectorate? Don’t we owe it to the people of Leufroy to keep them safe?”

”You can have the gold and jewels in the vault,” Adala said, instantly moving to divide up whatever they might inherit from their absent father. ”The livestock, the orchards, the cideries... You can claim all of it as Father’s heir if you want. I’m only taking what’s mine, and one little lodge to give to Lord Commander Tausau,” Adala insisted. ”If that’s too much for you to bear, you really should go into exile now, Brother, because you’ll never be a good enough lord for this empire.”

”You already said you don’t want anything to do with the family’s lands,” Tulori insisted. ”You can’t go back on your word now.”

”Enough,” Erling said, inserting himself between the feuding siblings once again. ”Lord Valeri is missing, and at the moment, he’s a presumed traitor for escaping the manor against Empress Ashlynn’s orders,” Erling said.

”I have yet to strip the Leufroy family of their lands or titles,” Erling continued. ”But if I do, a line will be drawn between the wealth of the Ride and the wealth of the Leufroy family. Leufroy Manor is a fortress that belongs to the Ride, but a hunting lodge... This can be said to be part of the family’s private wealth.”

”Lady Adala, I’ll accept the lodge from you in the spirit that it’s offered,” Erling said. ”But the rest of your family’s wealth should wait until we determine who will rule the Ride and whether or not your family’s wealth needs to be separated from that of the Ride. If it does, I intend to see that you receive your fair share, even if it’s just the value of assets presented in gold.”

”You have a long life ahead of you, Lady Adala,” he said when he saw her preparing to reject the offer. ”Take it from someone who never had much of it. A little extra gold never hurt anyone who was trying to find their way in the world.”

”Thank you, Lord Governor,” Adala said. ”As long as my family is able to do something to help... That’s good enough for me,” she said.

”I like this one, my darling,” Nyrielle whispered to Ashlynn as Adala once again put her older brother firmly in his place. ”Tell me you have something appropriate planned for her...”

”It’s too soon,” Ashlynn said softly. ”First, she needs the power to match her will and her wits... Give her a year or two, and we’ll see where she belongs. I have hopes for her though,” she said. ”She just needs to find the right home,” she said before taking a deep breath and preparing to address the audience again.

”Lady Adala and Lord Tulori’s dispute points to a deeper problem, and I think you can already see it plainly,” Ashlynn said. ”Under the laws of the Kingdom of Gaal, she’d have had no right to anything, and neither would her mother. Everything the Leufroy family held would have landed in Lord Tulori’s hands, for better or for worse,” she said, giving the young lord a disapproving stare.

”We’re upending old ways, and we’re integrating people of vastly different traditions,” Ashlynn continued. ”Disputes like this won’t be unusual while we draft our laws and define our precedents. Among the lords of a protectorate, we’ll need more than just a Lord Governor and a Lord Commander,” Ashlynn said.

”We’ll need someone skilled in mediation and resolving disputes,” she explained. ”For the office of Lord Magistrate in the Protectorate of Fayle, I have someone specific in mind...”