The Vampire & Her Witch

”Heila,” Ashlynn said in a tone that was both warm and a touch surprised when the Willow Witch entered the dining room. ”Is it that time already?”

”More or less, my Lady,” Heila said as her eyes swept over the room, pausing on each of Ashlynn’s family members as if she were weighing and measuring each one of them. ”I brought Eira, Morwen, and Emmie to help,” she said, smiling as she turned her focus to Ashlynn.

”We have rooms ready to help everyone prepare for tonight’s contest,” Heila said. ”Assuming they’re all coming to watch. I brought a change for you too, and your hat,” she added. ”I thought you’d want it to remind Lord Dirar’s people who their empress really is.”

”I doubt they’ve forgotten after the welcome Isabell gave them,” Ashlynn said with a light laugh.

”Isabell’s demonstration only did so much, my Lady,” Heila disagreed. ”She’s far from the strongest of us, and the clash at the gates turned as much on surprise as it did on strength. There are those among Dirar’s men who have begun to suggest that Rastlan could have bested her in a real fight.”

”None of tonight’s champions represent your strength, Ashlynn,” Heila reminded Ashlynn. ”No matter how hard Sir Thane, Dame Sybyll and Ollie worked to help Reynold and Erling prepare, they’re far from qualified to be your champions. But there are people in Lord Dirar’s camp who will treat them like they are your champions rather than Tybal’s champions.”

”Those are the people who need a visible reminder of who you really are,” Heila concluded. ”So they don’t think you’re weak when they see the limits of purely human strength.”

”I see,” Ashlynn said, smiling broadly at the petite witch. ”You’ve thought of everything then. If it comes to it, I’ll look for an opportunity to put on a good show for the skeptics in Dirar’s retinue,” she added before turning to her mother and cousin.

”Mother, Micheline, this is Heila, my lady-in-waiting and the very first friend I made in the Vale of Mists,” Ashlynn said proudly, introducing her family to one of the most important people in her new life. ”She saved my life in the High Pass, and she was the first to join my coven as my Willow Witch,” she explained.

”She’s also the one who defeated Lord Loman at the battle of Hanrahan,” Ashlynn added when she saw her mother’s measuring look. ”If you’re ever in danger, you can count on her to keep you safe.”

”Countess Maela,” Heila said politely, tipping the brim of her hat low to hide her faint blush as she curtsied. ”Lady Micheline. Welcome to the Bloodroot Empire.”

”Please, none of that,” Maela said as she stood to pull Heila up from the deep curtsy. Then, with only the briefest hesitation, Maela knelt down so she wasn’t towering over the petite witch, looking directly into Heila’s grass-green eyes.

”Thank you for saving my daughter,” Maela said, bowing her head. ”And thank you for being her friend, Lady Heila,” she added. ”If there’s ever anything you need from me or my family, say the words and...”

”It’s not like that,” Heila interrupted, shaking her head side to side vigorously. ”Ashlynn saved my life too, and she’s given me so, so much more than I’ve ever given her. I’m the one in her debt, not the other way around and...”

”No, none of that,” Ashlynn said, unconsciously using the very same phrase her mother just had as she gently tapped the brim of Heila’s hat. ”There are no debts. Just friends who have been through a lot together.”

”I still wouldn’t be anything more than a chambermaid if you hadn’t lifted me up,” Heila protested.

”I never lifted you up more than your actions deserved,” Ashlynn countered.

At the table, Micheline watched the casual banter between Ashlynn and her lady-in-waiting, and for a moment, she felt a painful pang of longing. The feeling wasn’t envy. She wasn’t looking at a relationship that she’d never had with the covetous eyes of someone who wanted to find the same thing for herself.

There was a heartbreaking familiarity in the way Heila acted that reminded her of how she’d acted around Crown Prince Henri for much of the past few years. There was a casual playfulness in Heila’s actions that almost but never quite crossed the line of closeness that her position as a lady-in-waiting allowed.

Only, with Henri, there had been no conveniently shaped position waiting for Micheline to step into. The most she’d been able to do was to prepare the way for her little brother to serve as one of Henri’s squires.

As a woman in Gaal, she had no place in the retinue of a prince. If Henri married soon, she might find a place in the retinue of the future queen, but Micheline had rejected the notion of lingering in Gaalen in the hopes of finding such a future. It was the last favor she’d done for Henri, to prevent the possibility of a scandal in the court that would surely erupt once word got out that his ’childhood friend’ from the academy had been kept close at hand.

So, perhaps there was a trace of envy in her heart as she watched Heila’s easy informality with Ashlynn, but the pangs of loss were far sharper than a petty desire to reclaim what she had lost.

”...that all right with you, Micheline?” Ashlynn repeated with a concerned look on her face as she met her quiet cousin’s gaze. Perhaps it was too soon for her cousin to interact directly with the Eldritch, and she would be better off heading back to Lothian Manor to rest. ”You don’t have to force yourself to come tonight if you’re not comfortable...”

”Huh?” Micheline said awkwardly as she realized she’d missed whatever the question had been. ”I, I’m sorry, Ashlynn, I was distracted, and there’s been so much to take in. I don’t want to miss tonight’s events; it sounds like it will be very important.”

”In that case,” Ashlynn said with an understanding look. ”Heila has prepared a change of clothes for you, and Lady Morwen will help you to freshen up after spending so many days in a carriage. I have my own responsibilities tonight so I may not be able to stay with you for the whole night, but Morwen won’t leave your side.”

”Lady Morwen?” Micheline said, turning the unfamiliar name over in her mind. As much as she tried, however, she couldn’t think of any prominent lady in Lothian with that name, which made her wonder if it might be someone else, like Lady Heila.

”Her father is one of Lord Loghlan Dunn’s knights,” Jocelynn offered helpfully. ”And she served as Lady Ashlynn’s handmaiden when Ashlynn attacked Lothian Manor. Even though she couldn’t fight, she never left Big Sister’s side,” she said.

”She’s also the one who arranged for our fishing boat this morning,” Ashlynn added. ”You can rely on her, and I trust her to watch over you.”

”Likewise, Mother, Lady Eira is someone who has both my trust and my respect,” Ashlynn added. ”She’ll take good care of you if I can’t be at your side.”

”Well then,” Maela said, smiling brightly. ”I suppose we shouldn’t linger any longer. I’m very much looking forward to meeting these extraordinary women you’ve gathered around you,” she said. ”But I’m even more interested in meeting your betrothed...”