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"I never learned to swim," Ashlynn mentioned at one point. "Even though we’re so close to the sea, we couldn’t take the risk that my mark would be seen through wet clothes or while I changed. I was so jealous when my father started taking Jocey to the beach to learn."

"Wasn’t he worried that something would happen to your sister," Nyrielle asked, looking down at the waves crashing forcefully against the rocks below the cliff. "Swimming in the sea seems dangerous."

"There are sheltered coves and places where the waves are more gentle," Ashlynn said, pointing further down the coast. "There are even places where people dive from cliffs like this into the water below. Father drew a line at learning how to dive, even Jocey wasn’t allowed that much freedom.

But still," she said, her voice turning wistful. "I would have liked to learn."

"The Briar has several pools and there’s an entire lake nearby," Nyrielle pointed out. "Perhaps you can learn while you’re there. Or would it mean less since your father wouldn’t be the one to teach you?"

"I, I don’t know," Ashlynn said. In truth, she’d never thought of it, but given how much travel in the Briar depended on boats, it might not be a bad idea. "There are dangerous creatures in the waters of the Briar, but it might be possible to learn in the lake. I’ll think about it."

"I think you should," Nyrielle said as she gave Ashlynn a reassuring squeeze. "If you don’t learn in the Briar then I can teach you to swim in the river when we get home."

"So even you got to learn to swim," Ashlynn said, pouting playfully at the unfairness of the world.

"Of course," Nyielle said, keeping her voice light. "My father was a very practical man. He put me through his own version of ’survival training’ in case I ever needed to flee the Vale of Mists. I, I wish he had been wrong about needing to learn those things, but I’m glad for the lessons.

Without them, I might have..." Her voice trailed off as neither woman wanted to contemplate what could have happened if she hadn’t been able to escape the Lothian’s attack when the Vale of Mists fell.

Ashlynn’s childhood had been defined in many ways by her mark of the witch but for Nyrielle, it was her status as a True Vampire that defined her childhood.

While Ashlynn would be reviled if her true nature was ever discovered, Nyrielle faced an entirely different form of isolation.

A True Vampire was certain to be an important figure in the future, one with great power who was feared and worshipped by the masses.

Nyrielle’s parents and grandsire all agreed that she needed to be defended until she grew into her powers enough to protect herself.

There were countless people who would feel threatened by the rise of yet another powerful vampire, especially the ones with ambitions to rise higher than any of their peers ever had.

"Before the second crusade toppled the Eldritch Lords who ruled to the west of the Vale of Mists, there were a few lords who sent assassins," Nyrielle mentioned. "They were afraid that, once I grew strong enough to do so, I would descend from the Vale to conquer more territory for my grandsire."

"Would he have?" Ashlynn asked with genuine curiosity.

"Maybe in another hundred years or more if the Lothians hadn’t come," Nyrielle admitted.

"But he would have done it for me. From the day I was born, he wanted to hand the Vale of Mists over to me.

He felt that I would be the greatest protector the Vale could ever know.

If he conquered Airgead Mountain, the Verdant Wood and the Stone Fields then it would have been easy to name himself a Great Lord before passing that status to me. "

"But the Verdant Wood and the Stone Fields were conquered by the Lothains before he had the chance," Ashlynn realized.

"When I was younger, I didn’t care about being a Great Lord," Nyrielle said as she sipped the crisp, refreshing white wine. "Now, I still don’t care about the status of being a High Lady or a Great Lady... I only care about having the strength to protect my people. Whatever it takes to get that, whatever it takes to keep you safe... I’ll do it. "

"We’ll do it," Ashlynn corrected, taking Nyrielle’s free hand and lacing their fingers together. "We’ll protect each other and the people we hold dear."

While both of them had arrived at this point for reasons that couldn’t be more opposite, the results were much the same.

Both women grew up sheltered and isolated from many people who might otherwise have been their peers and they’d both lost the ability to live in peace with the people who raised them.

That past instilled a fierce desire in both women to protect the things that mattered to them lest they lose anything else precious.

Overhead, the stars glittered and the moon crept across the sky watching silently as the two women drew closer together.

In the soft darkness of the night, Nyrielle wrapped a feathered wing around Ashlynn, pulling the young witch close as the two stared out at the waves and watched the sky begin to lighten.

"This is your favorite color, isn’t it?" Ashlynn said as a subtle peach hue began to creep into the eastern sky. "The color of dawn."

"It is," Nyrielle said, leaning against Ashlynn as if she was clinging to the younger woman’s warmth. "But right now, I hate it just a bit. I don’t want this moment to end."

"I’ll find a way to reach out to you again," Ashlynn promised. "We’ll share more dreams in the days to come."

"Don’t hurt yourself trying, my darling," Nyrielle said, cupping Ashlynn’s chin and turning her head so she could see her lover’s yearning expression.

"Without the strength of the Ancient Willow, you would never have reached me and I’ll only be traveling farther away this summer.

I’m worried that reaching me like this will take too much from you. "

"I, I know," Ashlynn said, struggling to meet Nyrielle’s soft, affectionate gaze. "I won’t push myself, but I’ll still keep it as a goal. Now that I understand that it can be done, it’s just a matter of time before I find a way to do it whenever I want. There’s so much I want to share with you..."

"And I have many things to share with you," Nyrielle said, leaning in closer until their foreheads pressed together. "But now, I feel our time together is ending. Even in dreams, it seems I cannot resist the rising sun."

"I love you," Ashlynn said, crossing the last bit of distance between hem to press her soft lips against Nyrielles, their tongues dancing with each other as the sun inched ever closer to the horizon.

"And I love you," Nyrielle whispered, pulling back for a last look of her lover, fixing in her mind the image of pre-dawn light shining on Ashlynn’s hair as though it was made of spun gold.

"Until next time," she said, her voice growing distant as she faded from Ashlynn’s dream, leaving the young witch alone on the cliff as the sun finally broke above the horizon.

"Until next time," Ashlynn whispered.

"Thank you," she told the Ancient Willow. While it had never appeared in this dream, she knew that she’d never have reached Nyrielle without its help.

Perhaps this too had been part of the trial the tree set for her, to see for itself what her relationship with Nyrielle was really like.

Or maybe it was just what she had taken it to be in the beginning, an apology for trying to pull them apart.

Either way, it was time for this trial to end. Ashlynn could feel the tightness in her chest that Amahle had spoken of. The seed of witchcraft had spread its roots around her heart. Now, it was time to remove it from her chest and present it to Heila.

One witch’s trial had ended and another’s was about to begin.