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For several intense moments, nothing existed for Ashlynn beyond the feel of Nyrielle’s lithe body pressed up against her own, the press of their lips and the dance of their tongues.

The faint scent of Nyrielle’s lavender soap filled her nose and the soft texture of silk lace beneath her fingertips reassured her that, even as her mind drifted on waves of pleasure that pulsed all the way down to the most sensitive of places between her thighs, this moment, this touch, this woman in her arms.. . was real.

The dream they’d shared months ago felt like a dim, pale imitation for the love of her life that teased and tantalized every sense as they held each other beneath the moonlight.

No dream, not even a mystical vision that connected them across a distance of hundreds of leagues, could ever compare to the reality of the person their hearts most desired.

But no moment, no matter how intense, could last forever. Slowly, with great reluctance, the two lovers began to relax as their deep, sensual kiss melted into a string of soft pecks on the lips, as if they were promising each other that there was more to come before this night could end.

"I’ve missed you," Ashlynn said softly as she blinked away the moisture filling the corners of her emerald eyes. "My life has never felt so incomplete as it has since you went so far away."

"I waited centuries to find you, my darling," Nyrielle whispered, sliding her fingers beneath the band of Ashlynn’s silky green witch hat to run her fingers through her lover’s soft blonde hair.

Briefly, her tongue traced over the stray drop of blood that had spilled down her lip, as if she was savoring the rarest, most precious flavor she’d tasted in hundreds of years of life.

"But waiting even an hour longer felt like an eternity. "

"You made an impressive entrance," Ashlynn said, her face heating slightly as she began to feel the stares of more than a hundred guests and dignitaries fixed on her and Nyrielle.

"And are you impressed, my darling?" Nyrielle teased lightly. "If not, I can have them do it all over again."

"Don’t, don’t you dare," Ashlynn giggled. "Look, we’re being rude to our host," she said, stepping back and gesturing for High Lady Erna to join them.

"I’m sure that Little Snake doesn’t mind if I greet the most important person present first," Nyrielle said, turning to give Erna a rare and gentle smile. "Thank you, for watching over my Ashlynn since she arrived," she said with a slight bow of her head.

"Teacher, if it were anyone else you’d ignored me for, I might have been hurt," Erna said with a fang baring smile of her own. "But since it’s Ashlynn, I can hardly complain."

Around the edges of the plaza, several people stared with wide eyes and slack jaws as the fearsome Harbinger of Death teased and flirted with her lover before chatting idly with the powerful High Lady who ruled over one of the lushest, wealthiest territories in what had become the easternmost Eldritch lands.

Savis didn’t know what to make of this kind, gentle woman who made resembled a young woman in her twenties just discovering love more than the terrifying vampire ruler who had imprisoned his sire and subjugated the entire Tangled Wood in a matter of hours.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her outside of battle either.

While she showed a bit of kindness and affection to her progeny, that was to be expected from most vampires.

She didn’t seem as indulgent as the twisted mongrel Tausau was with his progeny and in many ways her treatment of Zedya and Ignatious reminded him of the way Hamdi had treated him in the first century after he became a vampire.

But this gentleness and lovestruck expression... how could a vampire as old as Nyrielle was ever display such deep and tender emotions, much less the woman who had brought his entire world crashing to its knees?

The reaction from Ignatious was even more exaggerated.

In the months since their reunion, Nyrielle had worked to help rebuild his strength and confidence and the image he had of the terrifying demon who plunged him into a world of darkness but seeing this almost girlish affection from his Mistress left him wondering if someone had taken her place on the carriage ride over.

"I told you that Lady Ashlynn was special," Zedya said softly. "Mistress would never have gone so far for you if not for the gift she received from her bond with Lady Ashlynn. When you have the opportunity, make sure you give her your thanks."

"I will," the former Inquisitor nodded numbly, still taken in by how much Nyrielle seemed to have changed as soon as she laid eyes on her Seneschal.

"Madame Zedya," Heila said, joining the two vampires and offering a polite curtsey followed by a wide, unguarded grin. "Thank you. If not for your words that night, I might never have had the chance to follow Ashlynn to the Briar..."

"I told you that there was an opportunity for you in the Briar," Zedya said, her amethyst eyes twinkling in delight as she looked at the diminutive witch in her silvery-green hat and dress, adorned with an intricate net of silver chains and glittering peridot.

"I hear you’ve become the Willow Witch," she added with a gentle smile. "Congratulations."

"She has, she has," Talauia gushed happily. "Thank you, Zedya, for sending her to us. My little brother was wrong to try to keep her away! But now, look at her, she’s amazing, amazingly strong. She’s been fighting in the arena for days and..."

"All right, all right," Heila said, her face heating in embarrassment. "I came over for more than just saying hello. I know the most important thing is to get all of you settled," she said, nodding in the direction of Tausau and his Mongrel Horde.

With so many people staring at Ashlynn and Nyrielle’s tender moment, Heila wanted nothing more than to shoo the gathered spectators out of the plaza, but doing so would have been incredibly impolite.

Since she couldn’t form a screen of fog around Ashlynn and Nyrielle without making things even more awkward and she couldn’t simply tell the onlookers to leave, she focused on the people with the greatest practical needs and gestured for them to join her so she could get them in motion and in so doing, make it easier for Ashlynn and Nyrielle to make their eventual exit.