Page 410

"Why don’t you tell us what it is you hope to become by learning from Lady Heila." Ashlynn’s question sounded simple, but to the young girl, answering it felt as frightening as she imagined it was for her father when he walked out onto the arena sands to face a strong foe.

Ever since her father told her that he’d arranged a chance for a meeting with the Mother of Trees and the Willow Witch, she’d been trying to think about what she would say.

Now that the moment was upon her, her mind went blank and it took her several seconds just to remember the etiquette her father had taught her for speaking to powerful witches like Lady Ashlynn.

"Y-yes, your domino," Emmie said awkwardly, sitting up as straight and properly as she could and doing her best to look as calm and composed as her father was.

"It’s ’your dominion,’" Kurtz whispered in her ear.

"It’s fine," Ashlynn said, holding up a hand and stifling a laugh that would only have embarrassed the young girl. "You can call me ’Mother Ashlynn’ if you find it easer," she said. "Just relax and don’t worry about finding the right words. Heila and I are more interested in hearing what’s in your heart. "

"You don’t need to be nervous, Emmie," Heila added, walking over from the small bar with a hot cup of tea and a small plate filled with buttery, sweet biscuits.

"If you want to have a little nibble first while you think about your answer, that’s all right too," she added, taking a biscuit for herself before passing the plate over to her diminutive devotee.

Emmie’s eyes lit up instantly when she realized she could share a treat with Heila.

She took the pate gently, almost reverently, before snatching one of the biscuits and eagerly biting off half of it in one large bite.

Soft laughter from Kurtz, Ashlynn and Virve rippled through the room, but Heila seemed to take it as a challenge, finishing her own biscuit in a single bite and giving Emmie a challenging smile to see if she would follow suit.

A few minutes later, when the plate of biscuits had been reduced to nothing but crumbs and Emmie seemed to have relaxed, she turned back to Ashlynn to answer her question.

"Mother Ashlynn, did you know," she began in a soft, hesitant voice. "They say that the strongest members of the Horned Clan escaped across the mountains to start new lives here, and the only ones who stayed in the Vale of Mists were the ones who were too weak to make the journey."

"I’ve heard people say that," Ashlynn acknowledged. The stories told by descendants of the people who fled the Lothian destruction of the Vale of Mists had changed over the years, colored by each generation’s desire to find something to be proud of about the actions of their ancestors.

But by now, people like Emmie were so far removed from the ancestors who failed to return after Nyrielle recaptured the Vale that Ashlynn held no ill will toward people who believed the distorted stories they’d been raised on.

"Do you think it’s true?" Ashlynn asked gently.

"No, not even a little bit," Emmie said, shaking her head fiercely.

"Father is one of the best ever champions from the Horned Clan," she said proudly, wrapping both arms around her father’s muscular upper arm and hugging it tightly.

"He can even fight champions from the Scaled Clan and the Glass Eyed Clan, or champions from far away. "

"Hush now, little hayseed," Kurtz said, tapping gently on one of his daughter’s horns. "You don’t need to make me look good."

"But it’s true!" Emmie insisted. "Father is one of the strongest there is. But, but there aren’t any girls who are as strong as you," she said, looking over at Heila. "Not from High Fen City or anywhere in the High Fen. There aren’t any girls who are strong enough to fight other clans unless they’re fighting in group battles, and even then, they only fight if they outnumber their opponents. "

"Is that why you want to learn from me?" Heila asked. "Because I can fight people from other clans?"

"Well, um, not exactly?" Emmie said, twisting in her seat to look at her father before she continued. Unconsciously, her hand dropped to the metal whip she wore at her hip. She’d begged her father to buy it for her after seeing Heila use it not just to defeat her foes but to force them to surrender, proving that she had the strength to win even when she didn’t have a powerful sword or mighty spear.

Now, as she traced her fingers along the cool metal links of the chain whip, she tried to imagine herself having even a fraction of the courage that the Willow Witch showed on the arena sands when she answered the question her hero asked.

"I was there," Emmie said softly, her voice gaining strength as she continued.

"When you fought those men with fire in their hands.

I was sitting with Father, and I saw how.

.." Her voice faltered as she clutched the whip at her hip even tighter until the knuckles on her petite fist turned white. "I saw how alone you looked out there."

"She’s had a few nightmares since that day," Kurtz said as he gave his daughter a reassuring squeeze.

"When we asked her what was wrong, she said that no one should have to face monsters alone and she asked if I would fight with you in the arena. I tried telling her it didn’t work that way, that you chose that battle because it was important but. .."

"Father says that if something is really, really important to someone, then they can fight ten men who are twice as strong," Emmie said, taking over before her father could say anything more about her nightmares. If there was one thing she didn’t want right now it was for the Willow Witch to think she was frightened!

"And, he says that if something is more important than their life, they can fight a whole army," she said, turning to look back at Heila.

"I think that’s why you’re so strong," she said confidently. "Because you fight for something that’s really, really important to you. But, but I’m scared," she added awkwardly, looking down at her hands and clutching her skirts tightly.

"What are you scared of, Emmie?" Ashlynn prodded gently.

"I’m scared that there’s something so important that you’ll fight for it until you die," Emmie said, looking up at Heila with bright, watery eyes.

"But I thought, even though the girls of the Horned Clan here are weaker than you are, if there are enough of them, they can fight together against people who are stronger. "

"So, so I thought, if, if you can teach me, then you won’t have to fight alone against giants all by yourself anymore.

And then, then you won’t, won’t..." Tears flowed from her eyes as she looked helplessly at Heila, and her breaths came faster and faster as the thought of her hero falling in battle filled her mind.

Emmie was no stranger to death, and her father made sure that she understood from a young age that the arena was a dangerous place and sometimes, people died there, even when they seemed very strong.

But the only times that Kurtz had seen his daughter become so emotional at the thought of someone falling in the arena had been on the two occasions where he’d been seriously injured and needed to take months to heal.

Seeing her reduced to tears at the idea of someone she didn’t even personally know falling in battle. .. he just didn’t know what to say.

"Emmie," Heila said softly. "You know that I won’t usually fight alone like that, don’t you? I only fought in the arena this one time because of a special reason. Usually I’d have Lady Ashlynn and Virve, or cousin Talauia the Thistle Witch or a bunch of other friends at my side to face whatever comes. So I won’t be alone."

"But you don’t have any of us at your side," Emmie said, her face hot with tears and shame. "You don’t have your clan at your side. How’s that right, that no one else will stand up for you? It’s not fair, it’s not fair to you at all," she insisted.

"So if there aren’t any other girls in our clan that will stand up for you, then I want to! So you don’t have to be alone out there anymore," she pleaded. "So please, can I please learn to be strong like you? I promise, I promise that I can help..."

For a moment, no one knew what to say. Even Virve seemed stunned by the young girl’s genuine plea while Heila sat with her mouth agape at the outpouring of concern coming from someone she’d met less than an hour ago.

"Mister Kurtz," Ashlynn said, breaking the silence when it seemed no one else knew what to say. "How old is Emmie?"

"I, I’m twelve," Emmie said, wiping the tears away from her face and sitting up as straight as she could while looking at Ashlynn with red, puffy eyes. "Twelve years old this summer."

"If she was human, and we were in my father’s county," Ashlynn began slowly as an idea took shape in her mind. "You’d be too young by a year. But you aren’t human and the Horned Clan considers you an adult well before you’ve turned twenty, so perhaps we can bend the rules a little bit.

Only if your father allows it though," she added.

Instantly, all eyes fell on Ashlynn, wondering what she had in mind for the courageous young girl who seemed to be willing to march to war, just to make sure that Heila wasn’t abandoned by the Horned Clan.

It was far too heavy of a burden for such young shoulders to bear, but the fact that she was even willing to think about it said so much about her character that Ashlynn felt compelled to give her a chance, even if it was a small one.

"Tell me, little Emmie," Ashlynn asked. "Do you know what a squire is?"