Page 482

Sitting next to Nyrielle, Ashlynn took a deep breath and tried to still her beating heart, or at least quiet it enough for her to take comfort in the calm, steady echo of Nyrielle’s heartbeat within her chest.

They had discussed what was to come and worked hard to build toward this moment, but until they arrived at the conclusion, every step felt like it was taken on thin ice over a vast chasm.

Hauke’s momentary escape from his curse had given her great hope, both for her friend and for the future of the High Pass, but now, as the final moment was upon them, she couldn’t help but tremble with anxiety that something would go wrong at the end.

"Last night, Lord Ritchel fell in single combat against the Thistle Witch," Nyrielle said, shocking everyone in the hall with what seemed to be a decision to grant the throne of the High Pass to Talauia by right of conquest.

"If this was enough to lose his place as Eldritch Lord of the High Pass, then no lord would ever risk their thones to stand in battle with their own army," Nyrielle continued before someone like the young Darfrir could raise a fuss.

"There are times when a lord must suffer a personal defeat for his nation to claim victory.

Because we understand this, even though she defeated Lord Ritchel, the Thistle Witch Talauia will not claim the throne of the High Pass," Nyrielle said.

"Unless you wish to contest my judgment?

" she asked, raising a dark eyebrow at the winged witch.

"Not at all, not at all," Talauia said, hovering above her seat with wings that beat rapidly.

"I cannot, cannot rule this place at all," she declared before any of the people who still looked her with eyes filled with hostility over the death of the Honor Guard could make trouble for her.

"I never wanted to take the High Pass. I just wanted, just wanted to break his sorcery and free Auntie Ashlynn. "

"You did the right thing, Talauia," Ashlynn said with a gentle, reassuring look.

"If you and Sir Ignatious hadn’t done what you did to break the ice prison, I might have fallen to the ancestors.

If that had happened, I doubt that anyone would have survived the aftermath of my death," she said, reaching out for Nyrielle and lacing her fingers through the other woman’s hand.

"So if not the Thistle Witch by right of conquest," Commander Jannik said, standing up and squaring his shoulders as he faced the two women on the dais.

"Then who will take the throne of the High Pass?

Do you intend to open the floor for challengers now?

" the dark-furred Frost Walker asked, flexing his claws with eagerness at the notion.

"There has already been a challenge issued for the Throne of the High Pass," Nyrielle said smoothly as though she had anticipated the question.

"The spirits of your ancestors issued a challenge, hoping to claim the throne directly.

My Seneschal Ashlynn answered that challenge, defeating them in single combat. "

"As the Eldritch Lady of the Vale of Mists, I witnessed the end of her duel," Nyrielle said, sweeping her dark, midnight gaze across the assembled crowd. "A challenge was made and the challenge was met. To the victor goes the throne!"

On one half of the hall, the people who followed Nyrielle leaped to their feet, many shouting and cheering at the proclamation.

Those who had witnessed the battle personally had already told the story dozens of times to those who hadn’t, and there wasn’t a person on either side of the battle who hadn’t seen her transform night into day with a pillar of fire unleashed from the Holy Flame Blade.

Now, hearing that she would become the Eldritch Lady of the High Pass, the exultation and triumph felt by Nyrielle’s forces was impossible to contain.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Commander Jannik shouted, trying to be heard above the clamor that broke out among Nyrielle’s people.

"This isn’t right!" Darfrir shouted. "The High Pass belongs to the Frost Walkers! We won’t be ruled by an outsider!"

Next to Ignatious, Heila sat up as straight as she could, one hand dropping to the handle of her whip as she held her breath, hoping she wouldn’t need to use it.

It hadn’t been easy, not a single moment of the evening’s events had been easy for anyone, but they were so, so close to the end that she didn’t want to ruin things with violence.

But if any of those Frost Walkers tried to take advantage of Lady Ashlynn’s injuries to attack her now... Heila’s hand tightened on the handle of her willow whip until her knuckles turned white from the pressure. Anyone who wanted to harm Ashlynn would have to get past her first.

"My friends," Ashlynn said, standing from her throne and holding her bandaged hands up high in the air. The motion hurt more than she expected, and a look of intense discomfort flickered briefly across her face before schooled her features into a calmer mask that imitated Nyrielle’s unflappable appearance.

"My friends, please, let me speak," Ashlynn said, directing her plea to Nyrielle’s forces and quickly quieting them before she turned to face the Frost Walkers. "My friends, please, listen to my words and then judge me for them."

"Her Dominion has suffered greatly at the hands of our ancestors," Odette said, standing up to face her own people.

"Yet she has promised to heal my husband, to help my son escape the curse of the ancestors... and even though we’ve hurt her and her people, she still calls us friends.

Please," she said, placing a hand gently on Commander Jannik’s arm. "At least hear her words."

For a moment, no one spoke as all eyes settled on the dark-furred commander. Even the headstrong young men following Darfrir seemed willing to let Jannik be the point of the spear resisting this outrageous proclamation.

"Very well," Jannik said after taking and releasing a deep, shuddering breath.

"But do not think that we will submit quietly to injustice," he added in a dark tone as he returned to his seat, looking at Ashlynn with a hostile gaze that said he expected the worst from the servant of yet another ancient vampire who had come to conquer them.

"The throne of the High Pass cannot remain empty," Ashlynn said firmly. "And as the Eldritch Lady of the High Pass, I must occupy it... at least for now. I am not an ideal ruler of the High Pass for many reasons, and I will not hold the throne for longer than I must," she promised.

Among the Frost Walkers, many began to whisper among each other, wondering who she thought should sit on the throne and how long she intended to occupy it. They were questions that everyone wanted an answer to, and Ashlynn didn’t leave them waiting for long.

"But now, as your Eldritch Lady, there is something that has not been concluded which must be done," Ashlynn said firmly.

"Mistress Nyrielle said earlier tonight that Young Lord Hauke bore some blame for the tragedy that unfolded last night, and I agree with her judgment.

At the same time, he labored under incredible pressure to preserve and resurrect long lost techniques that are sacred to the Frost Walker Clan, hoping only to benefit his people. "

"Hauke is a good man," Ashlynn said. "And I cannot bear to see him suffer the way he currently does. But he must be punished for the danger he brought among the people of the High Pass," she said, trying to be as even-handed in her presentation of the issue as possible.

"Hauke isn’t much younger than my little sister, Jocelynn," Ashlynn added, surprising many in the audience with the sudden personal revelation. "He’s too young to take up the burdens he tried to carry, and he has yet to grow into his power or potential. As he currently is, if he were to be returned to the High Pass as soon as his curse is broken, he would struggle to take up the weight of his nation’s expectations. "

"Therefore, as punishment for his mistakes, Hauke will spend the next five years in exile," Ashlynn said, her words unleashing an avalanche of emotions and shouts of protest from the Frost Walker side of the hall.

"My love," Ashlynn said, turning to Nyrielle with a pained expression on her face. It was taking all of her strength just to get through the night’s proceedings, and she had nothing left to awe the crowd into submission. If her words couldn’t carry the way...

"You will listen," Nyrielle said, filling the air of the great hall with a trace of her dark, menacing aura.

"Wait until my Seneschal has finished speaking before you protest her words.

She is far kinder than I, and her terms are far more generous than the ones I would have offered," she said with a final menacing glare before gesturing for Ashlynn to continue.

"Thank you," Ashlynn said softly before turning back to the agitated crowd.

"I said that Hauke will spend the next five years in exile, but where he spends those five years is vital to what comes next," she explained.

"For the next five years, Hauke will live among the people of the Vale of Mists.

He will learn at my side as an apprentice to the Mother of Trees! "

As soon as she mentioned that Hauke would become her apprentice, more whispers broke out among the crowd, this time on both sides of the Great Hall.

To be exiled was certainly a punishment, but to become the apprentice of one of the great witches of the world was an honor that most could never dream of!

Was this... was this really a punishment?

"While he is in exile, Hauke will learn not only sorcery, but the things that a ruler must know in order to safeguard his nation," Ashlynn explained.

"And when the time comes and he has grown into his power, when he is ready to bear the responsibility of the throne, then I will step down as Eldritch Lady of the High Pass and surrender its throne to Young Lord Hauke! "