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Five days after Ashlynn’s arrival in Orava Village, an army the likes of which the Vale of Mists had never seen marched into the small town that surrounded the ancient fortress.

Townspeople lined the roads despite the late hour, pressing up against each other for a glimpse of their long-absent Eldritch Lady.

But despite their curiosity, the curtains of her dark carriage remained tightly shut, offering not even a peek of the powerful vampire or her Seneschal.

Even though they weren’t able to see the Eldritch Lady of the Vale herself, the remainder of her army still made for an impressive sight.

It had been decades since outsiders made a habit of visiting the Vale of Mists, and only a few people took up trades that required them to travel across the mountains where they might encounter other clans.

From Savis and his Golden Eyed Black Wolf Brigade to the shocking appearance of more than a dozen clanless vampires of Tausau’s Mongrel Horde, each new group produced exclaimations of shock and excitement from the crowd.

"She’s done it again," an old man with hair that had turned as bone-white as his horns said, smiling as more and more soldiers marched into view.

"Last time, she was gone for less than a month before she returned with forty-seven champions.

This time, she was gone for half the year and returned with an army. "

"Did you see her champions last time, Grandpa Gill?

" a young boy with horns that barely peeked out of his tousled hair said as he clung to one of the brightly lit street lamps, hoping for a better view of the giants with shaggy wool and tusks that reached nearly to the ground. "Are these champions even stronger?"

"How old do you think I am, boy?" Old Gill said, rapping the young boy’s thing with the handle of his cane. "I wasn’t even born yet to see such a thing. But my father saw it. Forty-seven of Lady Nyrielle’s progeny, storming into the Vale like the black wind of death. But this is different," he added.

"With this many people," the old man said. "Lady Nyrielle might even reconquer the villages outside the Vale, so all those newcomers could go home again."

"But what if they don’t want to go home? Will they have to? Qebicq likes it here," he added with eyes that grew misty at the thought of his new friend leaving after they’d only just met. "He doesn’t have to go away, does he?"

"Who knows," the old man said, looking out over the train of wagons that trailed after the soldiers of the army. An army’s supply train would always be nearly as large as the army itself, but this looked like far more than a supply train.

There were carts full of common folk, laborers, and tradesmen, and even carriages carrying wealthy merchants into the Vale of Mists for the first time in generations.

"Who knows what all of this will bring?" the old man said.

"Maybe you’ll have even more children to make friends with," he added, pointing at a few of the wagons rolling past. With this many strangers entering their small town, many of them coming with entire wagons full of their worldly possessions, it was clear that not everyone who came was planning for a short visit.

But how the Vale of Mists would change with a second influx of outsiders was anyone’s guess, especially when these outsiders had never known the terror of humans with their Templars and Inquisitors who stormed into villages and burned them to the ground.

Would the newcomers respect the people of the Vale for the generations they’d spent holding back the tide of human aggression?

Or would they see themselves as heroes who had come to liberate the weak and ’backwards’ people of the Vale who had yet to return to the glory of their days as the home of High Lord Torbin?

The old man didn’t know, and the only one who might be able to tell them had taken her carriage directly to the ancient fortress without uttering a word about her plans. Without that, the common folk in the street could only speculate.

Inside the ancient fortress, Nyrielle’s dark carriage came to a rest at last before a small welcoming party led by a familiar dashing figure.

"Welcome home, Mistress Nyrielle," Thane said, taking a knee and placing a hand over his slowly beating heart. Despite the chill of the late autumn air, Thane wore his simple white tunic unlaced to his sternum, revealing the powerfully built chest beneath.

The former knight’s amber eyes flashed with the barest hint of anticipation as the carriage doors opened to reveal both Nyrielle and Ashlynn, looking as though they were disappointed that their intimate carriage ride through the Vale from Orava village had finally come to an end.

"It’s been hard on you this time, Thane," Nyrielle said with more warmth in her voice than her eldest human progeny was accustomed to hearing from her. "And I’m sorry to say it, but I need more from you still before you can take a well-deserved rest. We need to..."

"Thane," Ashlynn said, moving past Nyrielle with short, quick strides until she arrived beside the handsome vampire who had offered to be her ’big brother’ in the Vale of Mists when she felt hopelessly lost after Owain’s betrayal and everything that happened after that.

"Thank you," Ashlynn said with genuine feeling as she flung her arms around the startled vampire to give him a hug strong enough to be uncomfortable even to a knight with a vampire’s enhanced physique. "Thank you for everything," she whispered.

They’d only spent two months together, but in that short amount of time, Thane had done more to shape her growth and development during her blossoming period than anyone else.

More than that, he’d understood her needs in a way that Nyrielle wasn’t yet capable of and helped her to feel like the Vale of Mists truly could be her new home.

Now, after so many months apart, the deep desire she held to see him again mingled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the lessons he’d given her during those days.

Without his training, she’d have died to the Tuscans, or to the ancient ancestors, or.

.. Or to Sir Kaefin at the Summer Villa, or Sir Broll during her escape.

.. Without him and his patient guidance then, she wouldn’t be standing here at all.

"Ah, hem," Nyrielle coughed from behind the pair. "Thane, I feel as though, when it comes to my darling Ashlynn, you’re always stealing things from me. Or this time, is it my willful love who is stealing my progeny away?"

"We’ll have time to catch up soon enough," Thane said, chuckling lightly at the way the the normally refined and elegant Lady Ashlynn threw away all the trappings of station to treat him like the older brother he’d offered to be.

Placing his hands on Ashlynn’s shoulders he gently withdrew from her embrace, resisting the urge to pat her head the way he would have treated his own sister in the years before her death.

Ashlynn was Ashlynn and as much as she seemed ready to throw away decorum for familial comfort, the two of them hadn’t spent enough time together to form their own language of comforting touches.

Forcing her to adopt the rituals he’d once used for someone else, while she might never know, would have been too disrespectful for both women, and so he held himself back and gripped her shoulders gently instead.

"I’m sure you have many stories to tell," he said simply. "And I can’t wait to hear them. Or to see how much you’ve learned in the time you were away," he added with a challenging grin.

"I do have stories," Ashlynn said, smiling brightly at the vampire who held responsibility for overseeing the Vale in Nyrielle’s absence. "And I’m sure you have stories too. But my love is right," she said, returning to Nyrielle’s side. "There’s still work to be done before we can relax."

"What are your orders, Mistress?" Thane asked, his face becoming cool and composed in a way that only vampires could manage with perfect stillness as he awaited Nyrielle’s words.

"Send word throughout the Vale," Nyrielle said formally. "In eleven days, on the first night of the new moon, we will hold a welcoming festival for everyone who has come to the Vale, whether from beyond its walls or across the mountains."

"Every village is to attend the first night with as many people as may come," she said with a mischievous smile. "At midnight on the first night, I will have several announcements for our people. No one will want to miss the news we have to share."

"Your will, my hands," Thane said, bowing deeply. "Is there anything that I can tell them about what you intend to announce? The leaders in the villages will want some kind of indication so they know how to prepare."

"You’re right," Nyrielle said, her midnight eyes twinkling in barely contained delight.

"I made a promise to Ashlynn that I would give her a real wedding one day," Nyrielle said, turning to a startled Ashlynn and taking both of her hands in her own.

"I cannot bear to leave you with the status of a servant before our people, my darling," the powerful vampire said, her cheeks heating in a rare moment of shyness.

"Your wedding is still yours to define as you wish," Nyrielle continued.

"But if you will allow it, I will announce our betrothal before our people, along with the other announcements. They should know that you aren’t simply the first among all who serve me, you are first in my heart, and I want the world to know it. "

"Nyri," Ashlynn said, rushing forward to fling her arms around her lover in what felt like the tightest embrace of her life. Hot tears flowed down her cheeks, and her heart seemed to be racing along with the echo of Nyrielle’s heartbeat in her chest, telling her in ways no words could just how anxious her lover was at this moment.

"Of course I’ll allow it," Ashlynn said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Because ever since we met, even before I knew it, my heart has only beat for you. And, and I also want the world to know that no one matters more to me than you."