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"Rise, Hauke," Ashlynn said, stepping forward and holding out both of her hands to the young Frost Walker before anyone in the crowd could truly react to the stunning declaration the young man had made.

Only Savis, sitting among the honored guests, possessed an understanding of how momentous this moment really was.

The two rings in his ear marked not only the fall of mighty Eldritch Lords, but also the victories that brought their territories into the Tangled Wood, expanding Hamdi’s reach and paving the way for his recognition as a High Lord rather than a mere Eldritch Lord.

Savis could have claimed those territories for himself, becoming the next Eldritch Lord of the Granite Spire or the Dark Warrens, but doing so would have been a betrayal of the gift of power and unending life that Hamdi had bestowed on him.

Now, the oldest vampire in the room leaned forward with a slow grin spreading on his lips, eager to see how things would unfold here now that the future Eldritch Lord of the High Pass asked that its throne be shattered by the women who had conquered it.

"Hauke," Ashlynn said as she looked up into his calm, pale eyes.

"You are the very best kind of protector for his people," she praised.

"You recognize the true threats they face and you seek the best protection for them, even if it costs you the throne that could be yours.

Few would have your courage or your selflessness in a moment like this. "

"I promise you," Ashlynn said solemnly. "Your time will come, if not at the Eldritch Lord of the High Pass than as a witch in my coven and as my voice among your people.

But to make the High Pass a part of the Vale of Mists, that requires a voice other than mine.

Will you trust me to do what must be done? "

"Always, Teacher Ashlynn," Hauke said, lowering his horn in such deep submission that it pointed at the ground. "I’m your apprentice and I still have much to learn, so, if my teacher can help my people, I can only be grateful."

"Go join the others," Ashlynn said softly, glancing briefly at Virve to walk the young Frost Walker to his place on her side of the table with Heila and Ignatious.

When he addressed the crowd, his voice was loud and clear, but when Ashlynn held his hands, she felt the tremors that rippled through his body and his fur as he struggled to meet the challenge of this moment.

Now, however, it was time for her to play her role, and in so doing, change the Vale of Mists forever.

More than that, it was time to take a step that she and Nyrielle had been yearning for with increasing intensity ever since their return to the Vale of Mists.

Thus far, she had played the role of loyal Seneschal and the Mother of Trees before the people of the Vale, but now, there was another role she wanted to fill, and she wanted the whole world to know how happy that role would make both her and Nyrielle.

"Everyone," Ashlynn said, sending a pulse of energy rippling across the cedar boughs on the floor, intensifying the rich, woody scent in the room and putting a stop to the few whispered conversations that had begun at the tables further back from the raised dais.

Slowly, a hush fell across the hall as the crowd began to anticipate what would happen next.

Each new announcement that Lady Ashlynn and Lady Nyrielle had made this evening had dramatically shifted their view of the Vale of Mists and its changing place in the world.

Now that it seemed like the Mother of Trees was preparing another announcement, they leaned forward in their chairs, straining their ears as though they were afraid they would miss even a single word of what she had to say.

"You all know, now, that I arrived in the Vale of Mists with nothing," Ashlynn said slowly as she fought to keep her breathing steady and her voice calm.

"For a time, everything I had was a gift bestowed on me by Mistress Nyrielle.

Even when I went to the market to shop for my own things, the coins in my purse were still gifts from her.

So how could I, the cast out, broken, fallen noblewoman that I was, ever hope to match up to her? "

As Ashlynn spoke, she took several steps toward Nyrielle until she was close enough to reach out to the other woman, capturing both of Nyrielle’s hands in her own and holding her tightly.

"And yet, as impossible as it should have been, she accepted me as I was and never once looked down on me," Ashlynn said as she stared into Nyrielle’s deep, midnight blue eyes.

"No one in this world has the right to look down on you," Nyrille said. "Because even with nothing, even when you were the most broken and battered that you’d ever been, in the lowest moment of your life, you were still the most amazing woman I have ever known."

"Since the day our blood mingled beneath the Ancient Oak," Nyrielle continued, reaching up to gently stroke Ashlynn’s cheek with the back of her slender, delicate fingers.

"I have watched you blossom and grow. You have given me your trust and your heart, and you’ve healed the wounds in my heart that I thought would last until the abyss swallowed the last of my life.

Even when you had nothing, you still found ways to give endlessly of yourself. "

At the high table, Zedya leaned close to Lennart, resting her head on his furry shoulder while she smiled at the pair of lovers who seemed to be falling into a world of their own.

She’d never thought that she would know this kind of happiness for herself, but now that she and Lennart had found each other, the joy she felt at seeing Lady Nyrielle and Lady Ashlynn grasping the same happiness was something so precious that she wanted to remember this moment forever.

On the opposite side of the table, Heila wrapped both arms around Ignatiou’s arm and hugged him tightly as tears gathered in her eyes.

She’d watched them, every step of the way, from the days that Ashlynn was still skittish and afraid to be alone with Lady Nyrielle shortly after arriving in the Vale, through the moments when it seemed like the Mother of Thorns and her coven would try to sever the bond of blood that bound Ashlynn and Nyrille together, all the way up to this moment.

To some people, the love between the vampire and her witch might seem sudden, or magical.

.. perhaps even destined. But Heila knew how often they’d struggled to reach this point and how many things had tried to tear them apart before they could stand here.

And now that they were, her heart was filled with warmth and beating fast enough that it felt like it would burst out of her diminutive chest.

"Tonight, I’m no longer a woman with nothing," Ashlynn said with a slow smile spreading across her lush lips.

"Tonight, I come before you as the last Eldritch Lady of the High Pass," she said, stepping back and dropping to one knee.

"Tonight, I present my throne to you as my dowry and my pledge to you.

Everything that is mine in this world is also yours, be it my lands, my throne, my heart or my soul," she said as she stared into Nyrille’s midnight blue eyes.

Just as she had on the night they formed their blood pact beneath the Ancient Oak, formal words and phrases Ashlynn had heard and practiced countless times blended with an outpouring of feelings from deep within her heart.

Kneeling on the dais, even though there were hundreds of people watching her, Ashlynn felt like she and Nyrielle were in a world of their own.

The only sounds that she heard were the soft rustle of her skirts and the echo of Nyrielle’s heartbeat within her chest, racing faster and faster with each word Ashlynn said.

"Tonight, I offer you my hand in marriage," Ashlynn said, holding out a hand for Nyrielle to take. "Not because I am the Mother of Trees and you are the Harbinger of Death. Not because I am the Eldritch Lady of the High Pass and you are the Eldritch Lady of the Vale of Mists," she added.

"Tonight, I offer you my hand in marriage because you already possess my heart and all the love within it," Ashlynn said as a tear rolled down her cheek, as if it held all the feelings that overflowed from her rapidly beating heart.

"So will you take it?" Ashlynn asked. "And allow all the people gathered here to bear witness to our love? "