A full day and a half had passed since Ashlynn and Nyrielle discussed the legendary Mother of Forests and the meaning of Isabellâs warning. They hadnât made any decisions that night, though Nyrielle had made a few suggestions for expanding Ashlynnâs coven.
"I, Iâm not sure yet," Ashlynn said, biting her lower lip and holding Nyrielle closely as she considered how much her coven would change if it grew so large and so quickly.
Part of her wanted to press ahead quickly, to prevent large gaps from forming between the first members of her coven and any newcomers. But she forced herself to hold back from that impulse. She was in the middle of a winter war and her mind was still clouded by her need for vengeance and her worries about Jocelynn.
Once this was over, once she returned to Lothian City and began the process of blending the human and Eldritch worlds, she could think about expanding her coven again. Spring was a time for new growth and the right time for planting new seedlings. Winter, this winter at least, was a time to bring things to an end, so that they could begin anew next year.
When the messenger finally arrived, hours after dawn, carrying a detailed letter from Heila explaining the events of the battle for Hanrahan town, and the public and private trials that had taken place afterward, Ashlynn realized that some things would be much harder to conclude than sheâd hoped for.
Sheâd never expected that Loman would turn out to be such a formidable sorcerer, or that he would be callous enough to sacrifice so many people in his attempt to defend Hanrahan Town from Dame Sybyllâs forces. Thankfully, sheâd sent both Heila and Hauke to bolster the armyâs ability to contend with the sorcery of the Church, but hearing about the battle and its aftermath, she couldnât help but wonder if she should have gone herself in order to neutralize her brother-in-law.
Of course, Loman wasnât the only one of her enemies who hadnât come through the battle unscathed. Now, as Ashlynn gathered with a small group in the courtyard of the Ancient Fortress, her eyes fell on the other person who had come to reunite with a family member who had stood on the other side of the battle.
Ashlynn had already told Rosie Pyre about Sir Tomminâs injuries, though Rosie had yet to tell her son, Tonnis, what had happened. She wanted to see her husband for herself and speak with him at least once before she decided whether or not to allow him back into her life.
When she announced her decision to join Ashlynn in receiving the captives from Hanrahan, there had been an intense, lively debate among the friends sheâd made in the village about who would accompany her.
"Iâll watch over you, Lady Rosie," Constable Daithi said as soon as the question came up. "I know your husband well enough to know that heâs not usually a violent man, but a wounded soldier isnât the same man as he was before," he said, speaking from years of experience following Sir Broll, Sir Tommin, and Lord Owain to a number of battlefields.
"Kind men can turn into monsters when theyâre laid low by their injuries," the constable said as gently as he could. "And the taller they stand on the field, the more monstrous they can become when they lose their place in the world. Your husband was, is, a great man, so Iâm sure heâs suffering greatly right now."
"You canât do that, Constable," Samira protested from her place resting near the fire. One hand rested on her large belly while the other held an unfinished carving that Noomi had set aside in order to tend to her infant son, Saku.
Sir Ollie had opened his home in the village to both women, claiming that he would be too busy with Lady Ashlynnâs coven and the war to make much use of it, and when Rosie had arrived with her son, Tonnis, it seemed natural for her to join the other refugees who wouldnât be able to start work on homes of their own until the spring.
Now, theyâd all gathered to hear Lady Ashlynnâs news of the battle in Hanrahan and to support the newest member of their rapidly growing community as she learned the fate of her husband... and they all seemed to have opinions about who should be at Rosieâs side when she confronted the husband who had abandoned her to face Owainâs schemes alone.
"I know you mean well," Samira added quickly. "But noblemen see things differently than common folk do. If youâre standing beside Lady Rosie as her guardian when Sir Tommin returns, they may think youâve cuckholded him," she said, blushing at the memory of the time sheâd accidentally implied something very similar about Owain Lothian while she was masquerading as Ashlynn.
Since then, sheâd learned a great deal about the aristocracy and the subtle ways that the nobility could communicate the most shocking things in plain sight, and choosing to welcome her wounded husband home from a war with another man at her side was a sure way to tell everyone around Sir Tommin that his wife had forsaken him for another man.
"What? Thatâs absurd!" Daithi said, blinking in surprise that it would create any kind of an issue for him to help protect a vulnerable woman. "Iâm the constable of this village now," he reminded Samira. "Even if sheâs only just arrived, sheâs still one of Sir Ollieâs villagers. How would it create an offense if I went along to protect her."
"That doesnât make it any better, it only makes it worse," Samira insisted. "A constable should know better. She should be attended by a proper handmaiden. Iâll go with you, Lady Rosie, I know what..."
"Youâll do no such thing," Noomi insisted, setting down the weaning spoon sheâd been using to feed Saku while her tail thumped rapidly against the soft rug beneath her. "If she needs to be attended by a handmaiden then I can go. You can watch over Saku for me and..."
"Enough," a sharp, commanding womanâs voice interrupted them. "I know you both want to help, but you should tend to your own little ones," Sionid said, squeezing Daithiâs hand to let her husband know that she would settle things.
"Lady Rosie should be attended by someone of appropriate status, who isnât a man," she said with a pointed glance at Daithi who still looked offended that he couldnât stand up for a woman in need of protection. "Since Sir Ollie hasnât taken a wife yet, and thereâs no other women with sufficient status available, then Iâll accompany her," she said with the same firmness that she would use when laying down the law of the house for her daughter, Bailey.
"I can still come along," Daithi offered before a trio of feminine gazes landed on him, all but physically forcing him to raise his hands in retreat. "What I meant to say is that Iâll watch over Tonnis for you, Lady Rosie," he said quickly. "Bailey canât wait to show him her favorite creek now that heâs recovered enough from the poison to spend time outside."
For all his bravery and courage, and all the respect heâd gained as the constable of Ollieâs village, he knew better than to keep speaking once Sionid had made up her mind. Besides, after following Lady Ashlynn on her mission to destroy the Lothianâs summer Villa, he was glad to be home and an excuse to spend the day with Bailey was just what he needed to soothe the wounds and fears in his own heart...