Chapter 1140: Seating Arrangements (Part One)

For a moment, tension crackled in the formal dining room like a palpable thing.

Isabell and Erkembalt paused in their conversation about incorporating load-bearing arches into the design of artifacts, finally seeming to notice the arrival of the human lords and the members of Ashlynn’s coven who had brought them here.

Neither Isabell nor Ollie missed the faint greenish-gold energy that clung to Virve’s russet fur, and it was clear to both of them that the Oak Witch was struggling to remain calm in the presence of Bors Lothian’s son.

While Isabell might not have heard it yet, Ollie had been at the Summer Villa the day Virve learned that Bors Lothian ordered her father to be skinned and his pelt turned into a rug. So far as Ollie and Virve knew, the remains of Virve’s father still decorated the floor of Bors Lothian’s office.

Like many of the wrongs committed by the humans of Lothian March, Loman wasn’t responsible for this particular tragedy. He would barely have been weaned from his mother’s bosom at the time that Virve’s father was slain defending Airgead Mountain during the War of Inches. But even though Loman wasn’t responsible for that tragedy, he couldn’t entirely escape the stain of his father’s actions.

"Everyone else should be here soon," Isabell said diplomatically. "Lord Loman, I believe that Commander Aspakos wanted the chance to speak with you, and he’s been putting up with Erkembalt and me yammering just to save you a seat," she said, gesturing to the sorcerer with the broken beak.

"Since the stars in the heavens have guided both of us here tonight," Aspakos said smoothly as he eyed the faint aura of darkness that clung to the young priest, invisible to all but those trained to perceive it. "It would be a shame if we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to talk."

"You follow the stars?" Loman said, blinking in surprise as he fought back the strong desire to shrink back from the feathered man in robes covered in ancient, Eldritch symbols.

Loman’s teacher, Exemplar Domas, had spoken of demons who usurped the power of the divine, twisting it to such dark and wicked purposes that the faithful could see the darkness of their deeds swirling around them, but until now, he’d never seen it.

Everyone else in the room seemed oblivious to the darkness, blacker than the night sky, that floated around the Eldritch sorcerer, along with the lurid crimson energy that pulsed within the darkness like a sinister heartbeat, but to Loman’s eyes, he was like a living personification of everything the Church had claimed was wicked about the Eldritch.

"Commander Aspakos leads the Sorcerers of Sundered Earth," Virve said pointedly as she gave Loman a small shove in the direction of the feathered sorcerer. "They follow the old ways of the Sovereign of the Stars and the First Ones. He’s an honorable man, and you can learn a great deal from him if you’re willing to abandon the cruelty and the lies of your Church," she suggested as she struggled to rein in her temper.

"Liam, you should go with the little lord to help keep him out of trouble," she added as she turned decisively away from Loman to throw an arm around a startled Hugo’s shoulders instead. "You can sit next to me, Hugo," she added with a smile as she led him toward a seat a few places down from the head of the table as she headed to her own seat next to Isabell.

"Don’t worry, Hugo," Ollie said warmly as the tension started to flow out of the room. "Virve looks fierce, but she’d never hurt Lady Ashlynn’s Steward," he promised. "You’re among friends here."

"That’s not right, is it?" Loman said, taking the excuse to pause halfway to the table where the broken-beaked sorcerer sat patiently waiting for the young priest to join him. "Hugo is my brother’s Steward, but that doesn’t automatically make him Lady Ashlynn’s," he said, frowning at the breach of etiquette.

He’d met his sister-in-law’s lady-in-waiting, and even if he was uncomfortable around the woman who had whipped him into submission atop the towers of Hanrahan Keep, he had to admit that she was more capable than any lady’s attendant he’d ever met.

But the position of Steward belonged to a lord who assisted in the administration of a domain, whether it was a small village or the sprawling Lothian March. Loman’s father had been served by a loyal Steward for Loman’s entire life, and Hugo had been training to step into that man’s position if Owain took the throne.

Loman might have taken the man on himself if his father agreed to let him be the next one to inherit the throne of Lothian, if for no other reason than to maintain favorable relationships with Baron Ian Hanrahan when the Holy War prepared to begin its assault on Airgead Mountain... But those considerations had all been rendered moot when Dame Sybyll executed her cousin, Ian, and took the throne of Hanrahan for Lady Ashlynn.

So why was Hugo being given preferential treatment while he and Liam were sent to the far end of the table with the dreadful sorcerer? Just because Hugo was Owain’s steward? If that was the case, then as her brother-in-law, shouldn’t he have been seated next to Ashlynn?

"It’s not because I served Lord Owain," Hugo said, forcing himself to confront Loman’s wounded gaze directly without flinching under the young lord’s stare. "It’s because Lady Ashlynn agreed to take me into her service."

"Hugo distinguished himself by preventing violence after the Battle of Hanrahan," a light, feminine voice said as a new group of individuals strode into the brightly lit subterranean dining room.

"Ever since he arrived here, he’s done his best to learn, and he was very helpful in planning the attack to minimize loss of life. We’ll all be glad to have him with us in the months to come," Heila said as she gave the embarrassed-looking steward a radiant smile.

Of course, Heila hadn’t come to the formal dining room alone. She’d been waiting in the deepest caverns of the ancient fortress for the sun to set, and now that it had, she walked arm in arm with the fallen Inquisitor, Ignatious. Zedya and Lennart mirrored their affectionate closeness, leaving Thane looking like the odd man out without an escort of his own.

The tension in the room had just begun to subside when Isabell subtly separated Loman and Virve, but now that the vampires had arrived, an entirely different pressure settled over the room as all eyes gathered on the Willow Witch and the Vampire Inquisitor...