Chapter 1225: Warm Water and Worries (Part Two)

The warm water enveloped them both as they settled into the marble pool, and Ashlynn let out a soft sigh of contentment as the heat began to work its way into muscles that had been tense with worry for two days straight. Nyrielle’s cool skin warmed gradually in the steaming water, and soon the temperature difference between them faded until Ashlynn could barely tell where her own warmth ended and Nyrielle’s borrowed heat began.

"So," Nyrielle said, reaching for one of the silver bottles on the elegant tray beside the pool and pouring a generous amount of primrose-scented oil into her palm. "Tell me about your day. You said you’ve been making preparations, but I know you too well. You’ve been pushing yourself to your limit again when you should have been resting, haven’t you?"

"You know it’s enough if you take a few days to yourself, my darling," Nyrielle added gently. "You’re allowed to claim victory over the day even if all you did was to plan an evening together for us."

As she spoke, she guided Ashlynn to turn around and then began working the oil into her lover’s long, pale blonde hair with gentle, massaging motions. Her fingers moved with practiced ease, finding the tension points at Ashlynn’s scalp and applying just enough pressure to make the young witch melt under her touch.

"Mmm," Ashlynn hummed in pleasure, tilting her head back slightly to give Nyrielle better access while she allowed her limbs to float freely in the bath. "I know you want me to relax, but it’s easier if I keep myself busy," Ashlynn explained as her eyes drifted closed under Nyrielle’s tender ministrations.

"There’s still quite a bit, mmm... Quite a bit that needs doing," she said as she felt Nyrielle’s hands slipping from her scalp to her neck, gently massaging away the tension that had gathered there. "I’ve been working with Liam on a letter for his father that outlines our proposal. I think we’ve finally reached an early agreement that he can present to Lord Loghlan even if a few parts of it are a bit... vague."

"That you’re granting them territory and a position of honor at all should already be enough," Nyrielle said as her fingers paused in their work, tracing lightly along Ashlynn’s delicate neck. "They’ve never breached the walls of the Vale, but they’ve been relentless in attacking the outlying villages for years. To give them an even larger domain, simply for standing aside in the coming battles is... beyond generous," she said gently.

This was Ashlynn’s decision to make, and she would support it, at least to an extent. Nyrielle had left Lothian March and all of its lords to her lover to handle as part of claiming her vengeance against Owain Lothian, but what Ashlynn intended to offer the Dunns rivaled what they had set aside for Dame Sybyll.

"I know it is," Ashlynn agreed, her voice taking on a slightly more serious tone even as her body remained relaxed under Nyrielle’s gentle touch. "But the challenge ahead of them is greater than the challenge ahead of Sybyll. If they accept the lands they’re being offered, they have to accept the Eldritch people who live there, and they have to return any lands they’ve captured in the past three years to the people they displaced."

That had been one of the first contentious matters she’d negotiated with Liam Dunn, but it hadn’t been the last. Ashlynn initially wanted the Dunns to return any lands they’d taken in the past decade, but Liam protested that the people who had settled in those hamlets had already done a great deal to build lives in those places.

In the end, they’d arrived at a requirement to return land seized recently enough that few investments had been made in transforming the land for use by the Dunns, while also granting rights to survivors from any of the Dunn’s campaigns in the past twenty years to be granted parcels in the Dunn villages and hamlets that had been built on stolen Eldritch lands.

As compromises went, it wasn’t ideal but it established terms that Ashlynn cold share with the displaced people from the outlying villages, and even if they didn’t want to return to the lands they’d once called home now that they’d resettled somewhere else, there was also a provision that would force the Dunns to buy out the survivor’s right to a parcel at a fair price.

"You’re making an example out of them," Nyrielle said as her fingers resumed their work, tracing down to Ashlynn’s slender shoulders and working away at the knots that had formed from long hours spent over a writing desk, writing and re-writing the terms of their tentative agreement with the Dunns.

"You want other people in the march to see that they will be rewarded if they make an effort of offering restitutions," she said, keeping her voice light even as the topic grew heavy. "But not everyone will be so forgiving of what the humans have done to them..."

"I know," Ashlynn said, turning over in the tub so that she could face Nyrielle and pushing off of the bottom with her toes to bestow a light kiss on her lover’s forehead. "If we try and we fail, then at least we’ve tried. I’d rather argue for years over the negotiating table than spend even one more summer fighting a pointless war."

"And all of this is tentative anyway," Ashlynn added, sliding past Nyrielle in the water while allowing their bodies to caress each other in the warm water as she reached for the bottle of scented oils she’d prepared for Nyrielle.

"Your turn," she said softly as she took a seat on one of the smooth stone benches under the surface of the water, wrapping both her arms and legs around her lover’s lithe form to pull her close enough to begin washing her hair.

"It’s good that Liam understands that they must still wait until everyone is gathered to speak before anything can be signed," Nyrielle said as she relaxed into the soothing touch of Ashlynn’s strong fingers while the scent of lavender wrapped around her. "There will be many voices clamoring for a seat at the table when we draw up new borders and new laws... He should prepare his father to yield to those who have a greater right to speak."

"I think he’s had a taste of that already," Ashlynn said with a light, musical laugh that echoed slightly off the marble walls of the bathing room. "One of his requests was for us to hire master craftsmen from High Fen City to visit their factories and workshops in order to learn if they can benefit as much from Eldritch masters as they can from hiring experts Keating or the Royal Capital."

"That part is easy enough," Ashlynn said as she ran her fingers through Nyrielle’s long, dark tresses. "We already have a few of the masters he’d like to meet with here in the Vale. But he also asked for Isabell to be named in the agreement, and for her to help with a series of engineering projects in their domain."

"That’s very bold," Nyrielle said as an amused smile tugged at the corners of her soft, lush lips. "Few can afford the services of a witch. Did he understand the weight of what he was asking for?"

"Isabell made sure that he did," Ashlynn said. "She set the price of her time at five percent of their treasury per project, and said that she would only use witchcraft on one of the projects she was involved with, but that her fee would be the same regardless. Liam still thinks it’s worth including in the letter," Ashlynn said, shaking her head and sending ripples across the surface of the tub as water droplets flew from her hair. "But he’ll have a difficult time convincing his father that she’s worth it."

"Then it sounds like you have the Dunn’s well in hand," Nyrielle praised. "But as time-consuming as that must have been, I know you were busy with many other things while we’re awaiting Marcel’s arrival. Tell me, darling, what else have you been up to?"

"You’re right that I’ve been busy," Ashlynn said, sinking lower in the tub in order to wrap her arms around Nyrielle, just below her lover’s bust. "I also went to Ollie’s village to meet with Samira..."