The Great Hall had become a scene of barely contained chaos. For a few hundred heartbeats, no one felt safe.
Lady Ashlynnâs forceful entrance had caught the Lothian Court off guard, but few had felt any real sense of danger. As imposing as Lady Ashlynnâs knights were, and as intimidating as it might be to see the Dunn, Fayle, and Iriso knights joining with her, it was difficult for the powerful lords and their families to believe that things would become violent in a way that would affect them.
Posturing with naked blades was still posturing.
All of that changed when Lord Owain gave his order to the Inquisition. The blazing orb of Holy Flame made the Great Hall feel hotter than an open field on Midsummerâs Day, and the fiery confrontation between Abbot Recaredâs Inquisitors and the High Inquisitorâs Holy Flame Blade sent half the people in the Great Hall scrambling under tables while those closest to the Inquisition, like the people of Fayle barony, ran for the edges of the Great Hall to escape the impending inferno.
Then, just as the noblemen filling the hall began to breathe a sigh of relief at the flames dissipating harmlessly above their heads, Lady Ashlynnâs soldiers sprang into action, giving the Inquisition a beating the likes of which no one had ever seen. Or rather, it was exactly the sort of beating that the guards and knights of many noblemen inflicted on unruly commoners... But no one had ever imagined that the Inquisition would ever suffer such a humiliating fate.
Lady Adala Leufroyâs eyes were fixed on Lady Ashlynn Blackwell, standing tall and proud in the center of the Great Hall as if it were only natural to win such an unthinkable victory. The two men sheâd entered with, the knight sheâd called Sir Ollie and the High Inquisitor Ignatious, held no fear or worry in their gazes either.
Meanwhile, her fatherâs graying hair was plastered to his sweaty brow, and her mother clutched her radiant sun pendant above her heart as if it were the only thing keeping her from collapsing. Her brother looked even more undignified, peeking out from under the table while clinging to one of the table legs.
"You look like a rat," Adala told her brother, shaking her head at Tulori. "Are you going to hide down there all night?"
"That depends," Tulori said, looking around nervously. "Are the doors still blocked?"
"You could try leaving," Adala said, clicking her tongue in disappointment. "They probably donât think youâre important enough to stop. Or maybe theyâd treat you like they treated the acolytes," she mused before smiling sweetly at her brother. "Why donât you try, and then weâll all know how Lady Ashlynn feels about people trying to leave?"
"Youâre evil, you know that, donât you?" Tulori said, staring at his sister with wide eyes. "One day, youâre going to say something like that to the wrong person, and theyâre going to carve out your tongue for it."
"Perhaps," Adala said as her gaze returned to Lady Ashlynn and the others at the center of the Great Hall. "Or perhaps Iâve just found someone who could appreciate what I have to say," she mused more quietly as she watched Lady Ashlynnâs hand drift toward the hilt of the sword at her waist.
Lady Ashlynn said that sheâd been dumped in the mud and buried by Sir Tommin and Sir Broll, but perhaps, somewhere in that grave, sheâd also found the key to the gilded cage that Adala had been so desperately searching for...
"Your Dominion," the High Inquisitor said as he stepped between Lady Ashlynn and the beaten, bloody figures of the Inquisitors and their acolytes. The men of Blackwell hadnât been gentle with their captives, and a few of them were either unconscious from their injuries or had fainted away in shock. The rest huddled together in the center of the Great Hall, nursing their injuries and flinching every time one of Ashlynnâs men so much as looked their way.
"These men have wronged you," Ignatous said as he knelt down in front of Ashlynn. "For that, they deserve to be punished. Still, I hope you can be merciful," he said, bowing his head low.
"They joined hands against me," Ashlynn said, looking from Ignatious to the Abbot held firmly in place by Sir Beathan. "The Abbot isnât the first rabid dog Iâve seen summon a sun and harm the innocent," she reminded the kneeling Inquisitor. "You remember how things ended when someone attacked Heila this way."
"I remember," Ignatious said, nodding in understanding. In the Arena of High Fen City, the sorcerers from the Cauldron of Flame had done something very similar on an even larger scale, just to overawe the crowd. Back then, Ashlynn had healed the people in the audience who were injured by the flames, but she could hardly do so now. If Ignatious hadnât unraveled the Abbotâs âmiracleâ in time, Ashlynn would have been forced to choose between allowing people to suffer or revealing her witchcraft before it was time.
"Still, Heila was merciful to them in the end," Ignatiou said, raising his head to meet her gaze directly. "I hope you can do the same. They arenât that different from how I was before I was trapped in darkness and forced to learn the truth of the Light," he said, speaking loudly enough that everyone in the hall could hear.
"If you can find it in your heart to be merciful," Ignatious said. "Then perhaps they may yet struggle to redeem themselves, just as I did..."
"Enough of this farce!" Owain snapped, no longer content to allow Ashlynn and this strange Inquisitor to trample his authority in his very own Great Hall. Moving with as much haste as dignity would allow, Owain crossed the dais to the solid oak throne and took a seat, projecting as much authority and majesty as he could muster.
"Do not forget where you are, and remember who rules here," Owain said, sweeping his gaze over the assembled lords and ladies of the march. The knights from Leufroy had finally reached the dais and fanned out behind him like aging sentinels.
Whether or not they would be useful in a fight, Owain couldnât say, but in this case, their weathered faces lent an air of legitimacy to his place on the throne, and he doubled down on that with a gesture to Sir Gilander and Sir Garrik to take their places to either side of him.
"I donât care what rock or grave you crawled out of, Ashlynn," Owain said. "And I donât care how things are done in Blackwell. But here in the frontier, the Inquisition is a vital force in the protection of the entire march. By attacking them, youâve weakened our defenses against the demons at a time when the raids are only growing fiercer," he said, meeting the gaze of each of the barons in turn.
"Youâre a witch, your followers are heretics, and attacking the Inquisition only proves how wicked you are," he said, glaring at the woman in the cavalier hat who seemed utterly unconcerned with the precarious position sheâd placed herself in.
Sheâd fought her way all the way here, true, but she didnât realize that sheâd only entered the bearâs den and placed her hand in its maw... and she was about to learn that this bear would bite!