The Vampire & Her Witch

Chapter 1691: A Tepid Response

A soft, gentle murmur of thanks and appreciation flowed through the hall as people accepted or even praised the justice that Lady Ashlynn offered to Sir Hunold and the other families who had suffered the night before.

To Loghlan Dunn, however, the murmurs were far too quiet. Here and there, he could see people clutching at radiant sun pendants or other icons of faith as they grappled with High Priest Aubin’s revelations.

They hadn’t even gotten to the hardest things that the people of Lothian would need to accept and already, he could see the cracks forming behind the polite smiles and approving nods that most of the aristocrats in the Great Hall had been taught to offer when the costs of doing anything else were far too high.

From the tightness at the corners of Lady Ashlynn’s eyes and the way she tilted her head ever so slightly as if she were listening to the room, it was clear that she’d noticed it too. Hunold’s demand for justice had been a test of her rulership, and while she’d likely passed, it was only by the thinnest of margins.

But when you considered the cost of Aubin’s revelations, the math looked even worse. Ashlynn had won a victory, but she’d paid too much to obtain it, and those costs would only grow if matters continued on their current trajectory.

"Your Grace," Loghlan said as he stood up from his chair and bowed his head toward her. "The people will all rest better knowing what you’re doing for the families who suffered last night," he said, taking advantage of what little momentum was available to heap praise on her decision and bolster its support.

"With your permission, may I say a few words before the feast is served?" Loghlan asked, glancing at the servants waiting by the side entrance, ready to begin hauling dishes from the kitchens as soon as the word was given.

"I always value your counsel and your words, Lord Loghlan," Ashlynn said politely as she helped Aubin return to his seat before returning to her own and yielding the floor to Baron Dunn.

"Thank you, your Grace," Loghlan said as he gestured to the servants standing nearby. "I think everyone could use a cup of wine," he said, setting them in motion before he turned to address the rest of the Great Hall.

"My lords and ladies," Loghlan said, puffing up his chest slightly as he projected a practiced air of confidence, competence, and authority. "Last night held its share of tragedies, and we all mourn for those whom we lost," he said. "But this is the dawn of a new day, and even as we remember what we’ve lost, we shouldn’t forget to celebrate what we’ve gained," he said as he reached out to take a cup of wine from a passing servant.

A few people in the hall shifted awkwardly at the sudden shift in tone, but Loghlan refused to be deterred as he forcefully grabbed hold of the narrative shaping the mood of the room and turned it toward a different path.

"Owain Lothian was a cruel and monstrous tyrant who murdered his father, and tried to murder his wife on the day of their wedding," Loghlan reminded everyone. "And Abbot Recared commanded his Inquisitors to spy on our families, to blackmail the lords of the march while kidnapping, torturing and slaughtering our vassals."

"Two blights on our realm were slain last night, both times by Lady Ashlynn’s hand," Loghlan said, raising his cup in Ashlynn’s direction. "I for one am grateful that we will not face a future controlled by those men! So thank you, your Grace, for saving us from a dire fate and freeing us from the curse of that evil, wicked throne," he said, raising his cup high in the air.

"Hear, hear!"

"To Lady Ashlynn!"

"To freedom!"

The chorus of cheers Loghlan Dunn pulled from the crowd was ragged and uneven, with many people raising cups and mumbling something too soft to be heard, but Loghlan could see Lady Ashlynn’s eyes flickering from face to face as she tracked the people who offered up genuine cheers and the ones who made a show of it.

Ashlynn wasn’t the only one tracking, Loghlan realized as he noticed the young lady sitting next to her doing almost exactly the same thing. Silently, Loghlan resolved to find a way for Mairwen to spend some time with the young Lady Leufroy since it appeared that Lady Ashlynn intended to force Valeri to abdicate in favor of his daughter.

That would place three women atop the thrones of the march, Loghlan realized as his eyes shifted to Baroness Tosha, whose son, Riwal, wasn’t yet old enough to claim the throne vacated by his grandfather’s death. Combined with the absent Dame Sybyll Hanrahan, and the fact that Lady Ashlynn would hold the highest throne in the march, women now held more direct power in Lothian March than they’d ever held before.

But while his son Liam had heaped considerable praise on Dame Sybyll Hanrahan, neither Tosha Saliou nor Adala Leufroy stood out as capable rulers who were ready to take the reins. Baroness Tosha had lived in the shadow of her husband and her father-in-law for far too long while she focused on her family, and Lady Adala was simply too young. They would need support if they were going to become reliable pillars in the Lothian Court that Lady Ashlynn could trust, and Mairwen would be much better positioned to guide them than he would.

And still the changes were only just beginning, Loghlan thought. By the end of this breakfast, who was to say how much more Lady Ashlynn would change? Loghlan already knew that she intended to merge the march with the lands of the Vale of Mists, Airgead Mountain and the High Pass beyond them.

What he didn’t know was how much of her plan she intended to reveal today, or how she would make it palatable to the lords and ladies of the realm. What he did know, given the reaction of the room so far, was that she’d need all the help she could get...