The Vampire & Her Witch-Chapter 1343: Moves In Darkness (Part One)

Isabell watched as Ashlynn clung to Ollie, her shoulders still trembling slightly from the emotional outburst, and decided that enough was enough for the evening. The young witch had been holding herself together through sheer force of will all day, and between the reunion with Ollie and the painful recounting of what had nearly killed him, she’d finally reached her breaking point.

"Ashlynn," Isabell said gently, rising from her seat and moving to stand beside the Mother of Trees. "Why don’t you take Ollie somewhere private so you can attend to his deeper injuries? The healing you gave him earlier was enough to stabilize him, but he needs more than that if he’s going to be ready for what’s coming," she said gently.

She was still adjusting to the changes in her vision since becoming a witch, and she found herself more eager than ever for the replacement spectacles that Artificer Erkembalt was building for her.

He claimed that they would make it easier for her to keep both the real world and the energy of the world in focus at the same time, but even now, when she had to deliberately examine people or objects in order to see the deeper currents of energy that connected living things, she could tell that Ollie was still greatly diminished, even after Ashlynn had tended to him. There was a steady flow of energy seeping into his body, but it was so slow that it would be weeks or months before he recovered if he was left to do so naturally.

But they didn’t have weeks or months to wait for Ollie to recover... they only had days, and Ashlynn knew it.

Ashlynn pulled back from Ollie slightly, blinking as if she’d momentarily forgotten that there were other people in the room. Her emerald eyes were still bright with unshed tears, but she managed a small nod.

"You’re right," she said quietly, using the back of her hand to wipe at her eyes before looking around the table at their assembled guests. Her gaze lingered on the three young nobles from Dunn, all of whom were doing their best to look anywhere but directly at her tear-stained face.

"I apologize for the display," Ashlynn said, and there was a faint color rising in her cheeks as she realized how thoroughly she’d lost her composure in front of people who were meeting her for the first time. "I know that wasn’t... that I shouldn’t have..." She trailed off, clearly struggling to find the right words.

"Please don’t apologize, your Dominion," Eira said quickly, surprising herself with her own boldness. "Anyone would be upset after hearing what happened to someone they cared about. It’s... it speaks well of you, I think, that you care so deeply."

Morwen nodded quickly in agreement, and even Cadeyrn managed to mumble something that might have been assent, though his face was bright red and he seemed to be studying the grain of the wooden table with intense fascination.

Ashlynn offered them a wan smile, clearly grateful for their understanding even if she didn’t quite believe that she’d handled things entirely appropriately.

"Thank you," she said softly. "If you’ll excuse us, I’ll be taking Ollie for a little while. Marcel," Ashlynn said, turning to face the youthful figure who had been sitting unobtrusively at one end of the table, nibbling at the sumptuous dinner without seeming to take much interest in any one item. "Can you do what’s necessary? I know you don’t have much time, but..."

"Leave it to me, my Lady," he said. "I think I have a good enough idea of what you need done in the next hour or two, so leave it to me," he said with a charming smile. "And if I’m wrong, you can always scold me afterwards," he added with a playful wink.

"Thank you, Marcel," she said as she helped Ollie to his feet, keeping one hand on his elbow to steady him as they made their way toward the stairs that led to the upper floor where the tavern’s private rooms were located.

Isabell watched them go, momentarily debating whether or not Ashlynn would need her help, but in the end, she chose to stay behind to keep an eye on things with their guests. If Ashlynn needed her help, she would have asked for it, but with so many young people here, she wanted to make sure there was at least one elder in the room who could ride herd on them.

The instant she had that thought, Isabell’s cheeks heated in mild embarrassment. She might be the only parent in the room, but Marcel was close to her father’s age, and Ignatious was even older... It was just that they both looked so much younger, particularly Marcel, that she still found herself forgetting just how old and experienced Nyrielle’s progeny could be.

As soon as the door closed behind Ashlynn and Ollie, the atmosphere in the common room shifted. The oppressive weight of Ashlynn’s barely controlled emotions lifted like morning fog burning away under the sun, and people began to relax slightly.

"Well then," Marcel said, popping a last morsel of flaky fish into his mouth before neatly brushing the crumbs off his dextrous fingers. "As Lady Ashlynn said, I don’t have much time if I’m going to make it to Lothian before dawn to put things in motion on that end, so we should take care of business that needs to be conducted under the cover of darkness quickly," he said, as though it were only common sense.

"Before we make any moves, I have a few questions that need answers," he said, turning his dark eyes toward Liam Dunn. "But seeing as we have such a fine, upright nobleman who’s keen to do whatever Lady Ashlynn asks," Marcel said as he suddenly moved, seeming to vanish from where he was sitting only to appear directly behind Liam less than a heartbeat later.

"I’m sure you won’t have any problem answering my questions, do you, lord Liam?" Marcel asked, leaning close enough to the young lord that Liam could feel Marcel’s cool breath on the back of his neck as the vampire spoke.

"I’ll even buy you a drink," Marcel said with a playful wink as he reached around Liam to pick up a bottle of wine, topping off Liam’s barely touched goblet. "So you’ll be honest with me, won’t you, lord Liam?"