Chapter 290: The Tangled Wood
Two weeks had passed since Nyrielle entered Ashlynn’s vision and spent an intimate evening together exploring Ashlynn’s memory of the Holy Festival of Light. Since then, Nyrielle had concluded her business with her uncle, Tausau before turning her carriage northwest and heading deep into the territory of her great-grandsire.
The Tangled Wood was a massive domain, larger than the Vale of Mists had been even under her grandsire Torbin’s rule. At its core, the Tangled Wood was a densely overgrown forest with massive pines and towering hemlock trees that stood hundreds of feet tall and crowded close enough together to cast the ground under their canopy into perpetual twilight.
Sword ferns, climbing ivy and hooked blackberries covered the ground in a dense underbrush that made much of the Tangled Wood impassable. The roads that connected a scattered network of villages and small towns had to be cleared at the end of each growing season or they would quickly vanish beneath the invasive undergrowth.
"Should we expect another welcoming party, my lady?" Zedya asked as their carriage clattered through the night.
"We should, but don’t expect to notice them until we reach the Tangled Tower," Nyrielle said, staring out into the darkness of the night. Her great-grandsire’s men couldn’t be compared to Tausau’s Mongrel Horde other than to say that Tausau’s Mongrels stood as far beneath them as newborn babes stood beneath the Horde.
"This is your first time coming so deeply into the western territories, isn’t it?" Nyrielle said with a nostalgic smile. "From now until we leave my great-grandsire’s territory, the rules for feeding have changed. Unless you want trouble from his progeny, leave Lennart and his men alone. Feeding on our own soldiers would be seen as a sign of weakness."
"How is that weakness?" Zedya asked. "The people of the Vale of Mists offer themselves up willingly as tribute. What more proof of your strength and right to rule could people ask for?"
"That isn’t how it works here," Nyrielle sighed. "You must hunt your own prey. You will be seen as strong if you are able to prey on the warriors of the Tangled Wood and you will be seen as weak if you prey on the sick or elderly."
"Will they fight back?" Zedya asked, tilting her head in confusion at the custom. How could a vampire as old as Nyrielle’s great-grandsire rule for so long if his progeny preyed upon his people?