Chapter 304: Handling Distractions
While Ashlynn and Heila worked diligently on their studies, Amahle summoned Talauia and Jacques to her own abode for a serious discussion.
"So, it’s true den?" Jacques asked between sips of cold, refreshing lemonade. "Lady Nyrielle, she really trapped de High Lord of de Tangled Wood in a pine box atop his own tower?"
"It is," Amahle said as she examined the letter in her hands for what felt like the dozenth time since it arrived early in the morning. "Though Lady Nyrielle’s letter is short on details, she made it clear High Lord Hamdi is suffering greatly for the offense of failing to recognize her authority over vampires as the Harbinger of Death."
"Even then, even then," Talauia said. "A green pine box will twist and warp in the summer sun. Even if it kept all the daylight out when they made the box for him, after a few days, every seem will let a little bit of light in all day long. Won’t it eventually kill High Lord Hamdi like dying from a thousand small cuts?"
"According to Lady Nyrielle’s letter, she allowed his progeny to wrap him in a beggar’s cloak before sealing him in the box and placing it atop his tower. Further, she’s allowing his progeny to hunt for him so long as they spill the blood of their prey over the box. What little seeps through is enough to allow Hamdi to slowly heal his wounds, though the sunlight during the day may undo most of that."
"Dis woman of Auntie Ashlynn’s is fiercer and crueler den I thought," Jacques said, shuddering slightly at the thought of how much he’d offended her when they first met. Looking back at the way Ashlynn had resolved their dispute, he offered a silent thanks to the Mother of Trees for saving him from a fate so dark that he wasn’t able to imagine it.
"The important thing isn’t what she did to High Lord Hamdi," Amahle said, bringing the conversation back on track. "The question is whether or not one of you should go to represent me at the gathering she’s called. Every Eldritch Lord for three hundred leagues has been invited and she’s extended us the same courtesy."
"Shouldn’t Auntie Ashlynn go wit us den?" Jacques asked. "I’m sure she must be missing Lady Nyrielle, non? Dis is a chance for her to pay her lover a visit."
"That’s what makes this difficult," Amahle said. "We’re invited, but I have to admire Lady Nyrielle for her determination to do what’s best for Ashlynn. She doesn’t want to disrupt Ashlynn’s training. Besides, if we went, our attendance would amount to little more than a show of support. We’ve already aligned ourselves with Ashlynn and through her, with the Vale of Mists. This assembly of Nyrielle’s doesn’t offer us much."