The Vampire & Her Witch

"I haven’t pulled them along that far, they won’t fight for us yet," Ashlynn said with a sad shake of her head. "It doesn’t matter to them whether the Vale rises or falls. It’s too far away and nothing is at stake. The few who still trade with us only trade in meager quantities. It’s not enough to fight a war to defend."

"The Vale of Mists was once a gateway to trade between the eastern lowlands and the western highlands," Ashlynn continued. "Blackwell County is the same. It’s one of three gateways between the Kingdom of Gaal and old countries across the sea. People will pledge soldiers to protect their wealth," she said firmly. "We just need to give enough people on this side of the mountains a reason to tie their wealth up in the Vale of Mists."

"This is a human way of conducting business," Nyrielle said, shaking her head at her young Seneschal. "The Eldritch bow down to strength. Strength is what gained me the army that will march home with us and strength is the only language that the people of this arena mad nation will speak."

"You’re wrong, my love," Ashlynn said, giving Nyrielle a gentle poke. Behind her, Virve nearly stumbled as they walked along when she heard the casual way that Ashlynn told Lady Nyrielle that she was wrong in such a blunt way, but Nyrielle only seemed curious, cocking her head slightly as she listened to Ashlynn’s explanation.

"High Lady Erna’s family has ruled for too long," Ashlynn said. "Their strength has become unassailable. It’s the same in the Kingdom of Gaal, especially in the eastern lands like Blackwell County."

"In the Frontier, places like Lothian March, humans are fighting to conquer new land," Ashlynn explained. "They want to use strength to seize opportunities they’re denied anywhere else. In a way, the humans along the Frontier are the most similar to the Eldritch traditions that you’re familiar with."

"I don’t entirely approve of that comparison," Nyrielle said, frowning at Ashlynn. At the moment, there was no one around them as they walked through the portion of the palace that had been reserved almost exclusively for their use, and she was willing to indulge Ashlynn’s choice of phrases but a time would come not long from now when they would need to be united in both words and actions. "But go on..."

"The Eldritch people in the High Fen have more in common with Blackwell County than they do with Lothian March," Ashlynn said confidently. "There are three paths to power in the High Fen. A person can amass great personal strength and challenge High Lady Erna and her family for the rule of the High Fen. Fewer than one in one hundred thousand people have that kind of strength so no one even thinks about that anymore."

"The more open path is in the arenas scattered across the High Fen. The arenas in High Fen City are the greatest, but there are other small towns that still have their own arenas, and even the most humble villager with dreams of greatness can find themselves on a road that leads to the great arena in High Fen City."

"As I said," Nyrielle said, giving Ashlynn’s hand a gentle squeeze. "The High Fen is arena-mad. They value the strength they see proven on the sands. That’s why I needed to take to the sands myself to win over the champions I needed to retake the Vale."

"But there’s a third contest that is every bit as vicious as the one between gladiators on the sands," Ashlynn pointed out. "In fact, it even influences the battles in the arena. The High Fen is still a tremendous hub for trade flowing up and down the length of the mountains, or heading from anywhere along the mountains to the western interior. That’s given rise to merchants who are no less calculating or ambitious than the Guild Masters I knew in Blackwell County."

"The merchants here share the same frustrations I saw in Blackwell County," Ashlynn added. "In Blackwell, even the wealthiest merchant can’t hope to become a knight unless one of the existing noble families falls from grace or dies without heirs. All the good land was carved up generations ago, and what little remains isn’t enough to support a proper noble title."