Chapter 407: Impossible Dream? (Part One)
Two days later, Hauke stood nervously outside the gates, watching a snake of flame formed of countless soldiers carrying torches wind its way up the narrow road to the Frost Walker’s icy fortress. When he first noticed the powerful energy of Lady Nyrielle and her forces entering the High Pass, he’d expected that she would make rapid progress through the pass, the same way she had during her previous visit.
He’d known she was coming and that she should be arriving soon. Both Lady Nyrielle and Lady Ashlynn had made it clear that they intended to return to the Vale of Mists before the winter snows sealed the pass to all but the most experienced winter travelers. He’d even been counting the days, trying to estimate how close they were to arriving and growing increasingly anxious that they wouldn’t arrive before the winter snows.
Now that they were almost here, his heart had been filled to bursting with eagerness to see his friends again. Part of that eagerness came from a simple joy at a reunion with friends, and part of it came from a desire to show Lady Ashlynn and Lady Heila how much he had learned since they left. But underneath that, there was a question that had crystalized so deeply in his heart that he dared not speak of it to anyone but Lady Ashlynn herself. And now, he was only a day away from being able to ask...
A day later, however, they were surprised when a messenger arrived to arrange lodging, not for Nyrielle’s small personal escort, but for an entire army more than a thousand warriors strong! Just hearing the size of the army shocked the elders and even Lord Ritchel shifted uncomfortably on his icy throne when he heard the number, but the list of very important guests traveling with Lady Nyrielle was even more shocking.
"Quite the sight, isn’t it son?" Lord Ritchel said without taking his eyes off the approaching army. Last time, Lady Nyrielle traveled as the Eldritch Lady of the Vale of Mists, and sending Hauke to greet her new Seneschal felt measured and appropriate. This time, however, it seemed like much had changed, and Nyrielle marched under the banner of the Harbinger of Death rather than the Vale of Mists.
Some people might not understand the distinction, but combined with an army and its followers numbering in the thousands, Ritchel couldn’t afford to ignore the implied meaning. Last time, they had met as peers and allies until Elder Paulus’s treacherous actions forced her to assert her authority. This time, she left nothing to doubt from the very beginning and he could only lower his horn and personally greet her when she arrived at his fortress.
"The messenger said that Lady Heila became a witch," Hauke said, smiling crookedly as complex feelings rippled across his face. He was delighted to hear that his diminutive friend had earned the chance to join Lady Ashlynn’s coven, and even more excited when the messenger mentioned that she’d stood for ten days in the Arena in the High Fen, facing increasingly powerful opponents every day.