Chapter 473: Hauke’s Trial Begins
Sitting on her frozen throne in the Great Hall, Ashlynn felt ice grip her heart when Hauke was carried in. Chains bound his body, securing him to the chair that was so heavy it took several men to move, but even if he wasn’t bound, there was nothing the young man could do.
His wounds from the battle the night before had been washed and bandaged but with healers in such short supply, no one had done more than provide minimal care for the young Frost Walker lord who many felt was responsible for starting the night of tragedy. If he could feel, the pain of thouse wounds would likely be immense but at the moment, seeing his vacant, glassy-eyed stare, Ashlynn could only hope that he wasn’t suffering.
"The dead cry out for justice," Zedya said formally when the soldiers set Hauke at the front of the hall and Erkembalt joined Aspakos with the remainder of the delegation. "Many witnesses saw how last night’s tragedy began. Young Lord Hauke cried ’defiler’ and launched an unprovoked attack at Lady Heila. Because of that action, what should have been a simple, ceremonial greeting between two allies turned into a night of blood and death."
"Lady Ashlynn," Zedya said, turning to face the Mother of Trees on her throne of ice. "You understand what happened better than anyone, and while the Willow Witch suffered at his hands, you suffered far more grievous wounds. Will you tell everyone gathered here, living and dead, what happened last night?"
"I will," Ashlynn said smoothly as she tried to assess the mood of the crowd. Several of the youngest Frost Walkers present glared at Hauke with open hostility while the elders among them wore far more complicated looks that contained a measure of guilt and sorrow. Surprisingly, the hostility was far more intense on Nyrielle’s side of the Great Hall, though Ashlynn wasn’t sure if it was hostility on behalf of the fallen soldiers or for something else entirely.
"But not yet," she said. "Last night’s tragedy comes near the end of a story and too many here, including the honored dead, have never heard it," she explained, casting a glance at Nyrielle and giving her lover’s hand a gentle squeeze. "Let my love speak first."
"Some secretes should stay buried with the dead," Nyrielle said with a heavy sigh. She’d discussed whether or not to reveal these secrets with Ashlynn and she’d been strongly opposed to doing so, but her lover wanted to build toward something greater and insisted that lies and secretes would only undermine the foundation of anything they tried to build in the aftermath of this nightmare.
Nyrielle, however, was worried that a poorly understood truth could do more harm than good, and while she knew more of the truth now than they had before, there were still many questions that only her mentor, Shubnalu, could answer. Without his cooperation, some things could never be fully understood, even if the fragments they possessed were revealed. In the end, they’d compromised, and Nyrielle agreed to reveal a portion of what she had learned in the ancestral cave where they had first encountered the Blood Golems.
"My darling Ashlynn has asked me to share a piece of history long lost to your people," Nyrielle said, looking out over the Frost Walkers. "But understand that this comes from a time long ago. So long ago that my teacher, the Fangs of Death, was a young man under the tutelage of Acat, a True Vampire who bore the title of ’Jaws of Death.’ Acat fell more than five hundred years ago, leaving his seat vacant until Bardas was born into the world to inherit his title and traditions."