Chapter 505: Siblings’ Reunion
Moving with the silence that only vampires could manage, two figures appeared next to Thane, smiling brightly as they watched their Mistress proclaim her love to Lady Ashlynn. Zedya had seen firsthand how Nyrielle had changed over the months as her bond with Ashlynn grew deeper and Ignatious’s heart glowed with a warmth it hadn’t felt in decades at the sight of the two women’s simple, joyful love for each other.
For a moment, the former Inquisitor’s eyes drifted to the carriage that Heila had just emerged from, lingering on her diminutive figure and the warm smile that formed on her pert lips when the Willow Witch beheld the leader of her coven in the arms of her lover. On her face, he saw the simple joy of knowing someone you cared for deeply was happy, and for far too many years, it was one that he hadn’t been able to conceive of. Now, however, thanks to Heila, his hart warmed when he returned his gaze to Mistress Nyrielle and Ashlynn as they grew increasingly oblivious of the people around them
Standing between the two vampires, Thane could only smile at the transformation his Mistress had undergone since Lady Ashlynn’s arrival. Love, it seemed, had the power to heal even the most wounded and walled-off hearts.
Eighty years ago, he’d never expected the woman who offered him the power to avenge his little-sister’s death could care for people as anything more than tools. At the time, he’d accepted his status as little more than a blade in her hand. So long as they shared the same enemies, that was enough.
Decades later, however, he’d found himself searching for something greater that could reignite the passions in his life and restore a sense of purpose to the sword he weilded in Nyrielle’s name. Now, it seemed he’d finally found a piece of the purpose he’d been lacking. If he accomplished nothing else, protecting the love he saw unfolding between Nyrielle and Ashlynn was a worthy mission for any knight, even one who had fallen as far as he had.
"I’ll need your help spreading the word," he told his younger ’siblings’ as he turned away from Nyrielle and Ashlynn. "For a festival with this kind of news, nearly everyone will want to offer a betrothal gift, and the preparations can’t be lacking."
"I don’t think the fortress has hosted a celebration like this since," Thane said, trying to think back through the decades before arriving at an uncomfortable answer. "Since before any of us became her progeny," he said. There had been celebrations over the years, but when he thought about the incidents that sparked them, they all followed great battles, and each of them blended celebration with mourning for the fallen.
Of course, the Vale of Mists still had its own celebrations to mark the seasons, but Nyrielle herself rarely participated, and none of them could match the scale of what this festival would demand.
"Should we call the others home?" Zedya asked. "There’s time if we can send a fast enough messenger to Airgead Mountain and the Southern Steppe."