Chapter 633: A Shared Cup
A storm of applause welcomed Ashlynn as she took her place beside Nyrielle. Starting from the front of the hall, people rose from their chairs, clapping and stomping in approval to welcome one of the most powerful witches in the world to the Vale of Mists.
At the table for honored guests, Kaisen and Helga stared at each other in open-mouthed shock as they numbly rose to their feet, joining in the applause to welcome the Mother of Trees.
"Husband," Helga said softly. "Did little Heila ever tell you that the woman she had become a maidservant for was a great witch? I, I thought she was just a human lady who had become Lady Nyrielle’s Seneschal the way Sir Thane and Madame Zedya became vampires..."
"If she didn’t tell you, why would I know?" Kaisen said as he clapped his hands. "She tells you everything, but me? I only know if I hear it from you," he protested.
"Some things can’t easily be shared, son," Achim said from his opposite side. "Look," he added, pointing around the room. "Commander Bassinger and Marshal Jakob don’t seem the least surprised, but look at the village elders. None of them seem to have known until this moment. Perhaps little Heila was given orders to keep her lady’s secret. It should be expected for her to say nothing if she wants to maintain Lady Ashlynn’s confidence."
"And are you the one who taught her how to keep secrets, Father?" Kaisen asked, giving the grey-bearded man a pointed look with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, hush now," the old man said when he saw Ashlynn raising her hand for quiet. "We can speak of these things later."
Ashlynn didn’t use any of her power in order to regain quiet in the great hall, but she didn’t need to. With all eyes on her, a simple raised hand was enough for the people gathered in the great hall to still their hands and quiet their cheers, allowing her to address the leaders of the Vale of Mists for the first time.
"Please, be seated," Ashlynn said with a warm, gentle smile. "Tonight, we have many stories to tell and many things to celebrate. I’ve asked Georg to help me bestow a welcoming gift on everyone here tonight," she said as the doors opened to reveal the bearish chef and a small army of servants carrying trays laden with food and wooden cups, which they began to distribute throughout the hall.
"When I arrived in the Vale of Mists, I had nothing," Ashlynn said solemnly. "Owain stripped me of the rings on my fingers and the clothing on my back. He beat me until my bones cracked and my flesh split before his knights buried me in a shallow grave with only a tattered bedsheet to serve as my burial shroud."
Sitting at a table far to the back, Daithi shifted uncomfortably in his chair as he listened to Lady Ashlynn speak. As a soldier in Lord Owain’s personal guard, he was well aware of his lord’s tendency to lash out at common soldiers and servants alike, and he’d counted himself fortunate to have never been the subject of his lord’s ire.