Chapter 640: Love That Breaks All Rules (Part One)
In the great hall, the sounds of people banging their cups on the table, stomping and cheering in enthusiastic acceptance filled the air as Ollie made his way to the seat that was waiting for him behind the high table, though he left a seat conspicuously empty between himself and Ashlynn, prompting a few people in the audience to wonder who that space was reserved for.
"The world is changing," Nyrielle said when the hall had quieted enough for her to be heard. "Things I long considered impossible have begun to happen, and both the power and the people of the Vale are transforming as a result of those impossible, wondrous miracles."
"Lord General Thane speaks of five pillars of strength in the Vale of Mists," Nyrielle said. "The common soldiers who answer to Commander Bassinger, men who guard our walls and gates and shield us from harm. We also have powerful soldiers who form the sharp point of our spear, thrusting at the heart of the enemy under Commander Savis, as well as irregular soldiers who will tear our enemy down by raiding where they are weak, striking where they do not expect us. These men follow Commander Tausau," Nyrielle said proudly as she gestured to the pair of vampires who were brothers to her own grandsire.
"Though it will take longer to ready them for war, Commander Aspakos is preparing our fourth pillar of strength," Nyrielle continued, gesturing to the second table for honored guests. "He will pull together the many diverse traditions of sorcery among our different clans and peoples, gathering them into a force to counter the Church’s Inquisitors and Miracle Workers."
Some in the Vale had already heard of the four armies that Lord General Thane was organizing their people into, but for many, this was their first time realizing the scale of the forces that the Vale was assembling in its quest to retake the lands they had lost and strike back against their enemies. As Nyrielle announced each new army, a cheer rose among the warriors in the hall, with more and more voices joining the welcoming cry with each new name she called.
"We have said nothing so far about the fifth and final pillar of our strength," Nyrielle said with a wide smile on her lips. "Because this power answers to myself and Ashlynn alone. They are my progeny and her coven and the Lothians and the Church have never once faced any of them at their full strength," she said as a dark, hungry smile that revealed a hint of fangs spread across her bow-shaped lips.
"But to think of them only in terms of their strength is to miss how truly unique and precious each and every one of them is," Nyrielle added as she looked briefly at Thane and Ollie in turn. "Tonight, you will meet many of them, but four of them have shattered barriers that have existed for hundreds of years and achieved things that I would have called impossible before Ashlynn proved that the rules that bound us were little different than chains around our own throats."
Throughout the crowd, people began to mutter and whisper among each other. Nyrielle’s progeny were well known to everyone in the Vale of Mists, but Ashlynn’s coven was a complete mystery. Already, they’d seen a human kitchen boy elevated to the position of a knight and only one seat separated him from the Mother of Trees herself. But to hear Lady Nyrielle speak, these next four people would be even more shocking than the newly ascended Sir Ollie Heartwood?