Chapter 642: Power Couples
"Beware the savage fiends of old,
Who drape themselves in red and gold,
Flee their swords of flame and light,
Before they reap your life on sight."
The nursery rhyme was nearly a century old, and there wasn’t a single person who grew up in the Vale of Mists who hadn’t heard it. No one could say which person had whispered it now, but even if they didn’t hear the words, nearly half the people gathered in the great hall were thinking them as they saw the horrifying figure of a handsome, dark-haired man enter the hall wearing the red and gold robes of the Inquisition.
At his side, holding his hand as though she were a young woman out for a stroll, Heila held her head up high under the wide brim of her wide-brimmed witch’s hat. Tonight, she dressed in rich, forest browns trimmed with spills of bright, coppery lace. Her skirts were embroidered with more coppery thread, forming a pattern of willow branches blowing in the wind, with leaves that seemed to dance and come alive as she moved.
Ignatious’ presence alone seemed enough to overwhelm the guests of the great hall and many guests began to whisper and point as he and Heila made their way to the high table, but several other startled gasps rippled through the hall when they noticed the couple walking arm in arm behind them.
Tonight, Zedya wore her finest dress with pale lavender silk that clung to her torso before flaring into wide skirts that hovered just above the floor, giving the impression that she was floating over the cedar boughs on the ground rather than stepping on them. For decades, Zedya dressed in quiet, subdued tones and worked to fade into the background beside Lady Nyrielle, but tonight, the bodice and skirts of her dress were adorned with hundreds of tiny amethysts, glittering in the golden light of the great hall as if to proclaim that she no longer belonged to the world of shadows behind her mistress.
At her side, Lennart stood tall and proud, moving with a strength and power that radiated from his body like a bear standing guard over its mate. To men like Savis and Tausau, it was clear that Lennart had yet to fully come to grips with the explosive increase in physical strength, speed, agility and endurance that came with becoming a vampire, but when they looked closely both men were startled to realize how much power he radiated for a vampire so recently made.
"He may match up to you one day, big brother," Tausau whispered, leaning over to speak to Savis. "Perhaps not as fast or agile, but in terms of strength, he might be as powerful as Torbin was."
"Hmpf," the white furred vampire snorted. "I doubt he’ll match me or Torbin for strength," the older vampire said. "Look at his eyes. They’ve gone pale and purple, like Madame Zedya’s. He’s inherited her Mesmerizing Gaze. It’s a gift for trickery and manipulating others, but in a direct clash, he won’t be my match, or yours."