Chapter 651: A Bitter Pill (Part One)
"May their love be eternal and their domain never fall!"
"May their love be eternal and their domain never fall!"
"May their love be eternal and their domain never fall!"
The toast that Thane started echoed off the walls of the great hall until it felt like the ancient fortress itself would shake apart with all of the cheering, stomping, tail slapping, and applause that greeted the couple emerging from darkness.
"Everyone," Nyrielle said, holding up a hand and infusing her voice with the thinnest thread of power to command silence. "Thank you," she said, as her face heated slightly at the feeling of such a genuine outpouring of support. Unlike the applause that came only after she’d chastised the crowd when they’d introduced Ignatious, Heila, Zedya, and Lennart, this time, none of the smiles she saw on people’s faces felt forced, and when they cheered, they cheered from the heart.
"My darling Ashlynn has given me a dowry like no other," Nyrielle said as she wrapped an arm around Ashlynn’s slender waist, pulling her close and holding her tightly by her side as she addressed the crowd. "Soon, we will begin weaving greater ties between the Vale of Mists and the High Pass. We will stand together against the flames of the Church and its Inquisition," she said loudly.
"But we will also support them against the raiders, looters, and grave robbers who have preyed upon them for far too long," Nyrielle promised as she looked at Ritchel’s emaciated figure sitting among the other guests of honor. "From today forward, let it be known that the High Pass is under our full protection and we will visit swift death on any who would threaten its people or their honored dead!"
Sitting on the ground next to Ritchel, Ipiktok placed a heavy, woolly hand on the former lord’s shoulder, leaning over to speak quietly while the great hall erupted into another round of applause.
"I know that my people have hunted yours many times in recent years," the mercenary captain said. "I will not apologize for what they have done. Those men saw you as worthy prey and treated you as honored foes. But even if we sharpened our tusks by hunting your people, we would never dare to hunt within the Harbinger of Death’s territory."