Chapter 709: First Reports Arrive
While Isabell chatted with Heila and Georg, listening to both of her Eldritch hosts as they told stories about their time spent with Ashlynn while savoring both Georg’s simple cooking and his more refined offerings, Ashlynn sat in a pile of cushions in the circular room at the top of her tower, enjoying a simple breakfast of her own as she prepared to face the day.
Heila’s gift of a hangover potion had been like a gift from the heavenly shores, and Ashlynn promised herself that she would thank the diminutive witch properly for it as soon as she had the chance to do so. She also silently apologized to her close friend that she’d been too hungover to ask how Heila’s evening had gone when she brought Ignatious home to properly meet her family.
Even though Ashlynn had only said a few words to Heila’s parents at the betrothal celebration, the impression they left on her that night was good. She was certain that Ignatious had handled himself as a perfect gentleman, and even if he hadn’t, his position as one of Nyrielle’s progeny should have made up for any missteps or lingering fears about his past as an Inquisitor. The night had likely gone very well, but that didn’t mean Ashlynn wasn’t eager to hear the juicy details from her closest friend in the Vale.
Isabell’s arrival, on the other hand, brought several different things to mind that she was eager to hear about, but she firmly made herself wait to press her friend for information. She had received reports from Marcel, and she was aware of many happenings in Lothian March, but the things Marcel could tell her couldn’t match up with what Isabell knew.
After all, Marcel had never been able to come close to Jocelynn. He could only surmise from a distance and deduce from second-hand information. He had never spoken with her, either in Owain’s presence or alone. But Isabell had, and Ashlynn wanted more than anything to ask for news of how her sister was doing.
But just as much as Ashlynn wanted to hear from Isabell, she was afraid of what the other woman might know. After all, Ashlynn was certain that Jocelynn knew who had betrayed her, and if Isabell had gained her sister’s confidence, then Isabell might know as well.
The question had haunted her for months, and for months, Ashlynn had indulged in countless speculations and formed innumerable theories about who might have betrayed her and why. In the end, however, she was left with only two likely candidates... and Isabell’s arrival might very well reveal which of them it had been.
She hoped that she was wrong. She wished, more than anything, that it had been someone who was a stranger to her. Someone her family trusted, perhaps, or even a random person who had glimpsed what they shouldn’t while she was unaware, but Ashlynn knew how unlikely it was for such a person to gain Owain’s trust.
When she took all of the unlikely options away, she was left with the only two people in her family who might have a reason to act against her... and she loved them both more than she could put into words. The thought that one of them had all but sentenced her to death was enough to freeze her heart and tie her stomach in knots so tight that it was impossible to eat.
"Mother Ashlynn," a deep, feminine voice called as Virve ascended the spiral stairs into the room atop the tower. "The first pigeons have arrived with reports from the raiding parties. Commander Bassinger asked me to bring them to you," she said as she took a seat at the low, circular table in the center of the room.
"Would you like to hear them now?" Virve asked as she retrieved a rolled-up piece of parchment from the pouch at her waist. "Or should we wait until Ollie and Heila can join us?"
"Don’t forget Hauke," Ashlynn said as she pushed thick porridge around her bowl with a wooden spoon. Virve’s arrival was the perfect excuse to put off thoughts about her family, but the ghosts that haunted her refused to be shoved back into their box as easily as she wanted to, and her appetite would likely remain their captive for the rest of the morning.