Chapter 804: In Command But Not Alone
That evening, Ashlynn stood before the large mirror in her dressing room, carefully adjusting the lacing of her corset and wishing that Heila was still within the ancient fortress, for more reasons than just a bit of help with her laces.
In order to meet Ashlynn’s schedule, Sybyll and the forces under her command had left for Hanrahan Barony at the same time that Ashlynn had taken her forces to the Summer Villa. Large armies moved slowly, and unlike the small raiding force Ashlynn had led to destroy the Summer Villa, Sybyll needed to bring along enough soldiers from Commander Bassinger’s First Army to garrison Hanrahan town after she took it.
Everyone was moving quickly and at the time, Ashlynn felt like it made sense to send Heila and Hauke along with the rest of the army rather than asking them to catch up, but now, after her long ride back to the ancient fortress in one of the carts designed to navigate narrow trails through the wilderness, she yearned for the familiar presence of a close friend she could let down her guard around, even if just for a few hours of the evening.
"You’re frowning, my darling," Nyrielle said as she swept into Ashlynn’s room and appeared behind her lover in a single breath. Wrapping her arms around Ashlynn’s slender waist, Nyrielle pulled her closer, trapping Ashlynn’s hands in the laces of her dress as she inhaled her lover’s rich, evergreen scent.
"What’s wrong?" Nyrielle asked gently. "Did you find something unpleasant in the Summer Villa?"
"Nyri," Ashlynn breathed, closing her eyes and relaxing back into the comforting coolness of Nyrielle’s embrace. "I’ve made you worry, haven’t I?" Ashlynn asked, glancing out the window where the stars were slowly winking into view. The sun had barely set, and Nyrielle was already here at her side. Clearl,y her lover had rushed to her as soon as she’d woken from her slumber.
"Of course I’m worried," Nyrielle said, giving Ashlynn a gentle squeeze. "Not that anyone could injure you, but that something would go wrong and injure one of your close ones, or that you would find something disturbing among your effects in the Summer Villa..."
"Even if nothing there should have been able to injure you, there are countless ways you might have suffered," Nyrielle said as she held Ashlynn tightly. "So how was I supposed to rest without worrying over you?"
"Samira surprised me," Ashlynn said, opening her eyes and twisting in Nyrielle’s arms until she could meet her lover’s midnight gaze. "She surprised me in so many ways. She’s carrying Owain’s child," she said, holding tightly to Nyrielle’s lithe body. "I, I knew it might happen. I just wasn’t prepared to see her so far along. She must have conceived within a week of my wedding night. Owain barely waited before moving on..."
"From what you’ve said of him," Nyrielle said gently. "Owain is far from a chaste man. Is it surprising that he found the next convenient woman available to vent his lust upon?"
"No," Ashlynn said, hanging her head and shaking it gently. "It isn’t surprising, but it makes me hate him more. His father was a better man... For all his faults, Bors hasn’t so much as touched a woman in the years since his wife passed. But Owain," Ashlynn said bitterly. "As far as he knew, I was dead and gone, but he didn’t even wait long enough for my body to cool before he pinned another woman under him."