CHAPTER 782: A DEMONSTRATION (PART ONE)

Ashlynn’s plan to provoke the Lothians into exposing themselves made sense to everyone attending the meeting. Those who knew Ashlynn the best recognized the assault on the Summer Villa as an opportunity to strike back at Owain directly for what he had done.

The presence of an imposter masquerading as her for months on end must have worn away at Ashlynn like a sharp stone in her boot, and while removing it wouldn’t resolve the suffering in her heart that Owain had placed there, it would at least function as a balm on her wounded soul.

The others at the table who didn’t know Ashlynn as well could still follow the logic of the plan. Much like attacking the ancestral caves of the Frost Walkers or destroying the arena in High Fen City, even if those places didn’t have strategic value, they were too sacred to their people to fail to avenge their destruction. Owain’s deception had, in effect, created a new vulnerability, one that he had to treat as if it were real, even though the ’pregnant wife’ residing there was an impostor.

There was one detail, however, that had gone unaddressed so far, and Sybyll spotted it quickly.

"What about little lord Loman?" the crimson-haired vampire asked. "If little lord Liam is too tempting a target ta ignore, then what about Loman an’ the men wit’ ’im?"

"I can attempt to snatch young lord Loman," Marcel offered. "But he’s traveling with Sir Tommin and an Inquisitor named Diarmuid," he added, sounding hesitant for the first time since this evening’s planning began. "I’d need help from Ignatious if I’m going to overcome an Inquisitor and a Templar with a Holy Light Blade."

"No, that won’t be necessary," Ashlynn said, raising a hand before anyone else can speak. "Your powers of darkness are unmatched, but against Loman and others from the church, a direct confrontation is the worst thing you could attempt. Besides, I don’t want to ambush Loman and his escort on the road. I want him to arrive in Hanrahan town before we deal with him."

"M’lady," Sybyll said, sitting up straight in her chair and looking at Ashlynn with wide-open crimson eyes. "Are ye..."

"Yes," Ashlynn said with a sharp nod of her head. "Nyri promised you a chance to deal with Hanrahan Barony long ago, and now it’s time to fulfill her promise. I need you to wait, though, just long enough for Sir Thane to fetch Liam Dunn. I want you to take our guests with you when you visit Hanrahan Town."

"You’re using Hanrahan Barony as a demonstration," Ollie said, glancing from Ashlynn to Thane and back again after he saw his mentor’s subtle nod. "You’re hoping that, if Liam Dunn and Rain Aleese see what happens to the Hanrahans, they’ll be motivated to convince their fathers to surrender."

Thane referred to it as ’killing chickens to warn wolves.’ The idea was that, if you struck hard enough and allowed your enemies to witness it and then escape, they would carry word of your strength and would choose to back down rather than press for a fight that they couldn’t win.

They might be wrong, it was entirely possible that if the Dunns and the other barons unified their forces, they could become a significant threat to the Vale of Mists at this early stage. But they wouldn’t know that. Instead, they’d be haunted by the memory of seeing Hanrahan fall, and no one would want to expose their own homes in order to send soldiers to support a unified effort to attack the Vale of Mists.

Which, Ollie thought, would only make any counterattack from Owain weaker as the barons wouldn’t dare to pledge too much support to his campaign of retribution against the people responsible for ’murdering his pregnant wife.’

Ashlynn’s plan, he realized, held layers within layers, and each of the pieces was connected together, cutting off Owain’s ability to retreat and forcing him to place his neck into the noose she’d prepared for him.

"Exactly," Ashlynn said. "Dame Sybyll, I doubt that Baron Ian Hanrahan will pose any kind of threat to you, but facing Sir Tommin’s Holy Light Blade along with Lord Loman and Inquisitor Diarmuid may be a bit much, even for you."

"Ye don’a hafta worry so much about me, m’lady," Sybyll said as she cracked her knuckles eagerly. "One Templar wit’ a sword ’o light won’t be the end o’ me so easily."

"Still," Ashlynn said firmly. "I won’t take risks we don’t need to take. Heila and Hauke will accompany you," she said, looking at the two members of her coven. "Heila, keep Loman alive if you can, I trust you to restrain him and to heal our men if the battle for Hanrahan becomes fierce. Hauke, we have never seen Frost Walker Ice Sorcery pitted directly against the Holy Flames of the Inquisition, but I have faith in your ability to counter their Inquisitor."

"Me?" Hauke said, pointing at himself and blinking in surprise. "But, but I’m not even a witch yet. How could I ever counter someone like Sir Ignatious?" Hauke asked, looking at the fallen Inquisitor sitting there in his red and gold robes. He might have been trapped within his own mind at the time, but he still vividly remembered the moment Ignatious had used his Holy Flame Blade to shatter the ice barrier constructed by his father and six other experienced sorcerers. Against that kind of power, what could he hope to do?

"You can do this, Hauke," Thane said confidently as he gave the young frost walker lord an appraising look. "You aren’t facing an Exemplar, only an ordinary Inquisitor, and this one won’t even have a Holy Flame Blade like the one brother Ignatious carries," he reminded the towering Frost Walker as if he could read the young man’s thoughts. "And if push comes to shove, I’m told that you have a unique sword of your own to use as well."

"The Eternal Ice Blade," Hauke said with a nod, thinking of the sword that Eraric, the Frost Architect, had crafted for High Lord Ansgar during their battle against Ashlynn. The weapon had been powerful enough to shatter Ashlynn’s darksteel falchion, and even a clash with a Holy Flame Blade had failed to destroy it.

"But I lost it when Lady Ashlynn defeated the ancestral spirits," he said, hanging his head low enough that the tip of his horn pointed toward the ground. "It’s powerful, but it wasn’t made for me. Even if I had it, I’m not sure that I could use it. Maybe," Hauk said with a heavy sigh. "Maybe someone else should go in my place."