CHAPTER 784: A DEMONSTRATION (PART THREE)

"There are six large villages in Hanrahan Barony," Ashlynn said as she looked from Commander Savis to Commander Tausau and back again. "Some of them sent their knights along with their tithes to Hanrahan town, but others are still defended by capable soldiers and their knights."

"Commander Savis," Ashlynn said after taking a deep breath before she gave the order she was certain the powerful warrior would object to. "Leave the elite soldiers of the second army with Dame Sybyll. She’ll need them for the assault on Hanrahan Town. I want you to join with Commander Tausau and his third army of irregulars to seize the villages of Hanrahan Barony."

"All six villages?" Ollie asked before either commander could reply to her. "What about Raek Village? Sir Carwyn is already our prisoner, along with most of the soldiers from his village. It’s only defended by his aging father and a few old soldiers who are keeping the watch while he was supposed to be taking their harvest to market."

"I know, Ollie," Ashlynn said with a reassuring smile as she reached out to place a hand on Ollie’s forearm. "From what I’ve been told, Sir Carwyn is a good man, so he can be offered a choice. Sir Hugo, Sir Rain, and Lord Liam need to observe the assault on Hanrahan Town, but Sir Carwyn can return home so long as he surrenders his village to Captain Barsali and his men and allows them to occupy the village."

"That suits me fine," Sybyll said, giving a sharp look at Savis and Tausau. "The common folk shouldn’a suffer fer our hatred o’ their masters. Killin’ knights an’ soldiers is one thing, but slaughtering common folk is the Lothian’s way, not ours," she said, locking gazes with both vampire commanders.

"I’ll hold my brother back if I have to," Tausau said, placing an undersized hand on the lupine vampire’s shoulder. "We’ll only spill the blood of people who fight back."

Ashlynn wasn’t the only one present who was worried about Savis’s bloodthirst. If not for the events since the betrothal banquet, Tausau would have approached Lady Nyrielle about extending the gift she’d given him to Savis days ago.

Time was a millstone for the hearts of all vampires, but the millstone wore away at different parts of them. For Tausau, he had been left with very little aside from his deep, almost fatherly affection for the Mongrel Horde and his enduring commitment to care for the Clanless. For Savis, time had left him with little beyond his cold, professional pride as a warrior and the deep well of a hunter’s bloodlust that made him the greatest of Hamdi’s progeny.

If he lost control of that bloodlust and slaughtered the people that Lady Ashlynn hoped to turn into her subjects at the end of this war...

"You don’t have to remind me," Savis growled, flicking Tausau’s hand off his shoulder with a swipe of his claws. "You think I’d stain my claws with the blood of farmers? It’s beneath me and beneath the dignity of my men. We know you want to rule these lands when you’re done," he added with a look that swept from Ashlynn to Sybyll and back again. "I promise not to spoil them."

"Barsali will want to keep that village, though," the white furred vampire added. "He’s already defeated its lord in single combat. By tradition, he can seize anything that belonged to Carywn, though I doubt he’ll lay claim to the human’s wife."

"We’ll discuss the spoils later," Ashlynn said with a slight shake of her head. "I appreciate Captain Barsali’s claim to Raek Village, but I want to teach the humans that we won’t strip them of their lands if they surrender to us peacefully. I intend to use Sir Carwyn as a different sort of example."

"I’m sure there will be plenty of villages in need of a knight to rule over them after this is over," Thane added diplomatically. "Even if he doesn’t lay claim to Raek, we can find a way to compensate Captain Barsali in the months to come. His victory has earned him that much and more."

"What about the first army?" Commander Bassinger asked when Savis seemed to accept Thane’s proposal to compensate the man who had captured Sir Carwyn later. "Do you have need of us beyond taking captives at the Summer Villa?"

"I do," Ashlynn said with a nod. "Prepare your men to garrison Hanrahan Town and the villages of Hanrahan Barony once they’ve fallen to Dame Sybyll and the second and third armies," Ashlynn said.

The timing would be incredibly tight, depending on how quickly Owain was able to summon men to his banner and organize the forces under his command. Still, if she was able to pre-position Commander Bassinger’s forces, she should be able to make use of the Eldritch forces’ greater mobility to strike one final target before Owain was able to respond.

"Once Owain begins to assemble his army to avenge the destruction of the Summer Villa, we need to present him with a convenient enough target to strike in order to dictate the terms of our battle," Ashlynn said, looking over a map on the table before resting her finger on a village that lay directly between the Vale of Mists and Lothian City.

Each of her attacks served a different purpose in guiding Owain into her trap. She would raise the Summer Villa to the ground to force him to fight. She would capture Hanrahan Barony as a warning to the other barons that giving Owain too much support could cost them their own territory. And she would attack her final target to force Owain to bring the army he was able to assemble to a place of her choosing.

"Dame Sybyll will remain in Hanrahan Town to supervise the occupation of her barony," Ashlynn said with a nod at the crimson-haired vampire. "But Savis and Tausau will bring the third and fourth armies here, to strike at Maeril Village," she said as she tapped the map.

"This is where we’ll make our stand against Owain Lothian and the trap we’ll draw him into," Ashlynn said decisively. "This is where he’ll fall."