CHAPTER 835: NYRIELLE’S GIFTS

It was already close to the middle of the night by the time Ashlynn finished with both the young lords and Master Isabell, but her footsteps were light and her shoulders felt substantially unburdened after her conversation with the latter.

Ashlynn had no doubt that Isabell would pass the trial of the Hemlock seed. The worst that her friend would face would be the specters of her past but Isabell had made peace with those long ago. It was only her unfamiliarity with the powers of witchcraft that left her uncertain about the path ahead. Once she learned what life as a witch would truly be like, Ashlyn was certain that someone as intelligent and capable as Isabell would adjust rapidly to her new reality.

For now, however, Ashlynn put all thoughts of the young lords, Isabell’s trial, and the greater shroud of war firmly out of her mind. Today, she had seen the Summer Villa crushed and burned and struck another blow against Owain and the Lothian March. The day had started well and it ended well with Carwyn’s surrender and Isabell’s acceptance of her offer to join the coven.

Now, it was time for the ’dessert’ that Nyrielle had promised her, and Ashlynn had to force herself to slow her pace as she navigated the dark halls leading to the underground chambers where Nyrielle and her progeny made their homes in the ancient fortress.

"Nyri," Ashlynn said warmly as she opened the door to her lover’s bedchamber. "I hope I haven’t kept you waiting," she said in a voice that grew fainter and fainter as she saw what Nyrielle had prepared for her.

In place of the usual lamps, Nyrielle had lit dozens of blood red candles, each one spilling their dark crimson wax into a pool at the bottom of their respective candleholders. The candles all cast deep, inky shadows across the room, leaving some parts of the room in complete darkness while others were bathed in a soft, flickering golden glow.

There were no fresh flowers in the room, but Nyrielle had lashed together a bundle of cedar branches, tying them with a wide crimson ribbon in an intricate blow before hanging it above the crackling fireplace in order to fill the room with a rich, evergreen scent.

Red silk ropes spiralled around the solid wooden posts of the bed they shared each day, secured playfully with a loop at the end and a knot that could clearly be slid along the rope to secure a hand or foot in place. And on the bed itself lay her lover, wearing a dark silk robe that stopped half way down her pale, creamy thighs while a wide crimson sash pulled the robe tightly closed around her slender waist.

"My love," Ashlynn said as she walked to the bed and reached out for Nyrielle’s hands. "You’ve outdone yourself."

"No, you have," Nyrielle chided lightly with a smile on her lips that was completely unguarded and a twinkle in her dark, midnight eyes. "I know you didn’t fight today, and I’m glad that you let others lead the charge, but you still commanded soldiers in battle and returned to the work of a ruler."

"You deserve this much as a reward for what you’ve done, and more besides," she said as she shifted in the bed to reveal a long, slender bundle wrapped in dark silk and tied with another red ribbon. "I brought you two gifts to unwrap tonight. This is the first one."

"How is it that you’re like this?" Ashlynn asked, taking the gift from Nyrielle’s hands and immediately setting it aside as she sat down on the bed next to her lover. While part of her wanted to tug at the red ribbon and discover what Nyrielle had brought for her, the greater part of her was fixed solely on the mixture of joy, relief, and comfort she felt in her lover’s presence. Next to just a minute of time in Nyrielle’s arms, even if the gift had been a rod of solid gold, it would have been an inferior gift.

"We’re at war," Ashlynn said, as if she had to remind herself about the events of this morning that felt so distant and far away after she entered Nyrielle’s bedchamber. It was as though she’d stepped into a different world, or another one of the dreams Nyri crafted for her, only this was no dream. "Just this morning I was on the battlefield, but when I came home... you’ve done so much for me," she said softly as she wrapped her arms around Nyrielle’s slender waist.

Pulling her lover closer, Ashlynn buried her face in Nyrielle’s silky, luxurious hair and rested her chin on the other woman’s shoulder, inhaling the familiar fragrance of lavender and jasmine that clung to Nyrielle’s soft, alabaster skin. Sitting there, listening to the echo of Nyrielle’s heartbeat in her own chest and feeling the slow, steady beat through the fabric of their clothes, the world around her completely melted away.

Gently, Nyrielle wrapped her arms around Ashlynn, stroking her back and running her fingers through Ashlynn’s luxurious blonde locks. As much as she wanted to see her darling’s reaction to the gift she’d prepared, it was obvious that this moment was much more precious to Ashlynn, and so she indulged her freely in soft, gentle touches.

"I worry about you, my darling," Nyrielle said. "You focus on things so much and you drive yourself so hard that I feel like I have to remind you sometimes, about what it is that you’re fighting for. If I don’t, I fear that you’ll become lost in the heat of blood and battles the way I did so many years ago and... I don’t want you to suffer the way I did."

By the time Nyrielle had extracted her revenge on Cellach Lothian, there had been almost nothing left of her old world. Torbin and her parents were both dead. Her grandsire’s other progeny, who had been her friends and mentors growing up, were dead. The few ’friends’ she had in the High Pass, High Fen City, and beyond were too far away to be part of her life...

Her heart had died that year, and there had been no one who knew the Nyrielle of old well enough to help her find her way back to the young princess-like woman she’d been. The warmth and affection she knew under Torbin’s rule of the Vale of Mists had been replaced by cold, bitterness of loss, and the calculating ruthlessness necessary to preserve her people.

What little warmth she had left, she gave to the people of the Vale, and later, to her human progeny, but even when people had given her warmth in return, she’d been too cold inside to feel it. It wasn’t until Ashlynn entered her life that she realized how warm and loving her world could be, and how much warmth had been there all along.

The process of moving from loss to love had taken over a century, and Nyrielle promised herself daily that she wouldn’t allow Ashlynn to fall into the same desolate, lonely world that she had.

"You’ve brought life into my world, my darling," Nyrielle said sweetly, pulling back from Ashlynn enough to gently capture the other woman’s chin and look deeply into her emerald eyes. "I need to make sure that your world stays rich and full of life and love, even while you carve a bloody path through your enemies. You always have me to come home to, so never forget what that means," she whispered as she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against Ashlynn’s.

"I won’t forget," Ashlynn promised in a heartfelt whisper. "I’ll never forget you. But... I feel," she paused for a moment as she searched for the right word to describe the sensation in her heart. "I feel unworthy when you do something so grand for me at a time when I can do nothing for you."

"You’ve already given me more than I can ever repay," Nyrielle said with a soft smile, followed by a gentle kiss that only brushed the surface of Ashlynn’s plump, luscious lips. "If we tried to count up all the things you’ve done for me and all the things I’ve done for you, the scales would break under the weight of it all long before they could tip to one side or the other," she said gently. "So take these moments as mine to pile up gifts large and small on one side of the scales, and you can do the same when the time is right for you."

"After all," she whispered in Ashlynn’s ear as she leaned close enough for her breath to tickle the fine hairs on the other woman’s skin. "We have an eternity to spend spoiling each other. So take this gift from me, and know how much I love you..."