CHAPTER 858: LESSONS FOR THE COVEN (PART ONE)

While Isabell began her trial, Ashlynn, Virve and Ollie moved a small distance away, taking seats on a few of the many fallen trees in the chaotic area where Ashlynn had trained with Dame Sybyl.

"It feels different to be one of the people watching over someone facing the trial of their seed," Ollie said with a nervous look over his shoulder at where Isabell lay, seemingly sleeping on the bare earth where they’d conducted the ritual. "Is she going to be all right in the cold? Should we get a blanket for her or something?"

"She has the energy of the world to sustain her during the trial," Ashlynn said as she retrieved a small sack filled with savory meat pies that Georg had thoughtfully supplied for the witches while they watched over Isabell. "We shouldn’t build barriers between her and the elements that will supply her power during this time."

"Amahle said that it used to be tradition to face the trial of a seed in the nude," Ashlynn added with a teasing smile as she passed out the pies. "And that her predecessor was known for burying people up to their necks while they faced their trials."

"That sounds, um, uncomfortable," Ollie said awkwardly as he took the meat pie from Ashlynn’s outstretched hand. Inwardly, he shuddered at the idea of laying out in the nude for several days while the women of the coven watched over his sleeping body.

"Agreed," Virve said around a mouthful of rich, hearty meat filling and flakey, buttery pastry. "I’d be scrubbing dirt out of my fur for weeks."

"Well, every coven forms their own traditions," Ashlynn said as she nibbled delicately at the hand pie. Somehow, even though it was cold, there was a cozyness to the flavor of the rich, tarragon and thyme infused gravy that helped Ashlynn to forget about the chill in the misty air of the Vale while she sat sharing a meal with her coven.

"Some of them we’ve carried forward from other covens, like eating together," she said. "But others, we’ll have to form for ourselves. I’d like to start one of those today, while we watch over Isabell."

"If we’re starting a tradition," Ollie said with a frown on his brow. "Shouldn’t we wait until Heila can be here with us? She’s the ’big sister’ of the coven after all," he pointed out. "It, it doesn’t feel quite right to start something without her here."

For a moment, everyone paused and unconsciously looked to the south and east. If things were progressing according to schedule then Heila, Hauke, and the rest of Dame Sybyll’s forces should have crossed into Hanrahan Barony by now, winding their way through the border lands as they prepared to assault Hanrahan Town.

Tomorrow, they would begin their preparations for the actual assault, and the following night, if everything was ready, Dame Sybyll would launch the most devastating blow of Ashlynn’s war so far and claim her vengeance against Ian Hanrahan in the process.

Under normal circumstances, there would be little to be concerned about, but this attack had become anything but normal when they received word that Loman Lothian would be present along with the Inquisitor Diarmuid and Sir Tommin with his Holy Light Blade. Adding those three to the mix made everything uncertain and it put Hauke and Heila in even greater danger as the ones assigned to counter human sorcery.

"She’ll understand," Ashlynn said after a long pause. She had already done everything she could short of joining the assault herself and right now, there were other things she needed to be present for, including spending this time with her coven.

"I’m borrowing a bit from my big sister, Amahle," Ashlynn said as she finished her meat pie and hopped off the fallen log. "But what we’re going to do is also very different. I know that everything here looks a bit..." she said, her voice trailing off as she struggled to find the right word to describe the devastation that her training had wrought in this area.

Trees were snapped in half or torn from the ground, roots and all. Fallen branches lay everywhere and the ground was covered in a layer of leaves and evergreen needles. Deep pits marked the places where the roots of trees had been pulled from the earth, along with long furrows left by fierce collisions of power greater than anything an ordinary person could hope to wield.

"You always said you intended to tear the trees here down," Virve said helpfully when Ashlynn seemed to be at a loss for words. "So, we have a small mess that needs to be cleaned up," she said helpfully, describing acres of devastation as a ’small mess.’

"More than a ’small’ mess, but yes," Ashlynn said as a light pink blush spread across her cheeks. "The tradition I want to begin is one of cycles and renewal," Ashlynn explained as she pulled a large parchment scroll from her sack of supplies.

"We have the power to bring incredible destruction," Ashlynn said quietly as she thought about the smoking ruin they’d left behind once they’d taken the servants and staff of the Summer Villa as their ’captives.’ "But I don’t want us to get lost in destroying things, even though the next few years are likely to be filled with battles and conflict. I want to make sure we all dedicate time to recovery and new growth."

Ashlynn couldn’t deny that part of her heart sang triumphantly when the Summer Villa burned and there was a sweet feeling of anticipation as she wondered what kind of face Owain would make when he received news of what had happened to his carefully orchestrated charade. But underneath that, there was a gnawing worry that she liked the feeling of destroying things a little too much.

So, after discussing her fears with Nyrielle, she’d taken her lover’s advice to reconnect with growth during the days that she needed to wait for other pieces of her plan to fall into place, starting with the Enchanted Grove she intended to plant outside the ancient fortress.