Ashlynn stood patiently as she listened to a breathless Cadeyrn Thorne as he delivered the message that Isabell had sent the young squire to carry.

"...and then the herald summoned a bow of white light, your Dominion, and the towers of snow threw lightning at the gate, and Master Isabell grew a tree taller than the gatehouse and it caught every bolt, and when it started to fail she made spears of the banner poles and brought him down and caged him, and then the High Lord said it was enough, and gave her a book, and Master Isabell opened the gates," Cadeyrn said in a rush.

"She said to tell you: ’all part of the welcome, no one harmed, but we’ll need a crew to mend the roadway,’" he finished, doing his best to straighten up despite a strong desire to brace his hands against his knees to steady his trembling legs.

"Thank you, Cadeyrn," Ashlynn said with a smile as she reached out to steady the young man. "You’ve done well to bring us word before the High Lord arrived. Now you should go. Master Jean likely has something in the kitchens to warm your belly, and if he gives you any trouble, you can tell him that I said you’re allowed to have a treat before the feast," she said, giving his shoulder a brief, affectionate squeeze.

"I’m fine, Your Dominion," the young squire as he finally caught his breath. Clouds of steam billowed in the cold air around him, catching the last few rays of fading sunlight along with the warm glow of dozens of torches and several bonfires that illuminated the inner bailey.

"Can I stay?" Cadeyrn asked, glancing behind Ashlynn at the spot where his sister stood along with Lady Eira, ready to attend to Ashlynn’s every need as she greeted the arriving dignitaries.

Both young ladies had given up the opportunity to watch from the city wall in order to remain at Ashlynn’s side, and since it was doubtful that he could return to the wall in time to see the next guests arrive, it was clear that Cadeyrn wanted the next best thing, even if it meant he’d have to join the ranks of the lesser nobility standing off to the side.

"Ask your father," Ashlynn said, shaking her head and pointing in the direction of Sir Brennus Thorne and the other knights. Most of the married men had brought their wives, but very few had extended the invitation to their sons or squires.

Ashlynn had warned them all that they were responsible for every word that escaped their lips tonight, and if they offended their guests with careless utterances or open displays of fear or hostility, they would suffer the consequences directly. She would not protect them if they could not behave.

Beside her, Loghlan Dunn let out a low chuckle, smiling as he watched the young squire dashing across the snow.

"The courage of the young," Loghlan said with a slight shake of his head. "If I’d seen what he just described in my first clash with the Eldritch, I’d have cursed Bors to death for dragging me to war and deserted by nightfall if he didn’t send me home."

"No, you wouldn’t," Lady Mairwen said with a light laugh of her own. "You’re too stubborn to give up, especially if Bors had stayed."

"True," Loghlan admitted. "I’d have been in his command tent every night though, giving him an earful until he saw sense."

"I’m glad I never sent men to fight them," Baron Erling Fayle said, looking out from the bailey in the direction of the south gate. The darkening skies were calm now, but they’d been able to see the cyclones of snow and lightning, even from here, and the notion that the archers of the Southern Steppe could direct lightning like arrows chilled him to the bone.

"It’s easier to face the sorcery of the Eldritch when you have sorcerers of your own," Ashlynn reminded them. "Isn’t it, Seeker Diarmuid?"

"Easier isn’t quite the word I’d use," Diarmuid said, still looking in the same direction as the young Baron Fayle. He’d shed the robes of the Inquisition entirely for this meeting and dressed once again in the same black and midnight blue antiquated outfit he’d been given during his visit to the Vale of Mists. His time as an Inquisitor had ended and now that Lady Ashlynn had accomplished her coup, he would no longer pretend that it hadn’t.

"There are Hymns of Protection that could shelter a congregation from a lightning strike like that," Diarmuid said. "And prayers to call down Holy Flames that would do just as much damage. But the cost would be enormous," he said with a heavy sigh. "Enough that the congregation might not be willing to join their voices to the song if they knew the price they would pay."

"Those days are over, Diarmuid," Ashlynn said a touch more firmly than she’d intended. "I won’t see people deceived about the powers they wield, or sacrificing innocents to fuel their own might."

"The Southern Steppe just bestowed a gift on the young lords and ladies on the walls," Ashlynn said, perking up her ears as she heard the sound of hundreds of hooves approaching the gates. "They just showed them what they could achieve if they learn the proper ways. I just hope they’re as excited as Cadeyrn about learning, and not suspicious or afraid," she said, glancing over at the knights and their ladies clustered by the east wall.

Lady Cerys Stormbrook stood with her husband, Sir Cynwrig, for the first time since she’d fallen from her horse. Ashlynn had healed Cerys’ injuries personally as thanks for the protection her family had given Ollie’s parents during the assault on Lothian Manor.

Unfortunately, Cerys’s brother, Cian, had chosen to stand defiantly with the captive Inquisitors rather than embrace the opportunity he’d been given to abandon his order and join his sister’s family. Worse, the young man was hardly alone in his decision. Ignatious had won the members of his order a stay of execution, but a year from now she was afraid that most of them would definitely go to their deaths.

Assuming they didn’t cause enough trouble between now and then to meet an earlier end.

Those, however, were problems for another day. Now, the gates of Lothian Manor opened wide and, for the first time in their history, welcomed distinguished visitors from one of the neighboring Eldritch realms...