As beautiful as Lady Ashlynn’s words and aspirations were, Adala doubted more than half the hall had heard anything she said after the words ’I am a Great Witch, the Mother of Trees...’

Adala herself barely heard the things that came after that. The shock was just too great. Somehow, she’d managed to get through half of the breakfast sitting directly next to Lady Ashlynn, by telling herself over and over again that she was a marchioness, not a Saintess, and that thought had held her together through round after round of shocks.

Her ability to think rationally abandoned her when she learned that High Inquisitor Ignatious, the kind, patient man who had come out to protect her after she spoke out against her father, was a vampire. Last night the Church had rained down Holy Fire on the Great Hall, and a vampire had given her safety and a place of refuge. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Everything was upside down, and nothing made sense anymore. Airgead Mountain, the treasure trove that two generations of Lothian Lords had tried and failed to capture, had fallen to Lady Ashlynn along with another land that she’d never even heard of. Loghlan Dunn had become a count in a passing sentence. Her father was a disgrace, but her mother, at least, could count on the Saintess or her lady-in-waiting to heal her from the aftereffects of the Lothian throne’s horrifying dark miracle.

And then, Lady Ashlynn declared herself a witch... and Adala was sitting right next to her when it happened.

She vaguely heard Ashlynn telling the lords and ladies of the land that she’d shared enough for now, and that she would speak to them later in private audiences. She’d given other instructions as well, to Count Loghlan, to Master Isabell, Isabell the Hemlock Witch, Adala reminded herself, and to Inquisitor Diarmuid as well, though she’d addressed him as ’Seeker’ rather than ’Inquisitor’ and he no longer wore his crimson and gold robes.

Adala was certain that there was something significant about that, but before her mind could begin to question it, Lady Ashlynn, the Great Witch Ashlynn, leaned over and whispered in Adala’s ear.

"I’ll wait for you in the east garden," Ashlynn said softly. "Take your time, come when you’re ready. Bring your sweets," she added with a gentle smile as she tapped the plate filled with the pastries that Ashlynn had piled up in front of Adala at the start of breakfast. "I’ll bring the tea."

Before Ashlynn left the hall, however, she made one final decree.

"In five days, Dame Sybyll will arrive from Hanrahan with her retinue," Ashlynn said. "At the same time, we’ll welcome Lady Nyrielle and several other Eldritch dignitaries. Until then, no one is to leave the manor, and no messages may be sent outside," she said firmly.

"I will send messages to each of your baronies and villages asking that someone bring your ledgers and other records," Ashlynn said. "I will meet with each of you about your future in the Verdant Hills and as my vassals, and I expect you all to be forthcoming with me. I am not concerned about debts you may have owed to the Lothians, but if you lie to me about the resources you could use to help everyone prosper... I will not be forgiving."

With that, she’d swept out of the hall before anyone could speak a word of protest, leaving Adala sitting next to a chair that suddenly felt very, very empty.

For several moments, Adala just sat there while the hall erupted into activity around her. Some knights rushed across the hall to speak with their lords. A few barons clustered together, intensely interrogating Erling Fayle about ’Wolstan’ and his ’bargain.’ Other people swarmed around High Priest Aubin and Seeker Diarmuid.

No one paid any attention to Adala, or at least, it seemed that way. Her parents were too busy shouting at each other while her brother was trying to make some kind of inroad with Reynold Aleese and the group around Erling... It felt like even her own family had abandoned her. One person, however, stepped out of the chaos around her and made everything else feel distant with her presence alone.

"Adala," Charlotte said with a worried frown and a wrinkled brow that looked incredibly wrong on a face that Adala always thought had been made for smiles and laughter. "Are you all right?"

"Charlotte," Adala said as her pulse quickened and her face turned the faintest shade of pink. If her friend knew the thoughts that Ashlynn’s words had stirred in her heart earlier, would she still be her friend?

"I’m fine," Adala answered quickly, shoving down the thoughts that she dared not think lest she destroy the friendship she treasured most. "I’m just... Just overwhelmed," she admitted.

"Can I help?" Charlotte asked, sliding into the seat that Lady Ashlynn had just vacated, as though it was nothing more than an ordinary chair... and perhaps, to Charlotte, it was. A throne was just a chair to sit on after all, and the center seat at the center table was still just a chair, even if no one else could treat it like that.

"I’m supposed to visit Lady Ashlynn in the east garden," Adala said, staring at the plate full of sweets in front of her. "And I’m supposed to bring sweets," she said, the words sounding every bit as ridiculous in her ears as they felt on her tongue.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Charlotte asked as she reached out and set a soft hand on Adala’s knee. "I’m no one important, no matter what Father thinks," she said. "But I used to have a small friendship with Lady Ashlynn... We, we talked about books and things. She probably wouldn’t mind if I came with you, but if you don’t want to be alone with her," she said, allowing her voice to trail off and leaving the rest unsaid.

To be alone with a witch. A Great Witch. Very little could be more terrifying to people who had grown up in the Kingdom of Gaal. Perhaps, in Lothian March, the only thing more terrifying than the idea of confronting a Great Witch was the notion of encountering the ’Demon Lady of the Vale,’ but then, it seemed like they’d be doing that too in just five days.

One of the most terrifying fairy stories of Adala’s childhood was suddenly very, very real... and she’d just invited her for tea.