"Itâs all well and good to draw borders like this on a map, but there are also people there, arenât there?" Mairwen pointed out as she studied the map. Already, sheâd noticed several tributaries to the River Luath that had never been fully explored by the scouts of Dunn or any other human force, marked out clearly and labeled with the locations of fords and waterfalls.
"Eldritch people?" she added a moment later to clarify her question. Lakes dotted the landscape, more than a dozen of them that no human had ever reached, but when she looked at those lakes, at least half of them were marked with the locations of villages, and some of the larger lakes were sizable enough that there were multiple villages ringing them.
"There are," Liam said, making no attempt to hide it. "Thatâs one of the terms of the agreement weâd be entering into with her Dominion. As one of her vassals, we agree to rule fairly over all of the people within our territory, whether they are Eldritch or human. Eldritch village leaders must have the same status as the village leaders of our own lands; they must have the same rights to sit on our councils..."
"So when Sir Ollie speaks of peace between our people," Loghlan said, turning his gaze to the slowly recovering witch. "He isnât just asking us to be good neighbors and to cease our expansion. Lady Ashlynn wants us to integrate with the Eldritch structures of power in her new kingdom...."
When Baron Loghlan mentioned Sir Ollie, Lady Eira realized that sheâd been staring at the young knight with an expression that she couldnât quite control while her feelings were shifting and churning like the River Luath in an autumn flood.
When the young knight had first arrived at the camp tonight, sheâd thought him handsome and mysterious, a hero returning from an adventure with Lord Liam at his side. Then, when heâd revealed himself to be a witch, her opinion had soured instantly, transforming him in her mind from a potential romantic figure into something frightening and dangerous. He was a man who had inflicted cruel torments on the soldiers from her own village, setting traps designed to maim rather than kill.
But now, after watching him heal Sir Gavinâs injury at such obvious cost to himself, after seeing the sweat on his brow and the exhaustion in his eyes, after hearing him speak of doing this because it was what Lady Ashlynn would do... Eira didnât know what to think of him anymore.
He was kind.
That much was clear to her. A man who would take on two years of another personâs pain just to heal an old wound couldnât be anything other than kind, no matter what stories sheâd heard about witches and their cruelty, and suddenly she wondered if the Eldritch had wounded so many of their men this summer, not because they were cruel and wanted to torment them, but because they were kind, and trying not to kill them.
And he was brave, too. Brave enough to sit here in a tent full of people who should be his enemies and offer them healing, offer them gifts, offer them hope for peace despite everything that had happened between their peoples.
More than that, he was selfless in a way that humbled her. Sheâd thought herself generous when sheâd given silver pennies to the poor during festivals, or when sheâd helped her fatherâs village prepare for the harvest. But what was that compared to what Sir Ollie had just done? What was a few loose coins or a dayâs labor compared to taking on two years of agony all at once, just to prove a point about the character of the woman he served?
The midnight blue scarf wrapped around her shoulders suddenly felt heavier than it had before, and Eira found herself touching the soft silk with trembling fingers as she watched Sir Ollie slump in his chair, still recovering from the healing heâd performed. She suddenly felt very small, and even a little bit shallow for thinking she could judge his intentions. She felt insignificant. Like she wasnât worthy of being in the same world as someone who could endure so much for the sake of others.
Then, her eyes flickered over to Lord Liam, to the handsome heir to the throne of Dunn, whose affection sheâd hoped to attract tonight, and at the banquet they were supposed to be attending to celebrate Lord Owainâs ascension to the throne and his marriage to Lady Jocelynn.
Eira doubted that any of that would be happening now... The way the conversation was going, there was sure to be a battle coming. But after that... after Lord Liam had fought at Sir Ollieâs side, and after heâd done so much to help Lady Ashlynn secure the Dunnâs as allies, would he even have eyes that could see a future with a simple knightâs daughter? Or would he be looking to make a match with someone greater, perhaps even Lady Ashlynnâs younger sister?
Eira didnât know, but she didnât intend to give up either. Lord Liam had clearly been working hard to rise up and become someone Lady Ashlynn could negotiate terms with. If he could find a way to win her favor in just a few short days, maybe there was something that she could do as well... and maybe it was something that Morwen could help her with.
The idea of watching Lord Liam rising above her to a station she could no longer reach felt like a dagger to the heart, and it hadnât even happened yet, so she was determined that, if she found an opportunity for herself, sheâd find a way to bring her friend up with her.
After all, she thought as she looked at Sir Ollieâs exhausted figure while he struggled to recover from his healing miracle. Sir Ollie didnât strike her as the sort of person who left friends behind... and she wouldnât become that kind of person either.