Reynold wasnât the only person to leave their parents behind and come rushing over to Ashlynnâs side of the Great Hall. As soon as the servants began to move the tables, Charlotte Otker all but ran to Adala Leufroyâs side.
"Sweet light, Adala," Charlotte said as she threw her arms around her slender friend. "Donât scare me like that! I canât believe you stood up to your father like that!"
"S-someone had to," Adala said, losing all of her composure as she was enveloped by Chralotteâs soft embrace. "I just, I just couldnât hold it in anymore."
"But what are you going to do now?" Charlotte asked, looking around nervously as she pulled back from her friend. "The way things are going, your family..."
"I donât know," Adala said, biting her lip as she tried to recover enough of her composure to think things through. So many things had happened so rapidly that this was the first moment she really had to think about what would happen next.
"Do you think," Adala said hesitantly. "Do you think that Lady Ashlynn would take me in? Iâm sure she already has ladies-in-waiting and handmaidens aplenty, and if sheâs really a Saintess, then maybe she wonât have any use for me but..."
"You showed courage while others cowered, and you risked everything you have to support her when she asked nothing from you," a gentle, feminine voice interrupted as the silver-haired engineer walked over, along with the heavily pregnant Samira. "Ashlynn will remember that for years to come, and she wonât forget her debt to you."
"Then, does that mean sheâll take me on?" Adala asked. "That I can have a place in her retinue?"
"You can discuss it with her if you like," Isabell said with a light chuckle. "But you donât have to follow her in service. Hugo, over there," she said, pointing at the scholarly young lord. "Chose to serve. Ashlynn offered him a home in the city or a farm in the country and enough wealth to live a life of leisure if he chose to, and I imagine sheâd offer you the same as thanks for what youâve done."
"You could always find a home in Sir Ollieâs village," Samira added with a warm, inviting smile as Isabell helped her take a seat. "Lady Rosie is there with her son, Tonnis, now, and there are plenty of others who needed to find a home when they lost the homes they had. Itâs rustic," she admitted. "If youâre used to city life in Lothian or Leufroy. But itâs cozy, and we care for each other."
"That, that sounds nice," Adala said delicately as she tried to imagine herself in a country village where the height of politics revolved around where to place a midden heap or whether or not chickens could roam free from their pens.
"You donât have to make a decision now," Isabell said gently as she gestured for the young ladies to join her and Samira. "Just know that you have a place to go. Your courage may have cost your home and your relationship with your blood kin," Isabell warned. "I canât say how Ashlynn will handle Leufroy after what your father has done."
"But whatever happens there," Isabell reassured her. "Youâll have a chance to live a life of your own, on your own terms, to make of it whatever you wish. Iâm sure that Ashlynn will do at least that much for you, and if not her, then I will in her place."
"Really?" Adala asked as a wave of relief washed over her. "Then, how about a place for Charlotte too?" she quickly asked, taking her friendâs hands in her own despite the startled look on Charlotteâs face.
"What?" Adala asked innocently. "Donât think I didnât see the look your father gave you when you came over here. He looked like his prize mare had just wandered out of a gate he forgot to lock, and now heâs trying to figure out whether he wants to demand payment from your ânew ownerâ or beg for the return of his lost âproperty.â"
"He, heâs not that bad," Charlotte said, turning a brilliant shade of red. "And Mother told me to go, so Father will have to come around in the end, no matter what."
"And if he doesnât," Isabell said with a rueful laugh. "Then weâll have a place for you too."
"But, only if Lady Ashlynn wins, right?" Charlotte said, looking in Ashlynnâs direction. "I, Iâve only seen Lord Owain fight at tournaments, but his reputation isnât an exaggeration. They say that no man in Lothian is his equal, and even at the larger events in Keating and Trevarthen, he hasnât known defeat in years."
"I wonât deny that Owain is fierce," Isabell admitted. "Iâve known men like him, and even fought beside some of them in the Emerald Kingdom across the sea," she explained. "Even if heâd been a commoner, his skill alone would have earned him the position of First Sword in the Court of the Emerald King."
"But skill with the sword is only one part of a personâs strength," Isabell explained. "And since Lord Owain demanded a duel in armor, heâs entered a contest of tenacity and endurance. He thinks he has an advantage there, because heavy armor wears away at a personâs reserves. He thinks that Lady Ashlynn will exhaust herself first, and that itâll be easy to finish her off once sheâs overheated and fatigued."
"Youâre saying he wonât?" Adala asked hesitantly, uncertain how Lady Ashlynn could overcome such a stark disadvantage.
"Lord Owain beat her half to death on their wedding night, then had his men bury her alive," Isabell said as her silvery gaze hardened behind her spectacles. "Despite that, she pulled herself out of her own grave and fought her way all the way back to the heart of Owainâs stronghold."
"If itâs a contest of iron will, endurance, and the ability to suffer unbearable pain while continuing to struggle," Isabell said, shaking her head at Owainâs foolishness. "Then Lady Ashlynn outclasses him by ten to one."
"More than that," Isabell said with a smile that held no warmth. "The fact that Owain demanded his armor says something else important about this fight."
"Owain Lothian is afraid... and he knows that he may lose."