The Vampire & Her Witch

Ashlynn took Nyrielle's hand and slowly guided her over to the sofa in front of the hearth. In the days since she'd learned of Jocelynn's treachery and lost control of her power, Heila had seen to the restoration of her chambers. The scorched rugs had been replaced along with the broken door, and the walls scrubbed free of soot.

Some traces, however, would take much longer to fade away, like the feeling of a dagger plunging into her heart as Isabel confirmed her worst fears and the memory of the devastated sitting room that echoed the devastation in her heart when she struggled to understand how things could have turned out like this.

"Like I said," Ashlynn began slowly as she took her seat next to Nyrielle on the comfortable sofa. "Jocey hated the way Samira reminded her of me. At one point, she demanded that Samira spend time studying so that she could hold a proper conversation."

"Jocey brought most of my books with her when she came," Ashlynn continued as she snuggled up close to Nyrielle, though her eyes remained fixed on the flames in the hearth. "She had to bring them in order to convince people that she was bringing them to 'me.' Since the books were there, she wanted Samira to read them. But… Samira could barely read, or at least, she could barely read in the beginning."

"Your sister taught her to read?" Nyrielle said, raising a brow in surprise.

"I think Jocey was trying to find a way to, I don't know, to grieve? To heal?" Ashlynn said, though she was deeply uncertain about Jocelynn's motives at the time. "Samira said that, in the beginning, Jocey berated her for being slow and stupid, constantly telling her how smart and clever I was and how little Samira was like me."

"As time went on, though," Ashlynn said. "Samira said their conversations started to have more substance. Samira asked questions about things she didn't understand. Not just words she didn't understand, but concepts, and Jocey started to tutor her for real."

"You think your sister started to treat Samira like your replacement?" Nyrielle asked gently. "Was she hoping to turn Samira into a substitute for you?"

The idea was ridiculous. Her Ashlynn was one of the most unique women to walk the face of the world, and that would be true even if she weren't the Mother of Trees. The things that Ashlynn had done and the way that she did them couldn't be matched by more than a handful of people, even if they were given the same powers that Ashlynn had.

While it was true that Ashlynn was born to be the Mother of Trees, everything that defined who she was as a person and the ways she used her powers came from Ashlynn's own heart and mind, and they were the fruits of her own labors.

Her years of turning her captivity into a reason to study, her determination to ensure other people didn't experience the things she'd suffered from, and her unwavering dedication to the people she chose to recognize as her family were all things that defined who Ashlynn was, the mark she'd been born with hadn't imbued her with any of that.

"I don't think Jocey wanted to replace me," Ashlynn said slowly. "I think she just missed me. But, she opened a door for Samira that would have been closed without her, and once it was open, Samira kept walking down the path it revealed, even after Jocey returned to Lothian City and left her alone."

"Samira even asked me about the notes I'd left in the margins of my gardening books," Ashlynn said with a faint laugh. "Things from years ago, when I thought that Father might let me expand from growing things in my own garden to designing farms. I used to think that, if I couldn't inherit the county from Father and help him to rule it, I could at least do things that would help the people, and they could thank him for my work…"

"So Samira has also taken up an interest in plants after reading your books?" Nyrielle said with a raised brow. "I must read these books of yours if they can turn a chambermaid into a gardener. Maybe it will help me understand you better as well," she teased lightly, though she was serious about reading Ashlynn's books.

By sharing their dreams, they were able to share memories of the times and places that defined them, but there was so much more of her Ashlynn that she wanted to explore and understand. Years of isolation and study had left their mark on the young witch and how she thought, and Nyrielle felt like those margin notes might teach her just as much about her lover as any shared dream ever would.

"Virve brought back the ones that were still at the Villa," Ashlynn said softly. "I'll bring them to you. Jocey took most of my collection back with her, along with most of my things… she only left a few books behind for Samira and some of my old clothing. Everything else, she took back to Lothian City with her."

"You know that I'll feast on a single morsel and savor every moment it's on my tongue," Nyrielle teased. "So long as it's important to you, it's important to me, and I'll delight in reading what a younger you thought, even if it's just your thoughts on crops and farms."

For a moment, Ashlynn just lay there, listening to the crackle of the hearth and the beat of Nyrielle's heart. Farms and gardens… They were simple things and her dreams of bringing new crops to Blackwell County or finding ways to improve harvests of the things they already grew felt like distant dreams that belonged to another life.

Now that Samira was picking up those books, it felt like the other woman was walking a path in life that Ashlynn might have taken if she hadn't been destined to become the Mother of Trees. From bearing Owain's child to dreaming of lush fields that prevented the common people from going hungry, Samira was taking up many of the things that Ashlynn had once thought would define her future.

But, when she thought about what she'd gained after losing those things, it was hard to feel any kind of jealousy for Samira as she walked those lost paths. The comfort and love she'd found in Nyrielle's embrace were as bright as the light of the moon next to a candle's glow when she compared it to what she'd received from Owain, and that didn't even touch on all of the other joys she'd found once she began to form relationships in the Eldritch world.

Samira might be inheriting some of Ashlynn's old dreams, but she didn't mind at all. Instead, she wondered if there was anything else she could do to tug the former maid's path toward an even brighter future…

One that wasn't dominated by what Owain had done with her and instead allowed her to find the same kind of happiness on the path that Samira intended to walk with Noomi that Ashlynn had found on her path with Nyrielle.