Chapter 969: A Surprising Reception
No one in the great hall knew how they were supposed to respond to Dame Sybyll’s command that they cheer for the friends and allies she had brought to sack their hometown.
Many in the crowd were slowly becoming convinced that she was who she claimed to be. She wore the true and genuine Hanrahan signet. She bore an uncanny resemblance to both the late Baron Brighton Hanrahan and his wife, Baroness Caitlin. Most of all, among the people gathered in the hall, many of them remembered meeting her one winter or another.
It was just that, for some of those people, they had met her nearly twenty years ago, but the ’charming young lass’ they remembered from back then hadn’t aged a day.
But even if they could accept that she really was Baron Brighton’s daughter, born to a mother who was believed by everyone to be barren, that didn’t excuse turning to demons and assaulting their town. There were several soldiers in the hall now who had lost a friend or two during the battle, and they had dozens more friends recovering in the healer’s tents in the bailey even now.
But when the doorman announced the first ’friend’ or perhaps ’ally’, those very soldiers were the first to raise their voices in shouts of thanks and welcome.
"Presenting! The Willow Witch, Lady Heila. Called the Willow Whip of the Arena. Lady-in-waiting to the Mother of Trees, and Healer of Hundreds tonight," the doorman called, standing to the side to allow the diminutive witch to pass.
Heila had changed out of her armored long coat, and she left behind the heavy War Hat as well, exchanging it for an elegant dress of rich brown silks that shimmered with warm coppery highlights and embroidery in patterns of falling leaves.
It was the final title that drew the strongest reaction from the crowd. While some drew back instinctively from a powerful witch, it was the soldiers in the crowd who knew they would have lost many more of their friends without Heila’s witchcraft who erupted in genuine applause for the diminutive witch.
When Heila reached the raised dias, Sybyll did something that sent ripples of surprise through the most educated and well-connected members of the audience. She rose from the throne to personally greet this ’Lady Heila,’ and even walked her to a seat next to her own.
The etiquette for meetings between members of the aristocracy was very clear, and the only time anyone could remember Baron Ian Hanrahan rising from his throne to welcome someone was when one of Marquis Bors Lothian’s sons arrived. For Dame Sybyll to rise for this witch...
But before their minds could fully form a speculation about how important this witch might be among the demons, the doorman raised his voice and called out again.
"Presenting! Young Lord Hauke of the High Pass. Apprentice to the Mother of Trees. Master of Ice and Snow, who raised a shield of ice to protect the west gate plaza!"
This time the applause was even louder, and the people began to understand that Dame Sybyll didn’t mean to force them to cheer for their conquerors; she wanted them to welcome the heroes who had prevented the battle from turning into a slaughter.
Few in the great hall had heard of the frost horned demons who were said to live deep in the mountains, but when they saw Hauke’s tall figure striding into the great hall, wrapped in elegant robes of icy blue with his white mane flowing gently as he moved, it was hard to feel like they were witnessing something wicked. Instead, the word that came to mind for most of them was... majestic.
"Thank ye, fer carin’ so much fer me people, even when they raised arms against ye’," Sybyll said as she rose from her throne again to guide Hauke to his seat before bowing to both Hauke and Heila.
In the crowd of people applauding, Sir Niall briefly squeezed Rufina’s hand, whispering that he would only be a moment before he strode out of the crowd and knelt before the dais.
"Lady Heila, Lord Hauke," the young knight said in the loudest, clearest voice he could manage. "Compared to you, I am young and cowardly," he said, speaking from the heart and without a trace of shame. "The ’soldiers’ I brought with me aren’t like your soldiers. They are farmers, woodsmen, and hunters most of the year. Tonight, they would have died under the rain of luminous arrows if not for you."
"You healed my wounded and guarded my villagers," he said, struggling to speak as his throat tightened and his eyes grew misty. "I thank you. Kyandan Village thanks you. And if you ever visit Kyandan Village, we will welcome you with open arms!"
His face burned with embarrassment as he knelt before the entire crowd, but deep within his heart, he felt like he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t take this moment to thank these two for what they had done.
Nearly a third of his villagers had been injured in the rain of arrows, and it wasn’t until the demons welcomed them under the dome of ice in the plaza that he felt like he would survive through the night. His heart shivered with dread at the idea of returning home to tell the wives or children of his ’soldiers’ that he had brought them to Hanrahan Town only to lead them to their deaths. But thanks to these two demons, he wouldn’t have to, and the thanks that filled his heart overflowed until it burst forth, and he had to speak up.
"This is the Eldritch way of things," Heila said, taking the moment the young knight had offered her to give these people their first lesson. "It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak. When a challenger takes up the mantle of a defeated Eldritch Lord, she assumes the responsibilities of caring for that lord’s people."
"Dame Sybyll is one of your people," Heila said as she looked from the kneeling knight to the rest of the crowd. "But she is also one of ours. She worked hard from the beginning to preserve as many lives as she could because after the battle, she always intended to protect and care for you all. It isn’t the Eldritch way for the common people to suffer when lords clash," she told the crowd.
"Ye don’a have ta’ lift me up b’fore them, Lady Heila," Sybyll said with a dazzling smile. "But I thank ye’ fer it. Sir Niall," she said, turning to address the young knight. "Yer heart is pure an’ strong, an’ it lies in tha’ right place. Stay true ta’ that an’ ye’ll have a place in me court in tha’ future."
"Thank, thank you, Dame Sybyll," he said, bowing his head deeply and flushing bright red as he heard the dulcet tones of her voice singing his praises. Even when he returned to Rufina’s side, his head felt light enough that his feet barely touched the ground.
"Hold ’im close, lass," Sybyll teased the young woman who clutched Sir Niall’s hand as soon as he returned to her side. "Good men are rarer ’an gold, an’ twice as precious," she added with a wink. "So hold on tight an’ I’m sure he’ll treat ye right," she said before signalling to the doorman to resume the introductions.