The Vampire & Her Witch

"Why would I bring you to a place like this?" Nyrielle said as she firmly gripped Ashlynn's delicate hand and guided her toward the waiting boat. "Because you have never been here before. Because there is nothing here that can hurt you," she promised, pulling her young lover close. "And because you have learned to swim, at least well enough to make it back to the boat if something happens," she teased as they arrived beside the boat.

"That's not," Ashlynn started, frowning at Nyrielle. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. You're testing me," she said. But as she spoke, a frown formed on her lips and her brow crumpled in thought while she stared at the boat and listened to the soft sound of gentle waves lapping at the shore.

Was Nyrielle really testing her? Or was she trying to give her back something that she'd thought she lost? This place was so calm and inviting, so wonderfully pure that even though there were familiar elements, it had stripped away all of the pieces that were part of the pain and left her with something that had always been a part of her, and likely always would.

"No, you're not testing me," Ashlynn said, turning to look into Nyrielle's anxious midnight eyes. "It's more than that. I, I was surprised to see something that reminded me of the sea and of home. It, it caught me off guard. But," she said as she let out a long, deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding onto. "But even though I was surprised, and even though it hurts a bit…"

"It isn't more than you can handle," Nyrielle said, pulling Ashlynn close and wrapping her arms around her lover. "One day, you'll go home. You'll walk the paths you once walked with her, and you'll eat the food you once shared with your sister. But that day isn't today. Today, you get to do something that you once enjoyed with her, in a different place at a different time, and with a different person who loves you very much," she said softly as she gently stroked Ashlynn's long, silky hair.

"If it's too much, we can go somewhere else," Nyrielle offered. "There are still many places I can show you. But I'd like to show you this one on the last day I get to keep you all to myself while I sleep."

"I, I'd like that too," Ashlynn said as she sank into Nyrielle's embrace. For a moment, she didn't move, she just stood on the shore of the lake, listening to the sounds of the waves and the rocking of the boat as they blended with the slow, steady heartbeat she could hear in Nyrielle's chest.

There were memories that tried to snatch and claw at her, but she refused to let herself dwell on them when she was in such a beautiful place in the arms of the woman who meant more to her than life itself. There was still pain, and maybe that pain would never go away, but for what felt like the first time in several days, the fog of pain and rage that had obscured her vision felt like it had finally parted. And when it did, it revealed a world filled with wonder, waiting for her and her love to discover together.

"Let me get in the boat before you push off," Ashlynn said as she pulled back from Nyrielle. "And then you can tell me where we are this time," she said with a smile.

"Whatever you wish, my darling," Nyrielle said as she helped Ashlynn into the boat before lifting the bow effortlessly and easing it into the water. There was a faint breeze blowing across the lake, and the waves were stronger once they exited the cove, but Ashlynn paid the waves little mind as she set the oars in their locks and began to row further out onto the lake.

"This is called the Lake of Stars," Nyrielle said as she opened the picnic basket and began to spread sweet blueberry jelly onto a slice of bread before topping it with soft, creamy cheese. "Great Lord Kuunik rules over more than thirty islands and all the settlements on the shores of this lake. In the winter, the shallow areas around the lake and near the islands freeze over, and there are islands that you can walk between if you're careful."

"Say 'ahh'," Nyrielle teased as she leaned forward, holding out the treat she'd prepared for Ashlynn while her lover rowed them out into the lake.

"Aahhh," Ashlynn said, leaning forward to take the delectable morsel from Nyrielle's outstretched hand, brushing the tips of her fingers with her soft lips before she leaned back, savoring the rich creaminess of the cheese, the slightly nutty, crusty bread, and the sweet jelly that bound them together.

"You didn't tell me why it's called the Lake of Stars," Ashlynn said after she finished her treat. "Is it because the view of the sky is so good?"

"Impatient, aren't you, my darling?" Nyrielle said as she nibbled on a bit of bread, cheese, and jelly. "I was getting to it," she said with a playful pout. "I mentioned Great Lord Kuunik," Nyrielle continued once she'd finished her own treat as she moved on to preparing another one for Ashlynn. "He's a member of the Silent Ripples Clan. They're cousins of the Heartwood Clan with soft fur that lets them slide through the water without making a sound."

"According to Great Lord Kuunik, if you sink into the water until your eyes are just barely above the surface, and you're perfectly still on a warm summer night when the winds have all died and the water is calm, then its surface is like a mirror, reflecting the sky," Nyrielle explained. "He says that, if you let yourself drift, you won't be able to tell the difference between the sky above and the water below."

"That," Ashlynn said softly as she stopped rowing, allowing the boat to drift along with the waves and the current. "That sounds beautiful. Have you ever seen it when it's like that?"

"No," Nyrielle said. "This isn't an easy place for me to visit," she explained. "The lake belongs to Great Lord Kuunik, but the wilderness beyond the lakeshore belongs to Bardas and a few of his progeny who haven't claimed territories of their own."

"Ah," Ashlynn said softly without pressing for further details. She had her own reasons to resent the Jaws of Death after he exterminated Talauia's clan in order to force her to accept Shubnalu's offer of a place among his progeny.

Nyrielle had her own issues with her grandsire Torbin's grandsire as well. After all, each of the other True Vampires had made an attempt at some point to court Nyrielle, and from the few things Nyrielle had let slip, some of those attempts had been more than just uncomfortable to rebuff.

"We'll have to visit together then," Ashlynn said as she turned around in the boat so she could lie back and rest her head on Nyrielle's thighs while she gazed up at her lover and the stars beyond. "And we'll stay however long it takes to see the perfect night when the stars and the water meet."

"I'd like that," Nyrielle said, echoing Ashlynn's earlier words as she stroked her lover's soft, silky hair. "I'd like that very much…"