Visiting Vampires

Nyrielle's carriage clattered through the night, already more than a hundred leagues away from the tangled swamp of the Briar. Within the dark interior of the carriage, her alabaster skin lit by a single swaying lamp, Nyrielle did her best to ignore the tugging sensation that gripped her chest. 

Starting part way through the previous day, she'd felt something probing around the edges of her bond with Ashlynn. At first, the probes had been light and tentative, as if a blind creature from the depths of the sea was trying to feel out the magic that connected her heart to Ashlynn's by tracing its outline. 

Nyrielle was prepared to forgive the Mother of Thorns for some curious probing. As Ashlynn's teacher, the witch had the right to understand any magic that might affect her student. The longer the probing lasted, however, the less certain she was that the probing came from the Mother of Thorns.