Borbekel hopped in agitation, his long ears flopping slightly. “It is quite unnatural. For days, not a beam of sunlight has penetrated the forest. The trees have begun to grow twisted among themselves, and an unnatural mist clings at all hours, such as you see. It has been thus since your protection left the forest.”
Silvas’s jaw tightened, and she felt his frustration and anger lick through their bond. His eyes scanned the woods as if searching fruitlessly for something. “My task has been successful. I am reunited with Nocis—spread the word so no one doubts or worries.” His eyes fastened on her. “We must hasten back. Now that I have the sword, I must confer with the oracle so that I can ascertain where we might seek out our prey.”
His muscles tightened as he stepped away before they loosened to take the form of the crocotta once more. Silvas’s eyes within the animal pierced her, and Diana hurried to strap the harness and all their gear on him once more as the goblin darted away through the brush. Borbekel’s departure was the only sound in the forest outside of the chinking of the armor as she fastened it once more to the saddle. Within minutes, they were racing through the final stretches of the forest.
It wasn’t until she caught glimpses of the telltale glow of the hamadryads announcing their impending arrival at the palace that she relaxed. Although Arx looked as dark and foreboding as the forest itself, and the light of the surrounding hamadryads appeared weaker against the gloom, it promised some rest and respite while they figured out their next moves. Diana leaned over Silvas’s shoulders, but a smile sprung to her lips as the crocotta pack sprung from a sheltered area hidden beyond the courtyard. She recognized Keena immediately, her heart swelling with pleasure as the massive female bore down on them with all her clan. Keech was close behind his mate as they barreled forward.
Silvas snapped his tail and yipped as he rounded into the courtyard. The entire crocotta pack fell to his sides, following him in a seamless movement, scattering nymphs, fauns, and even what she could swear was an elf as they came to a gradual halt.
Diana barely had time to remove herself from Silvas’s back before they were set upon. Silvas stood naked among his court, his pale flanks visible among the crowd, no space to even dress himself in the clothing that was still packed with his armor. Although many of the throng acknowledged Diana’s presence and bowed to her, soon she was forcibly edged out until she stood alone with the crocottas.
Annoyed, Diana turned away from the sight and found a comfortable place to sit with the pack while Silvas dealt with his court. She was furious and… dejected. He had taken her as his mate. Now that they returned to the palace, she felt like she was once again a nobody—an intruder, for all that his court cared, save one excitable goblin. She knew that there was much that would demand his attention with what happened while they were away, but she couldn’t help but feel the bite of resentment toward those who forced her out so easily. She felt a small ripple of concern through their bond, but it was distracted at best.
A low whine met her ears, and she glanced over as Keena nudged her hand with her muzzle. A reluctant smile tugged her lips as she noticed that the giant crocotta was attempting to comfort her. Reaching forward, she rubbed her hands around Keena’s ears, and the large beast sighed. Keena settled down beside her, the crocotta’s large body angled to support Diana’s back while the rest of the pack dropped down to sprawl over the courtyard stones.
Leaning into Keena, Diana was determined to make herself comfortable and get some rest when a shadow fell over her. Glancing up, she scowled to find a familiar dryad standing over her. The female’s lips pinched together, a dark flush climbing her cheeks despite her attempts to look composed.
This had to be Alseida.
“The lucomo will be busy for the remainder of the day. I am to escort you to your chambers,” she said waspishly as she eyed the crocotta with obvious distaste. “Come with me.”
Shoved into a room. Of course.
Plastering a smile on her face, Diana stood, her fingers giving Keena one last pat before following the dryad into the dark, cool interior of the palace.
Chapter 30
Alseida led Diana through the labyrinth of halls within the palace. This time, fully aware of the nature of the place—of Arx, she reminded herself—Diana looked at her surroundings with interest. Every stone wall that dripped with moss and vines was an amazing part of the living structure and seemed to communicate to her in passing. The beauty of the corridors was almost enough to make up for the unpleasant company. She unfortunately couldn’t miss the looks of loathing that the dryad shot in her direction, though she pretended ignorance of the female’s bad temper.
The dryad practically growled as she opened a door that led into a familiar room. Diana recognized Silvas’s opulent chambers immediately. The only thing that was missing was the narrow door that would have led to the room she had been kept in. The door was gone. If nothing else, the palace itself recognized her place, and the walls of the room were blooming with beautiful fragrant flowers hanging in lush clusters from the vines that knotted over the walls.
The troll who’d been waiting just outside the room when they arrived hurried in after them. His arms laden with food and drink, he set them out upon the table with a quiet smile before hurrying over to the large stone hearth. The fire was very welcome. Diana sank into a chair as the room lit up with a cheerful light, the warmth working to knock the chill from the room. The male flushed at her murmured thanks before darting from the room, hastened out by Alseida’s glower.
Diana didn’t blame him. She suspected that if the dryad oversaw any of the staff in the palace that she was probably a terror to work for. Diana wouldn’t linger either. In fact, if she could escape the female herself, she would’ve jumped at the chance. Especially as Alseida suddenly loomed over her, her beautiful face twisted with anger, fangs gleaming. And she wasn’t alone.
A cluster of nymphs stood behind the dryad, each one just as beautiful as the next, and each female with a hard, unwelcoming expression on her face. Several pairs of dark, fathomless eyes gleaming at her with interest and a hint of menace.
Where the fuck had they come from?
Swallowing back her fear, Diana raised an eyebrow at the dryad. Some part of her still wanted to shrink back in fear as she had done that first day, but things had changed since then. She had changed. She refused to be cowed by the vindictive bitch. “I think I am all set, you can go now,” she said flatly. “And take the nymph sisterhood with you.”
The dryad’s nostrils flared, the golden yellow hue of her cheeks darkening. “You do not order me about. You do not belong here,” she hissed. “This was my place and I will not allow some human interloper to usurp it.”
Diana’s other eyebrow raised to join the first. “It seems that Silvas doesn’t share that opinion. If I’m not mistaken, I’m the one he mated. So regardless of who was here first, my human ass is here now. You are the one who doesn’t belong in this room.”
A hard smile curved the dryad’s face as she ran a hand along the bed familiarly. “It is only a matter of time before he will yearn for me again. Did he tell you that we were lovers for centuries? He and I in this bed…” a low sound of pleasure escaped her lips. “And still he keeps me here close at hand. Do you not wonder why that is, little human?”
Silvas and that horrible female… For centuries? Nausea rocked Diana. The dryad’s smile widened.
“He didn’t tell you.” Alseida laughed as several of nymphs behind her smirked and someone giggled. Diana didn’t miss that there were a few pitying faces among them, and a couple looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Poor clueless human. But I’m hardly surprised.” The last was addressed to a dark-haired nymph standing directly to the side. The nymph pouted at Diana before erupting into laughter.
Diana knew she would hate herself for asking, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Why are you not surprised?” she whispered.
The dryad smirked as she reclined comfortably on the b
ed. “Do you imagine that you are the first human woman Silvas has taken to his bed? In the old days, he sired an entire race of males on human women whom he seduced in his forests. He never stays with them, though. True, he may have mated you for a hidden purpose of the gods that we do not know. But he will never stay with a human. He never has. He will always yearn for nymphs and the pleasure that we are capable of bringing.”
He had sired children? How had that never come up in conversation? Diana clenched her fingers into a tight fist, hidden in her lap. She wouldn’t betray how much this affected her, not until she spoke to Silvas first.
“Go home, human,” Alseida hissed. “Take an escort back to your world and forget about Silvas and this place. This world is not for the likes of you. Leave him to us. Only we are worthy of tasting his desire.”
Several nymphs broke away from the group, their bodies flowing as they circled the table at which Diana sat. Their eyes were fixed on her, their smiles cruel, their lips whispering of how much they enjoyed the taste of the lucomo, his need for them and the desire upon which they slaked their thirst and the pleasure they gave him. No human could provide him with what they could stir in the being of the lucomo. He was theirs. Alseida stood in front of all of them her lips curved ruthlessly.
Anger streaked through Diana at the dryad’s taunt. “I will hear the details of his past from Silvas, not someone else,” she said. “Regardless of any discussion that occurs between us, you will never chase me away, Alseida. And I shall never relinquish my claim on Silvas.”
Alseida snarled and stalked forward, lifting a clawed hand. Diana braced, fists raised to defend herself, when some nymphs who had been lingering apart from the rest pushed themselves in front of Diana. They shielded her with their bodies as they faced off with the dryad.
“We do not approve of this,” a female at the fore said. “This is not the way of our kind, to threaten harm on other females—and for what? To enjoy the pleasures of a king who has not desired our company for centuries? When is the last time he accepted any of us? Can you not see as plainly as we that she bears his vinculum marcam? You are a fool, Alseida, if you think that this confrontation will change anything, other than bringing about your eventual exile from the palace. Accept that your time at his side is over.” Alseida glanced at other nymphs, who lingered in their places around the table. “I will lend my support to such ugliness no more.”
The nymphs slipped out, abandoning Alseida, until only a scant few remained. The dryad practically vibrated with fury as she stared Diana down, anger and embarrassment clear on her face. Most of the nymphs had abandoned her, calling out her pettiness, and even her supporters looked at her with pity. Diana wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry for the dryad, or to watch her back in case the female attempted to stick a knife in it. As Alseida advanced with a scream of anger, Diana sprung up from her chair, any sympathy she might have held vanishing instantly.
“Alseida, stop!” a deep voice growled as Raskyuil stomped into the room, his eyes flashing with menace on the nymphs. The lingering females squealed as they fled, all but the dryad, who even paled and quickly backed away from Diana. Despite her reaction, the dryad stiffened and glowered down her nose at the troll.
“What gives you authority to command me, guard?”
“Silvas asked me to check on his ati,” Raskyuil replied, his arms crossing over his chest. “And for good cause, it seems. You are not welcome in this room, dryad. You were to escort the ati to her room and nothing more. Leave now, and be thankful that the nymphs alerted me to your tricks when I passed them in the hall, for if I had been a minute longer and you had harmed her, Silvas would have cast you to the sands of the great desert rather than anything as kind as exile into the human world.”
The dryad sailed out the door, leaving Diana and Raskyuil staring after her.
The male beside her chuckled. “I’ve wanted to tell off that haughty nymph for years now. About time she had someone to burst her deluded little bubble the way she’s sailed around here for years like the mistress of the palace.”
“Glad to see that you arrived safely and mended quickly so that you could adequately perform as my rescuer,” Diana replied as she took in his healed body. He had a few new scars but was whole. “I mean, damn, you healed really quick.”
“Aelven healers,” he said dismissively. “They are among the best in the forest.” His gaze slid over her as a smug smile pulled at his lips. “So, the ati, our glorious mother queen, has arrived,” he said thoughtfully. “I do believe I won our wager.”
“Oh, shut up,” she snorted, earning her more laughter from the troll. She kept her tone light. She didn’t want to let on that it made her uncomfortable to hear him address her as ati. There had been no change in their long-term plans, nor was there any indication from Silvas that he intended to keep her. Not that she was even sure she wanted to remain in the Eternal Forest. Regardless, she wasn’t going to let the dryad try to strongarm her out of the palace. “Mated to the lucomo or not, I haven’t agreed to stay yet,” she replied coolly.
“Oh, you will,” he smirked, and Diana rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Chapter 31
Silvas made his way down the staircase into the lower cavern, his hand gripping Nocis at his side. Even there the mist was curling in thick wisps. It seemed that there was no escape from it, not even within the depths of Arx. He felt a sting of guilt that he had sent Diana to his rooms, and with Alseida of all beings, but the dryad had been attempting to ingratiate herself and he had lost patience with her behavior. Sending her to escort Diana somewhere that she would be safe and waiting for him upon his return seemed like the most expedient option.
At least he had promptly sent Raskyuil after them a short time later just to be certain that the female didn’t torment his mate in any fashion. He had yearned to follow them, but the compulsion to speak with Dorinda had been strong. Silvas only made one stop, and that was to store his armor in the armory so that it didn’t impede his movements on the narrow staircase.
A low growl escaped him as he descended deeper into the cavern. He had the feeling that he was going to have to do something about Alseida. So many of the nymphs looked to the dryad for guidance that he had hesitated far too long in removing her from the palace grounds. Her jealousy and possessiveness would not be tolerated any longer. Not when he had his uxorem at his side. He would have to keep a guard on his mate until he was certain that Alseida was far away and no longer a potential threat to Diana’s safety.
Ahead of him, the mist churned around the rock of the fountain, and he drew up short when Dorinda climbed upon it, her tail sliding easily among the stones, whipping against the mist. Being foul of temper and unforgiving toward him, never had she come to greet him without his summons. Judging by the displeasure on her face, he suspected that she had been waiting. Slowly he drew close to the edge of her pool, his eyes never leaving the vegoia whose sharp gaze tracked his every step.
“Dorinda,” he offered a cautious greeting.
Her lips stretched into a hard, wide smile. “So… you return, and with Nocis in hand I see. Finally, the scales are weighing out to where they should be. Just in time, it would seem,” she observed archly.
Silvas frowned at the blunt statement. That she didn’t seem especially surprised about the state of the Eternal Forest was concerning.
“Did you know that this would happen?”
Dorinda rolled a shoulder in a shrug as she let out a long hiss of frustration. “I suspected that Cacus would take advantage of your absence—you have undoubtedly seen evidence of his influence before you departed the forest—but never had I believed that the forest would succumb so quickly. Already it is dying. I can feel it here, even beyond the roots of your palace, below the deepest roots of the trees. I can feel it withering.” She shuddered, and for the first time he saw, behind her mask of disdain, the very real fear in her eyes.
A prickle ran over his spine as he sent his senses out through his wo
ods. She was right. How had he not noticed the decline of the forest as they traveled home? Had he truly been so distracted? When they arrived, he had noted that the hamadryads had appeared weaker, but he had blamed it on the gloom. He should have known something wasn’t right.
He gritted his teeth, a dark anger surging through him. He had allowed his infatuation with Diana to cloud him to his duty and to the heart of the forest. Perhaps she truly was a danger to him. Until he could determine how far the threat that she possessed extended, he would imprison her in his rooms where she would be watched at all times. He would post guards at the doors, and he would personally observe her during the night for any sign of betrayal when she was most vulnerable.
His heart wrenched, the pain lancing deep, but he pushed it away. He couldn’t be foolish in this. He had recklessly trusted Alseida; he couldn’t afford to ignore the signs and make the same mistake again when it came to Diana.
This time, there was even more at stake.
Setting his jaw against the pain, Silvas blocked Diana out, their bond dimming as he shut out her light. The agony that rose within him was like severing a limb from his body. Pushing through it, he straightened and pinned his sister with a firm look.
“Speak without riddles once more. Tell me, what do I need to do to save my forest?”
Dorinda stared back at him intently as the words flowed from her lips. “Go to the place in the depths of the woods, where the waters of the Pegaeae are touched by the full light of the moon. There you will wash the stain of the strix from Nocis and lay it out for the blessing of the queen of the night. Even this will not be enough to defeat Cacus. You must restore yourself and release the shroud with which you have been surrounded. Surrender yourself to the Pegaeae and be cleansed of the miasma that separates you from your true self. Rise again, Selvans, god of the Eternal Forest.”
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