but when I see the crops like this… it reminds me of the potential it has for life,” she murmured as she popped an almond into her mouth.
Diana raised an eyebrow. What little she had seen of the forest beyond the palace grounds had been creepy as fuck. Cassia took note of her expression and laughed.
“I recognize that look. I have eyes and know exactly what you see when you look at the Eternal Forest. It is sad, because I remember what it used to be like before its decline.” She sighed and sat back on the thick cushion on the couch. “It was absolutely magical. It is no wonder that the monokerata no longer flourish here. But I wish you could have seen it the way I saw it then.”
Cassia began to describe the Eternal Forest in ages past and Diana listened with awe. She couldn’t even imagine this forest that the other woman spoke of. It sounded magical. Yet, even with such tales to entertain her imagination, practically the entire time, when she was not looking around awestruck at the beauty of the room, she was staring at their hostess. Cassia didn’t seem to even notice since, after a while, she had begun to spend just as much time attempting to wrangle answers from Diana and Silvas about how they met and their time together—most of which Diana fielded.
Diana hadn’t missed the flash of despair on Silvas’s face, however, when bonding stories were exchanged. Instinctively, she reached forward and took his hand in hers. He froze, but then on the next breath, his fingers wrapped tightly around hers and she felt something within her respond to him on a primal level. It was an answering to whatever call he had initiated. She couldn’t imagine hearing of a powerful, life-changing experience, knowing that he had participated in it, and yet to him it was like it never happened. He didn’t speak. He just listened. But as the minutes slipped by, his grief for what he couldn’t remember grew and became so palpable, even with their bond blocked, that Diana couldn’t ignore it. She quickly changed the subject.
It was just as well. Her curiosity was killing her.
Leaning forward, she pinned Cassia with a curious look. “I’m sorry, this is terribly rude, but it’s been eating at me and I just have to know. Why do you still look human?” For emphasis she allowed her tail to lightly slap the couch.
Cassia blinked at her in surprise. Diana almost thought that perhaps she had overstepped with the question when the woman threw her head back and laughed. Diana stared at her in bewilderment as she waved her hand and worked to control her laughter.
“I don’t mean to laugh. Of course, you wouldn’t know. I mean, I am surprised Silvas didn’t discuss this with you, but I’m sure there is a reason. Larce told me before he bonded me, but I can imagine that the situation would be different between you and Silvas, since he’s a god and not a silvanus spirit. Our experiences are thus different. As a bride of a silvanus, I am still human, but my life is bound to his. The bond extends my life naturally, but it doesn’t change me. Brides of gods, who share a very particular, special bond, become elevated. You are taking a form that compliments his because your power is attached to his and balances his by nature.”
A small frown appeared on Silvas’s face. “Balances,” he murmured to himself.
Diana would have given anything to know what he was thinking. It remained in the back of her mind throughout the rest of their visit. Their open affection was so sweet and yet it pierced her heart. She didn’t dare glance toward Silvas lest he see just how much she wished to have that closeness. They were close… She wanted the words and the shows of affection. She just didn’t know how to get there with him.
When they finally parted for the evening, Larce hugged her as if she were long-lost family and Cassia extracted a promise from them that they would visit again soon. Although their hunt had not been profitable in game, when they returned to her home, Diana felt a new lightness in her step.
Chapter 44
As weeks bled together and the winter passed, Selvans was true to his word. He left Nocis in a hidden place and set aside his fruitless hunt to openly explored the visceral pull he felt toward Diana. It