“A human,” he agreed in a silky tone. The dryad was smart enough to pay heed now. “You will not enter her room. That is my order, which you will obey as my will compels you—but you will retrieve two of my guard and have them bring all manner of things to see to the female’s comfort. A mattress, bedding, a table, fresh clothing, food, and drink. If I return and discover that she wants for anything, I will hold you completely responsible. Are my orders understood.”
Anger flashed in the green eyes and her lip curled. “You plan to sully yourself with a mortal? They are prey to our kind, a passing amusement at best. Throw her to the trolls and allow them to debase themselves with their crude entertainments. You are lucomo. You deserve noble fare for your taste.”
He darted forward, backing her into the wall, one hand gripping hard around her forearm. Slowly, he brought up his other hand and raised one finger in warning. An angry growl rumbled out of him as he barely leashed his temper.
“Do not utter such things again. As I recall, allowing you into my bed nearly felled the Eternal Forest. Or is your memory so short that you do not recall the barriers weakening to the point that men were able to pass indiscriminately? We nearly lost many beings to their appetites, all because you could not contain your feeding, nor surrender yourself to sustain me in turn,” he stated flatly.
“I have changed,” she said softly.
“You have not,” Silvas growled in reply. “You have never shown that you improved on your selfish nature as you play your games in these halls. In any case, it does not matter—I have no use for you outside your current function in Arx. I find this mortal much more to my taste,” he purred, relishing the way she paled at the truth he offered.
Dropping his hand, he stepped back, the jewels on his antlers jingling softly with his movement. He frowned down at her. “Do not disappoint me when it comes to the care of my huntress.”
Mutely, Alseida nodded. She pinched her lips together for a moment before she dared to speak again. “She shall come by no harm from me, lucomo.”
“Good,” he snarled, turning away so that he did not have to look at her for even a moment longer. “See to my female promptly. I go now to the lower caverns. I expect everything to be done before I return.”
With those parting words, Silvas strode down the corridor, and then another, walking the maze of hallways as he headed into the darkened heart—the hidden courtyard of Arx where once he seeded his home above the cavern of the oracle’s spring.
When he finally arrived at the black staircase descending into the depths of the earth, he hesitated for only a moment. It had been a long time since he had last spoken to the oracle, and their last parting had not been a happy one. He only hoped that she did not still nurse her anger against him.
Chapter 6
Diana jumped to her feet from where she had been sitting on the stone bed, her heart hammering in her chest as the door to her room swung open. The strange protrusions from the walls kept the room comfortably lit so she was able to clearly see the pair of enormous gray males who entered. Stumbling back against the wall, she watched them as they dragged in a thick mattress between them. Though she stayed out of their way, she tracked their every movement, expecting some sort of violent behavior from them.
To her surprise, they didn’t do more than glance briefly in her direction before setting to work, no doubt ordered by the lucomo. What were they? She couldn’t even guess by looking at them, though they had a distinctly earthy appearance. Although one was only a few inches taller than the other, both were thick with muscle, and certain patches of their skin had a rough texture like broken rock. On the larger male there were also a few spots tinged with greens and blues, as if moss had attempted to cling to him at one point or another.
Despite their rough appearances, their heads were well-formed, and their ears were pointed like those she had seen on representations of elves. The biggest difference was that the long tips flopped