last seen Silvas. Never had she questioned her grip on reality until she experienced the choking sensation that closed her bond to Silvas. At that moment, she could do nothing but scream. She had scraped her hands against the walls, begging for her mate in a mindless panic, begging to be released from the confines of the room that imprisoned her.
Arx had responded immediately. The wall beneath her hand had shaken, sending her reeling, the rocks grinding as they shifted and realigned themselves. The moment she stepped outside and breathed the fresh air, her appreciation for the unique nature of Arx struck her. The palace held her and offered her what comfort and stability it could, her emptiness still crushing her from within.
In the darkness, a spark had lit inside of her, and then another, twining through her heart. From out there in the forest, she felt a network of connections all around her, hundreds of thousands of souls touching her being. It had begun with sensing the heart of Arx itself, and then she could feel the hamadryads weeping and calling from nearby. Touch upon touch flooded through her until she felt like she was the center of the entire cosmos of life that made the Eternal Forest.
After the initial rush they had faded back into the recesses of her mind, but, unlike Silvas, they did not desert her. They were there, dwelling inside her, if she closed her eyes and sought for the connections. And above them all was Arx glowing within her, a part of Silvas even as she carried a part of him through his vinculum marcam, connecting them together. A slight smile tugged at her lips as a spiraling vine sprung up to cling to her hand with soft caresses.
How odd to feel such appreciation from a construct of stone, and yet she could feel it as if something deep within the foundations of the palace recognized her and loved her. It sounded crazy, but it sparked a warmth of returning affection within her. It entreated her, spoke to her in soft creaks, and the groans she hadn’t heard before that were so low in pitch she was certain they were below the normal human range of hearing. The palace crooned to her, welcoming her home. Even the trees themselves bent toward her as if bowing their leafy heads, a soft thrum of adoration pulsating through her soul.
Diana frowned, her heart clenching painfully.
She had caught hints of feeling such adoration from Silvas, enough to shake her determination to return home, and instead explore further the bond between them. She wanted to sink into their bond and take him within her, and it hurt that he had cut her off. It was a gaping wound in her soul, bleeding out her life in a slow trickle of sorrow.
Glancing up at the moon, she shook her head. The hour was late, and it was just shy of a week since she’d last seen her mate. Where was Silvas?
Every time she had asked the burly males guarding her door, they had turned away with little response other than that they were ordered to keep her safely confined to the royal chambers. It didn’t make any sense! Unfortunately, she hadn’t fared any better with the naiads who tended to her.
Turning from the beauty of the garden, she paced back through the room until she arrived at the door. Placing her hand upon the handle, she pulled it open, the quiet creek announcing her presence. On the other side, the door was filled with the familiar sight of the backsides of two large males. One was plainly a troll but the other was a male she didn’t recognize. Taller, with thicker features, his skin a deep moss green with prominent tusks pushing up from his mouth, and a fall of dark hair braided down his back. His lack of tail also made him distinct from the troll at his side. Both males turned simultaneously at the sound of the door opening, their scowling faces bending down toward her.
Smiling up at them, Diana knitted her fingers together in front of her as she returned their regard. “Hi boys, I was just going to slip out and see if I can find Silvas. It seems that, as usual, you’ve made yourself into a second barrier, though. If you could just scoot a bit so I can get out, I will be on my way and won’t disturb you further.”
The unfamiliar male scowled,