fate had decreed, that my oracular waters required protecting. Between us, the protection doesn’t bother me so much… but his arrogance gets irritating. He won’t permit me any access to the surface, keeping the entrance to the cavern completely sealed. Even if the forest has gone to Aites, I would still like to see it before it dies,” she murmured as she swallowed back a mouthful of red wine.
Lifting her own cup to her lips, Diana froze and glanced up. “Wait, what? What do you mean before the forest dies? What’s wrong with the forest?”
“You tell me you can’t feel it sickening, the decline? Granted, it is drowned out at the moment by the devastation Cacus caused in his attack.” She tilted her head and considered Diana for a moment before sighing. “No, of course you wouldn’t know. You have no point of reference for what the forest should feel like to know that what you feel is alarming. You are basing it on the seasons within your own world, which force the trees into slumber in so many places. Listen, human, the trees here do not sleep and do not decline unless they are withering and preparing to die. If that happens, there will be no more Eternal Forest and no more trees anywhere. Without the Eternal Forest, eventually everything dies,” she said in a low voice.
Diana faced the vegoia. “Sil… Selvans left me here. I don’t understand why you’re telling me all of this if there’s no way I can stop it.”
The female’s lips twisted as she poured more wine into their cups. Diana hadn’t even noticed that she drank of all of hers until she watched more ruby liquid splash into her empty cup.
“As I said, my brother is a fool. He let that female Alseida warp his trust in any female that may have influence over him. He thinks that you are a detriment, or possibly even a threat against the forest because of your bond. It is something all beings of the forest suffer from, that all-consuming hunger in the early days of the bonding when instinct rules, but my idiot brother does not consider this. If he feels that you will be used as a weapon against the forest, he will do anything to protect it. He doesn’t see just how much he needs you.”
Dorinda tapped her temple. “I have seen, ati. He may be destruction, but you are both queen and mother of life for the Eternal Forest. Those two words encompass the full meaning of ati. He needs your light to balance him. If he would have stuck around long enough to hear my entire prophecy, he would have known that,” she muttered.
Groaning stone echoed from above, and Dorinda looked up and smiled. “It seems that Arx survives even this. I wager it will take it longer to reconstruct all of its beautiful passages.”
“Yes, I’ve felt its presence within me,” Diana admitted.
The vegoia cocked an eyebrow. “Interesting. I would not have imagined that your bonds through the forest would have extended to include the palace.”
“It’s not through the forest. It’s through Silvas—I mean, Selvans. This name change is really going to be an adjustment,” Diana said. “I can’t feel him anymore. There’s just a gaping hole where he was in our bond, but it seems that because both Arx and I are bonded to him and carry a piece of him within us, I have this bond with the palace like it’s also a part of me.”
Dorinda set down her cup. “Now that I did not foresee. It means Arx will heed you, and why it tried to protect you without Selvans’ instruction. You shall be the heart of the forest even as Arx is the structure of the axis for our world. He will amplify you, I believe, once you are on the throne by my brother’s side.” Her lips curved. “Blessed changes,” she said with a small chuckle. “It really is a period of change.”
Another rumble sounded above them, followed by a loud scraping sound. Dorinda tensed before backing away toward a dark pool. “It seems that you have company. It is best that I make myself scarce. If Raskyuil is attending, I foresee Selvans following on his heels. Sometimes it is better if we are not in the same space together when it can be avoided. Just remember what I’ve told you. Selvans needs you, but the sword obscures everything except his need to destroy to protect the forest.