She said slowly, “I was hoping to talk with Calondir while I was down here.”
Beluviel looked down as she adjusted the position of her fork on the table. She asked, “Might you possibly consider traveling into the Wood for a few days as our guest? I’m sure we would both be honored to have you visit our home.”
The wild creature that lived inside of Pia yelled hell yeah and strained to gallop headlong into the underbrush right then and there. She whacked at it mentally and fought to get in control. “I would be delighted to visit with you in Lirithriel Wood,” she said. “If you think Calondir would be able to take time from his preparations to meet with me.”
Beluviel’s smile was positively conspiratorial. “I believe that he might value greatly the effort you would make to speak with him.”
“If we did this, we would need to do it right away,” Pia said. “I promised Dragos I would stay in the Charleston area for just the week.”
Beluviel’s smile widened. “The Wood does not like machinery, so we must travel in on horseback. Would you be comfortable with that?”
“Certainly,” said Pia, her mind racing. Of all the contingencies she had packed for, she didn’t think to pack for anything like this. Damn. She really would have to go shopping.
“Then we can leave in the morning. Would seven o’clock be too early?”
“That would be fine,” she told Beluviel. Eep, that meant shopping tonight.
Pia could tell Eva didn’t like the direction things had taken, but she ignored the other woman’s wooden expression and stiff posture as Beluviel walked with her through the exquisitely decorated showcase mansion.
When she turned to Beluviel just outside the front doors, the Elven woman hugged her. Touched and warmed by one of the few physical gestures of outright affection she had received from anyone outside of Dragos in months, Pia hugged Beluviel in return.
“I am so glad that you came,” Beluviel said.
“I am too,” she told the other woman. “Not only is it wonderful to meet you, but it’s been especially wonderful to talk with someone who knew and loved my mom. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed her.”
As she turned to walk to the SUVs where the others were waiting, Eva fell into step beside her.
Pia managed to bite back saying anything until they were almost to the vehicles. Then she said telepathically, If you say anything to anyone about what you overheard, I will break every bone in your body.
Eva’s jaw angled out. Princess getting cranky again?
I mean it. She glared at the other woman. That was a private conversation.
Shew, don’t get your fancy knickers in a twist. Captain Psycho opened her dark eyes wide. I know who I work for, and it ain’t you but he be bad. I figure he would want me to keep my mouth shut about your momma. I also figure he won’t like your plans to go on an impromptu camping trip.
They climbed into their SUV. As soon as the doors were shut, Pia said aloud, “What Dragos does or doesn’t like is none of your business either, Eva.”
“It’s my business when it comes to me doing my job,” Eva said, her expression grim.
“What’s going on?” James said.
“Princess going to party in the Wood with the Elves tomorrow morning,” Eva said, her voice turning crisp. “So we get to party with the Elves too.”
“Sa-weet,” said Johnny.
Eva glanced at Johnny sourly as she continued, “Beluviel say that Wood don’t like machinery, and to me that sounds an awful lot like an Other land. That means we pack the guns and pull out the swords tonight. Starting tomorrow, we go on rotation and stay with princess twenty-four/seven, no matter where she go, who she see or what she do. It’s the only way she going to get to talk to the High Lord and since that’s why we came, that’s what we’re going to help her do.”
Angry, Pia had opened her mouth to verbally smack down on Eva, but she held back as she listened.
“She bitch-goddess sexy when she throw down orders like that,” Johnny said to James.
“You can call me bitch for short,” Eva said.
FIVE
Blood sprayed crimson over the sand of the arena.
It was the pegasus’s blood. What was his name again? “Alexander somebody,” murmured Dragos.
“Alexander Elysias,” said Kristoff from behind him.
Dragos stood at the window of the supersuite, arms crossed, as he watched the latest contest. He could see his assistant’s reflection in the glass. Kris had never looked away from his computer screen. Kris probably knew by heart the names of all the four hundred and forty-eight original contestants.
Dragos glanced over the VIP boxes. Virtually every demesne in the United States had some representative in attendance. He noted that Jaggar, the kraken who represented the Wyr on the Elder tribunal, sat with the human witch Councillor, Archer Harrow. Jaggar was a dominant personality. One of the reasons why he and Dragos got along was that the kraken attended to his tribunal duties for the Wyr but otherwise spent most of his time offshore.
The Elven Councillor, Sidhiel, was also present, her pale blonde hair pulled into a classic chignon. Sidhiel was one of the ancient Elves, at least as old as Beluviel and Calondir and perhaps older. She watched the arena, her expression perfectly controlled and composed. She and Dragos loathed each other with the passion of those who remembered old grudges well. No doubt Sidhiel was staying at the Plaza, where the Elven demesne kept a suite. He wondered what she thought of Pia’s trip to Charleston.
He switched his attention back to the combatants. Elysias was limping badly as he turned to face his opponent of the day, one of the harpies. The pegasus was one of the most popular of the contestants, especially with the females. He had a kind of imperious beauty that somehow missed being feminine, and a ready, gleaming smile. His human form was lean and graceful, and his mahogany skin gleamed with sweat under the strong lights.
The gash in his thigh was long and deep, and it bled freely. His footing had slipped in the sand, which was an unfortunate mishap. The harpy had been all too quick to take advantage, and she struck at him hard and fast. The wound heralded the end to their battle. The harpy wouldn’t allow him any time to bind it, nor should she. Either Elysias would have to put the harpy down fast, or the bleeding would do him in.
The harpy wore a sharp, predatory grin. Since the contestants went into the arena without weapons, all they had to use in battle was what nature had given them, and nature had favored the predator Wyr prodigiously. She had shifted into her Wyr form, and her long sharp talons dripped with the pegasus’s blood. Her hair, wings and the short feathers on her powerful legs were a fiery red.
A harpy with a redhead’s temper. Dragos exhaled in a silent snort. Talk about overkill.
Legend said the skies tore when the harpies screamed into existence. He remembered that day well. The legends were correct.
The heavy, rich scent of blood tinged the air. Elysias wasn’t the first to have bled in the arena today. Many had sustained wounds of some sort, although thus far his five sentinels and Pia’s friend Quentin had remained unscathed.
Dragos breathed evenly. The dragon was close to the surface, angered that Pia was gone and constantly roused by the spectators from other demesnes or countries who were neither allies nor friends. It liked the blood and the violence, and it wanted to enter the arena, but it had no true opponent in this place. There would be no satisfactory battle for him to find here; he could only turn the arena into a slaughterhouse.