These days, he stayed out of it. No one took his advice anyway, so it was a waste of breath; everyone seemed determined to learn the hard way. Even Veron had fallen for his human bride, and although they genuinely seemed to love one another, it wouldn’t end well. It never did. He inhaled deeply and shook his head as he entered Central Cavern.
Ah, home. He never tired of looking at it. On the stalactites above, bioluminescent mushrooms lit the realm beneath with a lavender glow, mingled with the radiance of the white glowworms. The shimmering tangle of roza vines had sprawled and thrived since the Rift, their glittering red blooms dotting the stalactites with crimson stars. Nothing in the sky realm could compare to it, although by now he’d explored every bit of it.
The Stone Singers still worked tirelessly to restore the gleaming, mirror-like blackstone outbuildings, where glistening streams fed fields of green sprouts fighting their way out of the fresh cave soil. Deeper into the heart of Nozva Rozkveta, most of the dwellings along Central Cavern’s interwoven pathways had already been stone-sung, and its most precious jewel—the palace—blossomed in black crystal perfection, ringed by the shining teal waterway that tumbled down into the Darkness below.
The black stone paths were empty and quiet today, unlike a couple weeks ago when Veron had married his human princess, Alessandra. Although the violence from the human Brotherhood had dwindled to nearly nothing, the Immortal beasts had begun attacking with unusual fervor.
Was that why Mati wanted to see him, to give him a position with the queendom’s defense? Maybe Vadiha, for once in her life, hadn’t complained about him to their mother. Vadiha had defeated his challenge once, only once, and it had been thousands of years ago now. There had to be some limit to how long her victory could shackle him.
With renewed purpose, he headed for the palace’s black crystal spires, passed the four kuvari at the entrance, and strode down the side corridors to the training grounds.
The vykrikovati shouts echoed—short, loud, and forceful—and he had to fight back a smile. It had been a long time since he’d been among them, alongside Dakkar, but not long enough that his body didn’t remember this. His instructors had made a warrior out of him, out of all the dark-elf children; with every strike, he’d abruptly tensed his abdomen, forcing the shouted breath out to generate as much power as possible. What had been sheer joy as a child had been the terror of the battlefield, as dark-elf legions had struck fear into the hearts of their enemies.
Two glaive-bearing kuvari stood aside as he entered. “Your Highness.”
With catlike grace, Mati sparred with the young novices in her white silken peplos, haloed by her voluminous, jewel-beaded cascades of platinum hair. She held back just enough to check the novices’ skill, and as expected, they were fierce. After all, this motley troop of youngsters represented the future of Nozva Rozkveta.
Mati met a strike with her vjernost bracers, and a smile cracked her diamond-shaped face. The smile met her amber eyes, and then she turned to him. The sparring stopped, and as she stepped away, the novices resumed their training with one another.
He bowed his head to her. “They look strong.”
“They’ll get stronger.” She brushed his arm and, with her bare clawed feet on the black stone, led him alongside the training rings, amid the novices’ vykrikovati and the instructors’ shouted encouragement and orders. “The kuvari have informed me you took part in the battle.”
Tattling it was, after all. Thanks, Vadiha. Mati had said it matter-of-factly, but he knew better than to trust that.
“I did.”
If Mati wanted to make a point, then trouncing him here amid the children would accomplish that, far harsher than he’d earned. As their people’s best warrior, it would be child’s play for her.
“Your ambition is relentless.” She paused to watch another group of novices spar.
He joined her. “I take after my mother.”
An amused flicker of her gleaming amber eyes, and then she returned her attention to the sparring. “We can handle the beasts. We always have. But while there will be humans above us building the library, we must take additional precautions.”
His people had always been skilled fighters; they built their lives around martial prowess. But if more winged creatures like today’s harpies attacked, they couldn’t keep the land above their domain safe from invasion, not entirely. And all it’d take to reignite enmity from the humans would be one human fatality. Darkness forbid it would be Alessandra.
All he wanted was to live up to Mati’s expectations. That meant protecting his—and his people’s—way of life and earning his place as not a hunter but a warrior. If Mati wanted his help in the defense, she’d have it. And then he’d be free tonight to go find Kinga. “I await your orders.”
Her even expression didn’t waver as she continued watching the novices. A pair of girls sparred, then wrestled each other onto the sand while the instructor barked commands at them. “You’re familiar with the unicorn among us.”
How could he not be? He stifled an inward half-laugh. She stood out like a unicorn among dark-elves.
“When we exiled the leader of the Brotherhood, he agreed to go quietly.” She clasped her clawed hands behind her back, her shoulders stiffening. After the battles the humans’ Brotherhood had waged against all the Immortals, no doubt she’d wanted to rip Tarquin Belmonte’s head off his body. Exile, however, had been more palatable to the humans and likelier to lead to a lasting peace, especially when the alliance had been sealed by an Offering and human marriage between his brother Veron and Alessandra. “Part of the terms involved aiding his sister, which we do willingly.”
Belmonte’s sister, a human turned unicorn, was safe here, learning more about her kind from Noc, a fey horse and friend to him and his brothers. The unicorn had saved his brother Veron and had helped stop the war with the Brotherhood, which despite her questionable familial ties, set her apart from the trash Belmonte had led.
“Although she’s learned much in her time here, she needs to learn control of her Change. Our scouts have returned with information about a herd of unicorns near Dun Mozg—probably Gwydion’s—and we must move swiftly. I’m sending a team to take her there to find the unicorn who sired her.”
It wasn’t a long journey through the tunnels; he and Dakkar had traveled it countless times. “Dun Mozg isn’t far.”
“The team will go by land.”
Frowning, he tipped his head up. Roza blooms studded the bioluminescent vines sprawled above, consuming the stalactites and the ceiling. It hadn’t been so long ago that his people had suffered a food shortage, but with the human alliance, they’d come back from it stronger than ever, and that bounty had been shared with Dun Mozg. The neighboring queendom had no compelling reason to cause them harm. And considering Zoran was king-consort, and Dakkar, not just his best friend but a prince of Dun Mozg, had been fostered here, their ties were nigh unbreakable.
He eyed Mati. She didn’t suffer questioning, but if he was to avoid the tunnels, there had to be a reason. It would be better if he knew what he was getting into rather than proceed blindly. And ignorantly.
She sighed. “These beast attacks aren’t random. There’s a leader, assisted by a dark unicorn. These attacks are their strategy to keep us at bay. They’ve joined forces to conquer the humans.”