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  Lilith came into the room holding a handful of glistening material in beautiful shades of blue. She caught sight of Stacia in her nightrobe and grinned. “I take it you couldn’t find anything to wear?”

  Stacia grinned back. “Well, it turns out, I didn’t do a very good job packing.” She gestured to the clothing scattered over the large bed covered with thick blankets and animal furs.

  Lilith made a face at the collection of designer business-attire in gray, navy, taupe, and black that had cost more than most people made in an entire year. “Tunics and pantsuits?” Then she laughed. It was a full-bodied laugh that shook her shoulders and brought tears to the corners of her eyes.

  Stacia laughed too. “Yup. Tunic and pantsuits. For me. Can you believe it?”

  Lilith wiped her eyes with her free hand. “Oh, Stace. When I saw you yesterday in your business-attire with your hair up in a tight bun, I almost thought you were making fun of the old me.” Her smile faded. “You know, that’s the only part about you I don’t recognize. You were never one to hide yourself under bland clothes. You love colors and fashion,” she looked up at Stacia’s unadorned face, “and makeup, and jewelry.”

  Stacia sighed. “I still do.” She gestured to herself. “I guess I just stopped loving all that on me.” She eyed the fabric in Lilith’s hand. “But I think I might be getting over that, because I couldn’t bear to put any of those outfits on. What do you have there?”

  Lilith smoothed the silky fabric with her hands. Then she allowed it to flow through her fingers so the length of it slid down towards the cream-colored marble tile floor. When Lilith held it only by the ends of the scarves that formed the top half of the dress, Stacia could see that it was a sapphire-blue version of the beautiful jungle-green gradient dress Lilith wore. The scarves were all that covered the upper body when pulled up from the waist and tied at the nape of the neck, leaving the back, down to the draping waistline, completely bare.

  “I want it!” Stacia’s words came out on a sigh of longing.

  Lilith waved it in front of her. “I thought you might. The darkest color of the gradient matches your eyes perfectly. And it’s made of moonfloss.” She handed it over to Stacia, who took it with gentle hands and held it in front of her. “I had it made for you.” Lilith shrugged when Stacia glanced up in surprise. “When I saw the fabric, you were the first person I thought of.”

  “It’s gorgeous! Thank you.” She ran her fingers along the fabric. It was lighter than silk, and softer, but still had the same sheen. Moonfloss was a very expensive fabric woven from fibers harvested from moonfloss flowers that only opened during the fullest phases of the moon. Most people could only afford a scarf, or a handkerchief of the stuff, as the flowers didn’t grow well in the domes and harvesting them in the jungle was dangerous. People stuck to the more affordable silk harvested from worms in the agricultural domes. “I suppose I have to wear it now.”

  Lilith shrugged. “I don’t want you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with, but you should know that even here in Sanctuary, moonfloss is expensive.” When Stacia looked up, Lilith winked. “Lucky for you, my new job among the umbrose gives me my own money to spend, so I didn’t even have to feel guilty about spending Ranove’s. Not that he doesn’t have plenty to spare.”

  “Help me put it on.”

  Lilith joined Stacia in front of the mirror.

  After she had the dress on, Stacia hardly recognized herself. For some reason, she didn’t look dumpy in the dress. Like her arms, her bared shoulders still had tone to them. The dress draped over the rest of her body in a flattering way, and the scarves covering her breasts only seemed to enhance them. The skirt swirled down to her ankles, flowing against her bare legs when she moved.

  Lilith nodded at Stacia’s reflection. “Dress looks good. Now let’s do something about your hair and makeup.”

  Stacia studied her long blond hair, plaited for sleeping, and her blue eyes surrounded by lashes so pale that they looked almost non-existent. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

  When Lilith was done with Stacia’s makeup, the result was startling.

  “It’s been a while since I bothered with makeup.” It’s been a while since I believed I was worth the effort. She studied her face in the mirror. “I don’t think I’ve ever worn such dramatic makeup on my eyes though.”

  Lilith put away the makeup case she’d plucked from Stacia’s bag. “The focus among the umbrose is the eyes.” She pulled a slip of fabric out of a pocket that had been cleverly sewn within her skirt so that it didn’t mar the line of the dress. “We wear veils in public, and only show our faces to those we’re intimate friends with.” She handed the fabric to Stacia. It was the deepest blue of Stacia’s dress, also moonfloss, and embroidered with beautiful symbols in gold thread along the edges.

  Stacia put it up to her face and looked at herself in the mirror. With her blond hair flowing around her shoulders now in soft waves, and her eyes so exotically made up, she looked like some kind of mystical princess.

  Lilith came up behind her and Stacia saw her smile of approval in the glass. “The veil is a form of armor for a female umbrose. With it on, she can drop her guard and allow her face to show expressions that might otherwise reveal a weakness to her enemies.”

  A frown formed a line between Stacia’s blond brows, darkened by powder. “Do female umbrose have many enemies?”

  Lilith shrugged. “That depends on the female. But the veil is also a means of privacy. The umbrose are used to living together in close quarters, and since they can see in the dark as well as in the light, there’s really no private place to hide. From what Ranove says, the veil was a choice made by the females, to conceal themselves from the prying eyes of those around them. It has become an ingrained tradition now, so umbrose are startled to see women without veils.” She linked her arm through Stacia’s. “Let’s go for that tour I promised you. Unfortunately, we’ll be joined by two of my handmaidens and your two human shadows, but we don’t have to let the extra company dampen our spirits.”

  Chapter 6

  Shivering in the brittle cold, the spawn was close to dying. Wrapping his wings tightly around him to conserve his body heat couldn’t stop the rapid exodus of that meager warmth into the snowy air surrounding him. The ice riming his wings kept him grounded, burning cold on the tough, leathery flesh. Fur-wrapped talons still felt as though they had lost all feeling long ago.

  But the journey had to continue. He had to follow where his vision took him or he would fail his Rite of Passage and not become an adult. At one hundred and twenty-five travels of the world around Father’s Eye, he was not the oldest still in the nest, but younger spawn had succeeded into adulthood. He wanted this. Balfor needed this!

  After an interminable time, he collapsed to the ground, grunting with the impact as his knees struck frozen stone beneath the shallow snow. A dark form appeared before him, materializing out of the wall of white raised by the shrieking rage of the blizzard. From his kneeling position in the frozen drifts, he looked up into his own face. And then he drew his sword.

  *****

  Balfor jerked up out of his bed, a silent scream twisting his mouth. He managed to bring it back to a simple snarl of irritation that his dreams still had such a powerful effect on him. He glared at the shadows that had the sense to remain in the corners of the room since he hadn’t called them forth.

  He hated dreams. They never brought him anything pleasant, only suffering, torment, and endless death. Dreams constantly replayed his worst memories, the ones he tried hard to forget during his waking hours. When he was younger, he’d been able to use simple means to forget: training, fighting, working to build Sanctuary, and searching for his lost brethren, but with age came ennui. Even those simple methods didn’t distract anymore. Then came the concubines, the most beautiful at first, which quickly grew tiresome. Then the most intelligent, who were more interesting for a while. Then the most ambitious, which included she who had nearly destroyed him.
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  He thought about summoning his most recent concubines to attend him, since he’d be getting no more sleep this day. But they already bored him. He hadn’t chosen them because he desired them, but because they needed a protector at the time when he needed someone to bring comfort and a soft, heated touch to a body long tortured by his enemies. The situation had worked for the last two years, but would not work much longer. Their presence could not drive away the voices, even for a few hours of play.

  Since he had the entire morning available when he should have been sleeping, he decided to drop in on the human guests. He’d waited long enough to meet the one called Stacia Dornan. He had even resisted the urge to send the shadows to spy on her and send him her image. It would not be the same as seeing her in person. He wanted to know if she still smelled of moonfloss flowers in bloom under the full moon. Her scent, so faint at the time they’d met, but unmistakably sweet and floral, had reminded him of home and filled him with the desire to survive long enough to see it again, when the temptation to end his own life had been strong.

  He hadn’t wanted any images of her transmitted to him by Lilith’s technology either. When he first laid eyes upon Stacia, it would be in person. He anticipated the surprise, as he had very little to look forward to anymore. He almost feared disappointment. The framework of their first meeting had been brutal, bloody, and violent—a familiar backdrop for him, but not a comforting one. Agony had made them both blind and nearly deaf, but he’d still felt her fingers grasping his for comfort, the warmth of her soft skin as her hand trembled against his palm, the evocative scent that had pulled him from his agonized stupor. Her need called to his strength.

  His memory of that moment left him with expectations about this human that she could not possibly meet since she was an inferior creature. He wasn’t even exactly sure what she meant to him, or why he felt so strongly about seeing her again, but whenever he thought of her, the voices in his head remained silent, offering no advice and no guidance. The Mother also remained silent, placing no expectation upon him. So for that at least, the human meant a certain degree of freedom, something he hadn’t felt in a long time without unleashing his primal.

  The shadows whispered his name as someone summoned him. Balfor growled in irritation when they identified the summoner. “How does he always know when I’m awake? Curse his hide.” Raising his hands, he drew the shadows into him until they filled him and boiled out of his body, flowing around him. Then he closed his eyes and pictured Ranove.

  The umbra world shifted past him as the shadows carried him to the duke. Within moments, he stood in the duke’s study glaring at him.

  Ranove sketched a deep, formal bow, his body tensed, his wings curled protectively around his sides.

  “What do you want that is so important you dare to summon me?” Memory of his bad dreams gave his tone even more bite than the situation warranted.

  To his credit, Ranove did not flinch or show any defensive reaction at the growled demand. He did, however, rush to make his point before Balfor completely lost his patience. “Your Highness, if I may offer some adv—”

  “No.” One word, snapped out like an order that Ranove was honor-bound to obey. Balfor studied Ranove, who didn’t bother to conceal his frustrated snarl. “When I need advice, I will summon you.” His tone was so smooth it was practically purred, a misleading trap which only young umbrose still fell into anymore.

  Ranove knew better, but it wasn’t enough of a threat to silence him. “I have made a study of the humans. I can tell you the best way to inter—”

  “I know all I need to know about humans. This is my kingdom. They will behave as I dictate. They will obey the same rules and laws that apply to my people. They’ve signed all their legal parchments agreeing to my terms while they’re within my city. No doubt they had experts of their own searching for loopholes they will not find.” He sneered. “They believe us primitive, so therefore, think us stupid as well.”

  “Of course, your will is paramount, Your Highness….”

  He crossed his arms and eyed Ranove, awaiting the remainder of his sentence with patience he didn’t feel. The humans were here in the first place because he hadn’t listened to Ranove about the dwindling number of slaves, so despite his annoyance at the other male’s gall in summoning him, he knew he needed to hear what Ranove had to say. Ranove is a better leader. He knew he wasn’t the only one who thought that, but it didn’t matter. The Mother had chosen Balfor before Ranove had even been born. No doubt, upon his death, Ranove would be Her next choice. He pitied the duke for that.

  At his prolonged silence, Ranove was forced to go on. “This negotiation with the humans could lead to many advantages for us. They are aware that we have held human slaves in the past and are wary of our current motives. Perhaps a more diplomatic approach would benefit us.”

  “I will not kill them if they irritate me, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” Balfor was being completely serious, and the look of relief on Ranove’s face, quickly masked, showed that the duke hadn’t taken the promise as a jest.

  “Perhaps a little more yielding than that would be advisable.” Ranove’s tone suggested he had his doubts that Balfor was capable of yielding.

  Balfor’s response would do nothing to challenge those doubts. “I won’t change the laws that my own people are subject to in favor of the humans. They will follow them, or they will suffer the same consequences as any umbrose. That’s my final word on the subject.”

  Ranove bowed again. “As you will it, My Liege.”

  Discussion over as far as he was concerned, Balfor eyed Ranove, noting that he wore a chest plate along with his loincloth and looked ready to head off for combat training. “You’re not going to join the humans and your Lilith for breakfast?”

  Ranove actually shuddered. “I’d sooner you send me off to fight a crystal wyrm than go on a tour with a bunch of humans.”

  Balfor’s smile was mocking. “So this is all it takes to frighten the gray off your hide. And here I thought humans were your hobby.”

  Ranove put both hands up in surrender. “Lilith can handle them. I’d rather avoid their curiosity and constant questions. I’ll be in the wyrm tunnels, so it might take me a while to get back to you if you need to summon me.” There was the slightest bit of teasing in Ranove’s tone, so slight that if Balfor was in no mood for it, he could ignore it and allow Ranove to save face.

  Instead, Balfor laughed, which earned him a surprised look from the duke. “You nervy bastard, why are you hunting those poor wyrms? Based on the way you’re talking to me, you must already have balls as big as any crystal you’ll find in their cavern.”

  Ranove shrugged. “I was thinking of upgrading a size or two. Maybe I can have the agricultural teams build me a cart to wheel them around in.”

  Balfor was still chuckling. “Your human has some strange tastes.” He waved Ranove away with one hand. “You’re dismissed. Good luck on your hunt.”

  *****

  “Harac Zamza?” Stacia repeated Lilith’s pronunciation as closely as she could, but strongly suspected she was still mangling the words.

  Lilith nodded. “Close enough.” She gestured to the building in front of them. Like all the buildings Stacia had seen thus far, it was a terraced spire that stretched up to the cavern ceiling so high overhead that even with the daylight coming in through a few openings in the ceiling it was still difficult to see. The buildings were made of a composite material containing calcite which gave them a smooth, translucent look with the occasional sparkle. The walkways that stretched between them were built of wood harvested from the nearby jungle. “Harac Zamza means Fungus Room.”

  “We’re not going to eat mushrooms here, are we?” Candace asked from just behind Stacia.

  Lilith glanced at her with the same detached friendly look she used with anyone she wasn’t sure she could trust. Stacia smiled beneath her veil. Lilith had already pulled her aside and said she resented Candace’s presence, bec
ause the woman did not hang back and give them space as Lilith’s two handmaidens, Sari and Isara, did. Candace remained very close to Stacia, and tended to dominate the conversation with all her questions about the umbrose, some of which even Stacia would not have felt bold enough to ask.

  Deon shrugged broad shoulders. Sari and Isara both seemed to have taken a liking to him and hovered close to him as he paced Stacia and Candace, keeping a respectful distance, but still watchful and alert to his surroundings. “I don’t mind mushrooms, myself. Except for the poisonous ones.”

  Sari hastened to reassure him in her beautiful, accented voice. “Oh no! We would never serve anything that is poisonous to our guests.”

  Deon glanced at her and smiled. “I apologize for making you believe I was suggesting that.” He patted his flat stomach. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for breakfast.”

  As they walked through the wide, double-doors of the building, carved with fantastic beasts, Lilith answered Candace’s question. “There are many mushrooms on the menu here, but most are safe for a human to eat. Those that aren’t wouldn’t be served to you, even if you asked for them. They offer plenty of other options if you don’t like mushrooms. The variety of foods the umbrose harvest and prepare puts Dome City to shame.”

  The interior of the building was as spacious and open as any high-end hotel lobby in DC, except instead of being made from plastic and metal, every clean, elegant, shining surface was formed of stone or wood, softened by beautifully woven colorful fabrics or furs. “Is this entire building one restaurant?” Stacia asked, looking around her with awe. She’d never seen an eatery so beautiful and welcoming, and she’d been to every top-rated restaurant in Dome City.

  “The restaurant only takes up part of the first floor.” Lilith’s voice sounded both amused and pleased by Stacia’s reaction. “There’re residences and other workplaces above us. Part of this building is a training facility.”