Moonshadow (28 page)

“What are you talking about?” Diana asked, looking up at Darien with questioning eyes.

He held out his hand down to her. “My lady, would you do me the great honor of accompanying me to a ball?”

Diana took his hand and he lifted her up off the ground.

“It would be my pleasure?” she replied, wondering where on earth this situation would take her.

Chapter 14

Woe to you, O murdering priests of Rome

With your crooked rods and fine chains of gold.

You who are but white-washed tombs filled with death.

You shed blood in the name of the divine,

And for that most blasphemous of evils,

The White Wraith, will bring God’s justice upon you.

As Diana sat in the back seat of the Rolls, staring at the wisps of gray clouds swirling in the morning sky, she wondered if it was going to snow again. The thin layer of white powder covering the flat empty fields was already melting and would be gone by the afternoon.

After another barn passed them by along the highway, Diana couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are we there yet?” she groaned. “We’ve been driving for over an hour and the largest sign of civilization was that random outlet mall a few miles back.”

Darien laughed at her plight. “I’d worry less about civilization and more about digesting that book you’ve barely glanced at.”

For a moment, Diana’s gaze fell to the book entitled
Vanicar for Humans
sitting on her lap. She almost nodded off again just looking at it.

“Is this really the only grammar you have in English? It’s boring and pretty offensive.”

Darien shrugged but looked apologetic. “It was written for the newly enthralled, what did you expect?”

“To
not
be treated like a moron,” she replied, the notion obvious. She read a passage out loud. “‘A pronoun—in case you are unaware of your own language’s terms—describes a noun.’
Really
? I never knew that.”

“Bear with it,” Darien replied. “I have no doubt that in a few days you’ll have mastered our language as you have Akkadian; it’s much simpler.”

“I’m just so bored,” Diana said, exasperated. “Where are we going again?”

Darien just smiled and shook his head. “The sharifon stables for this region.”

“And what exactly is a sharifon again,” she asked with a guilty cringe, knowing Darien would be annoyed that she hadn’t remembered.

“Does your mind not register anything I tell you?” His playful demeanor was a front for the irritation that Diana could feel underneath.

“Well, you do tell me a lot of things, you know,” she replied in defense. “Half the time, I feel like I should be taking notes in order to keep everything straight. So, my dear professor, you must forgive me the transgression of not entirely remembering what a
sharifon
is.”

“Your cute attempt at sarcasm is noted,” Darien replied with smirk. “Your inequity is forgiven this time. Sharifons are kept as mounts and beasts of burden.”

“Oh right, the griffon things created during the ancient wars—got it,” Diana interjected upon realization.

“Exactly,” he said with smile. “We’ll be traveling by sharifon coach to the port city of Lay’Volas. From there, we’ll book passage to what your people call the Old World.”

“Where is Lay’Volas?” Diana asked. “Do I know of it by a human name?”

He shook his head. “It’s an island hidden by magic in the middle of a large lake to the north.”

“How long will it take us to get there?” Being quite bored and having no desire to read the offensive elvish grammar, Diana was full of questions.

“By coach it should take us a few hours—if the weather permits.”

Diana sighed and returned her gaze back to the desolate farmland rolling by.

It had been over a month since Diana’s enthrallment, and even with her new permanent jewelry, life had changed very little. To be safe, she and Darien had been spending less time together, and quite frankly, Diana had been enjoying her respite from the elves, the Chalice, and her complicated romance.
A nice Thanksgiving break in Indiana, followed by a couple weeks of term papers and final exams, had kept Diana steadily occupied.

When she did have a free moment to spare, Diana went to the library and studied Flinders’ tome of Grail lore. More often than not, though, she’d pass over Foxwell’s more philosophical sections and just read
The White Wraith.
When Darien first read it he’d marveled at the accuracy of Charlotte’s account—in spite of her many uses of artistic license—and couldn’t believe it had escaped the eyes of the Watchers for decades. Since that particular revelation, Diana had read over her aunt’s lengthy poem several more times, and now, she could almost recite it by heart. Regardless, she still had no clue as to where the Chalice of the Moon could be hidden.

Darien seemed fairly certain they would find the answers over the course of their journey—which had been filling Diana with excited anticipation for weeks. Getting to wear a fancy gown at a prestigious society ball would be a dream come true, though Diana had no idea what to expect since she hadn’t been able
to ask Darien much about it. He’d been less than forthcoming with the answers to her initial questions, so she’d been biding her time. He seemed nervous.

Whatever might happen on their journey, she hoped they would be back before Christmas. Diana had taken her last exam earlier that morning and was now officially on Winter Break. Her parents probably weren’t too happy about her sudden “holiday with friends,” but they could wait a bit longer to see her. She’d just been home for Thanksgiving, after all. How could Diana possibly pass up the opportunity to go to England, visit the ruins of an ancient elven kingdom,
and
go to a fancy ball—all in the span of a couple weeks?

Diana continued to gaze on the white snow and smiled as it glistened from the sun shining through a break in the clouds. She began to nervously twist the thrall ring around her wrist—her apparent invitation to the ball.

“Tell me a little bit more about this fancy party we’re going to,” Diana politely demanded, hoping Darien would finally divulge some information.

Though he seemed slightly irritated at Diana’s refusal to study, Darien smiled warmly and settled in for another series of questions. “What would you like to know?”

“How about what it actually
is
, for a start,” she replied with a sideways smirk. “I’d like to know what I’m getting myself into.”

“We’re going to the annual feast of
Zen’Naphalia
—the Night of the Fallen—our holiday that marks the beginning of winter. On the night of the Solstice, we mourn the loss of the Mother’s peace and honor the Fallen with feasting and revelry.”

“So it’s a swanky Christmas party,” Diana said with an amused grin.

Darien reacted with a charmed, yet disapproving, smirk. “I suppose—if that Christmas party was being held at the Vatican, and had every lord and monarch of the world in attendance.”

Diana felt a large amount of saliva forming on her tongue and instinctively gulped as her nervousness reached a new height hitherto unknown in her eighteen years.
It’s the freaking Embassy Ball—I’m so not ready for this.

“How are we supposed to sneak into an event like that, uninvited?” she asked, astounded. Diana couldn’t even imagine the repercussions for such a social infraction.

“I never said we weren’t invited,” Darien replied sheepishly as a bit of red appeared in his pale cheeks. Diana silently arched her brow in confusion and Darien cleared his throat before continuing. “As Archon of clan Stoneheart, I have an outstanding annual invitation.”

“You’re a
lord
?” Diana asked with disbelief that quickly faded as she recalled their first few encounters. “I’m not really all that surprised, actually.” She playfully narrowed her eyes with a furrowed brow. “Why did you keep that from me?”

“Because it doesn’t matter,” Darien replied and then turned his gaze out the window. “Not to me at least. I never wanted the responsibility.”

When she began to feel the deep wound in Darien’s heart pulsing with remembered sorrow, Diana didn’t need to ask what his words meant. The mantle of Archon had been thrust upon the young Endymion Stoneheart when his father was taken from him.

Diana decided to steer the conversation back to the present. “I’m a bit surprised humans are allowed to attend such an important event. Are you sure they’re going to let me through the door?”

Darien returned his attention to her with a reassuring smile. “It’s very common for Naphalei aristocracy to have thrall companions, even at galas and affairs of state.” Though he seemed fairly confident, Diana’s nerves were less than eased.

“Well then,” she said with a playful grin and polite bow of the head. “I am greatly honored by your gracious invitation, my Lord Stoneheart.”

Diana felt the car begin to slow as Maurice exited the freeway and Darien smiled with satisfaction. “We’re almost to the stables.”

After several more minutes of barren farmland, narrow, winding, back roads, and a guarded check-point or two, they began driving through very secluded park land and Diana felt very much like she was being escorted to a top secret government facility.

When the trees of the dense forest that surrounded the road suddenly disappeared to give way to flat open fields, Diana gazed on in wonder but it was quickly overshadowed by a realization—she hadn’t felt the shock of the barrier.

“Why didn’t I feel the magic of the barrier?” she asked Darien, confused.

“Your thrall-ring,” Darien quickly replied. “They allow humans to pass through without any adverse effects. Otherwise, Maurice would have been knocked out and the car would likely be wrapped around a tree.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Diana said sarcastically.

Looking back out the window, she saw a few small buildings in the distance. A large sand-colored pillared building, with a roof of red ceramic tiles, stood in the center with two smaller buildings of a similar design standing to either side. With the tall pointed trees lining the road to the complex, the site reminded Diana of an Italian villa built during the Renaissance. The building to right was enclosed and shaped like a pointed barn, with very tall, large, wooden doors shutting the entrance, while the U-shaped building to the left was much more open, with windows lined across the sides, and a small square pool in the center.

As they drew near, Diana could see several men and women, both human and Naphalei, in and around the complex. Many looked to be performing duties, such as architectural maintenance or fence mending, while others seemed to be leisurely enjoying each other’s company. In a fenced-in area to the side of the barn-shaped building, Diana saw a man and a woman riding horses together through a series of hurdles and her mind was flooded with memories of a summer outing to a ranch a few years ago. In spite of the magical beings in the area, the place seemed rather normal to Diana.

Once Maurice parked outside the front of the main building, Diana quickly stepped out with a gratifying stretch, happy to finally be out of the back seat of the car. While the antique Rolls was an exquisite sight to behold, it certainly didn’t have adequate leg room.

Diana could see several signs displayed around the entrance of the building, but as they were written in elvish—and not bilingual—she had no idea what they said. She assumed something to the effect of “Welcome” and some travel information.

“Here you are, Miss Diana,” Maurice said from behind as he handed Diana her blue and white striped travel bag.

“Thank you, Maurice,” she said. As she took the bag in hand, Diana couldn’t help but feel she hadn’t packed enough. Darien had assured her that she wouldn’t need much, since her human clothes and devices would be of little use, so she had just packed a few clothes to wear around human towns and her toiletries.

When Diana looked up to see Maurice unloading Darien’s large trunk from atop the luggage rack of the car, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“I can see which one of us packed more like a woman,” she teased as Darien came to stand beside her.

“I packed light, I’ll have you know,” he replied with a smug smirk. “I once knew an Archon’s daughter who chartered an entire coach just for her dresses.” His gaze shifted to the trunk. “I wasn’t quite sure what to bring with me; I haven’t been to Qir’Aflonas for the
Zen’Naphalia
in over a century.”

“Was that Archon’s daughter named Miraena Swiftriver?” Diana asked with a sideways grin, remembering her elven friend’s large closet full of dresses.

“I’m afraid not,” Darien said through a chuckle. “Though I’m sure Miraena can fill a coach just as well as Tylvanna.”

Darien turned to inspect the large board of writing that Diana couldn’t read. “We arrived just in time,” he said with a smile as he took her hand. “We will be departing very shortly.”

“Can I use the restroom?” Diana asked. She wasn’t sure how long they’d be traveling and didn’t know when she’d have another opportunity.

“Oh yes, of course,” he replied, a bit embarrassed. “The refreshment station is inside and to the left.”

“I’ll never get used to that,” Diana said, shaking her head at how strange the elven name for the restroom sounded. It sounded like a snack bar, and in the minds of most humans, bathrooms and food don’t typical mix well together.