News about the war had spread throughout the city and people were getting nervous. It was getting harder for her to hunt with so many humans opting to leave the area rather than getting drafted into the war, and the lack of food was making her moody.
The elixir that Epharis made her worked, but it wasn't the same as a fresh human. She had noted that he had suddenly turned very nice to her. It amused her, though it was not overly surprising.
She had made a deal with herself that she would spend her day training under the obsessively watchful eye of Kai, and the night she would take at least three hours to open one of those little packets and try to deal with the trauma she had endured.
It was hard, but she felt as though it might actually be working. Especially when she had Kai with her, cradling her while she sobbed and screamed, often crying with her.
She was a quick study and within a few days she had learnt how to use a long black bladed sword she had been given. It was simple and elegant, only needing one hand and she could carry two. Within the first week of her return she had taken on Epharis and it had been close, two days later she beat him and had given him a kiss on the cheek. Three days after that, she had taken on Jaia and that was an entirely different story. The man knew exactly what to do and how to attack her at her weakest points, landing blow after blow on her with his wooden sword and she had gotten frustrated and tackled him.
At that point the fight was called off and she had been banished from the field for cheating.
She had been back the next day to train and by the end of the month, they had faced off again and she had scored several times, but still lost to him.
The news about the war was getting dire and the lords had been called to provide soldiers who flooded to the city to help. She was annoyed to learn that so few of them were human.
She watched them from the balcony of Epharis's rooms as he had been trying to convince her to keep up her studies, but she had been more interested in watching the people, and he had been more interested in watching her backside and the back of her dress lifting up to show off a hint of her thighs as the wind blew.
She had drawn a fair bit of attention from the soldiers, who were quite eager for someone to talk to and so she had worked it, leaning on her elbows and grinning at them, the cut of her dress giving them an exceptional view of her full cleavage.
They seemed to rather enjoy looking at her cleavage and it annoyed Epharis, so she liked it even more.
Standing on the balcony, she was watching a tall feline male in bone armour with spots all over his furry body as he sang to her in a voice that could have made angels weep.
She had never seen a beast like him, he had told her he was from the forest and she had wanted to go down there, but she had been stopped. That was a few days earlier and she had decided to sneak out while Epharis was looking for something.
Dressed in her usual leather pants and vest, she watched the feline male as he sang to her, his long tail swaying and she had decided to simply go down there and talk to him.
Due to the risk of men in the city, she was required to carry her swords at all times, along with all of her usual weapons and he saw as she hopped calmly off the balcony and dropped.
The fall wasn't huge and she landed easily, her knees bending and the men around her moved back.
She was taller than most expected, and up close she was rather intimidating in her weaponry and leather.
The feline had stopped singing, his golden eyes on her as she approached him and he smiled.
"Come down here," she said to him and many of the men seemed to lean in, hearing her low voice for the first time and all that it promised.
He leapt from the wall and landed with perfect form beside her, on all fours. She had a particular affinity for cats and he seemed to like her just as much as she liked him. He prowled around her once before standing up on his hind legs.
***
His armour was made entirely out of bone, a large spine running down both of his legs, a loincloth giving him modesty and a belt around his waist. His left arm was covered in a leather guard with a large number of needles and darts, the right having a large skull of some creature she hadn't seen before. His chest was bare, muscled and huge.
He carried an axe and a strange bone talon-like thing that she found interesting. It looked as though it went on his paw, three large spikes coming out of it and feeding down to protect the back of his arm and wrist. It made for a very large set of claws.
Fascinated, she tilted her head to the side and took her turn examining him.
"Who are you?" she asked him calmly, his ear flicking in her direction.
"Jagum of the forest clan," he said, his chin up high in pride.
"Jagum of the forest clan," she said slowly and he tuned to her, his eyes burning as she spoke.
It was odd to see a feline on his back legs like that, his muzzle and large teeth giving him a strange accent that worked well, even more so with singing. She tilted her head and realised that he had pierced his skin with the bone sections, they were attached to his skin and not leather.
"Etani!" Epharis bellowed down at her and she looked up. Many of the men dropped into low bows.
"Go back to bed Epharis," she called and many looks were thrown her way at the casual use of the prince's name.
Epharis looked ready to spit fire and he stalked away from the balcony, no doubt heading down there.
The cat was over seven foot on his hind legs and he looked down at her, pinkish-brown nose twitching.
"You're a predator too," he said and she smiled, his breath catching.
"I'm called a soul eater here."
"Your name is Etani?"
"It is," she was enjoying their game of cat and mouse,
"I recognise it," he said slowly, trying to think.
"Yes, it was just shouted at us."
The cat snorted his amusement and they turned to see the lich stalking towards them, looking livid.
"I am curious to see you in action. I have never seen one of your kind before," she said, ignoring the path the soldiers were making for the prince.
"I would gladly fight any of these men for you."
She grinned at him and he looked wary at her double set of canines.
"No Jagum, you're going to fight me," she breathed.
He looked shocked and she turned on Epharis, giving her new friend time to think.
"Yes, husband?"
Her use of the title had him slowing down warily and Jagum choked as he realised who she was.
"Get inside the castle, now."
"My friend Jagum and I are going to practice," she said and saw Epharis's eyes slide from her to the cat.
"You're going to fight a werecat?" he demanded and she turned slightly to see Jagum.
"Yes," she said simply, looking back at Epharis
"Fine, go fight the beast," he said angrily.
She smiled and turned her back on her angry husband and back to the cat, who was looking nervous.
"Is that wise, Prince Epharis? I don't want to harm your wife."
His eyes found hers and he flinched back from her expression. Her smile had vanished and she was glaring at him with murderous intent in his eyes.
"Yeah, that was a bad thing to say…" Epharis said dryly as he looked down at her.
She had started to walk away and the crowd followed, the cat following after several seconds and then they found the ring.
He reached behind him to drew the axe and slid his paw into the claw contraption. Standing across the field from her, he looked enormous next to her slender frame.
She drew her swords and took a moment to snap a ribbon into place around each wrist, keeping the swords from leaving her hands, and adding a trick she hadn't told anyone about yet.
***
She smiled at the cat and he bared his teeth, letting out a feral roaring scream before he came charging.
She moved like the wind, allowing him to get close before she turned and stepped to the left, her body bending backwards in a graceful arch to avoid the slash with the claw, as she turned she spun both swords and blood spilled.
Standing back to back, she looked down at her swords and the blood, the cat having two long cuts along his ribs.
"You are a beautiful creature Jagum and your voice could make a Goddess weep, but you underestimate people," she said gently as he touched his ribs, neither of them moving for an instant.
"I won't make that mistake again," he purred, realising the challenge he faced. "Who are you really?"
"My name is Princess Etania Daewen of the Winter court of Faerie and royal assassin to Prince Epharis."
"Makes sense…" he breathed and they moved, he swung the axe and she bent forward at the waist, allowing it to swing over her back and miss by a foot.
Turning her sword backwards against her arm, she shoved it back but the cat had moved to avoid it, spinning with reflexes that spoke of his species.
She went on the attack, her movements blurring as she struck again and again, the cat unable to do anything but defend against her with her sheer determination and speed.
Finally he roared and swung and she leapt back, landing on her knuckles and then her feet.
She had scored any number of times on him, leaving him bleeding but he looked exhilarated and the crowd had grown around them.
"You're a tricky little beast," he said happily, his tail whipping behind him.
It seemed as though he had been holding back and he came at her with a speed she hadn't expected, the blows coming thick and fast and she had time to defend against them but little more and finally he struck. His claws raked viciously across the side of her face, one barely missing her eye and the other two leaving the bone exposed.
She staggered back, blood blinding her and she knew Epharis would be coming for her.
The cat had gone rigid, realising he had scarred the face of the princess but she had a wild grin on her face and she dropped her sword, a black ribbon sliding free of her sleeve. Jerking up on the sword, she used the ribbon to spin the sword in a circle.
She was blind in her eye, but she didn't care. The cat looked utterly terrified as she spun the sword and then let it fly.
Deflecting it only barely, she yanked it back to herself and then the game began.
Throwing her swords at him and retrieving them, alternating with frenzied attacks with sword and vicious kicks.
She finally caught him and he went down, both swords coming up and then down to stop directly over his heart, double points just brushing his fur.
She was panting hard, blood dripping from her jaw and ear and she smiled. Stepping over him and bending down, She placed a kiss on the tip of his nose.
Straightening, the giant cat got up and the crowd cheered.
Turning to see Epharis smiling, her eyes found Alaric and he was looking smug at her success.
She allowed Jagum to kiss her hand and she used her sleeve to wipe away the blood, the cat looking shocked to see it had healed almost entirely but she still had no vision. It would return soon enough and she headed for Epharis, who pulled her from the ring and back towards the castle.
Glancing over her shoulder, she found Alaric still watching her, the cat getting slapped on the back and cheered by his fellows.
She had fought a werecat and won, it was a good day for her.