The encampment was ahead and they began to slow, not wanting to start the war before they had to.
Coming to a stop when the rest did, her breathing came in short pants and she silenced herself, eyes narrowing on the regiment that had come to meet them.
Varsas hadn't changed at all. He was still small, round and angry looking with a large red beard and bushy red hair that made her miss the wonderful Yish all the more.
He looked red in the face at that moment as well as he stomped forward, his regiment following along behind him.
The small group of monsters moved into a neat row behind Alaric as he paced forward, their eyes alert and behind them in a double row of soldiers, the regiment was ready for the fight.
Varsas was looking at the collection of oddities and smiled grimly as he realised he was out of his depth.
His eyes lingered on her and she smiled slightly at him, making him flinch.
"Alaric, quite a collection of oddities you have here," varsas said. A low growl started from somewhere to her right but she couldn't tell who it was.
Alaric didn't respond to the jibe, instead he smiled and gave a small motion, the three rows behind him coming to a stop though he continued ahead several feet more before coming to a stop himself, forcing Varsas to approach to meet him or have to yell.
"Varsas, please kindly tell me why you have invaded my kingdom?" Alaric said, his voice booming.
"Your witch priestess murdered my daughter," varsas snarled and his eyes found her again. "The wrong woman," he added snidely.
"High Priestess Amalee acted on her own. She is dead and long gone."
"You are lying, you will do anything to protect your fanatic women."
Her eyes narrowed and she felt Catherine tensing on her left, angry at the insult.
"Amalee was punished for her actions. There is no need for this war," Alaric said slowly and Varsas laughed.
"Who punished her?" he demanded. All eyes on their side turned to her and she tensed.
Varsas looked at her and gritted his teeth. He had known that already, but he was pushing to try and find a lie, wanting an excuse to try and get control of Ayathian.
She realised then that Varsas had no intention of stopping and she glanced to her right to see Epharis's face was hard as he seemed to come to the same conclusion. Varsas wanted power, not revenge.
Something shoved her and she moved without thinking, darting forward as a twang sounded and she heard her name being yelled.
Launching herself up, she planted her foot against Alaric's shin guard, thrusting her upwards and in a somersault over his head. Her sword seemed to materialise in her hand as it flashed and wood splintered.
Landing back on her feet between Alaric and Varsas, her body turned mostly backward towards Alaric. She levelled the point of the sword at Varsas and a second later, an arrow landed in the grass, cut cleanly in half by her sword. There was utter silence as everyone registered what had happened and Varsas backed away, his attempt failed.
The arrow had been aimed right for Alaric's head. They had tried to assassinate him during peace talks.
She wanted terribly to go after the invading King, but she stayed in front of Alaric, protecting him.
Varsas bared his teeth at her as he melted back into the line of his guard, who were all looking a little less certain.
"This cannot be tolerated Varsas. You have brought this down on yourself," Alaric turned, his cloak whirling around him and he stalked away. She lingered only long enough for Alaric to retreat five steps before she backed away, fury burning through her at the cowardly attempt to win. She couldn't abide by cowards.
With her sword returned to its sheath, she turned only when she was sure the army had set their goal on retreat and she found them watching her, Alaric's eyes unreadable.
"This means war," Alaric said to the group and the tension shot upwards but they had already expected it. "At dawn," he said and they headed back towards Ayathian.
She stuck close by the group as they retreated, angry at the weakness of Varsas and she let it burn in her until they returned to the city.
When the King announced he would hold a rally for the men, she decided not to attend and instead found herself scaling the tower she had hidden in what felt like a lifetime ago.
Sitting down on the roof, she watched the army in the distance.
She heard someone approaching her from below but didn't turn, knowing it would be someone important to her.
Versalis sat down at her side and he sighed gently, grabbing her arm from around her leg and gripping her hand tightly.
"What if everything goes wrong tomorrow and we die?" she asked, finally voicing her fears.
Versalis looked at her and frowned, thinking.
"Etani my love, you would never permit any of us to die. You would never allow that to happen."
She looked at him, frowning slightly.
"Am I really so selfish?" she asked, hurting at the implication.
"No darling, not selfish. Protective. You will do whatever it takes to keep those around you safe and happy."
He kissed her hand and she watched him, searching for any hint that he was lying to protect her feelings.
"I'm scared Versalis," she whispered.
"We all are, baby," he said gently and drew her into his arms.
"Come down and join everyone for drinks, it'll be fun," he purred and she looked up at him with surprise.
"Drinks? You drink?" It seemed odd, but she still allowed him to coax her down from the roof of the tower and down into the basement.
The twins, Epharis, Aelen, Catherine and Uzo were all there and it smelt as though they had already started.
"Etania!" Uzo cried and gave her a hard hug. Versalis grinned and shook his head, moving away as a heavy mug was shoved into her hand.
She sniffed it warily, but Uzo had touched two fingers against the bottom of the mug and tilted it up.
She drank quickly, his determined grin remaining in place as he forced her to drink the whole thing or wear it.
Kai approached nervously as he watched and she felt her cheeks beginning to flush, the alcohol hitting her like a slap.
Uzo was laughing and swept away, enjoying her response.
"Kai..." she said as she took his hands, the room spinning.
"He did that to us too, it hits hard but wears off quickly. It's some concoction he came up with," Kai said pityingly and he caught her when her legs gave out.
She clutched at him, her lips pulled up into a smile.
"Kai..." she repeated, her voice slurring slightly. "I don't really want to go into another war, they're messy," she spoke in a conspiratorial tone, but it was louder than she intended and Jaia swept over.
She tensed at his approach and shifted to keep Kai between them, not wanting to deal again with his rejection.
"Everything is going to be fine," he said coolly and she nodded, struggling to keep her legs under her.
"Yes, yes," she breathed, her eyes on the wall instead of him. His hand was warm on her cheek and she pulled back, his jaw clenching but he looked away.
"You two need to cut this out. We could die tomorrow," Kai snapped and he unceremoniously dumped her into Jaia's arms and stalked off.
She blinked, looking from Kai to Jaia and back again.
Jaia looked like he was going to explode, his neck strained to keep his face away from her.
"Jaia?" she asked, confused at his dislike of her. "What did I do to make you hate me so much?"
He gasped, looking down into her face.
"I don't hate you," he breathed, sounding horrified.
"Then why do you not want to be near me any more?" she asked.
"I…" he broke off as an enormous boom shook the castle and everyone in the room froze, looking up at the dust falling down around them from the ceiling.
"What was that?" Uzo asked, sounding nervous.
"I have no idea," Epharis said and the boom came again.
Jaia's arms tightened around her as she felt him tensing, anxious.
"We need to get upstairs, these rooms might not stand."
The room cleared in record time, Jaia lingering with her.
As the third boom hit, he looked up and then down at her before he gritted his teeth and suddenly kissed her hard. She froze, stunned back into reality by the kiss.
He had never kissed her like that, one of longing and desperation, fear and need.
She met his feeling with her own, her fingers curling around his hair as she drew him down and she lifted herself up onto the balls of her feet.
The kiss was passionate and hungry, his arms gripped her back and finally they parted.
He was breathing hard, his eyes burning with something she couldn't understand.
"If we don't survive this, never forget that I love you," he breathed and she pulled him down into another kiss of fear and need, unable to bring herself to speak those words that stung her. They lingered only a moment before they left the room, unsure if it would stand up to whatever was happening above.
Parting ways at the top of the stairs, she watched as he went after his brother and she approached the window. It had shattered and when she looked out, she found a ginormous boulder had sprouted on the side of the castle just above and to her right.
Stepping out of the window, she looked up and her lips parted as she paced forward, seeing the enormous spidery contraption in the distance.
It drew back and then launched the ball. Turning slowly, her eyes lifted to the heavens as the boulder bigger than a house was launched and came crashing down with a boom that made the world shake.