She woke hours later in the arms of a man, but it was not the one she expected to find in bed with her. Versalis was wrapped around her, his warmth doing nothing to stop the violent shivering that racked her body.
Pulling away from him, she gasped for air and looked around. They were in her rooms beside Alaric's, and she hadn't been bound that time, instead there was only Versalis.
She dragged herself from the bed and into the bathroom with only one thought in mind, warmth.
She filled the bath with entirely hot water and still fully dressed, submerged herself in the heat. She was still shivering, even as she huddled beneath the water.
The bath had gone still with how still she had become, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs and her face buried in her knees, a good three inches of water above her bowed head in the deep in-ground bath.
Something disturbed the surface, and she looked up slowly to find Versalis had followed her, looking down at her and she saw he was wearing a red crystal on a black chain around his neck.
She didn't recall his getting it, but it looked good on him.
He was watching her with fascination, never having seen her when she was under water.
Unlike above water where she could be suffocated, when she was in the water, she could go for hours without drowning and she bitterly thought it had something to do with her ancestry.
Lifting her head, her eyes peeked just above the water, sad and broken as they met him.
"Etani, come out of there. You can't hide forever," he spoke tenderly to her, but she only shook her head, not wanting to come out.
She was still cold, the heat of the water doing nothing to warm her.
"Jaia and Kai will want to see you," he said, frowning in concern as she flinched at the name.
Ducking her head back under the water, he stayed there with her until the water cooled enough and then he joined her, boots and all.
Wrapping himself around her, she kept her eyes closed, burying her face in his chest and huddling against him as close as was possible. He helped by pulling her tighter into his lap where they stayed, his need for air having him shifting only slightly when the need arose.
It was some time before the cold water had her shivering and she reluctantly crawled out of the bath, her nightgown and hair sticking to her. Not bothering to get up, she slumped onto the marble floor and stayed there as Versalis got out and dropped down beside her, his face only a few inches from hers.
"Hey, it's going to be okay," he whispered, his hand moving to stroke her cheek as tears formed.
"I killed my friend. I hurt Jaia..." she whimpered.
"Yes, but you saved him," he whispered, his fingers light as he brushed her wet hair out of her face.
Someone had entered the bathroom and sat down, and she ignored them.
"I didn't mean to. I didn't want him to die in the field," she whispered. "I didn't want to hurt him, I just wanted him to be warm and safe in me,"
Versalis was studying her face, confused.
"Etani, you…" he stopped and changed tactics. "You got him safe again, he is safe and warm now because of you,"
"He died because of me," she said, her voice breaking.
"And he lived because of you," he cupped her cheek and pressed a kiss to her forehead, even as she cried quietly.
It was only a short while later when two more people joined them, sitting down with the first person and she could see nothing but Versalis, clinging to him to keep herself from going mad.
They had remained silent on the floor for so long that she had almost dried, her hair being gently combed by him, her eyes barely open as she tried to recall the events leading up to the death of her friend.
"Do you think they will ever forgive me?" she breathed sometime later, barely awake as the cold drove her towards sleep.
"They will, they both love you," Versalis said gently, and his eyes moved past her as she fell asleep.
***
When she woke, she found herself amidst a pile of limbs and hair, most of it black, but it wasn't all hers. Against her back there was someone, his arms wrapped tight around her, a pair of legs was over that person's waist and feet were on her hip, an upper torso on her thighs and using the legs as a pillow. She could hear four sets of breathing but only counted three bodies and the oddity had her eyes opening slowly to see Epharis sitting on the edge of the bed, one leg tucked up under him as he waited for them to wake up.
When he felt her eyes on him, he turned to her and smiled slightly, extending his hand to trace his thumb down over her lips. She parted them slightly, placing a gentle kiss on the thumb before falling back asleep to his soft sigh.
***
It was a loud sound that woke her later, coupled with three bodies jerking and she sat up sharply, head colliding with a shoulder and she squinted in the sudden brightness of morning.
Little had changed in the pile of bodies, except that the legs were now replaced by an entire body and the body belonged to Kai.
She jerked back so violently that he fell and slid between her and Versalis, Jaia falling down with Kai and head-butting him in the stomach.
She shoved herself back from the pile of bodies and suddenly there was no longer a bed behind her, and she fell, her back hitting the floor with a huff.
She blinked up at the ugly green pastel of the ceiling, her lower legs still up on the bed as she contemplated her life and what it was that she had done to deserve it.
The loud sound of armoured boots rounded the side of the bed and the form of Alaric loomed over her as she decided right there on the floor was the perfect place to stay. Versalis' face popped over the side of the bed and he looked down at her, seeing the stubborn set of her jaw then he looked up at Alaric.
"Good luck," the vampire said before he went back and intentionally flopped down on top of the twins, who groaned and tried to shove him off.
Alaric didn't look very much amused by the lot of them.
"Get up, we need to talk," he said to her, refusing to break their eye contact. Given she didn't need to blink, she won the staring contest, and she was allowed to look away.
Pulling her feet off the bed, she sat up and saw the twins, they were watching her.
Her face paled as she met Kai's eyes and her own dropped instantly, unable to look at him.
She didn't fight when Alaric grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, throwing clothes at her and glaring as she held them, not getting changed.
Finally, he turned away and she quickly stripped off her stiff dress and pulled on pants and a vest.
She couldn't bring herself to look at the vampires, instead she kept her eyes on the floor and followed after the king.
"Etani?" Jaia asked, sounding concerned but she didn't respond as the door slammed shut behind her.
Alaric led her out of her suite and then into his.
Feeling eyes on her, she turned to see Epharis sitting calmly in a chair, Anduril resting across his lap.
She watched her husband for a moment before her eyes turned to Alaric when he cleared his throat.
"What was that on the field?" Alaric immediately started and she looked at him blankly. "Well?" the king demanded when she didn't answer.
Turning to Epharis, she found him watching her carefully.
"What do you mean?" she asked when Epharis turned out to be no help.
King Alaric looked as though he would love to slap her, but Epharis cleared his throat.
"Your transformation," Alaric finally said.
"Transformation?" she asked, totally baffled. She didn't remember any such thing, though now that she thought back on it, she didn't recall seeing how Kai had been injured, only that she had to save him.
"You transformed Etani. Into a great creature with black wings and a scythe," Epharis supplied, and she spun to him, shocked by the news.