She woke to sharp slapping on her face and gasped, her body stiff and aching from the cold and she sat upright so fast she almost banged her head against the golden beauty sitting at her side.
"Etani?" the familiar voice asked and she turned, her mind reeling as she tried to recall everything without overloading her brain.
Studying the woman, she was pleased to see that the red-bronze skin had returned, her crimson hair falling in thick waves around her head, and her golden-brown eyes were large and luminous. She was small, full figured but still somehow seeming delicate.
Etani had made that form for herself, but she was very aware that it suited Nayishma perfectly.
"Yish?" she asked and the bronze beauty nodded, grinning widely with sharp little canines that didn't belong to her, but suited well.
Before she knew what she was doing, she had hugged the woman hard and Nayishma was hugging her back just as hard.
"What happened? I was bleeding and then I was warm and in the dark, then I was here and half frozen." Her voice was the same; gentle and warm with a faint hint of a hiss that Etani found endearing.
"You died, I took your soul and then I…" she paused, trying to think of the right word. "I gave you a new body. You were reborn? Resurrected?" She didn't know what the word was there, but it didn't matter. Nayishma looked indignant and shook her head, suddenly looking down at the crimson curls that weren't snakes.
"What?!" She sounded horrified but Etani placed a finger against those full lips to silence her.
"It's not your old body, I had this one just sitting here and when I realised, I came straight here to bring you back. I will make you a new host but I will need your help designing it. I can't do it without you."
Nayishma calmed slightly and nodded, her jaw moving as she felt around the inside of her mouth.
"I have your little kitten teeth," she laughed, looking down at herself and admiring the shape she had.
"What happened to you? You look so different," Nayishma had finally asked, clicking her deep brown nails together experimentally.
They had been shaped like Etani's, but hadn't formed metal.
"Where do I start?" she laughed but then she had to actually think about it. "Well, I am married to Epharis here and Drizdan in Winter, I killed Tatialia the Winter Queen, I am apparently death given form, I have three vampires as my best friends, a demon created my entire family line, there is a lord of Faerie who was my father's friend, we just went to war with your father and Nidhogg the dragon is living in the north with his husband, who I am fairly sure isn't human. My sisters were murdered, Megara has replaced Tatialia but we haven't seen the results of that just yet, the man who killed my sisters is dead and I gave you and Kai life after you both died."
She spoke quickly and Nayishma had begun to laugh around her mention of Harla, and then quickly stopped when she realised Etani was entirely serious.
Nayishma swore, making Etani smirk at such a well-bred lady cursing.
"What is wrong with this kingdom? Is everyone insane? Why is my father at war with Alaric?"
"Everything is wrong with this kingdom, yes they are all insane and your father is at war because he wants Ayathian. But we knocked them down and are just waiting for him to get back on his feet. And we're waiting for Winter to attack again."
"Why is Winter attacking?" She was already starting to sound a little tired.
"I'm the princess, they know about me and they want me back."
Nayishma stared at her, lips slightly parted and then began to laugh again. This time Etani joined in and they hugged again tightly.
In order to keep Nayishma from freezing, she pulled the woman from the cold room and up into the warm sun, stunning Etani with the way her skin seemed to almost glitter and small flecks of gold in her hair reflected the light.
She had never seen such a beautiful, pure creature.
"Oh, I missed the sun," Nayishma said as she held out her hands to it, warming herself like the snake she was.
A delicate cough sounded and they both looked around at no less than three guards who were staring at them, eyes wide and mouths slightly open.
"Are you a Goddess?" the middle guard asked and then flushed bright red, right along with Nayishma.
"No, I'm not," she said, laughing
Etani nudged the woman towards the group and stood back, her eyes watchful of the men and their intentions but it seemed to be just harmless flirting.
It wasn't long before they had to leave, their duties not allowing much in the realm of fraternisation while on duty and they were sad to leave, but duty to the king came first.
"I've never had someone flirt with me before," Nayishma said giddily, her cheeks a rosy pink.
"Is that right? Must have been you hiding under the veil all that time," Etani found Nayishma attractive in any form and found it hard to believe that her having snakes for hair would have dissuaded anyone in their land of reptiles.
"Sometimes I had to wonder if father was forcing them to stay away, but it might have been a combination of the veil and fear of trying to get close to the king's daughter," Nayishma said, smiling warmly.
She was not entirely accustomed to the new form and she wasn't happy with the dress she had been stored in, but they stopped by Etani's rooms in the royal quarters to both give her time to examine herself and pick out something she preferred to wear.
"How long was I out?" Etani asked as she moved behind her friend, carefully combing through the crimson curls and arranging them around to better show off that slender neck and feminine profile.
"Only an hour or so I think. I was getting worried but you were still breathing so I knew you weren't dead," Nayishma turned her head to better examine the fall of her hair. "How do you create these bodies?" she asked, touching the smooth lines of her throat.
"Clay. It takes around a day to create them, but you can make whatever you want so long as you understand the anatomy."
Nayishma blushed and met her eyes in the mirror.
"My anatomy at the moment is like yours?"
"Very similar, I made that host to be somewhat smaller and more agile. It was going to be my escape host but you need it more."
"What happens to this one if you make me a new one?"
"It will crack and fall apart. They don't usually survive a withdrawal, though I have had some success with submerging them in water. Cold wasn't working and I didn't often have access to hot water. I may be able to mess around with the composition to make it stronger, but that means there is a higher risk of it failing while wearing it, and you really don't want to experience that."
"What is it like?" Nayishma asked with a horrified fascination.
"Imagine vomiting so hard you turn yourself inside out, but instead of everything coming out of your mouth it comes out of your chest and every cell in your being hurts for a week."
Nayishma was looking slightly scared. "What happens if I no longer have a host?"
Etani looked at her and friend, studying that beautiful face before wrapping her arms tightly around those small shoulders and resting her cheek against her crimson hair.
"I don't know, but I'm going to make sure you don't have to worry about it."
Nayishma nodded slightly and a knock at her door made her jump.
Leaving Nayishma in the bedroom, she moved to open the door and lifted a brow at the giant form of the king. He took her in with one sweep and then searched the room at the sound of movement. His eyes found Nayishma and they almost popped out of his head.
"What is going on, Etani?" he demanded and pushed past her.
"No, please. Come on in," she said sarcastically, closing the door as the king swept across the room and into the doorway of her bedroom. Nayishma studied him in the mirror, her expression carefully neutral.
"Your majesty. I hear you've been having troubles with my father."
Alaric choked slightly, turning back to Etani with a look of terror and wonder that she was sure was going to get her in trouble later.
***
It didn't take long for her to fill the man in, especially with her being covered in dry clay plus the previously dead princess sitting at her side, looking radiant.
"You can't just bring people back on a whim," Alaric said finally after they had finished talking and he had taken a good five minutes to process the information they had given him.
"You don't control that aspect of my life, Alaric. And I can only bring back those whose souls I currently hold," she said.
"You should have asked first. Think of the implications of that man learning you have the ability to resurrect his dead child,"
"I was thinking of giving a woman a second chance at life, not about your political struggles."
Not entirely true, it had mostly been a selfish need to have her friend back, but that was irrelevant at that moment. "I will not ask your permission, not ever."
He looked like he very much wanted to throttle her, but he restrained himself in light of Nayishma and she knew he had begun to think. She didn't like it when Alaric was thinking.
"Would you like your father to be made aware of your... situation?" Alaric asked.
Nayishma frowned, trying to think.
"There is no way of knowing how he will react. He might see it as a means of stopping any further threat, or he might see it as an excuse to invade to come and get me. He could really go either way depending on his mood, time of day or season," Nayishma said dryly, her tone suggesting she wasn't particularly fond of her father.
"There is option two," Etani said, mind racing as she thought over the implications of their situation.
"What's that?" Alaric asked
"We continue on with the current plan and Nayishma takes the throne." She spoke in a matter of fact tone, her eyes on Alaric's. He studied her for a long moment before turning his eyes on Nayishma. He was thinking hard.
"You were planning to assassinate my father?" She didn't sound particularly upset about that, only mildly curious.
"We were, I was planning to leave tomorrow in fact," Etani replied and their eyes met for a long moment, both women trying to think dispassionately.
"If I were to become Queen, I would not continue on with this war," Nayishma said finally. "Perhaps we could come to some form of agreement?"
Alaric looked like he wanted to kiss her and she smiled, enjoying his lack of repulsion.
"Very well, the plan goes ahead. Nayishma will go with me and we will allow Varsas to announce her being alive. That night his joy will result in his having a heart attack and how very lucky is it that they have their princess back with them," Etani said and stood, their eyes following her. "I'm sure you two can sort it out without me, I need a bath."
With that, she swept from the room and did exactly that.