She woke slowly, looking around in confusion at the warmth of bodies over her that she could only assume was the vampires, though the pressure felt wrong. She realised why after several long minutes and her breath caught. She was missing one person in the pile: Uzo.
She clenched her eyes shut to force the tears down and then frowned, opening first one, and then the other, to realise they were both intact.
Looking down at herself, she found herself to be healed and clean, which was always a nice surprise for her.
Wriggling herself free of the pile of bodies, she pushed herself to her feet and looked down at the bed.
All three vampires, plus Letari, plus Sobek, all piled on her bed in a jumble of limbs. Why their kind was prone to sleep like that, no one seemed to know, but it comforted them all to be piled together.
Shaking her head, she slipped from the room and squinted, her hands immediately jumping to her eyes as sunlight blinded her.
She swore softly, eyes watering as she turned away from the light and rubbed furiously at them to try to ease out the stinging.
"You're up," a soft female voice said. The hand that touched her shoulder was soft, warm and fuzzy. She recognised the voice to be that of Bast, turning her around but she was still unable to really see.
"Yes, I suppose that is to be expected when you have to regrow an eye," Bast said gently and took one of Etani's hands, leading her deeper into the room. Someone else touched her side, drawing her back until the back of her legs found a seat and she sat down.
The scent told her it was Jagum, and her mind immediately went to the way Jagum had been watching the Goddess.
"What have you two been talking about?" she asked slyly, but Bast only laughed.
"There are six of us, darling."
"Oh…" she said and tilted her head, trying to listen to breathing and debating who was likely to be there. One was Epharis, she thought the heaviest breathing might be Alaric but the last two she couldn't guess at.
"Who's here?" she asked finally.
"King Alaric, Hades, Prince Epharis, Jagum, Loki, and myself," Bast said.
"Where's Daemon?"
"Daemon is calming down elsewhere," Epharis growled in a dangerous voice and she turned in his direction, frowning.
"What does that mean?"
"Daemon was asked to leave for a time, he's quite upset," Bast explained, interrupting Epharis' angry start.
There was an awkward silence before Etani reached out and Jagum took her hand, his paw warm and firm under her skin.
"What happened after we got back?" she asked, trying to peek under her hand but the light was agony. Jagum shifted, and he handed her a cloth that had been handed to him, long enough that she could wrap it around her head and free up her hands.
"Daemon recovered the others as the plan had been." Bast said gently. "Your sister and I cleaned out your wounds as there seemed to be quite a lot of iron fragments in them. It seems whatever they used was coated in iron dust to keep the wounds from healing.
Once we had you healing, we put you to bed and Daemon was demanding a meeting take place in order to discuss the events. We thought it best to wait for you to recover before we stormed Winter. But he wants Megara dead and while most of the rest of us agreed, it was decided to wait and see what your opinion was. Technically she is your heir though you have the right to name your own heir apparent and her successor."
That had Etani freezing in place and she lifted her head, the cloth hanging limply between her fingers as she struggled to get it into place.
"I can name my own heirs?" she asked, astonished. She jumped as someone took the cloth from her hands and carefully tied it over her eyes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Hades said gently, his hands lingering on her hair for a moment before he retreated.
"Of course you can. You have no children; therefore, you must name an heir or else the crown will simply go to whomever is next in line, which would be Megara," Loki piped in, his tone amused.
"How do I name them heir, and who should I name?" She was confused, not knowing enough of the Winter Fae to be able to make any choice.
"Right now, we have Megara and Hercia. But if I were to name an heir…" Bast paused, and she could feel their contemplation. "Aurora?" she asked finally.
There was a general murmur of agreement, and she tilted her head.
"So many names ending in 'a'." Etani said.
Bast laughed. "Yes, the Fae do enjoy that particular trait though it is usually only the firstborn. Isn't that right, Etania?"
Etani frowned in her direction. "Why is this Aurora so special?"
"Aurora is the daughter of Asherah. She's a beautiful little thing, and she inherited her mother's wisdom. She would make for an excellent advisor as well," Bast said softly, considering.
"She would at that. I believe Tatialia kept her around for a similar reason," Hades supplied. "She's one of the more intelligent Fae."
There was a general snort of amusement and she turned on him.
"You're one too," He sighed, the eyeroll clear in his voice, even if she couldn't see it.
"In order to make her an heir, you simply need to ask her if she would take on the role of Queen upon your death or abdication. If she agrees then she will become the heir, or if you desire to keep Hercia as next in line you can do that too." Bast explained.
"What is Hercia like as a ruler?"
There was a pause after her question, and she frowned.
"Hercia is as ruthless as Megara is cunning," Bast said tactfully.
Etani nodded slowly, considering. "Then perhaps I should meet with Aurora."
"You will need a second heir. But we can look into that after you speak to Aurora," Loki said. "I will see if I can find her, or would you like to wait?"
"No, get her now if you can. Just in case,"
The 'just in case' was self-evident and Loki left without another word.
It was only a few minutes later when Daemon burst into the room and his eyes found her immediately. She could feel his intent stare and her head moved in his direction automatically, the tension in her chest easing at his presence.
"How are you feeling?" he asked as he approached.
Reaching for him, she accepted his hand, drawing him down to sit beside her. "Better, my eyes still hurt but I don't think there was anything else."
"That Drow is going to pay," Daemon growled.
Alaric shifted his massive bulk. "What Drow?" he asked, his low growl making her shiver.
"Drizdan, he's been hiding out at Megara's side."
"I had wondered where he had run off to. He did that to her?"
"Yes, but he said it was on the orders of Megara."
"It was, she told him to get me to surrender Winter to her," Etani pitched in, silencing the two men for a moment.
"He seemed perfectly happy to see me, though," Daemon said, his arm going around her middle and drawing her closer. His scent was tantalising, and her mouth began to water.
She decided not to elaborate on why Drizdan might be happy, at least not until she was alone with him.
There was a whisper of movement and Daemon turned to see who had arrived, his body going still at the appearance of Loki and the delicate scent of jasmine accompanied him.
"Loki?" Daemon demanded, his grip tightening on her.
"By request of the queen," Loki said with a cackle.
There was the gentle whisper of small feet and fabric, the scent of jasmine growing only marginally stronger as the young woman approached and rounded the couch.
"Your Majesty? What happened to your eyes?" her voice was soft and light, sounding young and sweet.
"I fell into a bush," Etani said, making Daemon snort.
Ignoring the warning growl from Jagum, Etani lifted the cloth off her eyes and frowned, but the bright light was dulled as someone drew the curtains.
Opening her eyes slowly, she looked up at the young woman.
Aurora was pale, with deep pink lips and warm blue eyes. Her white-blonde hair reached to her elbows, and she was dressed in a white fluffy dress that bunched at her waist and stopped midway down her shins. A tall necklace made of cloth and small pearls, large spiral earrings and a large headdress that seemed to be made up of twenty or so golden spikes joined by a myriad of little strings that looked like spider web that glistened. Atop her head was a pale blue cap and more frothy white fabric, all culminating in a large smooth rose quartz that rested between her dark brows.
In all, it looked quite lovely, making her as someone of importance even in the world of Faerie.
"You're Aurora?" Etani asked, examining the pale beauty.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the girl replied with a curtsy of such elegance, that Etani felt like an oaf next to this creature.
Aurora seemed to be unable to look at her directly. Etani glanced at Daemon, who smirked but shook his head at her suspicious stare.
"I have a proposition for you, Aurora," she said finally, deciding not to press Daemon just yet.
"I will do whatever I can."
"I appear to have an issue, and I hear you are just the woman who can assist me in this issue."
Aurora finally looked her in the face and her eyes widened slightly. She looked away again, staring just to the side of Etani's right ear.
"Whatever it is, Your Majesty, I am certain I can assist."
"I should hope so, you see, I am in need of an heir that I can rely on."
Aurora froze, her breathing seeming to stop as she took in what was being asked of her.
"You want me to be the heir to Winter?" she asked, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink that made her all the more beautiful.
"I do," Etani said simply.
"I… yes. It would be an honour."
Etani smiled, and she lifted her hand to Aurora, who looked fearful, but she took it and pressed her lips gently to the pale knuckles.
Etani shivered as a spark of electricity jumped between them and Aurora jerked, shivering in surprise but then their eyes met and Aurora no longer looked away.
Etani lifted a brow, fascinated by the change in her.
"Thank you," Aurora whispered, turning to look around at the others and then realising just who she was standing around.
It was not an ordinary group of Fae and she flushed bright pink again, turning back to Etani.
"Might I be excused? I would like to meet with my mother," she breathed, and Etani nodded, smiling as the young woman practically fled the room.
There was a beat, and then Loki started laughing. "You're going to set that whole place on fire, my girl."
Immediately she turned on Daemon. "Why wouldn't she look at me?" she demanded.
"It's hard to look directly at something so perfect," he said simply.
Etani frowned at him, frustrated by his words. "Don't tease me."
"He's not, it can be difficult for those not used to you to look directly at you. You are by far the most beautiful creature to exist, and your magic enhances that further," Bast said, smiling at her. "Not only that, but you are her Queen, and you are a Goddess, and you saved us all from destruction. I would not be surprised if you were the idol of many a young Fae."
Etani was frozen, squinting at the Goddess in suspicion.
"Goddess of Love and Beauty," Loki chortled and Etani spun on him, horrified.
"Goddess of what?" she snarled, only making him laugh harder.
"You're the Goddess of Love and Beauty."