Her eyes opened, and she knew immediately that something was wrong as she swam up for the surface of the water and crawled out onto the shore, gasping as pain shot through her body.
Collapsing onto the hard ground, she rolled onto her back and clenched her jaw to keep from making a sound.
It had never hurt before, but here she was in agony and she didn't understand why.
A scuff had her looking up, the guard stood frozen, unsure on what to do as he looked at her and she looked back at him, her body burning from the inside out and it took her only a moment to realise why. She could feel the magic of Winter and the magic of Ceress battling it out within her, struggling to get control, and she rolled onto her side, heaving but she had nothing in her stomach to expel.
She wanted to scream, but the pain was so intense that her throat refused to function and as the guard inched closer, she reached out and grabbed his ankle, dragging him closer, even as his back hit the ground.
Dragging herself up his body, she met his terrified pale eyes and the urge to kill him was great, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, she couldn't think.
Her nails left deep gouges on his armour and skin, but she focused on ripping his cloak from him and she struggled to get herself to her feet, wrapping it around her.
She had to do something, but what? What could she do if she couldn't speak?
The magic of Ceress was winning, and the magic of Winter was screaming in resentment. She stumbled out of the cave, she looked up to see the sky roiling and her eyes widened as forms were descending from the clouds.
The protectors had come, and that could only mean she was ripping apart Faerie with her magic.
She recognised the man who landed before her, and she reached for him, his face showing his surprise as she fell into his arms. He hadn't expected her not to fight him or try and escape.
Her body clenched, and she knew she was digging her nails into him, but he didn't flinch, instead his arms tightened around her and he motioned for the others to stop as they landed.
"Etania? What are you doing?" he asked gently, and she looked up at him, unable to speak. "You need to stop this now, let go of Faerie."
He seemed to be perfectly calm, but she could feel his tension as she clung to him, silently begging him to help her.
"Kill her," someone said, but Galad shook his head.
He caught her chin with his long fingers and forced her to look up at him, his eyes soft even as lightning struck just outside the city, and people screamed as the boom made the city tremble.
"Just let go of your magic," he said, but she didn't know how. They were warring inside her, and she was screaming, through no sound came out of her mouth. "Let it go or we will have to stop you."
She wanted to scream at him and demand he tell her how to do that, but her voice refused to work, and she felt a hand coming down on her shoulder, the whisper of metal on leather as a sword was unsheathed.
"Release it back into Faerie," he breathed, seemingly unalarmed by the looming threat that was behind her. She tried to listen to him, tried to understand what it was he was saying.
Release it how? She wasn't holding onto any magic, so how was she supposed to release it?
All she could do was shake her head and her muscles cramped, her nails digging into his shoulders. He grunted but kept a tight hold on her, her forehead resting against his chest.
Wind howled around them and the sky lit up with a wave of lightning that should have been impossible.
"Etania, do it now or you will destroy us all," he said urgently, and she felt the point of a blade pressing against her spine, ready to bring her down.
She didn't understand how to release it, and her mind was sluggish, refusing to work properly even as she tried to think the words, trying to piece together a sentence that made sense.
She couldn't remember the word for what she wanted to do, and the blade left her back, the hand tightening on her shoulder as the one behind her readied the blow that would silence her forever.
Her mind screamed in triumph as she remembered the words, and even though she couldn't say the words aloud, the thought was enough to have the warring magics in her freeze in place, stopping to listen to her, and the pain faded enough for her to unclench her jaw.
"Renounce… Ceress…" she gasped; her voice strangled.
The rush of magic out of her was visible in a wave that flattened the grass and cleared the sky in an instant.
Sinking to her knees, Galad sighed in relief as he held her head against his abdomen, his fingers light on her hair.
"Good girl," he breathed, and the hand on her shoulder left her, the scuff announcing the Protector backing away.
Her arms slumped at her side and she felt the odd smugness of Winter as it settled into her, gleeful that she had chosen it. She had to wonder if the magic was not sentient in some way.
She didn't know how long she knelt there, the Protector standing with her, his fingers stroking her hair gently before Daemon slid his way into reality, and he started down the street towards them.
"What happened?" he demanded, a slight motion from Galad had him stopping.
She had been focused inwards, looking at the magic which had taken on the form of a tiny humanoid being, looking up at her with oddly circular eyes that glowed blue in a white body.
She couldn't speak, but she didn't need to speak as the magic seemed to be whispering in her mind. It was telling her things she had only ever suspected, sharing secrets with her, and it was glad she had finally started listening to it, the poor thing having been trying to get her attention for months.
She listened to it, watching warily and half listening to the sounds of the city around her, the scuff of movement as Daemon crept closer, and Galad's slow breathing as he held her, the feeling of his hands gliding over her hair.
Finally, she reached out for the magic and it stretched its arms out to her. She smiled as the magic embraced her as an old friend but when she looked down, it was no longer with her, it had sunk into her and they had joined.
Her eyes opened, and she looked up at Galad, his hand moving from her hair to her cheek.
"There you are," he said gently, and she smiled slightly. The Protector's face went stony at her smile and he shivered. Turning his eyes away from her sharply, he looked at Daemon and the demon moved forward.
"It's best not to look directly at her if you want to keep your wings," the demon said, his arms going around her as hers went around his neck, allowing him to lift her up.
She still stung all over from the magical battle that had gone on through her, but even as they stepped through the portal that took her back to Ayathian, the pain vanished and she changed her opinion, perhaps it was not the residual magic, perhaps it was because she was the Winter Queen in Ceress and that was an invasion.
Her head slumped against Daemon's chest, and she closed her eyes, simply existing in the peace that was not being in pain.
Carrying her silently down the hall, he stepped into the room and there was a whisper of movement as Kai crossed the room and his strong arms went under her, taking her from Daemon.
Looking up, she blinked as she saw a smear of blood just under his ear and she frowned, reaching up to wipe it away.
Looking around, the smell of blood was strong in the room that adjoined Epharis', even the lich was in her room, his head in his hands.
"What happened?" she asked, and everyone looked up, seeming surprised by her appearance.
"You happened," Dirdos said, sweeping past her, and ignoring Daemon's glare.
Kai sat down beside Jaia, who handed her a mug of water.
She accepted it, leaning into Kai's chest as she looked around the room at all the subdued forms.
"How did I happen?"
"Your stranglehold on Faerie had everyone here unable to tap into the magic at all. Everyone started changing back to their natural birth state." Daemon explained.
Her eyes went wide, and she looked around at them all, the vampires and then Epharis, who was trembling slightly.
"I didn't know that would happen. It has never happened before," she said.
"No, but you haven't been to Ceress since accepting the throne of Winter. It had been a non-issue before, then with Winter not wanting to release you to your claim to the throne of Ceress. I assume you abdicated?"
"Yes," she said gently, her hand going to Kai's cheek, and he smiled down at her, seemingly no longer in pain, but he still looked disturbed.
"What were you doing when I arrived?" Daemon asked. "You were kneeling there for ten minutes or more."
"Talking with Winter," she said.
Daemon snorted, his amusement fading when he saw she was serious. "You can't talk to Winter."
"Yes, you can," she retorted, and she slid off Kai's lap, approaching Epharis. He looked up at her, searching her face and she frowned, picking up one of the scraps of cloth from the table.
Dipping it in her water, she knelt down and wiped at the blood on his lip, his eyes locked on her face as she worked.
"No, you can't. It's not something you can talk to, it's magic."
"It's sentient. It's been trying to get the attention of the queens for an eon, but none ever listened to it before." She ignored the spluttering of the demon, lifting Epharis' chin slightly and turning his face to clean away the blood from his ears.
"Should have waited until she got back," Dirdos muttered, watching her with a slightly irritated expression.
Without a word, Letari held up her finger which she had bitten and smeared a line of blood down the side of his face, and he moved forward, dropping down beside Epharis for his turn to get her attention.
The tension broke and Jagum laughed, hugging the crazy woman.
She did her best to ignore the expression on Epharis' face as she worked, tilting his head back and looking along his jaw and around his ears and his nostrils but he was clean.
Looking at Dirdos, he was smirking slightly, and she rolled her eyes as she moved over to him with a fresh cloth.
"You shouldn't encourage him," she scolded Letari as she wiped at the blood away from the dragon's cheek.
His eyes burned as he watched her face, and she lifted his chin, her eyes trailing down along his strong jaw to his ear and her hand lifted, trailing along the skin, though there was nothing to clean away. His breathing froze for an instant at the tease, and she placed two fingers against his jaw and turned his head away to see the other side.
Tilting her head, she found a smear he had missed, and with two swipes it was gone, her eyes lifting to examine the length of his ear before she nodded.
His fingers curled around her wrist and she looked up into his eyes, the heat of them scolding her soul. To distract him, she tapped him on the nose with the cloth and he jerked, the spell of him and his magic broken as she moved away to tip the red water down the drain in the bathroom. The low murmur of voices reaching her as conversation resumed in the main room.
Turning, she looked up and squeaked as she found the tall form of Dirdos in the mirror, and his grin was wicked as he scared her. Turning from the mirror, she threw the cloth at him, but he caught it easily as he paced forward, looking her over in her cloak wrapped around her.
"You are so concerned about everyone else," he said softly as he extended a hand and he tugged the tucked in edge of the cloak free, allowing it to fall free from around her. "That you don't stop to see if you are alright," he finished.
Lifting her chin slightly in defiance of him, he only seemed more amused as his eyes dragged down her form, lingering on key points on her body, but he seemed satisfied that no part of her was injured.
He closed the distance to her, and she expected him to pull her against him but instead his curled his fingers lightly in her hair and as his head came down, he tugged at her hair and her head tilted back to meet his lips.
She hadn't expected the kiss, and yet it was not unwelcome, her body reacting to him every time he came near her. She kissed him back with her mind going to the cave and his groans as she touched him. She leant into the kiss, a dark need inside her wanting terribly to know what it would be like to be under him, even if the thought had her trembling in fear at the same time. Or better yet, to feel him under her.
The thought had that familiar burning starting in her groin and she shivered, his lips leaving her as he looked down at her, smirking before he tapped her nose and left the room.
Blinking after him, it took her several seconds before she realised what he had done, getting her aroused just to walk away as she had done to him, though she hadn't done it intentionally and it took a long moment to change gears in her mind.
Cursing the dragon, she glared at the door and picked herself out a pair of black pants and a long tunic, cursing the lich next as she knew the pants would be just as revealing as they had been last time. The tunic reached below her backside, but she realised it wasn't long enough, as appreciative eyes found her the moment she stepped out of the bathroom and she hoped deeply that no one would notice the desire the dragon had instilled in her.