His eyes met hers and he gave a slight nod.
"In part. I cannot trust you not to try to kill him again while you still have the strength to do it. That, and he is more diplomatic than I."
She nodded slowly and turned away, tilting her head back to rinse the oil out of her hair.
After she was sure all of it had been washed out, she gave herself a few more minutes of soaking before she pulled out the plug and stood.
He stood with her, smiling slightly as he held the towel. He did not offer it, instead, he studied her. Her hair was sticking to her, and she stood dripping, her chin lifted in defiance. She made no effort to cover herself, knowing full well he would only force her hands away if she tried. She did not want him to touch her if she could avoid it.
He offered her the towel, she took it and wrapped it around herself, following her actions of the previous bath and borrowing one of his combs in order to brush her hair. Thankfully it only took a few minutes. She could feel him behind her, close enough that his breath tickled her skin.
"You are so incredibly beautiful," he murmured, her muscles tensing.
It was his touch on her arm that broke the moment and she turned, reaching behind her to grab the razor he used to shave. She slashed it across his face, and he howled. She slipped past him, heading for the door.
He was after her in a second, her exhaustion allowing him to catch up with her. First by the towel and then by the hair. Ripping the towel from her body, he managed to halt her just long enough to shove her forward. She landed hard on the floor; her arms crushed under her and her hair splayed out up above her head.
Dropping to his knees beside her, his hand settled down on her side, feeling along her ribs and down to her hip.
She shuddered at the sensation, remaining still as she considered what she could do. Being chained meant she would be less likely to be able to defend herself.
He settling onto his elbow, his front touching her back, and she could feel his eyes on her as his hand traced back up, coming to rest against her waist.
"Don't worry, Etani, I'm patient enough to wait for marriage," he murmured in her ear, leaning down to gently catch the tip of her ear between his front teeth and lip. He bit gently on the sensitive cartilage.
He gripped her waist firmly, squeezing her, and she could feel his hair tickling the back of her neck, blending with her own.
He traced his way down the length of her ear with one sharp canine until he reached the lobe, nuzzling the side of her face and lifting his nose to her hair, inhaling deeply.
She was repulsed, even more so when he jerked her hips so that her backside was pressed against his groin.
He growled in enjoyment, and she tucked her arms deeper under herself to better protect her chest from his hand when it began to slide up once more. Her attempt to protect herself was wasted as he forced his hand up under her arm. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her breast.
He bit down hard on her earlobe, earning a gasp of shock and pain. He released the lobe and licked away the blood, following along the line of her jaw as far as he could reach.
The drow inched his way down to her neck, his hand lingering on her breast when the door burst open. They both looked up.
"Epharis!" she cried.
The lich stalked into the room. He took in the scene, and the air crackled in his fury.
Stepping past him, two guards entered the room, long and slender swords gripped in their hands.
The drow threw himself away from her and stood, his posture defensive.
The instant Epharis moved away from the door, Drizdan bolted and disappeared into the night. None of the three men made an attempt to go after him, their intent only to scare him off, not harm him.
Etani pushed herself up on shaking arms, and the two guards turned away as it seemed they only just realised she was naked.
Epharis had already seen it, so he did not look away. Instead, he swooped down on her and pulled her to her feet.
He reached down and released the locks of the shackles with a touch of his fingers. His actions were slow and gentle as her skin stuck to the toxic metal, peeling away as he released them. She did not care if it hurt, but he was concerned for her blackened skin.
He wrapped his arms around her protectively, making a silent gesture to the guards who quickly left the room to do whatever it was they had been told to do.
"Hush now, you are going to be all right," he said, running his hand down her hair and settling himself down on the bed to keep her company until she had gotten her breath back. She had not even realised she was gasping.
His eyes trailed down her form and lingered on the red marks on her chest and on her hip, but he said nothing right then.
He bundled her up in his robes, wrapping her in them so no one could see her.
Carrying her as tightly against him as he could, he left the room. "Where?" he asked, his arms tightening around her form and lifting her slightly higher against his chest.
"Not here, Your Highness. The compound is secure. I have found her belongings." One of the guards had a soft, almost low voice. It had a soothing calmness to it that she drew upon in desperation.
"Very well, my brother must have good reason to keep them both alive. For now, we will return to the castle."
She felt him moving again, heading along the path in the direction of the main gates. Peeking out, she could see that there was a very large hole where the gate had once been.
***
"How did you find me?" she asked after they had crossed at least a third of the city.
"I thought you had seen. I had scouts monitoring the compound. I was not permitted to go in until I had seen proof." He spoke quietly with the guards keeping a respectful distance behind them.
"The black shadow?" she asked, her head resting against his chest. It was dark and pleasantly warm; the lich increased his body temperature to comfort her, or shock was making her feel colder.
"Yes, they look a lot like flying cats. But as soon as I saw you, I started preparing. Alaric blocked me again, demanding that I take those two specific guards with me, so we had to wait for dark—that was the only way we would be permitted to go. But conveniently, they had been off on a mission and did not return until this evening. We left immediately after their return." The lich sounded livid, clenching her so hard it hurt but she did not care. "Damned vampires," he snarled under his breath.
"Just in time. They planned to take me to The Underneath and sell me for status and forgiveness."
The lich stopped and looked down at her, wrapped up as though in a cocoon in the darkness of his robes. The guards had stopped as well, remaining back.
Lifting her eyes to meet his, she gave a slight shrug. "I wouldn't be the first princess sold off for political reasons," she said, making the lich grunt in agreement.
"I have to wonder what Alaric's plan was, letting them take you," he said, setting off again.
"Perhaps he plans to start an alliance with the drow. Even if they planned to return to The Underneath, they are still bound to him. They would have been forced back, eventually."
"True, perhaps you are right." He fell silent then, both of them thinking hard.
The events of the evening remained unmentioned, neither wanting to bring it up and neither wanting to have to deal with it.
As they reached the castle, she noticed that Epharis had begun to make a sound very akin to growling as they passed the gates.
"Alaric," the prince said as he mounted the stairs, followed closely by the vampire guards. Even as he stopped, they continued on to come to a stop behind the king, turning to face Epharis.
"Epharis, I hope it all turned out well?" the king said, sounding cheerful.
"Yes, I managed to free her right in time," he said angrily.
"Excellent, I look forward to seeing you both at dinner tomorrow."
Unable to see the king, she was left with the expression of Epharis to gauge the situation, and he looked angrier than she had ever seen him.
"It would be a pleasure," Epharis said coldly, moving past the king.
"Oh, Epharis. Keep a closer eye on your pet fae, we would not want her to fall into the wrong hands. It would speak badly of everyone involved if she were to disappear," the king said.
"Don't rise," she whispered, feeling the arms under her tense.
He stalked inside and headed straight for his own rooms, leaving her on the couch to collect clothing for her to wear.
While he was gone, she made her way into the bathroom and took another bath, trying to wash the smell of the drow from her skin and hair.
***
He came into the room after only a few minutes, dropping onto a small bench and leaning his back against the wall. He had no care for her modesty, and she did not care to be modest in front of him. He was not a man, he was Epharis, the Lich Prince.
"He knew," she said as she used an oil mixed with sand to scrub at her skin.
"Yes, he did. You are right, you were valuable as a political sale." He set her clothes on his knee and watched her as she bathed. His staring while she bathed no longer bothered her, she was not a sexual object to him, simply his property, much like a pet dog.
"What are we going to do?" she asked, picking out her favourite forest scent and using her nails to scrub at her scalp.
"I do not know at this stage. We will have to wait and see what we can learn."
Neither of them seemed happy at that, but they had no other choices.
She rinsed out her hair and soaked in the water while watching him even as he watched her.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
She was about to give a flippant response, only to realise that he was genuinely asking her.
She stopped and considered that.
"I had never thought of myself as a prisoner until then, or as someone that one could trade for a value. Up until I came here, I was my own person, but now I am not a person, I am a commodity that has a high price at auction. What if you cannot find me next time? What if you are too late?" She met his eyes with her own, hating herself for sounding weak.
He gave no response, but she could tell he was thinking hard on the subject.
"I will be fine. I will need to eat soon."
He nodded and stood, leaving the pile of clothes for her. Getting out of the bath, she stopped to look at herself in the mirror. This time she really looked, trying the find what it was about her that had driven the drow to such an action.
Digging past the self-loathing and prejudice, she found that if she looked at herself from the perspective of an outsider, she had a beauty that she had never seen before. She was gaunt, and sickly-looking, yet she had an inhuman perfection and a radiance about her. She truly was the Goddess of beauty and life. She had been called that once before, so long ago.
Shutting that thought down fast, she scowled and allowed the prejudice to return. She was not; she was a black-haired, white-skinned freak.
Turning away from the mirror, she dried herself and dressed in a pair of simple slacks and a dark grey blouse with a stylised corset that did little more than give the appearance of her accepting fashion in that age.
Walking from the bathroom on bare feet, she peeked around the room to find the lich standing at his books. He had clearly been studying for some time.
"Did he force himself on you?" he asked bluntly, his back to her. While he sounded indifferent, she could see the tension in his shoulders.
"No, what you saw was the first time he touched me," she said honestly, heading for the couch and settling onto it, her legs crossed under her.
He made a soft grunt of acceptance and then turned to look at her.
"I had been thinking on your needs when it comes to food, Etani. I believe it is possible that we could fabricate it."
"Fabricate a human soul?" she asked sceptically, watching him.
"Yes, we can fabricate a human soul."
***
Over the days that followed, she told him of the fruits she had eaten while in Ceress, not bothering to hide many of the truths about her people that she had kept hidden for so long.
He asked if it was possible to steal and grow the fruits in the human world, but she told him of their inability to grow in a world with so little magic.
Disappointed, they turned to the work of fabricating a soul, while he also worked on another project that he had forbidden her to see.
She did not care as it gave her time to experiment and learn, all of which provided her more time to recover from what had happened to her in the recent months.
From her calculations, she had been in Ayathian for around four to five months, though she could not be entirely sure. It was an odd thought; it was by far the longest she had ever stayed in one place and she was growing anxious about her sisters. It was not like they could not cope without her, but going that long without a visit from Ceress was unnerving, and she was worried that he would make a move against her sisters.
Her attempts to fabricate a human soul were all failing, one by one, and she could not understand why. She had followed his notes to the letter, and still, nothing was going right for her. It was infuriating.
Throwing down the gloves, she ran her hands through her hair and looked up at the Lich. He seemed quite happy that she was unsuccessful, pushing her to try again and again, but she was convinced that it was impossible to do. He, however, kept telling her she had simply done it wrong and needed to try again.
It had been days since he took her from the compound and any attempt she made to try to stop was met with his insistence that she just was not trying hard enough.
Her demand that he do it himself, if he was so sure it could work, was ignored. Repeatedly.
Glaring at him while he picked out several items from the storage cupboard, he hummed softly to himself.
"I can feel you glaring. If you are glaring, then you're not working," he said after a moment.
"This is not working. I've made it at least ten times and it's not working," she snapped, infuriated at him and at herself. It should not be so hard to make. It was not wrong, she knew it was not wrong.
"You must be doing it wrong then," he said for the hundredth time.
She seriously considered throwing something at him, but she knew she would only be cleaning up the mess and remaking all the damaged stock if she missed him.
"It's not wrong," she hissed back at him.
"Is that a tone I detect?" he asked in a perfectly reasonable voice.
"No," she snapped.
"I think it is. I do not like it." He was talking to her like she was a child and she clenched her jaw. He was younger than her, he had no right talking to her like that. But telling him that was not the smartest idea, so she kept her mouth shut, and just glared at him.
"Stop glaring," he said after a few more minutes.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you helping me?" she demanded.
"I am working, which is what you should be doing."
"It's not working, it's not!" she cried, "I have followed your instructions over and over again and it doesn't work."
"Do it again." he said and she could tell he was getting angry at her now.
"I've done it repeatedly!"
"Do it again!" he yelled back, turning on her.
She shook her head and stalked from the room. She knew it was not going to work, she was not going to try, and fail, to make the stupid thing again. She was going to go out into the city and find herself some food.
Something pricked her neck, and she jerked slightly, the world giving a sudden, violent lurch. She staggered, feeling nauseatingly like she was trapped in a boat in the middle of a storm.
"What…" she gasped, resisting the urge to vomit all over the carpet.
Turning slightly, she saw a syringe with an odd yellow-brown liquid inside. Blinking hard, she followed the hand holding it up to him and it took a moment to process what she was seeing.
"Epharis?" she asked, not understanding why he would have stuck a needle in her.
"I'm sorry Etani, this is our only choice." He sounded regretful, and he caught her before she could hit the ground when her legs gave out.
Cradling her gently, he laid her out on the couch, and turned away.
"This is the only way I can keep you safe," he whispered, as he collected supplies. She watched as first one, then four, and then two, and then six of him started moving around the room, picking up items and setting them down in a neat pile.
Squinting, she frowned as the two Lich picked up an amulet, she was sure she had seen it somewhere before, but she could not put a name to the thing. Then her consciousness faded to black.