After the first tense moments, the men seemed to relax very slightly, though any time they found her staring at Sebastian or found him watching her, they tended to get angry and Letari was having none of it. She had threatened him multiple times, and he had smiled at her, amused, and finding her adorable, though he only said it to her once, and then jumped back when Letari tried to claw his eyes out. After that, he only smiled and kept his mouth shut. It was a good tactic to employ, and he was usually quiet, just watching them interact.
She had decided it was best just not to look at him, both because it was less likely to result in violence against the man, and because it meant she could think clearly.
Something about him messed with her brain, and she neither liked it, nor wanted it to stop.
She didn't think it was prudent to tell anyone her thoughts, and it left her feeling oddly secluded when she couldn't even talk to her sister.
Bast was always happy to listen, but she too was wary of the man, and that left her talking quietly to Cat. He was always happy to listen to her, at least.
It turned out she had only been gone for a few weeks this time, and Epharis had been livid. He gave her a pass though, so long as she went with him immediately and she drank the concoction without a word, and kept her eyes down as he pulled her away.
When she had returned the next morning, Dirdos had something for her to drink and it made her violently sick. It had been the point of it, to ensure nothing came of her night with Epharis, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
Vincent hadn't left either, sticking close to her side with his face buried in books and Hunter had practically moved in with everyone else.
They never left her alone. Even when she tried to sneak away to the gardens, someone would always follow her as though by chance, finding her with a few stolen seconds in the garden or trying to hide.
They weren't giving her even a minute alone, and she hated it. At least she hated it most of the time. If it was Vincent, she was quite happy to watch him out of the corner of her eye and keep Cat moving.
The feline was growing up way too fast for her liking and had started to turn into a gangly youth with massive paws, and his eyes had turned golden.
He was by far her favourite creature in existence, and she had no issue telling him that in front of everyone. Dirdos and Uzo were the only ones who didn't take it personally the first time, and she had tacked on Kai at the end when he looked put out.
The rest were left pouting until they had been told she was teasing them. Why they hadn't already believed that was beyond her.
Weeks had passed in quiet, Alaric requesting she get the various menfolk around her to help with other areas of cleaning the castle, and she had laughed evilly and set to work boldly manipulating them all. They didn't care all that much, so long as she was paying attention to them and not silently watching Sebastian.
By the time winter had rolled around, the castle had been flipped upside down and given a rough shake, then refilled with plans and schemes for the war.
She had been dragged off into training and she hated every second of it, annoyed at her lack of magic that they all took full advantage of.
It wasn't like she was weak without magic; in fact, she was fully capable, but they taunted her about it to get her angry and reckless, and then laughed when her anger got her beaten.
In retaliation she had taken to dirty tactics with a vengeance, and they all stopped picking on her, except for Dirdos.
Dirdos had glued himself to her and the sight of them together seemed to at least calm down Letari. She seemed quite content to see him prowling around her sister, and when Etani finally gave in and asked why, she had laughed and refused to say.
It was Dirdos himself who told her why and she had glared at him.
"She wants us to become involved," he had said calmly, ignoring her choking on her drink of elixir "Why?" she demanded after Kai had thumped her back a few times.
"You'll have to ask her," he said, but she was certain he knew the answer.
"Have you been talking about me?" she had demanded, and he smiled.
"More like… I listened while she spoke at top speed," he said, amused by her indignation.
Her eyes turned on her sister, who seemed to feel the glare as she immediately looked up. Their eyes met and then Letari bolted.
Etani was after her in an instant, gleefully glad that she had always been faster than her twin, and she ignored the laughs when she tackled her twin.
Letari shrieked and rolled, but Etani had been prepared for it, rolling her onto her back and sitting on her to get her to stay still.
"Why are you talking about me?" she growled, frustrated.
"To whom?" Letari had asked evasively, but Etani wasn't fooled.
"To anyone. What are you telling them?" she demanded, and Letari looked evasive, but Etani growled in warning. "Why do you think Dirdos needs to be around me?"
"Because he loves you and you want him…" Letari hissed, but Etani only shook her head, teeth bared.
"Ugh, fine, because he's in love with you, and he would be able to make you happy," she growled.
Etani looked up at the dragon, who had been watching in amusement, all eyes on the pair of them.
"Don't be stupid…" she growled back, irritable.
"You're the one who's too stupid to see it. Everyone else knows, they're all like that. They all feel the exact same way. But Dirdos is the best suited."
"Why?" she asked, totally confused by the entire thing, and more curious than she cared to admit.
"Strongest, most powerful. I can read you like a book, E."
Getting off her sister, she watched warily as her twin sat up and they glared at each other.
"My life is not a topic of discussion for you. Do you understand me?" she growled, glaring at her twin.
"My mouth, I'll discuss whatever I like. Especially when it comes to my sister's happiness," Letari said snidely.
"Keep it shut or I'll make it shut."
"Nuh-uh. You wouldn't do that," Letari said, glancing at the group who had started laughing at something. "You really should just pick one of them. It's cruel."
That stung, and she shook her head. "No Lee. I am not picking anyone, not ever." Letari made a sound of protest, but she frowned. "I can't do that with anyone. It's too big of a risk. No man would want a woman he can't take to his bed."
Why she was discussing it then, she didn't know. It bothered her, but she had said so little to an actual person that she felt the need to talk and Letari was her twin, it made sense to talk to her above anyone else.
"Don't you want to be loved?" Letari asked seriously, and Etani jerked back slightly, the question throwing her off.
Did she want to be loved? She didn't know the answer to that, and it bothered her.
"I don't know," she said finally, Letari looking alarmed at the response. "Do I have any right to want that?" She had leant forward slightly, her voice lowered as she asked the question.
"Of course," Letari said, frowning at her twin.
"What if I can't?"
"Can't what?" Letari had leant forward as well, her voice a murmur just as Etani's was.
"What if I can't actually love?"
"You love Kai, don't you? Cat? Me?"
"That's a different kind of love," Etani countered, and Letari frowned, thinking.
"Could always just have sex with them all and see which one is the best if you can't actually love…"
"Don't be crass…"
"What? If he can't please you in bed, then what's the point?"
"I don't need pleasing…" Etani growled.
"Please, you're about as uptight as a virgin priestess in a whorehouse."
"Letari!"
"Think about what it was like with Daemon's magic. That's what it's always supposed to be like."
Etani sighed, frowning at her twin.
"Well… how do you love Kai?" Letari asked, and Etani shrugged.
"Like I love you."
"Why don't you love him like you loved Jaia?"
"I don't know. Why would I love him like that?"
"Have you tried loving him the other way?"
"With Kai?!" she squeaked, her voice loud enough that the vampire in question looked around at them and jerked when he found them both staring at him, their faces close together and curious.
Kai looked away from them and asked Dirdos something, the dragon grinning as he replied, and Kai looked back at them, alarmed.
"Maybe you only see him that way because you think you should," Letari said thoughtfully and Etani frowned, staring hard at the vampire. "What if Jaia died, and you had to put him in a host?"
"I wouldn't," Etani said simply.
"You would let him die?" Letari asked.
"Yes," she said simply, considering the vampire still.
"What if you had to, though?" she pressed and Etani shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't love Jaia."
"You're a dirty liar," Letari snapped, and she tore her eyes from the nervous vampire, glaring at her sister, but her eyes returned thoughtfully to Kai, unsure.
He was getting anxious at her staring and he asked Dirdos something, but the dragon shook his head, watching them just as they watched back.
Others had heard the conversation between Kai and Dirdos, and were looking around just as curious to join in.
"Do you think they know what we're talking about?" she asked warily, and Letari snorted.
"I'm almost certain. They're swarming."
"Don't be mean," Etani scolded.
"Just pick one and the rest will be able to move on."
Looking back to her sister, she frowned.
"You assume I want any of them."
"You do. You just don't know which one would be enough for you," Letari said.
"The last time I tried to love it ended badly," Etani countered.
"So, you think you should not try again, ever?" Letari asked.
"It seems pointless. Can you tell me with complete honesty that it is worth the risk?" she demanded.
"No, but when you find the right one it is."
"How would you know?" Etani asked, and Letari shrugged.
"I know things."
She wasn't wrong. Letari had a particular talent for reading people and their thoughts.
"You got all the good gifts," Etani complained.
"Yes, you just got supernatural beauty and every tasty male in twenty yards chasing you."
"I'd take the shapeshifting and knowledge, and the language over that any day."
"Strength, speed," Letari countered, and Etani frowned at her twin.
"Please, you've never tried to use your strength and speed."
"We should see who is stronger and faster," Letari said with a wicked grin.
"Okay," Etani said slowly, smirking.
"If I win, you have to try and find out if any of them are right for you," she said, and Etani jerked.
"If I win, you have to stop talking about that rubbish. Forever," Etani said, and they shook hands.
She was going to enjoy testing out her sister, to be able to hold nothing back, and Letari seemed to have the same thoughts as they headed back towards the others.
"I don't like the look of that…" Daemon growled, watching the two of them.
"Don't worry, Daemon, you will when I win," Letari grinned, making her frown.
"You're not allowed to tell them anything until after."
"Nope."
Letari darted away before Etani could grab onto her, growling.
"They'll help you win!" she snarled, chasing after her.
"You didn't specify!" Letari sang gleefully. "She has to see if any of you are a suitable mate if I win the fight!"
She stood frozen, glaring after her twin as her tall figure vanished back towards the castle. She turned her glare on the men, all of which were watching her intently, and her face fell.
"I'll get the legs," Daemon growled.
"I've got the arms," Dirdos said.
"Mouth," Hunter said.
They lunged for her and she bolted, shrieking at their laughter as they tried to catch her.
"Kai, go!" Daemon called and Kai was after her, grinning playfully.
She knew they were only messing around with her, but still.
Kai's arms went around her, and they hit the ground hard, his legs wrapping around her thighs and his lips pressing to her cheek while she growled and wiggled to try to get herself free.
The others were on them in an instant, grinning as she fumed at them.
"Should have specified," Daemon said gleefully.
"You assume I'll lose," she growled back at him.
"You assume we'll let you win," Dirdos said.
It wasn't like she could complain about the cheating, she was well known for dirty tactics.
"Even if I lose, I only have to try. It doesn't mean I have to succeed," she growled, and he smirked.
"Good enough for me," the demon said and Dirdos nodded his agreement.
"I hate you all!" she screamed, squirming, but Kai refused to let go and she eventually stopped fighting, glaring from him to the rest of them as they smiled.
"No, you don't," Dirdos said happily.
No, she didn't, but that wasn't the point.
"What do we do to make sure she doesn't win?" Vincent asked slowly, considering her.
"Nothing for now, we'll just see how the fight is leaning first," Daemon said, and she huffed in relief. All she had to do was make it look like she was losing then take her twin out, easy.
Kai was laughing softly against her cheek and she glared at him until he let go and he pulled her to her feet.
Heading back in the direction of the castle, she grumbled softly to herself as her hand slid into Kai's, clinging to him to keep her safe from the others. She could see Dirdos was thinking, and it was never a good thing when the dragon was scheming.