When she woke, she was feeling remarkably better, and she stretched, her shoulders and back popping loudly.
Malik looked up and smiled slightly, but as the sheet fell down, his smile faded and she tilted her head, looking down and squinting at the thinness of her body.
"You looked… healthier yesterday," he said while she swept the room with her eyes in search of the elixir.
"Where's the skin?" she demanded, pulling herself forward as far as she could with the restraints.
"We have it tucked away. Why?" he asked warily.
"I need it," she said, searching the room. It didn't appear to be in there and when she couldn't find it, she turned her glare on him.
"What for?" he asked curiously.
"None of your business, where is it?"
"I'm not going to give it to you until you start talking."
"Don't make me kill you…"
"You can't, you're bound."
Her eyes narrowed at him and then she looked at her right shackle, then the left. Without a word she twisted and grabbed the large decorative ball that had a second shackle around it.
The wood splintered with a loud crack and she turned, lobbing the ball at him. She didn't want to kill him and had aimed a good foot above his head. He ducked as she expected he would, and she stood, ripping off the second ball and as the door burst open, she pelted it at them.
They dove out of the way and she stalked from the cabin, her eyes scanning the deck.
She had to suppose it wasn't often one saw a half-naked Fae walking out onto the deck of their ship in full shackles, but she didn't have time to enjoy their shock.
"Where's the skin, Malik?" she called, almost sensing him behind her, though it was the sound of his boots that gave him away.
Turning to look at him, she blinked as she found the weapon pointed at her. Before Vincent, she had never seen one before and now she had seen three and Daemon had hidden hers.
"That's not very fair," she said, eyeing the crossbow.
"Sit down and put your hands on your head," he said calmly.
She lifted her eyes to take in the layout of the ship and then back down to him, crossing her arms and studying him warily.
"Put down the bow, give me my skin, and I won't hurt any of you," she countered, frustrated by the total lack of land anywhere on the horizon. She was in the middle of the ocean and hated it.
"Sit down!" he bellowed, and she frowned, his nice guy act falling away.
Lifting her hand, she scratched at her jaw for a moment and then sighed.
Dropping her hands, she curled her fingers around the iron chains, and ignored the sizzling sound as she lifted them up. One flick and they were spinning in wide circled at her side.
Stepping forward, she spun and flung out the chain, catching the crossbow around the point and with a jerk, the bow was sent flying, the bolt thunking into a wall.
Following the spin, the second chain went flying, and she jerked him forward as it curled around his throat. She smiled as she pulled him up against her, the warmth of him setting her heart to racing with hunger.
"Where is the skin?" she whispered, his face turning red as she held him up just so that he was on the balls of his feet.
"This one?" someone said, and she turned slightly, pulling Malik tighter but allowing her to see Lucas, the Mage.
"That's the one," she said, holding out her hand for it.
Lucas moved slowly forward, and he held it out but before she could grab it, pain ripped up her arm and she screamed, a bolt quivering in her forearm.
"Why would you do that?" she cried, letting go of Malik and snatching at the skin but Lucas had jumped back, grinning. "This is why you never trust humans!" she snarled, yelping as the chain was yanked and she staggered backwards.
Turning back to Malik, she glared at him and his hand wrapped around the chain, another man holding him from behind as they tried to drag her forward.
"Let go!" she snarled, pulling back against the two men and it was their turn to stagger forward.
Growling in anger at them all, she ripped the bolt free of her arm and threw it at them, turning it into a dart. Malik ducked, and it hit the chest of the man behind him, but she didn't think it would do much more than annoy him.
If she was stronger, she would have launched them both into the ocean but she was exhausted and her legs were trembling in the effort to keep her upright.
Yanking hard on the chain, the two men staggered forward two steps, and she turned to look at Lucas, his nose wrinkled as he sniffed the elixir.
"Give it here!" she growled, dragging the two men forward as she stained to get to the Mage.
She froze as he held the skin out over the edge of the ship, her expression telling him everything he needed to know. She needed it desperately and they could use it against her.
"Calmly sit down," he ordered, and she glared, furious at him.
When a small trickle of the crimson liquid was tipped out into the ocean, she took a step back and sat down, but she refused to be calm. She was going to kill him just as soon as she got the chance.
"Good…" Malik growled, coming forward and wrapping the chain tightly around her middle.
Hissing in pain. She tried to jerk away from him, but she couldn't move, and he was fascinated by the way the iron burnt her skin like a hot iron. Lucas came forward, and she growled as he uncapped the skin, but he was offering it to her.
She leant forward, drinking greedily, but sparingly from it, licking her chin free of a drop and sitting back on her heels.
He watched her closely, they all did, and there was no hiding the flush of colour that filled her, the life that flooded into her and the way her body filled out before their eyes.
"Interesting concoction you have here," he said thoughtfully, and she shrugged, tilting her head to try to pull her hair free of the chain. "Arcane magic?"
"Something like that," she said moodily, her skin no longer sizzling, but it still hurt terribly, and she could still smell the burning.
"I think it's off to the cell for you…" Malik said, angry at her.
"Oh goody…" she muttered, rising to her feet with their help. Lucas turned away, and she stared after him. "Hey, don't you touch that!" she growled, but he ignored her, waving a slight farewell as she was dragged, struggling, by four of the sailors.
The cell was small and lined with iron, immediately making her feel queasy but there was nothing she could do about that.
The three men left, and she looked at Malik, the only man to stick around.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
She didn't reply, only glared at him, looking around her cell and sitting down on the wooden bed that was hanging from the wall. "Tell me. You're a stowaway, I have every right to throw you overboard with that skin."
"Could you not? I don't like sharks…"
Her flippant response seemed to annoy him, and she smiled, enjoying his suffering at her hands.
"Remove the chains and I'll give you one answer."
"All of my questions," he growled, but she shook her head.
"Two,"
"All!"
"Don't you know how to barter with the Fae?" she sighed, irritated with him.
He seemed surprised by that and he squinted at her, considering.
"Ten questions for your chains off, then ten more for every drink from the skin."
"Deal." She wasn't going to tell him that she only needed to drink every few days. "How long until we arrive?"
"A few days, depending on weather. Come over here."
Standing, she approached the door, and he stuck his arms inside, tugging the chain free and then unwinding it from around her. The shackles were released, and she stepped back, looking down at the burns and frowned at how prominent her ribs were. She was going to need to eat more if she was going to last.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Etani," she replied calmly, tugging at the skin that was already beginning to heal.
"Etani? I know that name... something to do with the royal family," he looked at her, but she wasn't giving him any free information.
"What do you have to do with the royals?" he asked when she didn't reply.
"Epharis is my husband, and I am his personal assassin. Alaric is my brother-in-law."
He took a step back, his eyes huge and face white as the realisation hit him.
"I tried to shoot the Princess of Ayathian?"
"I won't tell anyone if you don't," she said, amused by his panic.
"What are you doing on my ship?"
"Running,"
"From whom?"
"Everyone."
"Why?"
"Because I am a threat to them."
"You're a threat to the lich?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I'm dangerous, Malik."
"We caught you, you can't be that dangerous…"
Etani simply shrugged, sitting back down on the bed.
"Did you let us catch you?"
"No, I'm tired and weak."
He looked indignant. "That was weak... What's in the skin?"
"An elixir Epharis makes for me so I can survive without consuming humans," she said, and his eyes almost bulged out of his head.
"You eat humans?"
"Yes," she grinned, amused that he had run out of questions.
"You mentioned Hades, how do you know him?"
"You're out of questions, Malik," she laughed at his confusion, leaning back on her hands.
"That wasn't ten," he demanded.
Lifting her hand between them, she lifted one finger with each count.
"Who are you, what do you have to do with the royals, what are you doing on my ship, who are you running from, why are you running, are you dangerous to the lich, how are you dangerous, did you let us catch you, what is in the skin, and do you eat humans. You should be more careful next time."
He was indignant at the lost opportunity, but she was glad she didn't have to answer the last question.
"When do you need more of that elixir?" he demanded.
"A few days, I'll give you that one for free."
He huffed and with her laughter following him, he stalked away.
***
He left her alone until she was brought more of the skin and she was able to drink again, groaning softly at the taste of it flooding through her. It was wonderful, even if the taste of it wasn't that great. She was going to have to figure something out very soon, she only had six months' worth, less since the bastard mage wasted some.
"How long have we been on the water?" she asked, wiping her mouth and licking her palm as not to waste a drop. They weren't stupid men, and she looked at the mug, wanting the rest of it very badly but she handed it back, watching him pour it back into the skin and tap the mug on the mouth to ensure it was all out.
"Fifteen days," Malik said.
She nodded, her head aching with the constant supply of iron around her. Backing away from the door, she sat down on the bed and studied the bands on her wrist, waiting for him to start up on his questions.
"Why exactly are you so weak?" he asked after several long minutes of watching her.
"I'm starving. I cannot feed as I normally would, and that elixir is the only thing keeping me alive."
"Why can you not feed?"
Lifting up her arm, she showed him the gold band on her skin. "I was bound, and my magic was trapped inside me. If not, I wouldn't have ever come onto your ship."
"Why did they bind you?"
"I'm dangerous, and it was decided that binding me was the best way to contain me."
"Who bound you?" He sounded fascinated, and she frowned, rolling her head to the side to look at him.
"I don't want to answer that," she said.
"You have to." He was right, she did if he was sure that was a question, he wanted to know the answer to.
"The Gods," she said simply, and he blinked spastically.
"Gods? Which Gods?"
"Hades, Sobek, Hel, Poseidon, Thor, and Eros."
His eyes were huge as he took in the information, his brain ticking over, and she looked away from him. Humans were annoyingly curious and stubborn creatures.
"The Gods see you as a threat.... are you a God?"
"Yes," she said simply, watching the lights moving across the floor as the ship swayed.
"I've taken a Goddess prisoner…" He sounded both proud and terrified by the idea.
"It's not really that hard to do, if you have the means. It's just dealing with them afterwards. They're all jerks, anyway."
He was choking on his questions and she looked at him, wondering if she should hit his back to get him to breathe again.
"What happens if you starve?"
"I will go insane, kill everyone on board this ship if I can escape, and then kill more until someone eventually kills me. Or I'll just die in here if I can't escape."
"You seem rather calm about death."
"It's not the first time I've died."
"How many...?"
"Do you really want to waste a question on that? You have three left."
He shook his head and rested his forehead against the bars, staring at her in fascination.
"What was your plan when you ran?"
"To get away from Ayathian. Your ship was convenient, and your men don't pay a lot of attention. It was fairly easy and then when I got off, I'd just keep going. The place didn't matter, so long as it wasn't Ayathian."
"Won't the Gods be able to find you?"
"They haven't yet. I can only assume that my binding, and our moving, is making it hard to keep track of me. So long as I don't stop, they shouldn't be able to catch me."
Unless Vincent could get his hands on her blood. That was a real concern.
"One more question, Malik."
He scowled at her and she smiled in return, amused by his frustration.
"We'll be back in Istralis by tomorrow evening. Lucas will be back later to give you your last dose of medication. I would like you to stay for a short while if are willing."
Watching the man curiously, she tried to figure out what he was getting at, but he seemed simply to want her to stick around.
"That's not a question," she said, so she didn't have to give him an answer to the offer.
"What is your full name?"
She froze, her eyes narrowing on him as her image of him changed inside her head. He was not the white knight innocent he pretended to be.
"It doesn't work like that, Malik. There are safeguards in place to stop that from being possible."
He looked disappointed, but not entirely surprised by the failure.
"Was worth a try."
He flashed a grin at her and she snorted her amusement.
"If I let you out of this cell will you behave?"
"Define behave."
"Not kill anyone needlessly. Not jump overboard, not set anything on fire."
"I will not do any of those."
He had her elixir; she was sticking to him like glue until she got it back and there wasn't much the little human could do about it.
He nodded and then opened the door to the cell, and she stood, approaching him slowly.
He stepped back, and she slipped free of the door, sighing as she was free of the box of iron.
Looking down slightly to meet his eyes, she studied him for a moment before she looked away.
"Can I have my clothes back?"
"Oh, right," he looked surprised by the fact that she was still half naked, and she followed him up to the deck, squinting slightly at the brightness of the sun almost directly above.
Ignoring the men, she followed him back to his cabin, and she took her clothes, pulling them on along with her boots.
"Are you going to give me my gear back?" she asked, lacing up her boots.
"I am not," he said calmly.
She sighed, frustrated by the difficulties of men. "Why do you have to be so difficult?" she demanded, glaring at him.
"Because I don't trust you."
Well, she couldn't argue with that…