Her eyes opened and she blinked at the bright light coming through a tiny crack in the curtains and the balcony doors, flooding the room and blinding her temporarily. Blinking hard, she looked around and found a huddled figure sitting in the darkest corner with his knees tight against his chest and his head down, hidden by dark clothes and a large black hat.
"What?" she asked, her voice tight and croaking.
The figure moved, head tilting and pushing himself up. It was Kai and he quickly moved to close the gap in the curtains.
Only once it was dim did he lift his head and smiled at her brightly.
"You're okay!" he cried and approached her, sitting down beside her hip.
"What happened? Where's Jaia?" she asked, her head feeling uncomfortably fuzzy .
"He is down in the basement… I-I missed the part where fae blood is addictive," he sounded sad, his eyes lingering on her throat in a way that made her immediately wary.
"We all make mistakes..." She was trying to placate him as she sat up, finding she was dressed in a gown of black satin.
"I need some water," she said, feeling she wasn't going to be able to walk across the room to fetch it herself.
Kai immediately jumped up and crossed to the pitcher, filling a mug and offering it to her.
She took it and drank it gratefully, her eyes sliding shut in delight.
"I can barely remember anything that happened..." she said slowly, trying to wade through the fog of confusion and wild emotions.
"Well, you're married to Epharis, he had been drugging you so you would love him, King Alaric brought one of the treats to us to study it. We figured out what it was and came straight up here. Epharis is on trial for…" he trailed off, trying to decide how to word it and deciding that simply going very quickly would work best. "Drugging, kidnapping, forcing marriage upon, and raping a princess under the care of the king," he let out a breath. "Plus, treason for disobeying a direct order."
She blinked at him slowly, trying to process everything he said and that last thought she had before she had fallen unconscious.
Touching the area below her navel, she felt it there. A tiny beat of a soul, pulling on her energy and leaving her feeling even more drained.
Kai watched her, not understand until he went over what he had said and connected the dots.
"Oh no… that's not possible… that's not possible! Lich can't procreate!" he said, jumping up and wringing his hands as he paced.
"They can't, or they have never been known to?" she asked distantly and Kai stopped dead, staring at her in horror.
"You can't be pregnant, not with that creature's spawn!"
His words cut through her and she drew back from him, hurt by the cruelty while the voice in her mind growled, teeth bared at the tone.
"He tried to make me into a lich and failed, but I still changed, I'm at least part lich."
He realised what he had said and looked more afraid than ever, coming back to her and holding her hands in his.
"We'll figure something out, I promise," he said gently.
She didn't know what there was to figure out. Exchanging a glance with Letari, the other mind only shrugged. After a moment, she nodded and when he embraced her, she leant into it.
Making her way to the bathroom a while later, she glanced at herself in the mirror and froze. The bite was only small, two little holes that had sealed shut, but the skin around it had darkened and little tendrils had spread out from the dark patch.
"Kai?" she called, leaning in to examine the spot.
Kai padded into the room, looking nervous but then relieved when he saw her still fully dressed.
"Oh…" he said softly, his eyes lowering. "Jaia… he couldn't stop. I had to hit him with a chair to get him to let go… he almost started the process of turning you. That's what happens when enough of our saliva enters the bloodstream. It will go away in a few days." He looked embarrassed, shy and she nodded slowly, wondering at how many things she could be turned into before she simply exploded.
"I'll wait in the sitting room," he said as he retreated and she took a quick bath, dressing and braided her hair. She picked a shirt with a high collar to hide her neck, but the tendrils were still visible, seeming to move with every beat of her heart.
Kai was still waiting patiently when she found him in the room, her movements slow in her exhaustion.
"What will happen if Epharis is found guilty?" she asked as she entered the room and crossed to the jug to get herself more water.
"He will be executed," Kai said with a curious tone.
The mug dropped back onto the tray and she turned on him.
"What? Where is the trial?" she demanded.
Damn, she couldn't let the monster die or she would join him.
"In the throne room I thin—" He was cut off as she gripped his arm and yanked him towards the door and out into the hallway.
"I didn't tell you… he cursed me so I couldn't kill him. If he dies, I die, and there's no coming back from a soul linked death," she said and he immediately sped up.
Bursting into the throne room, the scene threw her off.
The king was seated on his throne, looking furious. Around them were around a hundred or more chairs, each one occupied with a grim-faced man or woman, all of them of some variety of mythical.
Epharis was on his knees, his arms bound behind his back by the same chain he had once used to bind her. The loop was tied to a hook dug into the marble floor, keeping him from being able to stand up.
Looking around, his eyes lit up at the sight of her, but then darkened as he saw her face.
"Your Majesty," she said urgently as she swept into the room.
King Alaric looked at her, a moment of pity showing on his face before he schooled his features.
Coming to a stop beside Epharis, she stared up at the king. "You can't kill him," she said, causing a murmur to form somewhere behind them.
Kai had lingered back, looking anxious.
"Why not? You cannot be defending him after what he has done," Alaric said angrily
"I'm not, I'm only saying you can't kill him. If you kill him, I'll die right along with him. We are linked."
The king's face darkened as his eyes fell on his brother and Epharis shrugged, grinning.
"I see," he said darkly, considering the options. "Very well, in exchange for his life, you will agree to work for me. Since Epharis will be imprisoned, you will need to stay busy," he spoke slowly, deliberately.
She was suspicious and so was Epharis. He growled, his eyes finding hers in that same possessive form.
"Agreed," she said, not taking her eyes off Epharis as she said it.
Her hand lifted and she touched her stomach, the movement seemingly random and yet the intent in her eyes had Epharis looking down.
His eyes went huge as he figured it out and then he was intent on hers again, straining against the chain to reach for her.
"Very well, for all the crimes stated, Epharis, you are confined to your rooms for the foreseeable future. You will have no contact with the princess ever again."
The king stood and held out his arm to Etani. The crowd began to clap, and dropping her hand from her stomach, she moved away from the lich.
The last she saw of Epharis was his expression turning to one of pure, unadulterated murder as he saw Alaric's arm wrap around her and turn her away from him. The king had taken everything from him, his freedom, his wife, and now, his unborn child.