"What is she wearing…?" Was the first thing she ever heard from a Winter Court member and she turned to see them all.
They weren't what she was expecting, a small woman with long silver hair and pale skin, an ogre who looked more tired than intimidating, a snowy white centaur and an elf with black hair and bright yellow eyes.
She had expected… She didn't know what she had expected, but three entirely normal looking people it was not. Maybe she thought they would be covered in ice, or look exotic.
The one who had spoken was the small silver haired woman as she moved forward, looking Etani up and down.
Etani wore drow attire, black horse leather pants and a vest with soft boots, her hair loose down her back. She also thought she looked perfectly respectable.
But now that she looked, she realised they were all wearing heavy cloaks with fur lining.
"She can't wear that, she'll freeze to death before we get there."
"Leave me here then, I have no interest in going to Faerie."
The centaur snorted his amusement at her comment and moved forward, reaching down to gently grasp the chain that bound her.
"You have an attitude, girly, want to keep it, or want to keep this?" he said as he lifted the chain and her arms between them.
"Call me 'girly' again and my next pair of pants will be out of your hide," she hissed back and he boomed out a laugh.
"She's Winter. Come on, princess," he tugged her chain and she stumbled forward after him.
"What about our deal?" the drow queen called, standing from her throne.
"The team will be here later to install the gate to Faerie," the centaur said, dragging her along behind him while she stubbornly dug in her heels.
"Good," the queen said and sat back down, her eyes on Etani.
Etani looked right back at her, making a silent promise that one day she was going to return for that woman.
Leaving the palace with her ragtag band of Faerie, she saw that a carriage awaited them. Staring at it in dread, the ogre stomped forward, looking like he wanted nothing more than to take a nap.
"It's a half day to the nearest passage," he said slowly and she nodded slightly in understanding.
Climbing into the carriage with the elf and the silver haired girl, she settled into the seat and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Now don't be mad, you know we can't leave you in The Underneath with those savages," the elf said as the carriage set off.
Etani noted that she hadn't seen any horses and couldn't hear them then.
"Yes, because my comfort is certainly the reason why I am being taken to Winter," she said coldly and the two exchanged a look.
"Well, no, but you're safer in Faerie," the elf said.
"I'm safer when I'm left alone. I've survived just fine this long," she lied.
The silver haired woman laughed at that. "Is that what you call being kidnapped?"
She glowered at the woman and turned her attention to the window.
She watched the city shrink slowly as they climbed back up the mountain, the centaur running ahead and the ogre following behind, the carriage moving smoothly and slowly all on its own.
***
Bursting back out of the mountain, several things happened very quickly.
She was blinded by sunlight, the carriage swayed, she looked down at a stab of pain to see an arrow sticking out of her arm, and the ogre bellowed.
Looking up from her bloody arm, she saw that both her companions were very much dead and she couldn't really say she felt sorry for them. Most of their kind were difficult to kill anyway, she wouldn't be surprised if they woke back up before too much longer. The carriage shuddered to a stop and she pushed herself off the seat and moved to the window to peer out.
Opening the door, she stepped down to see a very large brown and tan wolf going after the centaur, who bolted. To the other side, the ogre was facing off against Aelen and a man she hadn't seen before. He was clearly a vampire, but the sun didn't bother him. White skin, crimson eyes and hair that was thick and long enough to reach his lower back.
Looking down at her arm, she gave the arrow an experimental tug but it wasn't budging.
Cursing whoever had shot her, she looked up to see an elf striding towards her, bow at the ready and her brows lifted in a challenge.
"Stop, Winter scum!" the elf yelled, and she realised that it was female, though they looked rather masculine.
"It's not every day the rescue party shoots the one they're trying to rescue," she said in a casual voice, the woman's face going white. Turning, she saw the lich looming over her and his arms encased her in the next second.
The world snuffed out by the robe, his face inches from hers, he searched her face and then her body for injuries, stopping only at the arrow sticking out of her arm.
"Epharis... what took you so long?" she asked, an odd urge to fall into his arms filling her but it was quickly squashed.
"How is it?" he asked, ignoring her question.
"It's fine," she replied finally, irritated that he was ignoring her.
He lowered the darkness from around them and breathed a slow sigh of relief, though his arms were still possessively around her.
The centaur was long gone and the ogre was going after him, his arms and torso bleeding heavily but he would be fine.
The group turned to her, seeing the arrow and then turning on the elf who shrugged.
"No one told me what she looked like."
Offering her arm to Aelen, knowing he would make quick business of the stupid thing, he moved forward and with one hand holding her arm out in front of her, he shoved the arrow the rest of the way through her arm and snapped it off, pulling it free.
The hole healed quickly and she flexed her fingers.
"Much appreciated," she said when her fingers worked fine.
Loud stomping sounded and Alaric appeared, looking annoyed.
"You missed the party," Epharis said, his hands finding her shoulders and he drew her back against his side. She didn't resist, wondering why the king had come to help.
"Drow," he grunted, his eyes finding her and aside from the blood, she was perfectly fine.
The vampire lingered back from the group, watching with interest but it was her eyes that found his first. She was fascinated by him and his ability to be out in the sun.
He met her eyes for an instant and then dropped his gaze, shuffling his feet slightly.
Deciding to question him another time, she looked up at Alaric who was now very intent on Epharis's arms so tight around her. Epharis made no attempt to hide how possessive he was.
"Why did you wait so long?" she demanded, irritated.
Alaric looked confused, shaking his head. "We only learnt of the deal by chance, we all thought you were still in Weorene."
She opened her mouth and then shut it again, trying to process.
"Izziah sent a hawk…" she said and his frown made her realise what she had missed. The hawk had been to warn Drizdan, not the king.
"You don't know? The emperor declared war, he is going to attack."
Alaric's face went calm and he nodded as though he had expected it.
"Very well, we will be prepared," he said. "We should get back, we don't know if those two will return with help."
She knew they likely would, given the drow would be expecting their gate and the fae weren't good at holding up deals that go wonky, especially when it went wrong on their end.
"Where were they taking you?" Alaric asked.
"They were taking me to the Winter Court," she said, glancing around at the people who had worked to keep her safe.
The wolf padded into view and plopped down on the ground, rolling onto its back and wriggling to clean the blood off its fur.
"Catherine," Alaric said when she stared at the thing.
She blinked, stunned by the small woman being able to fit into the form of the enormous wolf.
The wolf looked up at the sound of her name, decided no one was talking to her and returned to her cleaning.
Offering her arms to Epharis, he removed the chains that bound her and she stretched, relieved to have full range of motion, yet she noted that the chain went into his pocket.