By the time she reached the field, he had put them all on the ground and was waiting for a new fighter, but she cleared her throat and he turned.
"Come for another beating, princess?" he teased and she clenched her jaw.
"King Alaric has asked to meet with you," she said sourly and his head tilted to the side.
She motioned for him to follow and he looked irritated at having to stop, but he knew how royalty worked. One did not refuse without good reason and wanting to train was not good reason.
She led him back towards the castle while he hurried to catch up to her.
"I was only teasing Etania, do not feel that I am here to harass you. I am here to help and protect you."
"I don't need your protection Uzo," she said and he caught her arm, forcing her to stop.
Turning to him, she frowned as he looked down at her.
"Your little kings are not the only ones who are wanting war, don't get complacent."
"Who else is wanting war?" she demanded and he frowned, shaking his head. "Uzo?" She stepped in front of him, refusing to let him pass and so he leant down, his lips brushing her ear.
"Winter wants their princess back, Etania," he breathed and she shivered, a slow fear building up in her.
She had known this would happen, and still they hadn't believed her.
She looked up at him as he moved away and he gave her a sly smile.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe," he said cheerfully and she glared.
Sweeping past her, he burst into the throne room with a booming. "Alaric!" And she was forced to follow after him, frustrated at the games of Fae.
The two men spoke joyously while she glared at the two of them, her arms crossed.
Alaric seemed to enjoy her irritation and so he worked hard to get his claws into Uzo, but Uzo didn't seem even vaguely interested in sticking around to play pet Fae for the king, he was quick to make it clear that he was there for the princess, and that was it.
Alaric wasn't impressed and yet he smiled and eventually the two parted, Uzo smiling at her as he left.
"Satisfied? Fae aren't that easy to capture," she said to Alaric and he gave a slight nod.
"While you are here, we must discuss our tactics for this war," he looked tired and she decided to give him at least a small break, approaching and dropping onto the top step of the dais.
He seemed surprised, but didn't complain as she sat with her side to him, her left foot on the top step, the right on the ground two steps below.
"You have some great secret form, isn't that right?" she asked, watching the guards as they rotated shifts.
"It's not much of a secret," he said dryly as he slumped in his throne, looking moody.
"Oh don't be so grumpy Alaric, wars are fun," she quipped, turning to look at him.
"How many have you been in?" he asked, looking put upon.
"A few," she said evasively and smirked when he looked like he didn't believe her.
"So how big are we talking, Titan King?" she asked, resting her arm against her knee.
"Around fifty feet," he said and she looked at him, shocked.
"What are the rest of us supposed to do, sit around and watch while you stomp on everything?" she had not expected that height, not at all.
"I may be tall but I am relatively slow," he said.
"Alright, so you need fast movements around you while you stomp on things," she said finally, squinting at him. "How…. How do you wear armour when in that form?"
He looked down at her and met her curious gaze before he grunted and looked away.
"My armour is enchanted, much like everything else in this castle. It grows with me."
"Fascinating," she breathed and his attention returned to her, brows lifting at her show of interest. "Will you let me see it before the battle?" she asked and a pout formed over her lips as he shook his head, smirking.
"No, it's too risky."
She shifted, scooting on her butt to face him with her legs crossed and he watched her with amusement. She was like a child getting a new toy and he seemed to like her attention.
"I have to ask, is it possible to kill you in titan form?" she asked, his eyes narrowing and she shrugged. "I need to know if you have weak points that need to be protected."
"With enough hacking you could kill me just like any other man. I am only bigger, not invincible."
She tried to imagine how many times she would have to hack at a neck in order to sever the artery and she shook her head.
"That's fantastic," she said, amazed at this new creature.
He looked pleased and finally stood, offering her his hand. She took it and stood gracefully, his hand was wonderfully warm and large around her own delicate one.
He kept hold of her for only a moment before he bowed and then left her there, stomping from the room.
Watching him go, she bit down on her lower lip and considered what the war was going to look like. It was going to be huge and it was going to be terrible. She could only hope that she could help keep those that she cared about alive.
***
Over the course of the last remaining weeks they had before Weorene turned up on their doorstep, she had been stockpiling supplies under the watchful eye of her irritable husband.
He was so moody because she refused to let him touch her and while he understood, he resented her not wanting to be intimate with him.
He wanted his wife and she was terrified of letting him touch her, though she didn't want to admit her fear and so they had fallen into a tense truce.
She made up for it by keeping him distracted and entertained with her attempts to make new evil concoctions and even having a go at making the philosophers stone, which ended in the room filling with acrid black smoke and their having to flee to the balcony.
He had found it hilarious and she had sulked. She suspected he had intentionally let her mess it up, given she was going off his notes and still it failed early on, not giving her a chance to move into the longer term steps of the instructions.
Once the air had cleared, she had gone back inside to clean up the mess and then stuck to the more basic supplies she knew how to prepare.
Versalis had come to join them a few times, but the twins had stayed away for the most part and she missed them both terribly. Still, the vampire king refused to tell her anything about why they were upset with her and she was left feeling lonely and depressed.
In order to keep her busy, Versalis had begun to learn more of the difficult concoctions and they both worked hard under the instruction of Epharis, who seemed to enjoy teaching them what he knew.
It was possible to see the looming darkness that was the army marching towards Ayathian and they were now down to a matter of days.
People were scared and she could understand why. That army was like a black river moving along the mountains and valleys, coming to drown them all and she found she was just as scared as the rest of them, but also she was excited.
Epharis had grown steadily touchier with her and she worried about his thoughts, his hands stroking her arms and he breathed in the scent of her hair, kissing her any chance he got.
When another concoction had blown up in their faces, she had given up for the day and stalked from the room and into the bathroom to bathe.
Epharis had followed, a large hole burnt in the front of his robes and they left a coughing Versalis to go to her room and bathe there.
"What is wrong with you?" she demanded, as he had been responsible for the explosion that time.
Pulling off her simple dress, she threw the ruined thing into a corner and ran the bath.
"I know, I'm distracted," he said moodily, looking at her when she grabbed his arm.
He looked down at her and frowned, worry in his eyes.
"Talk to me, what is going on in your head?" she insisted, worried about him.
"I am preparing for what is to come Etani. Not everyone is going to survive this war," he breathed and she blinked, fear washing through her.
"Epharis, you're not going to die. I'm not going to die, Alaric isn't going to die. We are going to make it through this."
He stared down at her, searching her face for a lie but she was certain.
"I will not allow you to die Epharis. I will go into the underworld and I will drag you back out, kicking and screaming. You are not allowed to leave me here with Alaric."
He laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around her, hugging her in a crushing embrace that she leant into.
His fear had chipped away at her resolve but she could hide her fear from him and she tilted her chin back to meet his lips in a hard kiss.
His hands traced down her back and she shivered, his kiss deepening. It was his touch against the underside of her breast that had her jerking back from him, leaving a good three feet between them with her arms wrapped tightly around herself and that packet groaned inside her mind, demanding to be let out.
"Epharis… I can't," she whimpered, hating herself for not being able to comfort him the way he needed.
He moved to her and slid his arms around her tightly but there was no hiding his disappointment.
They bathed together, ensuring to get all the residue off their skin and then dressing.
She left the bathroom quickly and cleaned away the mess.
As Epharis walked from the bathroom, a huge booming horn sounded and she jumped, spinning to the window.
Versalis burst through the door and was at the balcony, staring out.
"They've stopped," he said, squinting into the distance at the movements of the army.
"Do you suppose they are calling for a meeting?" she swept to his side, staring out and Epharis joined them a few seconds after.
"Most likely."
A servant burst into the room and spun in a frantic circle trying to find them. He looked utterly terrified.
"King Alaric is demanding all of you attend to his council," he panted and then sprinted from the room.
"Where?" Epharis boomed and the fading voice called back as the man fled to find the others.
"Throne room."