She had woken up in a cell though she didn't recognise the type of rock that had been used to contain her and as it turned out, the walls had been impregnated with iron. It wasn't unheard of, but she had a sinking feeling they were somewhere in Faerie, meaning someone was sneaking in large amounts of iron.
Her cuffs were made of iron, but they were at least padded, meaning her skin was at least mostly protected. Regardless, it leached her energy and left her feeling drowsy.
He hadn't left her, dark eyes boring into her as he observed the changes that had taken place over her body the instant they had stepped inside Winter, but he hadn't touched her, he had simply set her down, bound her and sat down outside her cell to watch her.
"You're creeping me out," she said after the second day passed. Didn't he have to eat? She didn't know, nor did she really care, but her voice seemed to wake him up from whatever thought he had been mulling over all that time.
He smiled faintly, and she had to wonder what had happened to him that made him so calm, it was very different to what she had come to know from him and his temperament.
"So you're back to normal, hmm?" he asked as he stood and opened the door, stepping inside and locking it behind him.
She watched him in silence as he approached, tugging at the collar of his shirt but she felt no fear this time, only a dull exhaustion at the inevitable.
Sitting at the edge of her bed, he reached for her and brushed her hair from her shoulder, picking up the long silver stands to examine them. "I prefer the black," he said.
"Me too," she said dryly, the contrast of her hair against his skin was quite pretty.
Looking up at him, she found him staring down at the strands with a frown, but she couldn't even guess at what he might be thinking.
"Where are we, Drizdan?" she asked finally, her voice sounding flat, even to her.
"The palace in Winter," he said as he let go of her hair, his finger traced over one of the patterns against her shoulder.
"Why are we here, and why are you here?"
"Queen Megara asked me to help find you and bring you here. I didn't think for a second that the rumours about you were true." He sounded fascinated as he slid the sleeve of her dress down over her shoulder to follow the line of the markings. "I thought it was some stupid joke, and she was just angry at you for her mother. But here we are and there you are."
"Don't suppose you'd be keen to let me go?" she asked.
His grin turned wicked as his finger traced down over her chest to stop just above her breast. "What do I get if I do?"
"What was she offering you if you did this?" she asked, more curious than anything.
"I got to keep you, then kill you when I got bored. Or sell you, or anything I wanted really," he explained.
Her brows lifted just a bit. "What is it you want?" she asked finally, not overly surprised by the deal, but it was still disturbing.
"I think you know what I want," he said.
Her eyes met his, the silence between them tense. "Why are so many men insistent on trying to possess me?" she asked, though she didn't expect an answer.
"Your magic aside, a man cannot pass on the opportunity to own Death," he said.
She laughed softly, though it was a dry and oddly broken sound.
"What is wrong with you?" he asked, gripping her jaw and forcing her to look up at him fully.
"It's been a bad year, Drizdan," she sighed, exhausted by it all.
"I heard about that Fae, Uzo wasn't it?" His eyes narrowed as her breath sucked in, hating him for daring to speak that name. "Why don't you just bring him back? You're death, surely you can just pluck him out of wherever he is."
She didn't know what to say to that. It seemed obvious, but she had tried and failed already.
"I tried," she whispered, her voice that of a little girl.
His burning face softened as he studied her. "You're Etani, if anyone can drag someone back from death it would be you," he said with a note of pride.
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"I do not like seeing you broken unless it is by my hand," he said.
She couldn't help but snort in amusement. "You are very tame compared to the Drizdan I remember."
"Yes, well Megara has a strange sense of what is permitted."
"You've been introduced to the concept of consent? Astounding."
"You're my wife, that's all the consent required." His face was stern then and she could only shrug. He had a point. "Megara, however, does not agree, and thus I am not allowed to touch you. Though I do wonder what the punishment might be if I ignored her rules." His eyes had gone down to her chest in a slow trail that left her skin crawling.
"Are you really so desperate that you would go against her?" She somehow doubted he had been celibate in their time apart.
"No. However, I have yet to find another who satisfied me in the same manner."
"Is one woman not like the rest?" She was a little curious about that.
"Generally, yes. But yours is different. No man can ever be truly satisfied once he has tasted you."
She might have been flattered if it weren't so disturbing and her eyes narrowed on him. "I'm not going to give you my consent."
"Not even in exchange for your freedom?" he coaxed.
"You're disgusting," she growled.
"No darling, I am a sadist. But if you don't want to be free, stay here and deal with Megara. When you change your mind, I'll be waiting. I hear she plans to rip your magic out of you," he was gleeful. "Or to attempt what your Lich did and evict it. Imagine having to go through all that again."
He smiled in the face of her glare before leaving her and disappearing around the corner.
She hated him and everything he had ever done to her, but it was hard to find enough energy to care about what Megara was going to do, least of all fight it. So what if Megara took the magic? Her wanting it was not enough, she had to deserve it. But the question was, did Megara deserve it? And bigger still, what did the crazy woman plan to do with her once she got the magic? Etani didn't know, and the thought scared her a little.