Etani's eyes opened, and she found herself lying on a table in a dim room she had never seen before. At least it wasn't the ugly pastels of her bedroom. She would really have to convince Alaric to let her change it if she planned to stay there for any real amount of time.
A face loomed over her, and she frowned slightly as she tried to focus on it. His dark hair and light violet eyes of the vampire king were soft. She stared up at him, trying to figure out why he was lurking over her like that.
"Hi, Etani," he whispered.
She offered him a confused smile.
"Can you talk?"
She opened her mouth, but found she could not.
He looked relieved, and he brushed his fingers over her cheek, the warmth of him soothing her more than she was willing to admit.
"You're under Ayathian. I wasn't sure what state you would be in when you came back, so I thought it best to keep you down here," he whispered.
She nodded, trying to speak, but her throat refused to make a noise.
His arm slid under her neck, and he lifted her up into a sitting position that allowed her to see a bit more of the room she was in.
They were in a room with nothing in it but a large table covered in chains, and the tingling whispers told her many of the chains were iron, though not all of them.
"In case they need to contain anyone," he explained, as he followed her attention to the table.
Nodding, she wrapped her arm around his neck but paused as he reached for her chest, and with careful fingers, he removed the crimson gem from her neck.
Lifting a brow, he smiled sheepishly as he put it on and scooped her up off the table.
It was odd, but she didn't think she could feel his arm under her knees. Looking down at them, they were there, pale and long, but they refused to respond to her commands.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he turned to her and headed for the door. She had to admit she was a little disappointed that he was the only one in the room with her, but she had to suppose he would be the best equipped to handle her.
Motioning to her legs, she gave one of them a poke, but there was no sensation at all.
"It'll be all right. You were dead, and it might take time to recover fully."
Frowning up at him, she shook her head and gave him her best quizzical look.
"I wasn't sure what you would remember, but Alez turned up as we were heading back inside and he... well he stabbed you, and then all that hold you had on everyone was just gone. You were gone. Letari and Kai started screaming, though no one knew why. They felt you dying, and we had to contain them. They went crazy. Alez vanished, and we didn't know what to do. After a while, I noticed that your gem had started to glow any time I said your name, just a flicker. When I was alone, I started testing it, seeing if I could get it to glow, and it did, the more I thought about you and spoke your name.
"I don't know what happened, but one day I just felt like you had run your hand through my hair and across my cheek while I was trying to focus on you, and I knew I was reaching you. I knew I could find you again. So, I just kept trying and trying until I noticed the gem was getting really hot, and it burnt me." He looked down, and she tucked two fingers into the front of his shirt to look in. There was a red mark that had sprouted little dark red fingers in an odd sun shape. He frowned as he saw it. "It wasn't like that before; just the round mark."
Shifting his grip on her, he pulled the door open and started down the hallway as he continued: "When it burnt me, my skin was stuck to it. I tried to clean it off, but then the skin began to grow, and I stopped. I knew something important was happening and was worried that it might not be you, or that you might be violent. So, I came down here. None of the others know you're alive." He grinned at her and she smiled at the thought of seeing their faces but she was wondering how long it had been since that had happened. "So, I've been down there, only leaving to feed. I didn't want you to be alone when you woke up. I think it's been about two days since you fully regrew when you opened your eyes."
He was staring at her in wonder, and she rested her forehead against his jaw in silent thanks for his work.
"We should get you some clothes," he mumbled.
She nodded her agreement, not caring much, but they would likely have to go past a lot of people to get to her rooms. Leaning slightly to the side, she looked down and flexed her foot, the limb lifting slightly, just enough to show her that he was right that her body would regenerate.
Looking up at him, his tense face melted, and she realised he had genuinely been scared that she may never be able to use her legs.
Scowling up at him, she gave him a gentle kiss at the corner of his lips in the hopes of making him feel better.
It seemed to make him feel considerably better, and he squeezed her tightly to him as they walked.
It was decided that he would go in alone at first to make sure it was safe to take her in, and she sat silently in a little alcove while she watched her feet, slowly bending her ankles up and then allowing them to fall back down. It felt very odd, the muscles weak, as though she had been running for days and then stopped suddenly.
Swearing reached her ear, and she looked up, leaning forward out of the alcove to see what was going on, her eyes wide and lips parted in shock.
Epharis' hand had been a flaming green only a second before as he followed a running Versalis, but the flame went out in a sputter as his eyes found her.
He seemed entirely unable to speak, and she enjoyed the sight, the lich rarely so shocked, but then her attention turned to Versalis, and she accepted the dress. It looked new, and she had to wonder who had made it for her.
Pulling it on over her head, she wiggled to get it down over her, though it was a little tight. She realised that it was intentional as it clung to her frame, an intricate criss-cross of thin straps decorating her upper back and a little gold chain that went around her waist. It was made of a soft, deep grey fabric she didn't recognise.
Versalis smiled at her, though she didn't bother trying to wedge the fabric under her legs.
Epharis approached slowly, his body tilted to see her around the corner, as though she might have been a figment of his imagination and would vanish before he could reach her.
Turning her head to him, she lifted her finger and placed it against her lips with a little shake of her head to indicate she was unable to speak, his eyes going to Versalis for only a second before flicking back to her.
"How is it possible?" Epharis croaked, sounding almost close to tears, his hand trembling as he reached for her. She caught his hand before he could touch her face, squeezing his fingers gently before placing a gentle kiss against his palm, and she was shocked to see tears in his eyes.
In a second his arms were around her and he crushed her against him, unable to hide her shock as she looked up at Versalis. How long had she been gone for him to behave like that?
Versalis seemed to read her mind, and he held up three fingers.
Three months didn't seem like long enough for him to act like that, and then Versalis mouthed 'years'.