"What happened?" a vague voice asked.
The sound was off, her mind foggy as she struggled to focus on what was happening.
"Idiot woman went to the fairies."
"What for?"
"I don't know; they wouldn't tell me."
"Mother, what happened to her skin?"
"It's some sort of curse. It's fading slowly."
"Why would she go to the fairies?"
"I don't know."
"But what did they do to her?"
"I don't know, Kai! I don't know! I couldn't get in there and stop them! I couldn't protect her, and I couldn't keep your brother from destroying her! If I see him anywhere near her, even looking at her, I'll kill him. He's done enough to her."
"I hope she wakes up soon..."
"Me too, Kai..."
Silence and peaceful sleep.
***
"Get out."
"Let me see her."
"Get out! If you come even one step closer, I will rip out your heart."
"Let me see her!"
"Jaia, please, you can't be here…"
"I need to see her."
"You've seen enough of her. Go and don't ever come back."
"You can't do this; you can't deny me!" the strange voice cried.
"You don't deserve to be able to see anything, least of all her," Daemon hissed, and Kai whimpered.
Etani's eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at the ceiling, though it wasn't one she recognised. It seemed to be made of polished wood, and she immediately wanted to move into that room. It was dim in the room, cool without being cold, and she was lying atop a very warm and very firm bed that made her want it too. Everyone seemed to assume she wanted a soft bed, but no, she wanted this one, and wondered who it belonged to. Daemon or Versalis, perhaps?
Her eyes went down to her chest, and she frowned to see her gem was gone. But she was dressed, and that was always a plus.
Wriggling towards the edge of the bed, she was glad to find she was able to walk without issue, though she didn't want to alert anyone by testing out her speech. Placing her feet on the floor, she stood and looked around the room.
The bed was massive, with gauzy grey curtains hanging from four posts, the whole thing made out of heavy wood. It looked very masculine, and she didn't much like the frame, but she considered stealing the mattress. She lifted the edge to find it disgustingly heavy, which was rather inconvenient. She would have to try to steal it when she was alone.
Deciding not to bother Daemon and Kai in their argument, she bit the tip of her finger and stepped through to her room, jumping when someone swore and there was a squeal. Turning, she only caught a glimpse of violet before Letari was on her, and the tiny woman was laughing delightedly. The one who swore turned out to be Dirdos, and he smiled in welcome.
"Glad to see you're back," he said, taking her hand and kissing the knuckles gently.
"I wasn't aware I went anywhere," she warily, but his smile didn't falter.
"Perhaps I was misinformed," he said.
She nodded, unsure of what had happened exactly. She had been in Kai's suite talking to the man in the cell, they had headed back up, and she must have fainted, because she was waking up in the room with Daemon and Kai arguing with someone.
A bellow rang through the halls and Dirdos laughed.
"I think they found you gone," the dragon said.
Letari started to laugh. Stepping away, the tiny fairy returned to the window, where a little plant in a pot was sitting and she crooned at it.
Etani glanced at Dirdos, who shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I had a princess with me once who wasn't entirely right in her mind," he said. "She liked plants, they calmed her. It seems to be working well for your sister."
Watching her sister for several seconds, it clicked with Etani where she knew the song from. It had been one their mother had sung to them as children. She looked again to Dirdos, whose brows lifted. She recalled his cave, and the poor violinist who had died.
Without a word, Etani stepped to him and rested her hand on his upper arm, his hand went to her waist and he drew her closer.
The dragon certainly had a way about him, and it was not the first time they had randomly burst into dance, but it was the first time they danced to a voice singing.
Letari turned and her face lit up at the sight of them, their eyes locked as he led the steps and her voice rose. Letari had been born with the song of the sirens; Etani's had only been activated by her becoming a vampire, and while hers only worked on human men and women, Letari's could enchant anyone.
Dirdos' hand was warm on Etani's, an unknown desire burning in his eyes, and as he bent her back into a dip, his head came down and his lips met hers in only a brief touch that set her soul aflame. Her cheeks flushed, and he laughed gently, holding her in place to enjoy her blush before he lifted her into a twirl and back against him. She didn't have words to describe the feeling that a single brush of his lips had instilled in her, but she had to wonder if all dragons could enchant like that, or if it was just him. Whatever the case, she didn't try to resist it. It felt nice, the flame of him warming her from the inside out, and leaving her feeling lighter.
As he dipped her back, she found her lips parting in the hopes of another brush of his lips. His crimson eyes were triumphant as though he had won something and he bowed his head, but she didn't get that kiss.
The door burst open with an enormous bang and Letari screamed. Etani and Dirdos however, only looked to the door where a livid Daemon was standing, his face red and breathing hard.
His golden eyes went between them and with lips barely moving, he spoke. "Release her or I will remove your limbs."
Dirdos looked down at Etani with a smirk before he pulled her back upright and his hands left her, holding them up in a gesture of surrender before his right hand turned and four fingers went down in another gesture, though that one was considerably less polite.
Daemon ignored him, approaching Etani with his gaze flicking all over her; but her attention went past him to Kai and a sudden wave of guilt hit her, though she wasn't sure why.
Kai shoved Daemon out of the way as he headed for her and she immediately wrapped her arms around him, his cheek resting atop her head, clutching her so tightly she thought he was trying to crush her.
"Are you alright?" she asked, and she felt him nodding, his grip tightening even more on her. She squeezed him back just as tight and he grunted, pulling back to look down at her.
Horror filled her at the sadness on his face, and she looked to Daemon, who was staring at her warily. "What happened?" she demanded.
She didn't get an answer before there was a light knock at the door. The man in the open doorway looked remarkably like Kai and she looked between the two.
"You have a doppelganger," she said, nodding to the man.
Kai looked around at the doppelganger and then to Daemon, who looked ready to explode.
"I told you to get out," Daemon growled, and Etani assumed they had tried to rid themselves of the ghost and had failed.
"Don't you have to banish them to Faerie to get it to work?"
"Etani…" Daemon said, but she was frowning at the ghost.
"What did you do to get yourself haunted? They don't usually attach to mythicals unless you annoy them…"
That in itself was fascinating.
"Etani, that's Jaia," Daemon said in a strangled voice.
She looked around at him in alarm. "You named it?" She was horrified, looking to Kai. "Why would you name it?"
The ghost was looking anguished, and she suddenly felt dread. Why would it be looking distressed? Was it their friend? Oh no, perhaps it was from Winter and she was supposed to know its name and hadn't learnt it yet.
"That's Jaia, my brother," Kai said slowly.
Looking around at them all in expectation of their showing signs of amusement at the joke, but everyone in the room was staring at her with the same expression of confusion and horror.
"You don't have a brother. You would have told me if you had a brother." The fact that he hadn't told her hurt, and she stepped back from him, looking between the two of them. "Why didn't you tell me you had a brother, Kai? I tell you everything…" She couldn't hide the hurt in her voice, nor the accusation.
"Etani... What did you do?" Kai asked in barely more than a whisper.
"Me? You're the one keeping secrets now!" she cried, taking another step back from him and wrapping her arms around herself.
The brother stepped into the room slowly, his eyes going from Daemon to her and back again. But as he took a second step, a sudden wave of mistrust hit her, and she immediately backed away from him. She had no reason to distrust him, none at all; but she did, and she was ready to defend herself against him.