As it turned out, she couldn't die even from so many arrows to the chest, something she was rather curious about.
Looking to her side, she found a limp Versalis with a large knife sticking out of his forehead and she had to wonder what had happened for him to have deserved that.
Pushing herself to her feet, she found herself to be unrestrained, but one of those obnoxious gold chains had been tied around her ankle. She turned and found that they had all been bound in a similar manner and at first she hadn't registered that there were four of them in the cell.
Moving to Versalis, she placed one hand against his head and gripped the handle, pulling it free of him and she wondered at the stupidity of their captors, leaving her a knife.
It would take time for him to recover, but it may take hours for the healing process to expel the knife on its own, so she thought it best to remove it.
Turning to Jaia, she blinked as she realised that Jaia had been propped up against a bound and gagged Kai.
"Kai?" she asked, baffled by why he was there.
His eyes snapped open and she flinched at the feral state of him, his hunger burning into her soul.
He growled as she approached and she knelt, looking first to Jaia who seemed mostly fine. He was still breathing and she gave him a gentle pat on the cheek.
He jerked and sat up, her attention going to Kai and she gave him a warning look as she reached behind him, releasing the gag.
He lunged the second it was gone and she jerked back, his teeth sinking painfully hard into her shoulder.
Drinking fast, he growled as Jaia made to pull her away but she remained still, allowing the vampire what he needed and he released her on his own.
Moving away from him, she pressed on the wound to ease the bleeding and sat down against the wall hard, her brain feeling a tiny bit fuzzy.
"Where are we?" Jaia asked slowly, the smell seeming to be affecting him.
"My second home, the dungeons in Ayathian," she said dryly, checking to see if the blood had stopped and then applying pressure once more.
Versalis had begun to stir and he groaned, his eyes opening only to snap shut again at what must be excruciating pain. It was unlikely the knife to the brain didn't give him a migraine.
"Why are we here?" Jaia asked.
"I'll be sure to ask as soon as we find out," she replied, brushing back strands of Versalis's hair and wiping the blood from his face. "I'm sure they'll be turning up sooner or later."
"You had to know it was a trap," Kai said finally, seeming to be mostly back to himself.
"We suspected it, but we thought we needed to take the risk. You would be almost out of blood," Jaia said, shifting to sit up straight.
"I have been on starvation rations since I got here. They arrested me the day you all left."
Jaia and Etani exchanged a look, feeling terrible for his suffering.
"Don't worry about it, I had hoped you would come up with a great exciting escape plan to rescue me when you found out, not get stuck in here with me."
"We had no idea Kai," Jaia said, sounding wretched.
"I'm so sorry Kai, we would have come straight back if we even suspected you would be taken. There was no reason for it."
Kai nodded and smiled at her.
"I know, it was entirely unexpected. But I think Alaric has finally had enough of you running off that he decided he needed bait to get you all back," he seemed quite chipper to have them there and she had to wonder when he had last had company.
"I'm surprised they dumped us all in this cell together, unbound like this," Etani said, looking between the three men and wondering at the reasoning.
"It is odd, but maybe they are short on room? I've heard Alaric had been in a sour mood and arresting people left and right," Kai said.
"How did you hear that?" Jaia asked, curious.
"Epharis has been sneaking me in blood under the guise of experimenting on me. He feeds me information."
Jaia and she exchanged a look of wondering before they both shrugged it off, unable to understand the reasoning the lich had for anything. She could only assume it was because he thought she would probably kill him if she ever found out that he could have helped Kai and refused.
***
It was about three days later when their captors had finally come to meet them in their little box. At the time she had been asleep against Jaia's shoulder, having fed the three vampires enough to leave her woozy and exhausted.
A boot hit her leg and she jerked awake, blinking as she looked up at the king.
"Alaric," she said simply, the sound of her voice waking Jaia at her side. She had never realised just how much the vampires slept though she had to suppose it was for the same reason she did, because it preserved energy and meant less need for feeding and more so when one didn't have anything to do.
"Princess," he said gleefully
"How've you been? Well I trust," she really wasn't in the mood to deal with the maniacal man and he seemed to find her irritation amusing.
"Very, how about you? I hear you've been having fun camping up north."
Word must have gotten back to him about their fight with Pharley and his husband.
"How's Pharley and Harla?" she quipped, recalling the two tall men and their delight at finding the three of them in the woods.
"Both well, Harla sends his regards. I think he has taken an interest in you, he keeps asking if he can meet with you," Alaric said, his tone suggesting intimidation but she wasn't buying it.
"Is that right? I didn't think he was interested in women."
"I get the feeling it's not your body he is looking for, at least not in a sexual manner."
Ah, another Epharis who wanted to take her apart to see how she worked.
"Well, please politely tell him that I have other obligations at the moment and his desire to experimented on me will have to wait."
Alaric grinned and she frowned, knowing he was about to tell her something awful.
"I've already agreed on your behalf."
"Of course you did…" she said dryly, more annoyed than anything.
"Of course. I'm sure you two will have plenty to talk about," Alaric was still grinning, taunting her.
"When is our date?" she asked as she shifted, her foot having fallen asleep.
"I will have him called from his home in the city. He wanted to wait for you to wake up."
"How nice of him. Run along then," she quipped.
He didn't like that and Jaia growled as she was struck but she shook her head to keep him from being hurt as well.
She licked her lower lip free of blood and looked up at him, glaring.
"Why do you keep trying to catch me Alaric? What do you want?"
He frowned at her questions and shook his head.
"Be prepared for Harla," he snapped as he left and she watched him go.
"What is wrong with this world?" she demanded, baffled by the men around her and wanting to give them all a good smack.
"You're like a drug," Versalis said in a hazy tone, he was still suffering from the knife to his brain. "One taste and you can't get enough."
She looked from him to the twins and they nodded their agreement.
"Rubbish," she snapped, refusing to believe that.
Versalis shrugged and flopped down against her, his head in her lap.
She sighed and stroked his hair gently, Versalis dozing and the twins waiting for Harla to come collect her.
It was around an hour later when the sound of boots echoed to them and her tension peaked.
Looking to Jaia and Kai, she stuck out her wrist to each of them.
"In case I'm gone for a long time," she said, her fear for them and herself making them worried.
They both obediently fed and when they were done, she forced her wrist down on Versalis as well, who grunted but accepted.