They didn't give her time to explore, instead leading her up the sweeping staircase and into a stunningly beautiful foyer. Deep grey marble and gold fixtures, a massive crystal chandelier above them tinkled softly in the breeze from the front doors.
Turning at a gentle brush against her arm, she followed the giant man down one of the hallways and she glanced into what was certainly the throne room. It was incredibly well lit and filled with people. A set of large wooden thrones at the far end holding two figures in black. The pair were evenly matched in height, with warm skin tones, but otherwise she couldn't make out much from that distance.
A cry went up as the king saw his son, but Malik only waved and kept along at her side, his voice joining in when something new and beautiful caught her attention and she hesitated.
Finally getting her into the room, she glanced around at the disgusting pastel colours and then saw the bathroom.
Heading straight for it, she stripped off her shirt and boots before she had reached the door, her pants following quickly after she passed into the bathroom and then her brassiere and undergarments, not bothering to close the door nor caring what they saw. She was going to finally be clean after being on that stupid boat for over two weeks.
Running the water, she sniffed one bottle and discarded it, moving on to another, and it too was set aside.
"Are all the Fae like that?" Russo asked appreciatively as he watched her through the door.
"No idea, she's the first I've met."
Glancing around, she found both men watching her with the same stupid grin on their faces and she rolled her eyes, so used to those around her being used to nudity that she hadn't really thought about it before she had stripped.
"A body is just a body," she said, picking up another bottle and frowning. "Do you not have anything remotely pleasant?"
"Probably not to your liking, I'll see if one of my sisters will sacrifice some of theirs."
"Lavender, preferably," she said, tossing aside a bottle and turning off the cold tap to fill the remaining space with hot water. "At least you have running water..."
"For several years," Russo said, leaning against the doorframe to watch her move.
Waiting for the water to fill was agony and when Malik returned with a bottle, she took it from him and sniffed it warily.
"Wow..." Russo growled.
Looking up at him, her brow lifting slightly. She was facing both men, and she felt their eyes on her like it was a physical touch.
"Stop gawking," she said, turning away with the bottle and stepping into the scalding hot water.
"Who have you got hiding in here that you're stealing my stuff, or have you decided to start smelling decent for once?" a female voice called out from the door.
"Bree, this is Etani. She's naked," Russo said as the woman appeared, confused and indignant until her eyes found that Etani was in fact naked and standing with her back to them in the bath.
"Why the hell do you have a naked woman in your bathroom, Malik? And why are you both staring at her like drooling dogs?" Her voice had gone shrill and Etani glanced back to see who Bree was. "Why does she have pointy ears?" the woman asked, breathless and staring at her just like the other two.
"Because she's not human," Malik said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. It was, but she wasn't going to say that.
"Thank you for the oil. Malik has terrible tastes in what smells good, among other things," she said, watching the woman for several long seconds.
She looked like her brothers, except that she was tiny, five foot nothing with waist length wavy brown hair and a tiny frame stuffed into a dress that added an extra few feet of empty space around her where no-one could get close without hitting fabric or hoops.
Bree started at her, completely stumped on what to say in response.
Settling herself down on her backside. She worked to get the blood out of her cuticles and wash herself, the heat of the bath doing little to warm the chill of her, but her chill did cool the water with annoying quickness.
The group of people at the door had multiplied in the time she had taken to bathe, and she had been too wrapped up in her bath to really notice.
Looking up, she frowned at the mass of humanity and Malik moved forward, holding up the towel as to guard her modesty in front of the mass of siblings he had.
"Why are they staring at me? Is this normal human behaviour?" she whispered, wrapping the towel around herself and tucking the edge in to keep it in place.
"None of them have seen a non-human before," he murmured, looking down at her from his way-too-close position.
Their closeness seemed to be causing a stir, and she glanced at the group of humans, seeing just how similar they all looked. It was really odd to see so many who looked so similar, and they were all as good looking as Malik was himself.
"Show's over, everyone. Go away," Malik said but none of them seemed to be listening, and she looked at them all over Malik's shoulder.
There were at least ten of them that she could see, and it was getting disturbing.
"At least let her get dressed," Malik said.
It was Russo who broke first. Turning on the others, he ushered them out and there was a sudden outcry of refusal even while the giant man shoved them. He was by far the biggest, the next tallest was around the same height as Etani herself. It was odd that he was the only tall, massive one but that sometimes happened.
One woman lingered, and she looked at Etani's body rather than her face, with lips pursed and soft blue eyes considering.
"What, Kari?" Russo growled.
"We are around the same size, I can bring in some clothes."
"Good idea, I don't think she would appreciate wearing Malik's clothes."
The woman nodded and hurried out, leaving her alone with the two men. Etani quickly stepped away from Malik, clutching the towel to her and moving from the room to the bedroom where she could look around curiously.
Ignoring his indignation at the invasion of privacy, she crossed to a small dresser and picked up a few of his possessions, examining them and ignoring him when he stalked after her and was so close his breath ruffled her hair.
It was all fascinating, how similar he was to any one of her friends, though he was an entirely different creature altogether, so completely other. Picking up a small locket, she traced her thumbs over it when he snatched it away and she turned, jerking back at just how close he was, her front a mere inch from his.
"Stop going through my things," he growled, her fingers still caught in the locket chain.
"Fae are curious creatures," Russo said, but Malik ignored him.
Her fingers closing into a fist while he tried to pry them open from around the delicate thing. She was only holding onto it because it bothered him, and she liked the way his face and neck turned red when he was frustrated.
"Let go," he demanded, his fingers attempting to work hers free, but she refused to let go.
"What's in it?" she asked, smiling at his indignation.
Russo saw what she was doing and grinned at her over his shoulder, amused by her game while Malik was getting angrier.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled at her arm and she squirmed, trying to get herself free of his grip and her towel came free, falling in a ring at her feet that started Russo to laughing.
Looking up at a delicate cough, the two of them froze in place with eyes narrowed at each other.
Letting go of the locket, she shoved his arm off her and huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the two men.
"You're entirely impossible to deal with," she snapped, turning towards the woman who was staring at her with her mouth slightly open.
"I have some clothes…" the young woman said.
Etani nodded, turning away from the two of them and approaching the woman, accepting the clothes with a gentle word of thanks.
Looking down at the mass of fabric sceptically, she looked up at the young woman and then back down at it all.
"I haven't worn anything this… big before."
The girl nodded and motioning for the men to turn around, she helped Etani into it all.
Her bust was almost falling out of it, and it was a little loose around her hips and waist but otherwise it was relatively alright, even if it was suffocating her.
"Why is it women insist on trying to asphyxiate for the sake of attracting a mate?" she complained, turning to stare at herself in the mirror with a horrified expression.
"I don't know, what do your kind wear?"
"In Faerie I wear whatever Winter decides for me, in Ayathian it's just whatever I feel like." Tugging at the band around her chest, she whimpered, but it refused to release at all.
"What does that mean? Winter decides for you?" Malik asked.
"Winter and I are connected, we talk. Or at least we used to before it decided to be a stubborn git," she muttered, feeling the mental huff and turn away.
"I didn't know that was possible unless you were a Queen," Russo said.
Etani went still, her fingers releasing the fabric from where she had been trying to pull it higher up her chest.
"What makes you think that?" she asked quietly, watching the two men exchanging a glance in the mirror through her eyelashes.
"We were taught the line of succession in school," the giant of a man said as she lifted her head, finding his eyes on her wrists.
"Your facts are wrong," she said, but she saw they didn't believe her, and she exhaled slowly.
"You are awfully cold, even in the middle of summer," he said slowly.
This was bad, she could almost see his mind ticking on the possibly of their find and Malik was only just coming to the realisation, his eyes going huge as he stared at her in the mirror.
"Etani?" he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask," she said slowly, seeing his frustration, but then her eyes moved to Russo.
Tension flowed out of the four of them, the young woman and the two men ready to move, and Etani was ready to run.
The giant of a man lunged, and she threw herself backwards, the massive and obnoxiously heavy dress making her movements slower and adding far too much possibility for him to grab her.
"Russo, stop!" Malik cried, but she was already running, heading for the door and flinging it open to find no less than five people standing there.
Staggering to a stop, she backed away quickly and spun so she could see them all at once, backing away quickly with her attention snapping around the room for the various escape points.
Windows, balcony, a bedroom with a window and a lock on the door, no rafters for her to climb.
"What's going on?" one of the men in the door demanded.
"Russo decided to try and catch her," Malik said, trying to get between her and his enormous brother.
"She's one of the queens of Faerie, we can't just let her leave!" Russo snarled, shoving Malik out of the way.
Ripping the layers of fabric from her dress, and then the hoop off the bottom, she wrapped the strips of fabric around her hands and dropped into a defensive stance, ready to attack or defend if he decided to try to come for her.
He did, and she ducked as he swiped for her, her body bouncing back up and lashing out, her foot connecting with his side and sending him flying into the wall with a deafening bang.
There was silence as she dropped back onto both feet and turned to Malik, his being the next closest threat, but he had his hands up in surrender.
"It's okay, Etani. I'm not going to try and take you," he said slowly, seeing the alarm in her eyes and knowing what she was capable of.
"Is he dead?" someone asked as her posture eased slightly.
"Unconscious…" a woman murmured.
"Anyone else want to have a go?" Malik asked and when they all shook their head, she relaxed, though she still backed away from them all and settled herself against the wall, watching them all warily.