Nineteen: Mal

Echelon's energy had shifted. The loud, joyful tide of freedom and debauchery had collapsed, folded in on itself, and created a sort of vacuum. Though the party continued out in the streets, only travelers and visitors remained at the bars, in the brothels, and at dancing halls. They flooded in like never before, both because no one in the Palace had a mind to keep tabs on the numbers, and because they all wanted a chance to attend the ball. At the least, they hoped to wait outside the Palace gates as the drunk and exhausted stumbled out of the party to give firsthand accounts of all they'd seen of the city's next ruler.

The Palace itself was busy with work--choked by the demands of the event, of a mad Queen, and of--though they did not know it--the impending collapse of the city.

When I first met Alchimia, I thought she was being dramatic. I thought I had a firm grasp on the beating black heart of evil that persisted in Echelon and used the city to veil their travels between realms so they could do as they pleased to the human world, but I'd forgotten--or, rather, hadn't known--that the human realm was where Alchimia had lived. I'd always assumed that she was somewhere in the preternatural world before and after the academy and had only ventured to Earth to prove herself as a champion, but in fact, Alchimia's first time leaving Earth had been the day we met. I learned that from Presta. She'd no doubt directly encountered the results of my work here--work that I thought was keeping the city alive. And it seemed like I was the last to realize this and to conclude that she might just be human-sympathetic as a result. The more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Fens' death had been a petulant act of cruelty from the Queen.

Where I'd once perceived her to be hiding her evil deed that day on the roof, I now felt she might have been struggling to keep her composure while reeling over what had unfolded. Liessa had been spiraling quickly ever since, but it was hard to tell exactly why. It could just be her proximity to Chimi. If the Princess was coming into her matured powers at a quicker rate than we all thought, it could be affecting her mother's energy, too. But more than that, Fen's death felt like something sinister.

An act of war.

Not just against Alchimia, but the first attack on the city.

I was so deeply entrenched in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed Presta leaving until Alchimia made to follow her.

"Wait, Alchimia, please. Stay. Can we talk?" The words tumbled out of my mouth all on their own. Her tired, magenta eyes blinked at me, startled, and I finally took in her whole appearance and opened myself up to her fractured aura. She was holding it together, from what I heard, in front of everyone else, but it looked like she was close to her breaking point from where I was standing.

"Mal, I--"

"I know," I answered quickly, moving to put my body between her and the door, my eyes pleading, begging her to stay and listen to me. "There's so much to do. You've been through so much. But I can't just..." *I can't just sit by and let you push me away. I need to know what you're thinking. I need to be near you, to lay eyes on you and try to help you when you're not okay.*

"Can't just what?" she snapped, impatient. Her eyes were bruised as though she hadn't slept at all, and her skin was pallid and dry. Her impeccable body was hidden under a black sweater and matching cargo pants. Her feet were covered with sneakers. The girl standing in front of me was desperately pushing forward on an empty tank, and I needed to figure out what to say to her to get her to snap out of it, even if I had to drag her into the baths myself.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my spine straightening in a moment of realization. "I know you don't trust me, but can you give me thirty seconds to prove that you might be able to start?"

"What are you--?"

"Just follow me. Please. It'll be worth it." I swallowed her delicate hand in mind and dragged her out of the kitchen, pleased and relieved that she was willing to follow me with little resistance. She didn't protest, but she didn't seem particularly enthused. I was, though, and I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. My penthouse had a bathhouse attached to it. It was built of stone to resemble an ancient Greek bathhouse but the experience was nothing short of divine. It had been my first Godly indulgence ever, and I still spent a lot of time there. Once we were in the penthouse, Alchimia seemed to realize where I was taking her. She'd finally gotten the hang of the navigation system.

"Malfizan, please, why are you bringing me up to your rooms? I know what happened in your rooms, but I--"

"Chimi," I pleaded, grabbing hold of both of her hands and holding them against my chest so she had no choice but to meet my gaze. "I'm not up to anything crazy, I promise. There's just something in my *penthouse* that I want you to see. It has nothing at all to do with my bedroom. I just think you need a break, and I have the perfect thing."

Her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. She just gently tugged her hands out of mine and stood silently for the rest of the ride. There was hope yet that if she *had* lost all of her trust in me she could regain it. I didn't touch her again, but she did follow quietly behind me until we were inside. The whole room was carved of gray stone with three steaming hot pools of water. The largest is in the middle and two smaller pools on either side of it. Torches lining the walls lit the room in gentle, warm light and a fragrant aroma of the various oils, soaps, fragrances, and other cosmetic luxuries I'd accumulated on tap permeated the air, carried by the thick steam. Alchimia's eyes grew wide and her shoulders dropped a few inches.

"What is this?" she breathed.

"It's my bathroom, I guess. I'm a big hulking mass of muscle and I like to soak those muscles for pain relief."

"And do some entertaining?" she grumbled, giving me an irritated side-eye. This was a mood I had never seen from her before, but it made me chuckle, which, in turn, seemed to loosen Chimi up a little bit, too. Not to mention she hadn't corrected me about her name earlier, I thought maybe my instinct was going to be the right one for once.

"You're the first person to step foot in here besides me, actually, though I agree the architect did think I'd be having bath parties," I admitted. I did not include the part about how my mother had recently visited here. She certainly didn't need to know that. "There's hooks for your clothes hanging against the wall here and I can have someone go and get you something to wear when you're done. Take all the time you need. The taps are activated automatically--a little personalized healing magic that'll create the concoction your body needs the most. If you can figure out how to do ambrosia for your nose, too, let me know. That'd be a fun addition. There's a shower that way, behind the giant rock if you want to rinse off when you're done and the big flat rock is a sunbathing experience to die for."

I thought I'd lost her approval when her head swiveled around to stare at me with panicked eyes, but she whispered, "You're leaving?"

I froze, unsure exactly what to do for a second. My first thought was that *of course* leaving her alone was an idiotic thing to do. I had assumed that she wouldn't want me around since she hadn't let me get anywhere near her, but that was so stupid. She had been through so much and would go through so much more, still. It wasn't safe for her to be here by herself, and it couldn't possibly *feel* safe.

"No, no," I said gently in hushed tones. "I'll stay if that's what you want. Anything you want, Alchimia. All you have to do is say the word."

"Please stay with me," she said immediately. "I'll feel safer if you're here."