Twenty-Three: Mal

I was already at the ball when a sudden need to look for Alchimia began to burn in the pit of my stomach, and I was glad I had listened to it as I glared at Reus from the hall. Alchimia slipped into my arm and right up against my side as if she belonged there, her eyes aghast. Reus's skin turned pale, and for a long moment, he stood in the alcove alone with nothing to say.

"Leave us," I commanded, satisfied when he slid past me and around us, headed toward the ball. If it weren't for the fact that we genuinely needed all the protection we could get, I'd have sent him to his barracks instead. "What did he say to you?" I asked Alchimia, my voice softening, heart melting, as I looked into her eyes. Two sparking, deep violet amethysts stared back up at me, and I could see the turmoil that lay behind them. She was scared, which meant Reus was not doing his job.

"Nonsense," she answered at last, turning from me and trying to peel herself away from me. I could feel the way her soul was ripping to pieces. Alchimia felt she could trust no one. Felt she was entirely alone in a world that wanted her dead. And it was changing her, warping her sense of self and suffocating her magic. Reus, whose job it had been to make sure she felt safe and secure, had only made that worse. I held her close to me but crouched down to her level so we were eye to eye. I didn't want her to feel like she wasn't in power.

"Alchimia," I said quietly, "I know you do not wish to speak with me, so I will make this brief, and then I will escort you to the ball tonight. I am no stranger to what you feel right now. I haven't acted like it, and I apologize for that. When I first arrived here, newly a God, I was treated like dirt. Echelon received me in much the same way they have received you; with fear and disgust over the prospect of change. But I was able to sway their minds, and I know we can bend their hearts to you, too." A pressure in my core begged me to just tell her; to take her into that ballroom as my betrothed and end both of our suffering. "This is just the beginning. Please don't let these freaks of nature pull you into darkness. You are exactly the person this city needs; they just haven't realized that yet."

I watched her suck in a deep breath, straighten her shoulders, and give me a little nod. I knew that my pep talk was not enough to still the stormy waters of her heart, but at the very least I had given her the strength to survive this night. Together, we entered the lobby.

The makeshift ballroom looked incredible. Alchimia had enchanted the ceilings to look like the night sky, and the floors a calm ocean reflecting the light of the moon and stars. The walls were adorned in swathes of dark blue and black fabric to complete the midnight atmosphere. There would be a feast first, with Alchimia, her mother, and the court seated at the head of the room. Once the food was completed, the tables would disappear and dancing would commence. The band was already set up in the balcony (Alchimia's idea) and playing a haunting operatic background number. I'd had final approval on all of the details, but this had mostly been Chimi's doing. She'd been insistent that she wanted to impress her guests herself, and I was sure she'd done so.

I led her up to the table, and we took our seats beside one another. As soon as we did, the Queen stood up to address the room before food could be served. She looked regal and refined, very much the opposite of the unkempt and disheveled woman she'd been leading up to this night.

"Thank you all for being here," she said. "Tonight, we celebrate Princess Alchimia, of course, but we also celebrate you--the constituents of this glorious city. Eat, drink, and dance your hearts out, for without you we would be nothing."

*Well, at least she cleaned up her appearance.*

A few scattered applauses and murmurs punctuated the short speech, then the staff appeared with platters full of Presta's meticulously designed courses. Our main goal in designing the menu had been to fill everyone's bellies with rich food, appease the multitude of creature types that would be attending, and keep people eating for as long as possible. The feast part of the evening would be formal, meaning the longer we kept people in their chairs, the less access they had to Alchimia. Tonight's dinner would be 12 courses. So long as the liquor continued to flow, I couldn't imagine any guests complaining.

In the meantime, those who had been unable to acquire a ticket to dinner and were waiting to be allowed in once the dancing commenced, were being entertained in the courtyard by Presta's sub-staff who were serving them finger foods and drinks on trays while they mingled with one another. The guards were all in position, and so were Nero and my men; hidden amongst the fray to keep a close eye on the guests. No one save for pre-approved dance partners, Nero, myself, and the Queen were allowed within five feet of Alchimia. There was no need to provide a guard for that; she'd simply used a barrier spell with special allowances. Ever since the night at the club, she'd been refraining from drinking, as well, so her glass would be filled with concoctions of Presta's disguised as spirits. Everything was carefully planned out, but those of us who knew about Fen seemed apprehensive anyway. There was only so much we could control.

As Alchimia dined, guests were permitted to approach her one by one with gifts, which Reus handled. He was to keep a log of each gift and from whence it came and then have each one studied for malicious magic, poison, or anything nefarious of the sort. I watched her shine, graciously accepting each one and making meaningful connections to her subjects. Her mother, on the other side of her, appeared sullen and bored, her cup never quite full enough to satisfy her.

"Good evening, Princess. My name is Kako. I am the reigning member of the Metamfíesi line." Alchimia's eyes stared intently at the man who had approached. He was the last visitor of the first table, and she would be due for a break when he was done, but something else had caught her attention. The man was short with a thin build, his face built of frail but beautiful features. Wavy, chestnut hair flowed from under his dark blue cap down nearly to his feet. His eyes were a bright turquoise and they glimmered with the same sort of magic as Alchimia's and Liessa's. It seemed to hit me and the Queen at the same time what this man was, and we both turned our full attention to him. "I've brought you a small token of admiration all the way from Gikíchóra." He handed a small, golden bag with strange symbols over to Reus. "A spirit stone that has been used by my family for generations.

"What a touching gift," Liessa breathed, the surprise apparent on her face. "I'm not sure that my daughter can accept something so precious."

"Oh, please," Kako insisted. "This is a gift that represents not just my family, but all of the enchanters living in Gikíchóra. We can not tell you how proud we are to see you take the throne so young and so accomplished. It has been a turning point for our kind."

"Thank you," Alchimia said solemnly. "We are humbled by the enormity of this gift, Kako. I must tell you, I am surprised to see one of our kind here. Of course, we sent out invitations, but many enchanters politely declined. Echelon is not exactly known for hosting us, save for the Nethis."

Kako bent over in a deep bow and held it for several seconds. "I am honored to be here. When we received your invitation from our twin city, we took a vote on who would be permitted to go. I was the incredibly fortunate winner. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to lay my eyes on Echelon, and another to be here to witness your glory."

Gikíchóra was a magical realm that existed on Earth in the middle of Greece. It was in every way the opposite of Echelon, and home almost exclusively to benevolent creatures. I could not recall sending an invitation there, and the way this man spoke seemed a little off. I was happy to see Alchimia had noticed this, too.

"We are happy to host our friend, then. Please, enjoy the rest of the party."