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Chapter Text

On Fridays, there was a meeting of rats in Saillune’s cellars. It was a night they looked forward to. All thirty of them would groom their whiskers with their finest filth and show up as soon as the moon came out. Then they would talk about magical rebellion between sips of red wine and whispers of the castle between whites and rosés. However, tonight there were no whiskers among the bottles, nor tails or little paws among the shelves. Tonight they had all fled in terror. Today something terrifying occupied the castle cellars. It was a short, red-haired sorceress. Some called her “enemy of all who lives,” others preferred to curse her name: Lina Inverse.

And Lina was synonymous with misfortune and, as usual, misfortunes never come alone. A withered chimera sat to her left, a blond mercenary to her right.

“Well?” Zel growled. “Are you going to tell me what the hell we're doing in the cellars at three in the morning?”

Lina and Gourry looked at each other. They were both wearing parts of the road on their clothes. They looked tired, filthy, and yet they were smiling. That, that knowing smile, should have been the first warning sign. The second was that they hadn't stopped by the kitchens yet or gone to greet Amelia first. No. Instead, they had sneaked into his room in the middle of the night and scared the hell out of him.

After that little heart attack, they had stirred up his blankets and dragged his sorry ass to that cellar, to the very bowels of the palace.

“Okay. So it all started when…”

With the smile still on her mouth, the sorceress began her story. The other two stayed put while Lina Inverse spoke. And she spoke and spoke. She spoke until the yellow candle turned into a gooey stain on the table. And until their glasses were all empty.

When she finished, Lina poured herself more wine and turned to her left. “Well, what do you think?”

“No way.”

“Come on, Zel” said the girl. “It'll be easy. Like stealing candy from a child.”

“Candy?” asked Gourry “But... I thought we were going to steal a treasure.”

The other two turned in their seats and Gourry smiled. The mercenary had long blond hair and an uncanny ability to dodge flip-flops. Thus, he gracefully dodged the first flip-flop while the second one grazed his ear. Unfortunately, he didn't see the fireball coming.

Now, the mercenary still had an uncanny anti-flip-flop ability and blond hair that used to be long.

“OW! Lina!”

He pouted. She rolled her eyes and sat back down in her box. “I really don't know why I invited you to this meeting.”

The boy continued to stare at her, so she added: “Really?! Of course, it’s not candy, you idiot. I swear, sometimes I don't understand if you're doing it on purpose or if…”

Zelgadis sighed and let his eyes wander around the dark cellar: around the almost burned-out candle, the noisy friends, the empty glasses. The chimera sighed again and, for the first time, wondered if he wasn't getting too old for this: for putting up with his friends, for meetings in boxes that served as chairs. To always count to 10 and hoped, or rather, prayed, for the storm that was Lina Inverse to subside.

When he reached 9, Zel took a breath and interrupted the sorceress. “So that it is then?”

The girl who was also a storm turned around: “What is what?”

“That thing you want to steal, Lina. Do you even know what it is?”

“I've already told you. Something valuable.”

He raised his eyebrows and reached out to grab another of Phil's fine wine bottles. He wasn’t nearly drunk enough for this.

“Let me see if I understand correctly. “the aroma of the red wine filled the room. When the glass was full, Zel continued speaking. “Next week, the kingdom of Hasturios opens its doors for the first time in 200 years.

“Yup.”

Zelgadis let out another sigh. Several years of life escaped with that breath. “A kingdom of which we know nothing. Only that it is a mystery”.

“A rich mystery” she added.

He glared at her. “One that has been sealed with some kind of magic. A powerful kingdom. One that is superstitious and…”

“Did I say rich? I meant really rich”.

“And that can only be entered with a royal invitation.”

“Exactly. You're getting the hang of it.”

Zel's eyebrows said it all.

"And your plan is to trick Amelia…"

"Hey. Hey! I said 'convince'. Convince is the word there."

Now his eyebrows furrowed, like dark mountains, like harsh threats.

"Bullshit! Your plan is to trick Amelia into taking us all because 'this fantastic historic event is not to be missed.' And all because you suspect that Hasturios still has those diamond mountains that the legends speak of."

Lina nodded eagerly.

"Legends, Lina," he insisted. "Legends from 200 years ago."

"So? I don't see the problem there."

"Well, suit yourself, then. For once, I'll pass." His intention was to sound disinterested and tired. But, for some reason, his voice didn't get the message. It grew in intensity with each word. With every breath that came out of his lips. “You already dragged me once to the other side of a magic barrier. And all I found were rocks and guns. So forgive me if I ignore your offer, your shitty plan and your…”

“Hey, hey, Zel. What's gotten into you?”

Lina was frowning and Gourry was looking at him as if he had suddenly grown another head.

“I thought you were desperate to leave Saillune. Weren't you the one who told me that you were bored with so many rules and protocols? Aren't you the one who always looks for an excuse to travel with us? The one who talks about adventures and new places?” Lina studied her friend. His mouth was serious. His face was sullen. “What's the problem? I thought you'd be thrilled.”

Exactly, what was his fucking problem? Lina's dumb ideas never had gotten him so worked up. He usually sighed and played along. Or shook his head and moved out of the way of her fireballs. Maybe he really was getting too old for all this shit. Maybe… Zel shook his glass and chased away those thoughts. Instead, he said: “It's just nuts, Lina.”

But she didn't want to hear that. Much less let it go. “No. Now you're going to give me a proper reason.”

The chimera let out a laugh. “Just one? Very well. That plan is shit. Well, that is, if you can even call ‘Let’s get in and then figure out the rest’ a plan.

“We've gotten into bigger adventures, Zel. And you know it. Without plans. Without thinking twice.”

Zelgadis was going to add a ‘but’. Lina decided to ignore him.

“In fact, this wouldn't be the most dangerous adventure” she continued “nor the craziest. Damn, not so long ago, one of our brilliant plans was to dress you up as a woman to get into the kingdom Femenil. And you agreed to it.”

“Reluctantly” he muttered.

“Yes, and... didn't you dress up as a rabbit too, Zel?”

He made a pained gesture. “Gourry, you're not helping.”

But Lina applauded the intervention and continued giving reasons, one after another. They came out of her like bullets, like fireballs loaded with extra malice.

“There's also that time when you recited that song to us because we thought it was a spell.”

“Please…”

“And that time in the temple of love that…”

“Have mercy, Lina.”

Zelgadis was starting to feel trapped, surrounded. Even Gourry gave him arguments and reasons. Now, a brief but escaped from his lips:

“But…”

“But...?”

“But we’ve never lied to Amelia before.”

A white smile crept up Lina's mouth. “Oh, Zel. Don't tell me that…”

She left the option hanging. And Zel was quick to shoo it away.

“No” he nearly shouted “It's not what you think. It's just that... even I have my limits, okay? She's my friend. How do you expect me to get involved in this? I'm her fucking bodyguard, dammit. How the hell do you expect me to keep my job if she...? No, Lina. I won’t be a part of this.

Lina's smile froze on her face. “And I suppose you won't stay out of it either. That you’ll intervene if I try to sweet-talk Amelia into going to Hasturios.”

“You guessed that one right,” said the other.

“Shame.”

Lina clicked her tongue. “Yeah, that's a shame... isn't it, Gourry?”

The boy felt a strong blow to his shin, and suddenly, he agreed with his friend very very much.

“Yes,” he muttered through his teeth. “Quite a shame.”

“Lina…”

“If I'm not mistaken, Saillune will receive a formal invitation soon. And, you see, the city will have to send a diplomat no matter what. Politics, protocol... you know, that crap. It occurred to me that Amelia would have liked the idea of the four of us going together. Like old times. Like our old adventures. But... never mind.”

The sorceress stood up carefully and reached for the nearest bottles of wine. She took the most expensive-looking one. “Don't worry, Zelgadis. If you don’t want to take part in this, we'll find another way in.”

She picked up her flip-flops. Then, she turned towards the door, with Gourry following her. And, just as she was about to exit, she stopped again. “You know? The legends of Hasturios don't just talk about golden thrones and mountains of diamonds. I think… yes, I think there's even one legend that talked about the super-advanced magic of that realm and all the wonderful spells lost in time. Who knows, one of those might even contain information on how to undo transformations. Or how to return something to its previous state.”

One part of Zelgadis, the good and honest part of him, wanted to call bullshit and tell her to fuck off. That part whispered to him that, while he might be a jerk, he still had some values, that Amelia kept telling him how noble he was and that, sometimes, he even flirted with that idea too. However, the chimera also had a selfish part. The very same part that was now on the second bottle of Philionel's private wine stash and that, with the alcohol on its side, had gotten louder and braver as only drunks could. That part no longer had a coherent speech. In fact, It only shouted “Do it! DO IT! Louder and louder.

He was definitely going to regret this and yet...

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“Count me in.”

A moonless night covered Saillune. The candle in the cellar had long gone out and his friend wasn’t even facing him. Still, Zelgadis knew that Lina was smiling when she said: “Perfect.”

Chapter Text

The castle was asleep. The servants were still tucked into their beds and the guards were dozing off at their watch posts. Some of them were snoring, others insisted that they were just breathing load, but everyone was asleep. Everyone, except for Lina and Gourry. The couple were in the kitchens, stuffing their faces with bacon and waffles.

“That was close,” Lina whispered.

“You can say that again,” her friend replied. Then, he fell silent and made a face. As if he were chewing on a particularly hard question.

“Hey, Lina? I have a question.”

“Just one? That’s an improvement.”

He ignored her tease and grabbed more waffles. “Why did you explain the plan to Zel? Why didn’t just trick him too from the start?”

She clicked her tongue. Or, at least, she tried. Her mouth was too full. “No. He’s too smart. Besides…”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know, Gourry. I didn’t think it was necessary.”

He stared at her.

“I didn’t think he had any morals, okay? He’s just… well, Zel. I’ve seen him commit, like, five crimes in one afternoon and only regret not having time for a sixth.” She shrugged. “Plus, he wrote us several times asking where we were going next, and a few others complaining about how much he wants to go on adventures. I was hoping he’d take my side as soon as I mentioned a challenge and a mysterious kingdom. I was hoping…”

“Not having to tell him about the lost spells?”

“Exactly.”

Her friend nodded and neither of them went on with the topic. Maybe because it was a delicate subject or maybe because they were both just too busy chewing.

The sun came up only to find Zelgadis was already awake and regretting his choices. The guilt rose up his throat, acidic and thick, as the previous night came back to haunt him.

“Fuck.”

He let the hangover, the hatred, invade him for a moment and take control of his body for a few seconds.

The rest of the castle was still silent. The hallways didn't smell like coffee yet nor were there any slamming doors or loud maids. Zel didn't hear even the slightest murmur, but that was just because his guilt and regrets were screaming louder.

The chimera got out of bed and looked around him, at that dark room, at those new white sheets. All of that was his. The sword and the notebooks; the chess set and the backpack; the books, the green armchair, the guitar. And fuck, he really liked that guitar.

There was a time when he survived with a change of clothes and a sword. A time when he wouldn't have hesitated to bet his life and the lives of others just to pursue a cure. Now… now he wasn't so sure anymore.

That Zel, the one from before, would have wrinkled his nose at the idea of ​​’ reading for pleasure.’ He would have looked with DISAPPROVAL and DISGUST (TM) at his naps under the sun, his stamp collection. But this version of Zelgadis appreciated that and, moreover, he appreciated his life in Saillune.

Because things had changed. He had changed. Now he had a room to come back to. He could have guitars, hobbies, books. He could take a break! He could stop putting pressure on himself. And for the first time, someone looked forward to his return.

And that changed his list of priorities, didn't it? Because now there were good days. There were days when he almost felt human.

“Fuck,” he repeated, “I thought that…”

He was unable to continue.

What? said his guilt. That you were improving?

That you had changed? Added hate Please!

He pressed his lips together. It was true that he was still obsessed with his cure, that he still hated that body and even himself too. It was also true that sometimes Saillune overwhelmed him. That he needed to go out in search of maybes and adventures.

He still took advantage of every opportunity to leave the palace to continue with that sick obsession of his and feed, in the process, other impossible dreams. Other perversions. The possibility of a magic cure that would fix him for good. The possibility of a stable life, of a romantic love. Even of… well, of bullshit.

It was bullshit because he still clung to the idea that no one would love him. Because, when you come from a dysfunctional family that is a familiar thought. And when you have rocks instead of eyebrows, that idea suddenly turns into your favorite playlist. Thus, he was suspicious of nice words and snorted every time someone praised him. It made sense, right? It was the most sensible thing.

And he was a sensible man. He was observant, reasonable. Smart.

Of course, even a sensible man began to question the world when the universe sent him clear signals. You began to flirt with possibilities and maybes when the girl you liked invited you to live in a castle, right? Or to suspect that there was something more when she gave you things so you can ‘remember her’; when she offered you a job that involved spending an incredible amount of time together.

But Zelgadis was oblivious to all the princess's attempts. Because Amelia was kind to everyone. Because, despite being someone who thought he was smart, sometimes Zelgadis was definitely stupid.

At least, the chimera no longer ran away like before. Now, he always returned to Saillune and Amelia was always happy to see him. Even if his hair was still thick wire and his fingers felt like rocks, she smiled. She smiled and that was enough for him. For him, it was enough to be her friend, to be little more than her bodyguard. After all, that was more than he deserved.

And…that was why he couldn't betray her.

Noises began to filter through the olive-colored curtains and Zelgadis looked up. The sun rose in the sky and the summer breeze stirred his dark regrets.

And yet you did, his fears whispered. You haven't changed at all. You're still…

“Enough!”

The scream silenced the guilt and the hangover. He turned to the door and, before opening it, he pretended again that he wasn't dramatic or broken. That he was just surly and sullen.

Two rooms to the right, Amelia was also waking up. She opened her eyes as a hellish noise came to greet her. It sounded like a concert of broken porcelain, screams and explosions. It sounded like all of that because that was, coincidentally, what was happening in one of her dining rooms.

She groaned and turned around.

A normal person often screams and hides when waking up by murmurs of pleas and cries. But normal people did not have Lina Inverse as a friend and Amelia was familiar with the “symphony of terror” that her arrival unleashed.

“Well,” she said between yawns, “we have 9 dining rooms. I think we can make it with one less.”

Funny enough, one begins to see life differently when you survive ‘the enemy of all that lives.’ Suddenly, you find yourself saying things like ‘This will be a fantastic anecdote to tell my grandchildren’ or ‘When you think about it, 6 fingers is almost like having 8.’

The morning progressed and the storm that was Lina Inverse calmed down. Each French toast was seconds were seconds that you stole from death and each steak was another chance to keep the windows.

Amelia did her calculations and appeared only when the probability of killer toast dropped below 20%.

“Lina! Gourry!”

The sorceress greeted her from behind a mountain of sausages. And the mercenary, with his cheeks full of cheese, said something similar to “Amelia! Do you want French toast?”

Amelia stopped at the door. Her dining room was an impressionist painting. Her white tablecloth had colors that had not yet been named. And her staff had… all their limbs? In their places? Good, good. Only then did she put on a smile.

“When did you arrive?”

“Just recently“ Lina chewed ”We were nearby and…”

“And we wanted to stop for breakfast. I mean… to see you,” Gourry added.

The princess sat down near the window and looked at her friends for a moment. They both wore new clothes and old habits. Lina had a new green dress, and also the same way of sipping soup. He had a new sword, the same sweet smile on his mouth. They played the same games, fought over the same plates, and yet… yes. Amelia narrowed her eyes. Yet, there were little novelties in their routine. There were new smiles and maybe… even less insults. The girl looked at Lina. And she put down her fork and smiled back at her.

“It’s nice to see you.”

“Who are you talking to? Me or to that plate of pancakes?” her friend replied.

“You, well, both,” her smile spread across her face. “Does it matter?”

Amelia shrugged. “I guess not.”

With that, the princess armed herself with a fork and knife and entered the pitched battle that was breakfast. She dodged projectiles of bananas, pieces of toast. She fought for the last pieces of bacon and, finally, she triumphantly poked at the last of the meatballs.

The piece was already on its way to her lips when a question distracted her:

“And how is everything going here?”

“Huh?”

“You know, with Zelgadis, the kingdom, Zelgadis…”

“Lina, you said Zelgadis twice,” Gourry chewed.

She shrugged. “Did I now?”

Amelia lost her concentration first and then her meatball. And both, of course, were Lina’s fault.

“You know, like always. He comes and goes.”

“Yes, but… this time he hasn’t left for a couple of months straight, right? How long has it been? Three?”

Her friend nodded. “Four, I think.” Four months and three days, but she wasn’t exactly counting. “But…”

“But?”

“I think it has to do with the situation in the kingdom.”

Lina and her symphony of terror fell silent. Beside her, Gourry stopped chewing. Everything was silent. Amelia’s words were a euphemism within a euphemism. By ‘situation’, she meant ‘Eldoran’s health,’ and by kingdom, she meant ‘her, Phil, and the council.’ What she really meant was ‘My grandfather is dying. And we’re flooded by paperwork, protocol, and emotions.’

“Ah.”

Biting was allowed in the group and insults were well-regarded, but there was a very strict policy regarding drama. In fact, Lina’s motto was ‘no hard feelings, no drama”, and she applied it wonderfully. She ignored drama until it slipped away. Then, she would threaten anyone who had any hard feelings with extra fireballs.

Because sometimes, a handful of rules were needed to keep from you breaking down or killing your friends in their sleep. Sometimes, all you could say was an ‘ah’ or “Gourry? Do you want more wine?”

The mercenary nodded just as the silence rose lazily from the table. The noisy chewing and the scraping of forks returned. As a novelty: a chimera also appeared. Zelgadis took off the mask that hid his mouth. His violet hair contrasted with the gray pebbles of his face, with his white smile: “Long time no see.”

He looked at his friends. Lina smiled. Gourry only chewed, Amelia seemed busy hiding her drama.

“What did I miss?”

Lina waved her hand.

“Just a little catch-up. Do you want coffee?”

“Make it double.”

By the time they were done with breakfast, only one of the servants had to be hospitalized for a fruit wound. Amelia decided that was a victory. The banana injury had been clean and the doctors were optimistic. They had told her that Basil would keep all his fingers and that he would get, as a special reward, a small trauma to yellow.

In any other kingdom, a banana wound would have been carried. But this city had seen floating pieces of land and huge magical beasts. Besides, there were more important matters to attend to today.

As Lina had predicted, Saillune did receive an invitation to go to Hasturios. The news had not reached the ears of the group yet, but everyone could feel the change in the castle. The servants hid themselves away to gossip and the murmurs flourished. Even the air itself felt different. It was full of magic, adventure, protocol.

In fact, the earth itself began to shake in excitement. It was either that or a huge mass that came towards the group:

“Amelia! Amelia!”

A heart-stopping brow appeared behind a door. It belonged to Prince Phil, and he was right behind it. “Amelia! You won't believe it. We've been invited to a unique event.”

The prince then noticed the three people accompanying his daughter. The chimera came and went, but he hadn't seen the other two in a while. Of course, that didn't mean he was caught by surprise. He knew that Lina and Gourry had been in his castle for hours. The couple had the delicacy of a hurricane and the same destructive force. But Phil was a polite man and said: “Gourry, Lina! What a surprise. Have you been here long?”

“More or less” answered the sorceress.

“Come, come. Have you had breakfast yet?”

Amelia nodded.

"But only twice," Gourry complained.

Phil let out a laugh that made the glass rumble. "Then let's go have a snack."

The prince led the group to a small garden with white tables and small matching jasmine bushes. Then he waved his hand and a pair of butlers appeared with just a couple of hundred sandwiches.

"So," Amelia began, "have we been invited to a coronation?"

"No."

"A ball?"

"It's much better than that, my child. We've been invited into Hasturios."

Lina and Zelgadis exchanged a look. The girl's eyes read ‘I told you so,’ and Zel's brow furrowed into a curse.

At her side, Phil continued talking, oblivious to Lina's intentions and the chimera's remorses.

“Oh, the stories I've heard about Hasturios. I've always wanted to go, you know? Ever since I was little. Rumor has it that they have a revolutionary plan against violence. They have a second power separated from royalty. Something they call ‘grudges’ and…”

“Wait” the princess interrupted him “Hasturios? THAT Hasturios? The one from the legends?”

Phil's moustache twitched, excited. “Precisely”

“But... I thought it was just a story.”

“Ah, Amelia, the thing is that, for most people, it's just that. You see, the kingdom only opens to the world once every 200 years. The rest of the time it's sealed by a magic barrier. And no one can enter or leave those walls.”

“Why?”

Phil's smile grew bigger. “That's the funny thing. Nobody knows! Some say it's to protect themselves from a great evil that threatens the royal family, and others, and this is what I believe, say that in Hasturios they are just reluctant to change and abandon their traditions. But some legends speak of treasures of incalculable value: of jewels never seen before, of metals for which there is still no name.”

“Treasures?”

The question came from Gourry's lips, between crumbs of bread and green bits. That small impact of projectiles brought Phil back to reality and he suddenly remembered who he was dealing with.

“And… jewels?” Lina added. “How many exactly?”

“Oh, Miss Lina. I wouldn't pay much attention to that part. It's just a legend. You know, old wives' tales.”

The sorceress shrugged. “It's possible. Still, it sounds interesting. And it's not like Gourry and I have much better to do, right, Gourry?”

"No ma’am," said the boy.

A small fist hit the table hard. A white boot followed and Lina shouted: "So, it's decided! Amelia? Zel?"

"What?" said the chimera.

"Uh?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "We're going, of course. Don't worry, Phil. We'll accompany Amelia to Hasturios and (for a small fee), we'll even make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

A million alarm bells went off in Philionel's head. The prince exchanged a look with his daughter and, as softly as possible, said: “Miss Lina… perhaps this is not your kind of adventure. The objective of this event will be to strengthen political agreements and trade goods and resources. There will be protocol,” Lina made a sound at the word and the man dared to smile a little. “There will be slow dancing, talks about the price of bread, commercial agreements, even some dinners with tiny portions. The visit to Hasturios will require a lot of politics and delicacy.”

“I can be delicate.”

Phil wrinkled his mouth. “I do not doubt that.”

“Come on, Phil! You said it yourself: it will be a historic event, something unique! Are you really going to let Amelia go alone? Without solid security? Without friends to share the experience with?”

Phil looked around. He saw the panicked looks of his staff and the alarmed gestures of Amelia. They all seemed to think the same thing: it was an absurd idea. Sending Lina to a political meeting was suicide. It wasn't just that troubles followed her, it was that she created them herself. She fed them with bad temper and greed and then let them run wild without any supervision.

The entire table was silent for a moment, until Lina cleared her throat: “Well, what do you say?”

Zelgadis went to add something. Phil was quicker:

“The truth, Lina, is that I think it would be a fantastic experience for my Amelia. But… This time I had other plans.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. This time I wanted to be the one to go on an adventure.”

The sorceress opened her mouth, but that was a turn of events she hadn't expected. She didn't count on Phil's enthusiasm and she didn't have a plan to counter it. She had threats, of course, but royalty didn't respond well to that tactic. No. She had no arguments. She had nothing.

The prince was still sitting at the table. His eyes were shining and he had a silly smile on his face. “That's okay with you, right Amelia? Will you be able to manage everything in Saillune without me? It'll be a couple of days, a week at most.”

Amelia looked at her friends: Lina's disappointed face, Gourry's mouth full of crumbs, and Zelgadis's serious look.

“Unless you really want to go to Hasturios.”

“What? Of course she does” Lina added.

“I…- the princess began.”

“Amelia?”

Zel nodded at her and she got the message. It said ‘let's get out of here’, it said ‘I want to talk to you in private’.

Beside her, Lina also intercepted the message and couldn't help but smile. If there was anyone who could convince Amelia, that was Zelgadis. The gates of Hasturios were getting closer and closer and she could almost smell their sweet scent of magic.

Chapter Text

The sandwiches were long gone and yet the five of them were still at the table: the prince, the two vagabonds, the bodyguard, and the princess. Everyone, without exception, was waiting for an answer from the latter. 

And Amelia had her words ready. She planned to be polite and let her father go to the kingdom. Because it was what would make him happy and, also, because no one in their right mind would take Lina to… well, anywhere. But suddenly caught Zel's gaze. And she hesitated.

“I… can I think about it?”

The entire table held their breath. It took Philionel a second to react. He went from confusion to disappointment, to a formal smile.

“Of course, dear. It's a unique opportunity! We don’t get invited to legendary kingdoms every day.” The man placed one of his big hands on the girl's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “It's only fair that you think about it a little.”

"Thank you, daddy."

The prince nodded and looked at the sky. The heat of the day was beating down on the gardens and midday was fading into afternoon. Time was slipping through their fingers.

"But I'm afraid I can't wait long, honey." Phil sat up and the poor chair creaked with relief. "Everything must be ready by tomorrow if we want to get there in time. Hasturios is two days away and there are preparations to be made: getting the carriage ready, going over Hasturian protocol…

Amelia stood up and gave him a small hug. "I understand. Can I give you my answer at dinner?"

"Of course, of course." The big man turned one last time to his guests and waved his hand. "In that case: see you at dinner, lads."

Phil's footsteps faded away down the pebble path and the group watched him go in silence.

Good, he's not angry, thought one.

Perfect, thought another.

The four friends let out their bated breath. And suddenly, the sounds came back: the murmur of the summer wind, the soft footsteps of the servants.

"Well, Gourry," Lina began to rise. She had her arms on her hips, in the universal posture of ‘everything has been said here.’ "We're leaving too."

"Are we?"

"Yes, we have things to do."

Gourry made an effort, then another. "Do we?"

Lina rolled her eyes and pulled her friend along. She pulled until she managed to lift his ass off the white chair until they both disappeared behind hedges and daisies.

Amelia let out a giggle. "They never change, do they?"

Her gaze stopped at the only person still sitting at the table. Zelgadis was still there, staring off into the distance, smiling and shaking his head. “They are beyond help.”

The chimera's eyes fixed on her and a soft smile appeared on its stone face. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

The birds flew over the white city. There was no breeze and the air smelled of oranges and grapefruit. The couple walked near the fruit trees, where the path was narrow, the air sweet and thick. The princess smiled at her friend.

“It's a beautiful day, isn't it?”

The chimera took a breath. It tasted like trouble.

“Lina is up to something,” he blurted out.

Zelgadis was the natural enemy of subtlety. But that was abrupt, even for him. Amelia stopped. He was looking away now and she couldn't read what was behind that frown.

“Well, it's Lina,” Amelia said. She said it as if it were an explanation and, in a way, it was. “She always has ulterior motives. Or crazy plans, fines to pay, pending lawsuits…”

But he shook his head.

“Oh, come on, Zelgadis. It can’t be that bad.”

Her friend's look said it all. Still, he tried to put it into words, just in case: “This is Lina we’re talking about, ‘the enemy of all that lives.’”

The princess still didn’t see the problem. At this point, it’s not like Lina’s reputation was a surprise. Besides, the two of them had an impeccable record: they both had traveled with Lina and were still alive. They had traveled with death and had all their organs in place. She scrutinized him. His mouth was tight, his gaze shifty. He looked like he was trying hard to be subtle. He looked like he wanted to tell her something.

“Zelgadis, do you know something I don’t?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you wanted to talk to me alone?”

He nodded and finally looked up from the ground. “Come on, let’s go to the usual place.”

Zel’s visits to Saillune had been planting new routines between him and Amelia. They now had a ‘usual place’, they had references they had made their own and knowing glances. They even had some ground rules.  For example, their friendship had three. The first was that there were no lies. The second was that there were no dramas and the third was that they were both comfortable just the way they were. But there was also another secret rule. The fourth rule was that all the previous ones were false.

The usual place turned out to be a fig tree with dark, almost blue leaves. Amelia liked the spot because of the aroma of the figs and how wide the branches were. Zelgadis liked it because it was the most isolated tree in the garden and, also, the one with the thickest leaves.

Now there were, here and there, small clues that this place was theirs. There was a wooden box with books on ancient magic and some pink boxing gloves. There was a rope ladder to climb the tree and, also, at the top, a small canteen.

Amelia climbed onto her favorite branch and tucked her hair behind the ear. The chimera leaned back against the trunk, his wiry hair carelessly scratching the white wood, his fingers tracing memories of past conversations. They were far enough away to avoid touching each other, yet close enough to speak in whispers.

Their gazes met and the chimera cleared his throat. He had no idea how to begin the story, so he started at the beginning: “Last night Lina and Gourry showed up in my room. First, they scared the shit out of me, and then they took me to the cellars.”

“I thought they had arrived this morning,” Zel shook his head, and she hesitated. “But why…?”

The rest was implied. Why the lie? Why meet without her?

“Because Lina has a crazy new idea in mind. One that… she didn’t want you to know about.”

Zelgadis noticed Amelia’s eyes fixed on his mouth, hanging on every word, every syllable.

“She started telling me about Hasturios,” he continued. “How she knew there was going to be an event, and how it was a kingdom of legend, full of treasures to steal. And…”

“And…?”

“Lina tried to get me to lie to you. She knew that Saillune would receive an invitation and she wanted to go at all costs. All because of some old legends of treasures and jewels.”

The princess changed her regular doubt for an XL doubt. Lina's behavior was not new, but…strange. Lies rarely entered the repertoire. Not because Lina had scruples, which she didn't, but because she preferred to be more direct. Her favorite method was, without a doubt, violence: fireballs and threats. But sometimes she also flirted with manipulation and drew the line at pleading. However, for Amelia, there was one thing more important than Lina's plan.

“And what did you say?”

“I told her that her plan was bullshit. That you would never believe that we want to go because ‘it’s a historical event and of cultural value.’”

She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

“I told her not to count on me. And then…” the chimera grimaced. “Then she tried to change my mind.”

Okay, that sounded like something Lina would do.  “With threats?”

“No. With my cure.”

There was a pause, an awkward silence. The two of them were still looking at each other, but now there was tension between them. Now, it was more like they were holding each other’s gaze.

“She told me that the legends of Hasturios also spoke of powerful magic and ancient spells. And I…” Zelgadis paused and broke contact. When she continued speaking, he did so quietly, very quietly. “I told her yes.”

Amelia wanted to say many things. She knew how important his cure was and she wanted to say that she understood; she knew how low he had fallen before by pursuing it, and she wanted to tell him that it didn’t surprise her. But she also knew that he had sold her for a possibility, for a legend, and she wanted to leave. Simply leave. Without saying a word, without making rules or excuses. What she actually said was: “But you're telling me everything. Why?”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, he shrugged and replied: “Because I changed my mind.”

Zel gave a shy smile. The gesture served as an apology and an anchor for the rules. It closed the conversation without drama, without revealing anything or hiding lies. However, Amelia continued talking: “Why?”

He looked at her without understanding. “Why, what?”

“You could have told me only the first part. Until when she convinces you to lie to me, and you say no. Why?”

“Amelia…”

“Why?” she insisted.

The tension and the rules weighed on them.

“Because…” the chimera said at last, “we agreed that there would be no lies. Because we are friends.”

Friends. For the second time that day, she studied the boy. Zelgadis had already gotten up from the ground and was now shaking the dirt off his cloak. He looked upset and serious. He looked like the same Zelgadis she met at Sairaag not so long ago. But those last actions didn't quite fit with that version of her friend. He was still surly and brusque but… there were also new pieces to the puzzle that was the chimera. There was less selfishness now and more patience. There was even something similar to scruples. And something that, if you squinted really hard, could be read as affection and esteem.

"Zelgadis? Do you really think there might be something about your cure in Hasturios?"

He looked at her and, cautiously, said: "It's possible."

"Then let's go. You and me."

Zelgadis opened his eyes wide and paused. 

“What's wrong with you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You! You should be upset and angry.”

She shrugged. “I should… but I changed my mind.”

He was still there, staring at her. With his mouth open, his cloak covered in stains.

Amelia stood up from her branch and, instead of going down to the ground, climbed up to the top of the fig tree. Once there, she stretched her body and came down with a thud and a flourish. It was a perfect landing.

The thud shook the leaves and, when she turned to look at the chimera, she found him still struggling with his words. When he found them, he said: “You are incredible, you know that?”

The princess just smiled. She had not expected a compliment. Now, she was the one who was red and speechless.

Chapter Text

Amelia had agreed to go to Hasturios with Zelgadis, but she wasn't crazy enough to take Lina along. Thus, she thought of how to do it without breaking the ‘no drama’ rule. Maybe she could give her an excuse. Tell her that Phil would be the one going and then sneak out. But after that, she thought that the rules were for people who don't have castles, or for those who haven't lost two dining rooms (because yes, there were two now) in one day.

The princess found her friend in the baths, up to her neck in bubbles and citrus scents. She wore a bright smile on her face and her red hair tainted the waters red.

"Amelia!" She greeted her. "Come here, I'll make room for you. Have you talked to Zel yet?"

But the girl didn't move. Instead, her mouth soured and she crossed her arms.

"Yes. And he told me everything."

"Everything?" she asked.

“Yes.”

“That's… interesting.”

Lina narrowed her eyes. Her face betrayed neither guilt nor surprise. Just curiosity. They stayed silent for a while. While the aroma of citrus flooded everything and the sorceress weighed her possibilities. In the end she just raised both arms, in a sign of defeat.

“Okay,” she admitted. “You caught me.”

“Why? There was no need for lying.”

“Ah, but technically, I haven't lied to you yet, right? Zelgadis has betrayed me first. And let me tell you that…” but she changed her mind. “No, it doesn't matter. Pass me the sponge, will you?”

A yellow projectile entered the bathtub and Lina had to duck to avoid the impact.

“Why, Lina?”

She shrugged. “I didn't want any drama” The sorceress took the sponge-projectile and filled the bathtub with bubbles. Then, without even looking at her, she said, “Will you take me with you then?”

Amelia looked at her as if she was crazy. “Are you really asking me that?” 

“Come on, I’m your friend. You know I would never lie to you without a good reason.”

The princess narrowed her eyes. “And what reason is that?”

Lina stopped. She put the sponge on the side of the tub and slowly looked at the girl. “That I can’t tell you.”

Her friend snorted and put her arms on her hips, in the gesture of ‘everything is said here.’ Then she went to leave, but the sorceress spoke again.

“Amelia, please.”

And Amelia stopped. No signs of anger on her face anymore, only surprise, almost fright. Because Lina never, EVER, said please. She threatened, bit, and kicked. But never begged.

“It must be important.”

“It is.”

The girl sighed and tucked her charcoal hair behind her ear. The conversation wasn’t going as she expected. It was obvious that Lina wasn’t sorry, but there was something… something that kept her from telling her no. She was still angry, but her body fought the idea of ​​leaving her out of this adventure. Because Amelia was sometimes too good for her own sake because it was always she who turned the other cheek. And also, because Lina seemed desperate. I must be going crazy.

“Lina? How illegal is what you have in mind?”

“No more than usual,” the sorceress answered. A smile was beginning to creep onto her mouth. It was white as foam and white lies.

Amelia was going to regret this. She was sure of it. And yet…“Okay.”

“Thank you. I… owe you one.”

Suddenly, her voice sounded grateful and her smile became warmer, almost tender. But that combination barely lasted a moment. Because, when she was left alone with her foam, Lina's mouth turned sour and she added, almost angrily:

“And you owe me one, Zelgadis Greywords.”

Sometimes Zelgadis was just Zel and Amelia was Ame. It only happened when the two were alone and only when they were both comfortable. But lately, it happened frequently.

That afternoon was one of those times. The chimera and the princess were in a library, surrounded by magic books and essays on golden dragons’ eating habits. Saillune's archive was but a small way to escape reality and it was another of their favorite places. There, Zel didn't feel the need to cover his face and, there, Amelia could escape from political treaties and protocol.

Today Amelia was also fleeing from her personal demons; from Eldoran's health problems; from Lina's mysteries and from the sinister cult of Zoamelgustar that was gaining strength in Saillune.

The couple were playing chess, in fact, they had been doing it for hours. They had lost count of the games and the notion of time. Because there were smiles between castlings and small pouts every time one turned a pawn into a queen.

Zelgadis moved his knight and smiled “Check!”

He looked at his friend. Now came when she made a pout with her lips and criticized the evil of his move or the villainy of his bishops. The chimera waited, but that sneer he liked so much never reached her lips. Now the girl seemed to have her mind elsewhere.

“Ame?”

She raised her eyes. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“It’s your turn.”

The princess looked back at the board. She was, somehow, winning. Amelia took a rook between her fingers and then carried it to the surest of deaths. Across the table, Zel frowned “Is something wrong?

She shook her head and, as an explanation, said “Lina.”

“Ah.”

Anyone who knew Lina knew that explained everything, but still, Amelia spoke again “Lina is coming with us.”

“To dinner?”

“To Hasturios.”

Zelgadis raised his eyebrows. “You don’t mean it.”

She sighed “I’m afraid so.”

The chimera’s face was a poem. One full of questions, vast plains of confusion. The girl read her face and added: “She asked me, Zel.”

She kept for herself the part where Lina begged her because she didn’t think Zel had room for more emotions. Besides, she felt like it was some kind of secret between them. And to be frank, she didn’t have enough dining rooms to risk making her angry again.

Beside her, Zel just looked at her and shook his head “You’re too kind,” he said.

Was it a compliment? Amelia smiled anyway.

They dropped the subject and continued playing. There were more bishop casualties and more knights leaping to a sad death. There were also a few laughs when Zel's queen fell to a pawn; and that Amelia's pout appeared at the second check to her king. They continued to play until the sun began to set over the hills, until a few soft knocks interrupted.

Knock, knock, knock

The library door opened and, with it, reality and its problems snuck inside again, breaking the spell.

"Miss Amelia?"

A small, bald butler appeared behind the frame. He looked worried, but that was not unusual given that there was a Lina Inverse in the castle.

"Ah, William," Amelia greeted him. "Is dinner ready?"

"Miss Amelia. Please come with me. Your father is looking for you."

"Is something wrong?" asked the chimera.

The butler looked at him but did not answer his question. He looked conflicted, troubled.

“Miss, please come with me.”

Something was wrong.

Amelia stood up and went to meet the little man. There, at the door, there was an exchange of whispers and the princess’s face changed completely.

Something was very wrong.

“No! But… NO!  J-Just yesterday he…”

“I’m so sorry, princess,” the servant murmured. And he seemed sorry indeed. “I… I’ll tell your father that you need a moment.”

The little man bowed and retreated into the hall, and the door hit the frame without closing completely.

When William had gone, she covered her face with her hands. Zelgadis jumped from his seat. “Amelia, what is it? What did he say to you?”

The princess did not answer. Her small hands continued to hide her face and small murmurs escaped between her fingers.

“Amelia…”

The ‘no drama’ rule was breaking and Zelgadis didn’t know how to fix it.

“It’s my grandfather.”

Shit.

“My grandfather is dead.”

She sobbed harder and the entire rule fell apart. A few inches away, the chimera stood still. Not knowing how to react, or what to say. 

A bit further but in the same floor, Lina and Gourry were also still. The news had caught them on the way to the dining room. But now, dinner just didn't seem as appealing to them.

The mercenary was the first to move. He made a face. “Lina, this changes things.”

She responded with a punch to his ribs and some equally harsh words. “This changes nothing.”

“You can't be serious.”

“Gourry, old people die every day and Eldoran was the definition of old himself. I’m surprised he lasted that long”

Thus, faithful to her rule of ‘zero drama.’ She shrugged and moved again.

“Hey, hey! Where are you going?”

“To bed.”

Lina was Lina. She was rude, selfish, and carefree. However, it was unheard of for her to skip meals. And it wasn’t common for her to be that cruel either. At least, not without reason.

Chapter Text

The previous night had been long: full of paperwork, meetings, and long faces. And the morning after was dark, like the bags under Amelia's eyes, like the black dress she was wearing.

Zelgadis was staring at her. That Amelia was incompatible with his ‘no drama’ rule and, of course, no idea how to deal with her. He had no clue of how to address the situation or that dress without white or pink and that mouth without smiles.

He sighed and went back to feeling stupid. 

She had spent the night awake, in eternal meetings, and he… he brought her tea and candy. He felt useless and out of place. And he wished, more than ever, to be able to hide his face behind his white mask. Unfortunately, formal suits didn’t match that kind of accessories. So, instead, he had changed his cape for a shirt and his mask for a borrowed tie. Like Amelia, today Zelgadis wore only black.

He looked back at his friend. She was sitting at her desk, holding a tea that had been cold for hours and completely lost in her own thoughts.

“Do you want me to bring you another one?”

Amelia looked up from her papers. To say she was tired would be almost an understatement. “Another one?” she asked.

“Another tea, I meant. Mint tea?”

The girl gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. “No, thank you.”

She ran her hand through her dark hair, half annoyed and half frustrated. And the chimera hesitated:

“I'm sorry. Would you prefer to be alone for a bit?”

“No, please. Don’t…” She wanted to say “Don't leave me alone.” Instead, she said “I could use a distraction. I'm stuck.”

Zel nodded. He walked around the oak desk and rested one of his blue hands on the wood. The princess was looking at a paper full of crossed-out lines and ink stains. The rest of the content looked like words. He frowned. For a royal, Amelia had terrible handwriting. “What are you working on?”

“A speech.”

He picked up the paper and guessed a couple of words. It said: ‘chamber of commerce,’ ‘fishing waters,’ and ‘Zephiria.’

“Is this for the Zephiria trade meeting? The one in three weeks?”

“I know it’s nothing urgent but… I need to keep myself busy. I can’t sleep and…”

The chimera cut her off with a gentle smile. “Amelia, it’s okay. I know exactly what you mean.” Then he brought the paper closer to his face and squinted, trying to guess the ink scribbles. “Well, except in here and in here “ and he added” I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you. I can’t figure out a thing in all this section.”

She stared at him and he tried to explain himself without being rude. In the end, he just said: “You have horrible handwriting.”

That brought a weak smile from the princess “I know. That's what I get for skipping calligraphy classes.”

“Oh, you skipped classes?”

“Something like that. I convinced my father to let me do extra boxing and martial arts.”

That looked more like the image of Amelia he remembered. A restless, cheerful, and noisy girl. He smiled. “Are you sure I can't get you anything? A pair of boxing gloves? A pillow?”

She shook her head. “No, thanks. But I could use some talking.”

Shit.

Zelgadis wasn't good at feelings. Neither at comfort nor at nice words. So he leaned his body against the window behind him and searched for a common point, a familiar ground for both of them. “What are you going to tell Lina?

“About?” She asked.

“About Hasturios.”

Amelia gave a small sigh and hid her hair behind her ear. ”Nothing.”

“What do you mean, nothing? I thought the trip was canceled given the… circumstances.”

“Unfortunately, Saillune can't ignore this invitation. I was talking to Dad a few hours ago and he can't leave the kingdom right now. I'm the only one who can go now.”

The girl looked away. She didn't like the idea of ​​leaving her father alone after the funeral. “It's not that I’m eager to go, but we can't afford to offend them either. There's too much at stake. Trade treaties, agreements…”

She turned to her friend and found him with his arms crossed and a serious gaze on his face:

“And you're going to take Lina.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

Zel clenched his jaw. In an effort to hold back his words. It was obvious that he didn't think it was a good idea. “Why? Because you don’t want to anger her?”

“Because I promised.”

He looked at her for a moment, still with his mouth set and his gaze fixed. Then he slowly let out a sigh and murmured:  "You're way too good."

And, this time, it didn't sound like a compliment.

They remained silent. While the clouds filled the gray sky. While lightning illuminated the scene and thunder rumbled in the distance. Suddenly, another melody joined the concert: the enormous golden bells rang. The funeral was beginning.

Zelgadis glanced outside. The rain had begun to soak the windows and, there on the ground, a line of people dressed in mourning black was heading towards the temple. The chimera looked back at his friend: "Are you ready?" he asked.

She didn't answer and he carefully opened the door.

The ceremony just kept going and going. The rain was now falling hard and its sound filled the room and the scene.

The candle wax was still burning. The afternoon dragged on.

Zel had the impression that time was not passing, that the whole world was holding its breath, not knowing very well how to act in a place where everyone was sad and dressed in black.

The boy looked around. Thousands of white candles illuminated the stone room, contrasting the black of the suits, with the gray of the stones. To the left, the red glow of a wild, ginger mane stood out. Lina. The sorceress and the chimera exchanged glances, assessing each other. And, faithful followers of the second rule, that of ‘zero grudges’, he tensed his jaw,  just as she wrinkled her nose and looked away.

Meanwhile, Amelia's voice filled the room with sweet words about Eldoran. Her speeches always had extra mentions of justice and kindness, but this one also contained sour bits of sadness. 

Next to Zelgadis marched a crowd of citizens, all carrying flowers: jasmine, roses, lavender, and sunflowers. And, one by one, they laid them down. One by one, then they marched.

At first, they did it in an orderly line, but soon they did it in twos or threes. Couples walked hand in hand, and children queued together, causing them to bump into each other, their skin to brush against the arms of the chimera, their murmurs to be too close to his liking.

No.

Time moved on and the citizens marched. Without end, without beginning. The scene went from being long into feeling eternal and, suddenly, and the brushes were almost shoves; the murmurs were conversations in his ear.

Not again.

The stone hands of the chimera began to sweat and his tie turned into a surly black snake. And when he couldn't take it anymore, the scene continued without him.

Zel stumbled out of the temple with his hand on his tie, tugging.

I have to go back. I have to go back.

But breathing was difficult. He could still feel the touch of strangers in his arms. The sound of a thousand murmurs; the scent of sweat; flowers and wax.

He had to go back.

               But he stayed there a little longer.

        He had to go back.

                  But his body resisted.

So he stayed there, under the storm. While time passed without his permission and he fought against his worst demons.

He had to go back and, in the end, he did.

He gritted his teeth and, dripping with rain and anxiety, he entered the building again.

The temple was packed and yet, there was a row of benches that was particularly empty. The very same one where a certain red-haired sorceress and her friend sat. They both wore black and yet, they stood out. Because of the restless posture that one had and the enormous height of the other.

Lina shifted in her seat. She hated funerals. It's not that anyone liked them, it's that she especially detested them: so many tears made her uncomfortable and the religious readings made her desperate.

Still, she just kept silent and waited. She didn't purse her mouth when she heard the religious songs and didn't roll her eyes when the second cousin of Eldoran's son felt the need to give a speech. She just waited.

However, her face began to show emotions at the time of the farewells. Lina bit her lip when she saw Amelia's efforts to hold back her tears. And she bit in until she bled when she saw the chimera leave the temple.

Moron.

The sorceress looked at Gourry, but her friend didn't made a comment. He didn’t even make a sound.

The stream of citizens and flowers began to dry up and Lina made out parts that were previously hidden by the crowds: the guards guarding the coffin; the high priest in the center and, on one of the thrones, Amelia.

And… Oh, Amelia. She seemed lost now that it was all over. She was looking for something or, perhaps, someone. Suddenly, their eyes met.

The princess and the sorceress looked at each other for a moment, while the ‘zero drama’ rule said Damn, this is awkward, isn’t it? And decided to leave the temple as well.

Lina timidly greeted her from her bench and her friend’s mouth curved a little. Then, slowly, she went to meet her.

“Thank you for coming,” she said in her princess tone.

“Of course,” Gourry answered.

Lina moved to make room for her on her wooden stool. Not that it was necessary, but it was the gesture that counted. There was an awkward pause, as the three searched for the right words.

Amelia was the first to speak: "Have you seen Zelgadis?"

The sorceress shrugged. "You know he doesn't like crowds."

"Should I go and find him?" Gourry offered.

But she just shook her head and looked at Lina. Amelia's eyes sought sympathy in Lina's and instead found discomfort. She was not good at these situations, these talks, what do you say when someone loses a loved one? What are the right words?

"Don't worry about Zelgadis, he will appear," she managed to say. And, of course, those were not the right words.

Her friend's mouth trembled. She seemed simply different. Serious and sad. Distant. A few small tears appeared in the princess's eyes. And Lina tried again.

"Amelia, are you okay?"...  again, they were not the best words. But the right ones did not exist either. There was no magic formula that would take away Amelia's pain, nor words of comfort that would make her feel better. If only there were.

At her side, Lina was beginning to tense up, not really knowing where that damn chimera was, or where to stand. None of them were good with feelings and words, but they weren't exactly friends of silence either. So, she tried for a third time “Come on.”

She opened her arms and her friend's response was instantaneous. She threw herself into hugging the sorceress, burying her face in her long, red hair. The two of them hugged each other tightly, ignoring the storm outside and the reality that surrounded them. Thus, the church emptied, until the place went from being packed to just full. Until only a couple of guards and the three friends remained.

After a while, a chimera also appeared. Zelgadis found the two girls fused in a black and red embrace. Amelia's face was hidden between strands of copper hair, but Lina was looking in his direction. Her gaze was filled with anger and her eyebrows were drawn down, full of threats. Ones that read: ‘You better have a good excuse.’ And the worst part was that he wasn’t sure he had one.

Chapter Text

The road from Saillune to Hasturios was a favorite among hikers. It was flat and green. It was quiet and full of bushes and life. To the left ran a dark stream and huge cypress trees grew tall on its banks. And the key to all that description was the verb tenses: was, ran, grew. All in the past tense. Because then Lina Inverse arrived:

“Fireball!”

In an instant, the leaves turned black and, in another, the forest, the air, and Zelgadis's cape burned to crisps:

“Fuck, Lina! You need to get better at aiming.”

She smiled as she shook the soot off her hands. “Uhmm who knows? Maybe I did it on purpose.”

The chimera growled something that sounded like a curse and jumped over one of the dying bandits. “Whatever. Just let me know when you're done.”

“Aw, leaving so soon, Zelga-bunny?”

“Oh, fuck you”.

Zelgadis left the clearing and Lina looked at her work. She was now 2 bags of gold richer and the world had 15 fewer bandits. Well, 30, if you counted this morning's stop.

Because other families stopped to have sandwiches or go to the bathroom. But this one had mandatory stops to kick bandits' asses.

“Lina?”

Amelia approached from behind. She was wearing her white adventurer clothes again and, most importantly, she was wearing smiles again.

“There you are! I saw Zelgadis's singed cape and…”

“Oh, that?” she answered. “Yes, that was one of the bandits. He attacked him from behind.”

“No! What a villainous thing to do!”

“Indeed.”

The princess pouted and Lina answered with a smile. For a moment, everything was back to normal: there were jokes and explosions; adventures, and bandits. It was all just the way they all liked it: familiar, silly, and chaotic.

The only differences were that Amelia's smiles were fewer now, and they were riding in a carriage instead of walking. That had changed the group dynamic a bit. There was less room for personal space and more time filled with card games, naps, and stories. There were also an incredible amount of new smells. Smells like leather, varnish, horses. And, on top of that, there was the heat. 

As it turns out, riding in a carriage wasn't so elegant when you were wearing armor under the awful sun of August. In fact, Lina decided that riding that thing wasn’t elegant at all. It was unbearable. The rattling of the carriage turned their stomachs, and the seats went from being comfy to sticky. And so, the group took any excuse to get out of the cramped space. Gourry climbed up to take the reins of the horses with the coachman, and Zelgadis would choose to walk parts of the way. For her part, Amelia would sometimes fly ahead and wait for them on the top of a tree. And then there was Lina. Lina took advantage of the fact that everyone had left and treated herself to some of the travel rations.

The sorceress looked at the sky. A small column of smoke rose behind the clearing and a faint smell of spices began to mix with the smell of burnt meat and firewood.

“Amelia? Who was cooking today?”

“I think it was Gourry’s turn.”

“Fuck.”

“What’s wrong? What…?” Something clicked in Amelia’s mind and the princess’s face went from confusion to terror. “Oh, no.”

“Did you leave him alone? With the food?”

The two looked at each other, both with the same fear in their eyes.

“Do you think there’s anything left?”

“There's only one way to find out,” Lina said.

And they both started running.

There was still a day and a half of travel until Hasturios and the group had already stopped four times, three times for breakfasts and one for a fight. The four of them were tired and cranky, they all felt the bouncing of each pebble on the wheels of the cart and on their asses. Some still carried the weight of yesterday's funeral and others also carried secrets. But all, without exception, were exhausted.

The clouds had given the sun a break, but the heat was still unbearable. Just like Lina: “Come on, does anyone want to play cards? Wanna play Chinchón ? Continental ?”

“I'll pass” the chimera growled.

“No way. You always cheat“ the mercenary answered.

Amelia said nothing and the sorceress turned to her. She had been silent all afternoon, her gaze lost in the world outside the window. “Amelia? Come on, it will be fun!”

She tried to smile, but her mouth wouldn’t obey her.

“We also have a domino.”

The princess shook her head.

“Are you sure?”

“Leave her alone, Lina,” Zel said.

Amelia finally controlled her mouth and, with the most polite of smiles, said: “I’m sorry, Lina. I… I think I’ll go ahead for a bit.”

The girl got out of the car and they saw her take flight through the window. In the carriage, there were still a sleepy-faced mercenary, a bored sorceress, and an annoyed chimera. 

He saw Amelia rise and, when he was sure she couldn’t hear them, he focused on his friends again. His eyes radiated anger and cold fury: “What the hell are you doing?”

“What do you think? I'm trying to liven this up," Lina asked.

She had taken out the deck of cards and was now putting them into piles, cursing every time the rocking of the carriage mixed them up.

"And that's why you're pressuring Amelia?"

She finally looked him in the eyes. And his indignation met her anger.

“Would you prefer for me to stay put then?” she snorted. “Would you rather all suffer in discomfort and silence? The atmosphere in here is unbearable, Zel. Those damn rules are there for a reason, you know.”

Zel's mouth opened, but he ended up swallowing the words that were about to come out of his lips. Instead, he said: “Someone has just died, Lina. And you can’t just ignore that.”

She didn't deny it or make any comment. She just looked at him and her gaze read ‘I'll ignore whatever the hell I want.’

Zelgadis stared at them both, at the insensitive sorceress and the idiotic mercenary. Gourry hadn't opened his mouth for a while and, from the look he gave the chimera, he didn't plan to either.

“You are…” Zelgadis began. 

And then she sighed, trying to swallow the anger that rose in her throat. “You are unbelievable. At least forget that shitty plan of yours,” he continued. “This visit is important for Amelia. And, what we do or don’t do there will have consequences for the relations of both kingdoms. Serious consequences, Lina.”

She snorted. “Now you are being dramatic, Zel. And you know it.”

“The hell I am!” he shouted. “Listen, Amelia has enough problems right now and the last thing she needs is for you to provoke a conflict between Saillune and Hasturios. All for… for what, Lina? For a bit of fun? For a couple of extra coins?”

He stared at her, while an idea, a question, made its way into his mind. There was something there. Something that didn’t quite fit in place.

“Wait… you haven't told me everything, have you?” he leaned forward, observing her gestures. Her curved smile, her carefree attitude. “It's not like you to steal from those who aren't bandits. Nor to try to deceive your friends.”

Fucking Zelgadis , Lina cursed him, sometimes he's just a bit too clever. And then she just shrugged her shoulders. “What do you want me to say? I was bored.”

“Were you bored!?” he repeated.

“Yes. Sometimes bandits get tiring and, you know, one needs a challenge.”

The chimera stared at her: at that mouth that was now pressed together, at those dark and fiery eyes. And he couldn’t help but think about how dangerous and chaotic his friend was. How childish and scary she could be when she wanted to. She was clever and, at the same time, simple. The girl was the embodiment of pure chaos. She was raw power and emotion. 

Then he wondered how much truth there was in that statement. And how terrible the lie would be. “What are you hiding from me, Lina?”

Near Lina, Gourry shifted in his seat. For the mercenary, words weren’t important sounds. He was much more drawn to the sound of gravel crunching under boots, of the steel being drawn out of sheaths. He also noticed gestures, warning signs: quick movements and pursed lips. Suddenly, Lina seemed uncomfortable next to him, and words were important again.

For the second time, she shrugged. However now, there were small changes in that gesture. This time she forgot to relax her shoulders again. Instead, she let an awkward silence answer that question.

“Well?” the chimera insisted. “What…?”

“That’s enough, Zel,” Gourry cut him off.

The chimera turned to his friend, not sure what surprised him more: the fact that he had opened his mouth, or the tone and warning that came from his words. It's not that he didn't usually take Lina's side, which he did, but more often than not he just nodded or muttered  ‘whatever she says.’ He wasn't usually so blunt. Across from him, Lina seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"What?"

"Just leave it, will you? You have a reason for going to Hasturios too, right? Then why do you care about hers?"

Zelgadis studied them and he caught Gourry's dry gesture, Lina's crossed arms. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get anything more out of them. At least, not today. So the chimera carefully kept his doubts to himself and then wrinkled his nose. "You're impossible," he muttered as he opened the door.

Zel got out of the carriage. He let the door bang hard and the glass shake. And Lina just waited in silence. She counted to 10 and turned to the mercenary.

“What do you think you’re doing? You didn’t need to defend me, Gourry.”

“I know.”

“I could handle him alone.”

“I know,” he repeated.

She stared at him, a question on her lips.

“I know you can handle him,” Gourry clarified. “But, sometimes, Zelgadis get too annoying. Even for me.”

That was different. Gourry? Irritated?

Yet, what came next wasn’t that new nor different. He got closer and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. And, against all odds, Lina didn’t kick his ass or turn her face away. Instead, she dropped that mask of insensitivity she wore. Then she pulled the curtains of the carriage and kissed him back sweetly.

It was getting dark outside. The summer cicadas gave way to crickets, and the August heat finally gave them a break. They had barely walked, but the whole group was at their limit. The four of them were sick of sniffing each other, and a fifth needed Phil to invent sick leaves. The horses stopped.

“Miss Amelia?” a trembling voice asked. “How far is it to our inn? The animals are tired.”

The voice came from the coachman: a plump, fearful little man named Hector. He had started the journey skeptical of Lina Inverse’s fame, and now 40 miles from Saillune, he realized his mistake. Because now he truly believed the stories of banana wounds and tales of craters that used to be villages.

But it wasn’t like he volunteered for the job either. Hasturios was still stuck in the past and not having a coachman or a servant was, apparently, an insult to the good etiquette and traditions of the kingdom. So poor Hector had paid the price. Now he was really regretting that sentence that had condemned him, that ‘come on, it can’t  be that bad.’ Because it turned out that it wasn’t bad: it was worse.

Lina snorted and the big man shrank a little. “An inn, Hector?” she said sarcastically. “There isn’t one.”

He looked at her, fearful, confused: “But… where are we going to stop? In a villa perhaps? In a castle?”

“More like under a tree,” Zelgadis said. “Hopefully, one without too many bugs.”

The coachman opened his eyes wide. Were they really going to force someone of royalty to sleep on the floor? Without separate rooms? With a bathroom and running water? They were despicable beings, no doubt.

He looked at his princess and she smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Hector. The next inn is many hours away. We’d be too late. But don’t worry, sleeping on the floor isn’t so bad.”

Hector grimaced. “Have you… done it before, Your Highness?”

“Oh, yes. Many times.”

Horrible beings, the coachman thought, no doubt . And an even worse influence on the young lady. He was beginning to suspect that the stories about his princess were also true, those about her eating with her fingers when no one was looking and of her sharing a table with dragons and mazokus.

“And what will we have for dinner?” the coachman asked, almost fearfully.

“I’m in charge of that tonight,” Lina replied, “so whatever comes to mind, I suppose.”

The little man groaned. He thought of poisons, intoxication, and… horses. He hugged his animals tightly and prayed to gods and demons.

“Come on, don’t make that face, man. I’m not that bad of a cook.”

“Allow me to disagree,” said Gourry.

After that, there was the sound of metal hitting something hard and a sad: “Ouch! LINA!”

“Don’t ‘Oh, Lina,’ me! You started this.”

“Started what? I was just stating a fact.”

Hector stood beside his beloved horses and watched the scene. First, he saw Lina throwing lemons at the mercenary and him gracefully dodging them. And then it was he who was chasing her, armed with snails and evil grins.

The coachman took the harnesses off the animals, who, by the way, seemed just as surprised as he was. He continued with the reins and took a brush, watching out of the corner of his eye for sorceresses, mercenaries, or yellow projectiles. What came instead was a chimera: “Want some help, Hector?”

“No, no, my lord. I couldn’t…”

“Call me my lord one more time and tell Lina that you’ve finished all the sausages,” he replied. “Here, I’ll start with this one.”

He took one of the brushes from the toolbox and went to the chestnut mare. The man watched him silently. Zelgadis knew how to move around horses and seemed even comfortable in their presence. His gesture was now less intimidating, almost friendly.

“My…?” he grunted and the coachman corrected himself. “Zelgadis?”

“Uhm?” he murmured.

“Are they always like that?” he said, pointing in the direction of Lina and Gourry.

The chimera smiled. “No. They're worse.”

“Worse?”

“Well, yes. But... you get used to it, you know? We've been traveling together for many years now.

“You must be very good friends then.”

Zel stopped to think about it. Were they good friends? Or were they just good at tolerating each other?

“I…” The chimera turned to look at his companions and his eyes widened in horror. He forgot what he was saying and instead opted for: “Oh, no.”

“Oh, no?”

“Lina has dropped the lemons. She’s using fireballs now.”

Amelia heard a loud BOOM in the distance. But she saw no fire and heard no screams, so she kept climbing. She had spent enough time around her friends to know their habits and what sounds or gestures indicated danger. So she was careful to duck down whenever Lina cracked her knuckles or to move away a little whenever Gourry had to put on dresses (which, for some reason, happened frequently). On the other hand, fireballs were rather common and swearing was almost a sign of affection. Then there were also ashes and burns, but those were the least you could expect if you traveled with Lina.

The princess kept climbing. She liked high places. She enjoyed the wind in her face, the quiet, and the view of the night sky. She reached the top of the fir tree and sat on one of the branches.

She sighed. It had been a very long day. And, unfortunately, it wasn't over yet.

Suddenly she felt the branch bend and a violet-haired priest appeared sitting next to her.

“Nice night, isn’t it?”

“Xellos?”

“Hello, Amelia,” he greeted her. “Long time no see.”

Chapter Text

A priest and a princess were sitting in a tree. In the middle of the night. Alone. It almost looked romantic, that is, if you ignored the looks of surprise and disgust they kept shooting at each other. 

Xellos gave her a crooked smile and bowed. “Do you come here often?”

But it had been a very long day and Amelia didn't feel like playing. “What do you want, Xellos?

“You insult me, dear.” The priest’s smile got more wicked and grew wider. “It’s not like I only pop up because I want something, you know? And I don’t have ill intentions all the time, either.”

“You don’t?”

“No. Some days I come by because I'm bored and I think of evil plans later.”

He winked at her and she just rolled her eyes. “And today? Why have you come here today?

Xellos' smile paused as he started to fidget with the staff in his gloved hands. “Today... Today is a special case. I have come to ask you for a tiny favor.”

“Me?” The princess's eyes filled with surprise first and suspicion later. “Not Lina?”

“Exactly. I think this is something that only you can do. I…”

“No.” she cut him off.

“But I haven’t told you anything yet.”

“I know, but the answer is still no.” She turned her face to look at the mazoku. He was still there, on the branch, his huge stupid smile and his dark gray cape. “You know that I’ll never collaborate with Evil or Injustices.”

There Xellos' smile curved again, noticing the capital letters. “And yet,” he said, “you continue traveling with Lina.”

“That’s because Lina is an ally of Justice!”

Xellos burst out laughing and his laughter echoed through the forest, as deep and dark as the landscape.

“You are such a sweetheart,” he said.

And yet, his words sounded more like ‘you are such a naive girl.’ The mazoku walked to the edge of the branch and then continued walking: until he was suspended in the air, until he was just in front of her. “Do you really think Lina is good? Despite her being banned from several kingdoms? Despite her pending trials and fines?”

“Of course I do. It's just that she is... she...

Amelia hesitated and Xellos reveled in the scent of her doubts. “Not everything is black or white, Amelia. And, yes, I have come today to talk to you and not to Lina. Because I believe that, for once, those foolish ideals of yours align with my personal interests. So, why don't you listen to me? After all, you might be interested in what I have to say.”

The princess studied the vermin in front of her. Amelia and Xellos didn't have the same hateful relationship that he had with Filia. But still, they were oil and water. They didn't like each other and, of course, they didn't mix either. And that made this an unusual situation: one that smelled of dangerous adventure, of lies, deceit, and...

"Come on, you don't have to think about it so much, you know?" He looked at her from his new branch. He was sitting in a way that defied gravity and, at the same time, all the manners books in the world. "You can always say no once I give you the details."

"Okay," she heard herself say. "I'm listening."

"Perfect."

He composed himself on his branch. She suppressed a shiver.

"A little birdie told me you're going to Hasturios."

"I'm not going to sneak you into the kingdom, Xellos."

He put one of his gloved fingers on the princess's lips. And smiled. “I wasn't finished yet, dear. I don't want you to help me sneak in. I want you to take a good look at its people when you visit. The citizens and, also, the royalty.”

“And… that's it?”

“Almost. See? It wasn't that big of a deal. I just want you to investigate the kingdom's secret. Find out why they isolate themselves from the world and why they only open their doors once every 200 years. And…”

“And…?”

“And, if you don't like what you see, then consider breaking the barrier that separates Hasturios from the world.”

“Why?”

“Because the royal family of Hasturios had something that belongs to us. Something they borrowed from Xellas Metalium. Something that she is very very interested in getting back. Unfortunately, mother hasn't given me any more details. The object is from a time before me, so I don't know much about the subject either. I would investigate it myself, but…” Xellos fell silent and looked at his companion. His smile had vanished and he looked serious, even frustrated.

"But you can't go through the barrier," she understood.

"Bingo."

The priest and the princess looked at each other. She remained rigid on her branch, while Xellos returned to his carefree posture. He was playing with the fir needles, pulling them off one by one, in a gesture more out of boredom than malice. They met eyes again and Amelia opened her mouth once more. "I still don't know what this has to do with justice and good."

"Did I mention the part about stealing?"

"Yes," she replied. "But I don't know if stealing from the Mazokus would be considered evil."

And, this time, it was the demon's turn to roll his eyes. "By Shabranigdo! Fine, whatever," he said through clenched teeth. "Let's leave that aside. You know that no kingdom isolates itself from the rest for altruistic reasons, right? And that, the more security there is, the more shady the secrets are. Which means that Hasturios is hiding something very, very dirty. Something related to its royalty and its legends.”

“It sounds like you're not telling me everything there.”

“Sounds exactly like that, doesn't it?”

He smiled and she sighed.

“And Lina?”

“Do you see Lina worrying about ordinary citizens often? About the fate of a kingdom and its leaders? No. Lina is too selfish for this adventure.”

Amelia wanted to reply, but the priest was absolutely right. Lina was great and powerful, but she was also capricious, selfish. Chaotic. The princess had only one question left to ask him. “What will you do if I agree? What will you do if I help you break down the barrier?”

Xellos' smile climbed across his face and, with eyes full of demonic hatred, he whispered: “Recover what is ours and, in the process,… collect the interest too.”

“You mean gold?”

“No, my dear. I mean blood.”

That was not the answer Amelia was expecting. She expected something like ‘That’s a secret’ or even an enigmatic smile. But this… “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to help you kill an innocent man.”

Xellos sat up and dozens of fir needles fell from his lap. Then he looked back at the princess and shrugged. “It’s your call. But not all men are innocent, and not all the Mazoku’s plans are always evil.”

Then he leaned a little closer and whispered in her ear. “As I said, not everything is black or white, princess. And the sooner you realize that, the better.”

She jumped away, but the Mazoku had already vanished. Now there was only  a piece of starry sky and a huge empty branch, 

“Of course, you don’t have to help me if you don’t want to,” the wind whispered in the night, “but if you change your mind, I’ll know. And I’ll be ready.”

“Never!” she shouted into the darkness.

And the night merely smiled in silence.

Zelgadis finished his coffee and stared into the fire. The grass and trees were still smoking, but the clearing no longer looked like a battlefield. Dinner had calmed the beasts (and the horses) and there were no more shouts, no more explosions. Now there was only the hiss of the flames in the bonfire, the rustling of the wind through the fir trees and green leaves. Then, another sound joined the melody: there were soft footsteps approaching through the grass.

Amelia's boots stopped near the chimera as the princess dropped down to his right. He just watched her. The princess was still serious and pale, and he considered how stupid would be to ask her how she was or why she had disappeared. Instead, he said: "Are you hungry?"

She opened her eyes wide: "Is there food left? Lina and Gorry leave any leftovers?"

"Not exactly." The chimera chuckled and pushed a bowl over to her. “Here, it almost cost me a finger, but I managed to save you this.”

She took the bowl. Inside was a thick stew that smelled of rosemary and potatoes. Amelia inhaled the aroma and it mingled with the smells of mud, smoke, and wood. It smelled just like adventures.

Zel walked away from her side for a second and came back armed with a spoon in his blue hands and a small smile on his face.

Amelia whispered a soft thank you and, for some reason, she couldn’t help but think of smiles. And how different they could be depending on the person. Xellos’ smile was wide and sharp; while Zelgadis’ was brief and, in her opinion, even sweet. Then there was Gourry’s, which was wide and kind; and Lina’s, which was, simply and plainly, a warning sign. The princess looked around the camp. She noticed Hector’s loud snoring; and also Gourry, who slept with his armor on. She also spotted the horses that rested as far away from Lina as possible. And…Amelia’s gaze paused for a moment in her figure, in her sleeping face and her bright red hair. Xellos' words echoed now in her ears: Do you really think Lina is good?

Amelia grimaced. It was true that Lina was considered a natural disaster in many communities, but she was still good, right? Because, despite the forests she burned and the people she hurt, she always ended up helping her friends. Because when the world cried out for help, she was always there. It didn't matter that, sometimes, she was the one who put it in danger. And it didn’t matter either that she always demanded rewards and outrageous favors after saving the situation. That never mattered... right? The important thing was that she had Saved The World ( TM ), and more than once. After all, the princess decided, you couldn't possibly be a villain if you defeated others who were even worse along the way. So Amelia nodded and decided to hold on to that last thought. She held onto it tight and then set the bowl aside.

"Do you want anything else?" the chimera asked. "I think there's green tea left in the carriage and, if Lina hasn't discovered my hiding place yet, even chocolate."

The girl looked up. She saw Zelgadis's brief smile and, once again, Xellos's words came back to haunt her: Not everything is black and white, princess. And the sooner you realize that, the better. And Amelia thought of Zelgadis: how kind he was to her and how cruel he could be at times. She thought of her own definition of good and justice and also…

"No," she said out loud.

"No?" the chimera repeated.

Amelia's mouth twisted again and the chimera caught the gesture. "Is something wrong, Amelia?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing," she lied. "I think... I think I'm just tired."

He stared at her and smiled again, this time more briefly. "Of course," he whispered. "I'll let you sleep then. Good night."

"Good night."

That day, Amelia went to bed with the taste of doubts and rosemary in her mouth; with her mind full of ideas.

The next morning, Amelia yawned under the cloudy sky. She had spent the entire night trying to put her thoughts in order and now she was not only confused. She was also hungry.

The princess was silent for a moment, expecting to hear the chaos that was now her routine. But, to her surprise, there were no screams to accompany the sunrise, no explosions to shake the ground either. There was just a thick aroma in the air. Something that smelled like melted butter and pancakes. And there was also the hiss of the fire; the murmur of voices in the distance. So she opened one eye first, then the other.

Zelgadis's bag was already packed and there was no sign of Hector anywhere. There was only Lina and Gourry there. The two of them were talking near the fire. One held a frying pan and the other a whole tower made of pancakes.

The tower swayed from side to side, because of the inertia and the butter that dripped down the sides. Suddenly, Amelia was no longer sleepy: she just had an incredible urge to save breakfast.

“Can I give you a hand?”

And, before they could answer, Amelia was already rescuing the plate of pancakes from Lina’s gloved fingers. The princess carefully placed it on the cloth covering the floor and turned to her two friends.

“Amelia!” one smiled.

“Good morning,” the other greeted her.

But she didn’t smile back. Instead, she said: “I thought today it was my turn to make breakfast.”

“Yes, but, you looked tired, didn’t she, Gourry?”

“Uh-huh. And Lina…” she shot him a look and the mercenary tried again. “I mean…I? Yeah, I thought you could use some more sleep.”

The sorceress snorted. “Exactly. Besides, you should have seen Hector's face when he found out you were doing chores too.”

"It was great," Gourry added. "The poor guy choked on his dinner when he heard that."

Amelia went to reply, but Lina was quicker. She put a plate of pancakes in front of her and, at the same time, offered her a fork in one of her gloved hands.

"With cinnamon. They're your favorites, right?"

Amelia wasn't sure of what was going on, but if there was one thing she'd learned from her adventures with Lina, that was that, sometimes, it was better to just go with the flow and not ask questions. So she whispered: "Yes. Thank you very much."

"Yes, well," the sorceress replied. "It was Gourry's idea."

Behind her, the mercenary's lips formed the word ‘bullshit.’ Then he pointed at the sorceress and smiled a little.

At that moment, Amelia decided three things: first, that Lina was good; second, that it was dumb of her to let Xellos' words affect her like that; and third, that she would never, ever help a mazoku.

Chapter Text

The landscape changed as they approached Hasturios. The dark greens became soft and the rivers changed their pale blue for deeper shades of turquoise. The forests turned into yellow fields first and then wide meadows; hills and furrows.

And, after the fifth hill, tall gray walls appeared.

"Is that the city?" asked Lina. "Are we here then?"

Zelgadis looked outside and squinted. He saw the wide stone walls, the navy blue flags, and the outline of a spell in the sky. "It seems so," he murmured.

The closer they got, the higher the walls were and the more visible the magic was. Now it was no longer an outline: it was a huge soap bubble and the sun and colors danced on its surface. Now violet and green; now blue, pink, and yellow.

"Uh..." began Gourry. "Do you see that too?"

"Yes. That might be the magic barrier Daddy mentioned.”

Lina stuck her head out the window and then let out a whistle: "It's huge! How do you think they do it?"

"I have no idea," Zelgadis replied. "But it doesn't look like any spell I've seen before."

The carriage stopped a few meters from the bubble, in front of a pair of guards in blue uniforms. One had a thick mustache and a spear. The other only had a mean face: "Halt! This area is not for tourists."

"Who are you calling tourists, you moron?" Lina barked.

The sour man looked her up and down, taking in her messy hair, her white gloves speckled with grass, then he wrinkled his nose: "And definitely not for vagabonds either."

It took two pairs of hands to hold the sorceress down, and another to break the spell she was casting.

“We are guests!” Zel shouted, making himself heard over the swearing. “We are here representing the kingdom of Saillune. With its princess.”

Amelia handed them the invitation letter in one hand and her royal seal badge in the other. The guards took both, and then there was silence. She watched their faces change as they read. The men’s ones turned whiter and Lina’s smile only grew wider. When they finished, the bad guy stood up straight and the man with the mustache hurried to open the car door. “Excuse my companion’s manners, princess. It won’t happen again.”

“It’s okay,” Amelia said.

“I sure hope so,” Lina replied.

The four of them stood for a moment looking at the open door and the tense smile of the guard who, with his hand raised, seemed to be waiting for something.

“Can we continue?” Zel asked.

“I’m afraid you have to get out for a second, please. We need to inspect the vehicle and you would need special passes to get through the barrier too.”

So the five occupants got out of the carriage; and the two men got in. They searched every nook and cranny with strange black sticks that beeped and, when they got out, they asked to check all their magic items as well: all gems, weapons, and amulets.

“Is this really necessary?” the sorceress growled.

“Yes,” said one, whom Lina christened ‘the imbecile.’

“Why?”

“It’s confidential.”

“And what exactly are you looking for?” Zelgadis intervened. “We’ve already told you that we have an invitation.”

“That’s it…” the imbecile began.

“Don’t tell me,” Lina cut him off, “confidential?”

“Exactly.”

Luckily, the other guard, ‘the mustache one,’ came to the rescue: “It’s part of the protocol, sir. We are just making sure no threat crosses the kingdom's borders.”

"Ah, well, if you're looking for threats here, the Dramata…"

But Gourry had to stop his phrase mid-sentence, because he received an elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Lina, and then a stomp on the foot (also courtesy of Lina). "Nice try, idiot! But they've spent the last 200 years locked away, remember?"

"Dramata?" said the mustache man. "What is that?"

“Don’t worry” answered the sorceress. “My friend here was just trying to be funny, weren’t you, Gourry?”

She smiled. Her gesture was a strange mix of charm and threats. And the mercenary, whether out of fear or inertia, ended up agreeing with her.

“I see. Well, as I said, we're only looking for dangerous objects: curses, illegal contraband…”

Dangerous objects? The chimera glanced at the bundles they were carrying: Lina's blood talismans, Gourry's Blast Sword. He also thought about the black hole of illegality that was the sorceress's cloak, and a soft: “Fuck.”

But ‘the mustache man’ didn't seem to notice. He was busy checking Lina's items: her infinite stack of gems; her dagger, her hairband, and talismans...

Zel gritted his teeth and Lina clenched her fists. The guard turned to look at them and… and he did something that neither of them expected: he smiled. “It seems that everything is in order.”

“Ah... yes?” the chimera answered.

He returned the objects to them, one by one: Zel's garnet brooch, Gourry's blue armor, Amelia's belt. “Yes, yes,” the man continued. “Don't worry. Everything was very ordinary.”

Amelia and Zel exchanged a glance. And someone murmured: “Thank you?”

“I am really sorry for the inconvenience. Hasturios takes the kingdom's security very seriously. We have heard horrible things from the outside world, I am afraid. Rumors about the resurrection of Zanaffar and something about a cursed sorceress who destroys entire cities. It sounds all too crazy to be true but…”

“Yeah… crazy” Zel whispered, trying hard not to look at Lina.

‘The mustache man’ finished with his belongings and then offered each of them a silver necklace. They were all decorated with runes and had a bright blue gem in the center. “That is it. Once you put this on, you can continue on and go through the barrier.”

“Great!” the sorceress shouted. “Hector, we’re leaving!”

But the man called them again. “Wait a minute, please! Before you go, I would like to explain that this necklace will allow you to pass through the barrier, but once you put it on, it will remain attached to you until you come out again. It will also prevent you from doing any kind of magic for the five days you are inside our city.”

Lina looked at the necklace as if it were the biggest of slugs and, with her eyes full of disgust, said: “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

“I'm afraid not, miss. It's one of the conditions for entering Hasturios.”

The group looked at each other. Zel looked as pissed off as Lina and Amelia had a great formal smile on her face. The only one who seemed oblivious to the drama was Gourry.

The five of them returned to the carriage and the imbecile closed the wooden door behind them. Then both guards stood at attention.

“Welcome to Hasturios” said one. “As you pass through the gates two Hasturian guards will take you to Indigo Castle.”

“I hope you enjoy your stay” added the other.

The huge iron gates creaked open and the horses started walking again. The carriage first passed through the checkpoint, then the barrier and the gate, and before they knew it, they were inside the realm of legend.

Zelgadis counted to ten and, when he spoke again, it was in a whisper: “Lina? Out of curiosity, how much shit would we get if someone searched your cloak?”

“I wouldn't worry about that if I were you.”

She waved her hand, he raised an eyebrow: “Does that mean you're not carrying contraband this time?”

“Well, I didn't say, now, did I?"

The chimera swore and the sorceress rolled her eyes. “Relax, will ya? Nothing happened! Can you even believe they called the blood talismans ‘ordinary’? I think they had no fucking idea what they were looking for. It was…”

“Odd?” asked Gourry.

“Fucking weird” she replied.

Amelia drew back the curtains. Before her, the streets appeared: there were blue flowers on the white terraces. There were parks and squares and fountains everywhere. The turquoise river of the road now crossed several avenues and next to it sailed the smells: now meringue and cream; Now cinnamon, and nuts and anise.

“Wow!”

“Look! Are those elves?”

In the city, there were elves and humans sitting at the same tables. As well as werewolves and fishmen in the streets. There were murmurs, shouts, and laughter, and even a:

“Lightning!”

Amelia turned her head and found the sorceress with a frustrated smile and an empty hand. 

“Shit!”

“I don't like this” Zel growled. 

The chimera turned in her seat and looked out her window. He had his hood and mask on, and where he expected to find scared looks, he found wide smiles and waves: “Okay, this is... weird.”

“I find it beautiful” Amelia replied. “And everyone seems very nice too.”

“That's the thing, Amelia. They're too nice.”

“Too nice?” Lina said laughing. “Come on, Zel, you're a drama queen.”

“No, really, Lina. Look at them.”

The princess stopped paying attention to her friends and went back to the city and the streets. The citizens continued to wave at them. She waved back and even managed to hear a couple of phrases: there was a “welcome to Hasturios”, a “good evening”  and even a “How do you do fellow kids?”

“See? SEE?”  Zel was heard saying.

“It's an isolated kingdom, Zelgadis,” Amelia said sweetly. “It's expected for them to use different expressions and have different customs. Like that village, we were in with Pokota, remember? The Rolly Rolly village.”

Zelgadis puckered his mouth and Lina shook her head. “No, Amelia. I'm with Zel here: this is hella weird.”

---------------

The carriage continued up the hill, to a castle of blue stones and sea-colored pennants. There, the guards accompanying them split up: one took the group of friends inside the building and the other went with Hector and the horses to the stables.

Lina and her friends entered a large hall and there they were harassed by an endless number of blue tones: carpets of intense indigo, light orchids, and even servants in sapphire uniforms.

“Welcome to the Indigo Palace” they shouted in unison.

Their smiles made the hair of the sorceress rise and, beside her, Gourry grimaced. But Amelia only  smiled and began the dance of protocol: “Thank you for receiving us.”

One of the girls stepped out of the formation. She had her brown hair tied back in a tight bun and an equally stretched smile. “You are from the Saillune delegation, right? We were expecting you.” The woman bowed and continued speaking.”I am Clara and I will be in charge of the receptions and activities for the guests. If you have any questions during your stay, do not hesitate to call me.”

“It is a pleasure,”  answered the princess. “I am Amelia and these are my companions. They also come to represent Saillune.”

Clara bowed again and accompanied them to the foot of a huge white staircase. “These ladies here will be in charge of guiding you to your rooms. There you will find your gift bags and the itinerary that we will follow during these five days. Please relax and rest. You have time to take a bath or order something to eat if you want to. The staff will let you know when His Majesty is ready to receive you.”

And the group filed up the stairs, not really knowing what they meant by ‘gift bags’ or ‘itinerary.’ But they didn’t care. They were eager to rest in something that didn’t have wheels, bugs or mud in it.

—---------

Up to his room, Zel discovered two things: first, his ‘gift bag’ was full of knick-knacks, and second, that once inside, he was not allowed to leave the bedroom area. 

He had tried to go to the library. However, the staff had insisted on following something they called an ‘itinerary’ while kind but firm hands guided him back to his bedroom. “That activity is planned for tomorrow, sir,” they had told him. “Please be patient. They are still preparing the water show.”

“In the library?”

“Of course. It is one of the biggest attractions in our country.”

Then the door slammed in his face and he was left alone again. Zelgadis looked at the bag. Inside, there was a white embroidered handkerchief and a packet of rooibos tea. There were also blue raspberry-flavored candies; a horrible mug and a handful of information pamphlets. One of them is called ‘Hasturios and You.’ The chimera sat on the bed and, with nothing better to do, began to read.

—--------------

An hour later, Zel had already read almost all the papers. He hadn't found anything that talked about the magic that surrounded the kingdom, nor information about any lost spells. But, thanks to ‘the noble art of preserving traditions’, ‘the history of the Indigo Palace’ or ‘the language of the Hasturian flowers’ ​​he now knew a lot of new useless facts.

The chimera sighed and caught the last pamphlet he had left, the one called ‘The 14 types of forks and their proper use’. The boy wrinkled his nose and unfolded the paper.

Knock, knock, knock

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“His Royal Highness, Prince Johannes, is ready to receive you in the Sapphire room.”

“Finally” he murmured. Zel threw the pamphlets on the bed and walked out into the hallway. Lina and Gourry were already there and they were busy exchanging their candy. The girl insisted that her strawberry ones were worth twice as much as Gourry's lemon drops. But he was having none of it: “Bullshit! “ he called ”I might be dumb, but I know my candy!”

Amelia came out shortly after. She had the handkerchief from her gift bag with her and a nice smile on her face as well. In fact, everyone looked much more presentable. The girls had changed their clothes and Gourry had his hair in a huge blonde braid.

"Are you ready?" Clara asked.

The four of them nodded and Clara led them through a parade of huge windows and dark doors. She stopped at one in particular and, with a small bow, opened the door. 

Inside was a young man. He had long, ash-colored hair and a snow-white smile. He also had dark, wide eyes. And both of them were now fixed on Amelia. “Ah, the Saillune delegation. Thank you for responding to my invitation! But don't just stand there, come in, please.”

The princess bowed and, in her most formal tone, said “Thank you for receiving us, Your Majesty. I am Amelia Will Tesla Saillune and I come representing my father, Philionel, the prin” She corrected herself  “the king of Saillune.”

The prince imitated the gesture and bowed his head: “Johannes Anders de Lys” he announced gracefully “At your feet, my dear.” 

Unlike Amelia, the prince did not correct himself or bother to include her friends in the greeting. Lina was not the only one to feel that she was being ignored, but she was the first to do something about it. She coughed aggressively, and the princess waved her hand at her:

“Excuse me, Your Majesty. These are my companions: Zelgadis Greywords, Lina Inverse, and Gourry Gabriev.”

The other three bowed as well, and the prince smiled at them in turn: “Welcome! Come, let’s have a drink."

He gestured for them to approach the table. On it were five white porcelain cups. They were taller than the ones they were used to and contained a concoction with colored tubes coming out of them. The group sat and looked at the contents for a while, until Amelia gathered the courage to say: “Your Excellency?”

“My dear, there is no need for such formalities. You may address me informally. I insist.”

“Okay, Johannes?”

“Oh, Hannes, please. Johan was my grandfather.”

Lina rolled her eyes and Amelia’s smile tightened even more. “Okay, Hannes, then. Excuse me, but… there seems to be something in the tea.”

“Sure. They’re pearls.”

Hannes’ smile widened and the rest waited patiently for the explanation. All except Lina.

“Why?”

“It’s Bubble Tea. A lovely drink, isn’t it? I understand it’s popular in your land.”

The group looked at each other, each more confused. “Where?”

“In the ‘foreigner land’, of course.”

The confusion grew thicker. Until it became a thick fog, a mousse of strangeness. In the background, Hannes continued talking. “I’ve never been, but it seems like a wonderful place. I’ve read that they tie red bracelets to announce spring and that they beat logs to make them poop out presents. And everyone uses dog sleds instead of carriages.”

Amelia, Lina, and Zel were speechless, but luckily for them, Gourry and confusion were already close friends. "Oh, that's nice."

"Right?" Hannes replied. "You came by sled? I'd love to see the dogs."

"I'm afraid not, dude. We came by carriage."

"Gourry!" Lina blurted out.

"What? He said no formalities!"

Zelgadis was dreaming. They were still on the road and he had fallen asleep in the car. There was no other explanation. There was no way that In front of him, there was a man who talked about logs that shit presents and sleds pulled by dogs. He also refused to believe that Gourry was calling a prince ‘dude’, and that the prince was just laughing about it.”

"Hey! These tea pearls are edible," Gourry shouted. "And they are delicious."

There, Zel's concept of reality packed its bags and he stood there, understanding nothing, barely smiling and nodding. But he wasn’t the only one in a catatonic state. Lina seemed to be in the same kind of trance as him and Amelia was barely keeping herself together. Then there was Gourry, who was chatting with Hannes about dogs, edible pearls, and something that, as he understood, were colorful sweet macaroni.

Meanwhile, the prince was ecstatic with his guests. He would take them around the room to show them trinkets brought from the ‘foreigner land’ and then drag them to the window to show them the peacocks and the pink water ponds. Each object raised an ‘Oh’ or ‘Ah’ from Gourry and some made Lina’s eyes sparkle with greed. Amelia also seemed to be having a good time. The Hasturian had managed to turn her formal smile into a sincere one. Even Zelgadis seemed a little less tense. The situation had gone from awkward to pleasant and the kingdom from strange to exotic.

Hannes did not keep quiet. He asked them about the world beyond the Phibrizzo barrier, about the golden dragons, and about the typical traditions of Zephiria and Saillune.

“I am looking forward to learning more about the outside world. Is it true that there is a kingdom that you can only enter if you are a woman?”

“Oh, yes,” Lina replied, “that was fun.”

“I disagree” added Zelgadis.

“Is it true that there is a race of dragons called the ancient dragons?”

“Well…”

“And that on the last day of the year they eat twelve grapes in a hurry?”

“What?”

Hannes went to explain, but a cough interrupted him.

“Amelia?"

The princess had returned to the table for her tea and now seemed to be having problems with one of her pearls.

“Are you okay?”  asked Zel.

“Everything alright, dear?” Hannes was heard saying.

The pearl finally went down her throat and Amelia nodded.  “Yes, excuse me. I'm not used to this drink.”

Amelia brought the white handkerchief to her lips, hiding her polite smile. Then she let out one last cough and the handkerchief slipped through her fingers. The garment fell to the floor instead of the table. And suddenly, everything was weird again.

Hannes had covered the distance from the window to the table in an instant, and in the next, he had the handkerchief in his hands. Then he folded it carefully and offered it to Amelia, smiling. “Here you go, dear ,” he said in a whisper.

That ‘dear’ sounded different from the rest. That, the third, made Lina gasp and Zelgadis frown.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Zel woke up early and yet, when he got out of the room, he found that Lina and Amelia were already in the hallway. The girls were murmuring with their heads close together and staring at the floor.

“Is something wrong?” Zel asked.

“Nothing, Amelia here had a bit of a scare.”

“What?”

Zel looked at the princess and she shook her head. “It’s nothing. I think one of the maids tripped this morning and… well, look.”

She stepped aside and the chimera saw a huge pile of pottery. There were clay vases, white cups and brown plates, and all were smashed to pieces. Then he moved a little closer and saw little red droplets. “Did you cut yourself?”

“No,” Amelia answered, “it was just so…”

“Weird? “ Lina jumped.

“Yeah… a little. But It must be nothing serious, a stumble, maybe? A welcome sign?”

The chimera scanned the hallway. There was nothing in front of the other doors and he had a bad feeling. The boy turned his attention back to his friends: to Amelia's soft smile and Lina's tight mouth. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as him.

“Do you think it's a threat?“ Zel asked.

“I don't know.”

“Should we ask?“ Gourry was heard to say.

“Yeah, sure,” Lina answered. “Like they're going to tell us to our faces if it's a…Gourry! Where did you from?”

The mercenary looked at them and, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, said: “From my room.”

“I know that, you moron! What I mean is, how long have you been there?”

“A while.”

Zelgadis cursed him under his breath. Gourry was silent even to his chimera ears. He was almost six feet tall and had a voice that went through walls, and yet the bastard was as stealthy as a cat with silencers on.

“Well, shall we ask, then?”

The group looked at each other, weighing their options. They had a terrible idea, and also a lot of nothing.

“Guys, please. There’s no need to ask, really. I don’t think it’s anything bad.”

At that moment, the door leading to the main hallway opened and Clara’s stretched smile appeared on the scene. Behind her, a handful of maids waited, straight as rods. “I came to call you for breakfast. Are you ready?”

“Clara!” Amelia called her “This is fantastic. Could you help us for a moment?”

“Of course. What is it?”

She approached the group and Amelia continued explaining.

“Well… this appeared in front of my door and my friends and I wanted to…”

But Clara's scream echoed in the hallway and cut off her sentence. “Oh, Ceiphied! From your door, princess? Oh, oh, oh! Congratulations!”

“Thank you?”

“How wonderful! I'm going to speak to their Highnesses immediately. The staff will accompany them to the dining room as soon as they are ready.”

The lady disappeared down the hallway again and the group stood there, confused and transfixed. They went quiet for a second, until the mercenary said what everyone was thinking.

“Okay, what just happened?”

“I have no fucking idea,” Lina whispered. “But it doesn’t look dangerous. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”

“Just a moment, please.” The princess blocked their way, her gaze hard for a moment. “Before you go downstairs, promise me you’ll behave.”

“What are you implying?”

“She’s not implying anything, Lina,” Gourry replied. “You have horrible manners. I’ve seen you ruminate and gulp more than I’ve seen you chew.”

Lina opened her mouth, but thankfully, Amelia talked faster. “Please! This is important to me, to Saillune. So no food fights.”

The sorceress and the mercenary looked at each other, then they let out a small chorus of sighs.

“And try not to offend our guests. No calling them ‘dude’, or shouting insults at them.”

“Okay,” Lina replied. “But what about Zelgadis?”

“What about him?”

“Why is he not receiving the same shitty talk?”

“Because Zelgadis has already accompanied me on official visits. And I know he won't make a scene. But you two…”

“We'll behave,” Gourry replied.

“Or at least, we'll try to,” Lina added.

Amelia nodded and the smiles slowly returned to their faces. To all of them, except Zelgadis’.

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," the sorceress continued. "Let's have breakfast then!"

Thus, three pairs of feet headed for the dining room and a fourth stayed where it was, looking at the ceramic pieces and the strange red droplets.

"Zel? Are you coming?"

The chimera looked up and shook its head. "Go ahead. I'll catch up with you later."

——-------------——-------------——-------------

There was no need for Zel to reach the dining room because he caught up with them long before that. The chimera turned down one of the corridors and found them all in the hall, being loud and noisy. 

“I still can't believe you're here!” Lina shouted. “When did you get here?”

And a voice, even more irritating than Lina's, answered: “Oh, just now! The trip from Zoana took us longer than expected, you know?”

“Martina?”

And there she was, at the foot of the stairs. Just as scandalous as ever, just as scantily clad. Her green hair fell in ringlets over her shoulders and clashed with… well, with everything else she was wearing. The girl stopped hugging Lina and tackled the chimera. “Oh, it’s wonderful to see you all again!”

“How long has it been? A couple of years?” he asked, gracefully dodging the hug.” And where is Zangulus?”

“My Zangy? I think he went with the coachman to drop off the horses. Oh, yes, there. There he comes.”

And ‘Zangy’ appeared at the door. With his impressive six-foot height, his green clothes and his deep voice. “Hey.”

“Hello, ‘Zangy’ ” Lina said maliciously.

He gave her a look and, far from blushing, the man returned a smile. “Look who we have here! You know, a little friend of yours told me that you also have a very cute nickname.”

“Surprise me “ she challenged him.

“Flatty.”

“You fucking… Fireball!”

Four people took cover, waiting for the rain of insults and magic. But when Zelgadis finally opened his eyes, he found that the hall was still there. No speck of ash, no chaos, no fire…

“Damn necklace!” Lina screamed. She tried to rip off the silver amulet, and when she failed, she turned her anger on poor Zangy. “You! Who told you that? Who was the jerk?”

Zangulus looked at her and backed away a little. Flatty no longer had magic, but she still had a huge bad temper and, from his experience, a lot of dirty tricks up her sleeve as well. “Hey, take it easy, take it easy, Lina. It was a joke. It was… some kind of stuffed animal I found out there. Pannacota or…

“Pokota?”

“Oh! Lina?”

The green stuffed animal. It just came through the door. With its stupid red cape and its huge lame ears. “I guess they invite anyone to realms of legend now,” 

“I was thinking exactly the same thing,” Lina replied. “That, and you're even smaller than I remembered.”

“Yeah? You're still just as flat.”

They both smiled. And for a second, everything was chaos and adventure again. Gourry and Zangulus started catching up and Pokota was already screaming from Amelia's head. But the loudest of all was Martina. The girl was running around, talking about Zoamelgustar to any poor soul that made eye contact with her.

Thus, the minutes passed and the volume of the voices increased. Until a polite laugh interrupted the hall:

“Well, I see that in the foreigner land you all know each other.”

Hannes was at the top of the stairs, with his white hair in a ponytail and his sweet smile on. “No one showed up for breakfast, I decided to come and see what was going on.”

The tone and the scene changed. Martina stopped sharing details about her honeymoon with “Zangy” and, suddenly, Amelia's head did not seem like a suitable place to sit either.

“Forgive us, Hannes,” Amelia replied. “We have lost track of time.”

“It is no problem, my dear. It has been a while since my castle was so lively.” His gaze then fell on the new guests and his body bent with a small flourish. “Ah, but where are my manners? Please, welcome to Indigo Castle. I am Johannes…”

The sorceress turned out of the conversation as her friends exchanged titles and greetings. She only came back to the present when the word ‘breakfast’ came from the prince’s lips.

“What? Breakfast? What about breakfast?”

Hannes smiled at her and repeated his words: “I was saying that it would be a pleasure for our new guests to join us for breakfast. Shall we go then?”

The prince had said the magic words and nothing else was needed for the group to move along. They followed the uniformed staff up the stairs and into a room filled with windows and food. There were omelets and sausages. There were cakes and biscuits and, more importantly, enough dishes to make both Lina and Gourry full.

“Please come in,” Hannes insisted.

Then he moved the chair to his left a little and offered the seat to Amelia. The rest of the guests received no such courtesy, but they didn’t mind either. They were all too busy stuffing their mouths with nougats and baklavas. The table was white and flooded with an infinity of colors: there were islands of green jams and dark mountains of pancakes. And, once a dish emptied, two new ones appeared, creating a symphony of questions and a choir of  ‘Ohs’ and ‘Ahs’.

“What is this?” someone said.

“Macarons,” the prince replied.

“And that?” Lina asked.

“I think they were… churros.”

He said ‘were’ and not ‘are’ because the plate was already empty. Gourry had gobbled them all up. The remains of the crime were still in his mouth and sugar was on his fingers.

“Gourry!”

Before the mercenary could react, Lina was already calling for fire, and again, it didn’t come to her hands. “Ahhg, how I hate this thing!” She reached for the silver necklace and pulled. It didn’t budge. “Hannes, is there no way to remove these pendants?”

“I’m afraid not, Lina. They are bound to you as long as you are inside the barrier. Only my guards and I know how to remove them.”

“And couldn’t you…?”

“Absolutely not!” he replied. “I’m sorry, but the security of my kingdom and my guests comes first. So no magic while the festival lasts.”

Lina pouted and Amelia lowered her spoon.

“It’s okay, Hannes.” The princess said. “we understand.”

“Thank you, dear.”

The prince’s lips curved up as he nodded, as he moved his chair carefully closer to Amelia’s. There, Zelgadis noticed two things: first, that his mouth was tense and, second, that Hannes had a bandage on his left hand. “What happened to your hand? Have you cut yourself?”

The prince looked up and became aware of the rest of his guests again. “Ah, this? Yes, but it’s nothing. The pieces of pottery were sharper than he expected.

“So it was you?” the chimera continued. “You left the pieces of pottery on Amelia’s doorstep?”

“Of course!” Hannes smiled again and turned to his right, to the confused princess. “Well, my dear? What did you think?”

“Well… it’s… it’s very original. I don’t think we have anything like it in Saillune.”

The prince’s face wrinkled. “Ah, no?”

“Is it… some kind of welcome?”

The wrinkles became softer, until his huge white smile dominated his face again. But this one seemed more crooked than usual, sharper even. “Something like that, yes.”

The princess responded with a polite smile. She finished her mint tea and carefully put the cup back on the table.

Hannes moved a little closer to her. And the air became thick as jam, tense as the chimera’s lips.

“Have you finished breakfast? If you want, I can give you a private tour of the palace while we wait for your friends.”

“Thank you, Hannes. But there’s no need. Really.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, my dear.”

“But…”

“No buts. I insist.”

She looked at her companions: Lina, with her mouth full of pancakes; Gourry and his hands overflowing with bacon. Then there was Pokota, who was suddenly busy staring at his yogurt; and Martina and Zangulus, who were having trouble with their breakfast options. Finally, there was Zelgadis. His mouth was still tight and shut, as if he wanted to hold his tongue and measure his words.

“Shall we go, my dear?”

That was the sixth ‘dear’ this morning. The chimera had been counting them. Yet, that last one sounded a bit less cheesy and a bit more twisted. That last one, made Amelia jump out of her chair, it made Zelgadis open his mouth.

“What a good idea. I’ll go with you.”

Hannes stopped. His smile was still there, but now it was more of a warning sign, a subtle, polite sneer. He looked the chimera up and down. Then, he looked at the half-drunk coffee, at the unused cutlery.

“Of course,” said the prince. “Though I’m not going to show her anything that isn’t already in the pamphlets. And you’ve already read them all, right? You might find it boring.”

“I don’t think so,” replied Zel.

“As you wish. Then we’ll be back in time for the library show. Are you coming, Amelia?”

Thus, the three of them left the room, leaving the other five to eat in silence. Some were quiet because of the huge amount of pancakes in their mouths, and others were still having trouble digesting the scene.

————————————————————————————

An hour later, a withered chimera, a short princess, and a charming prince entered through the door. Hannes had incorporated dimples into his repertoire and the contrast he made with Zelgadis was almost comical.

“Are you ready to start?” the boy asked. “Wait a minute, where is the rest?”

In front of him, there were three guests: Lina, Gourry and Pokota. The other two had been too bold at breakfast and now suffered the consequences of trying something called ‘kimchi and plum concentrate.’

Pokota looked at the imbeciles accompanying him. The sorceress was still howling at what had happened and Gourry… Gourry was not a fan of subtleties At all. So the stuffed animal sighed and began to speak: “I'm afraid Martina and Zangulus are a little… indisposed.”

“Pft. A little?” Lina began “The dining room looked like a…”

One of Pokota's ears hit Lina on the shin. Then he continued talking: "It’s nothing. I’m sure they will be joining us again for dinner."

"That's a shame," Hannes replied. "I've prepared a lot of fun activities for your first official day in Hasturios."

"Yeah, right. Define fun," the sorceress murmured.

"Well, how about a visit to the upper part of the city? First, we'll walk along the canal bank to the national library."

"Yes!" she jumped in. "I was looking forward to going and seeing the selection of magic books."

There, Hannes' mouth wrinkled a little. "Ah, I'm afraid those require a special pass."

"And for the archives?" Zel asked.

"For that as well."

"Then why the hell are we going to the library?" Lina shouted.

“To look at the architecture, of course. And for the water show.”

“Water show? In the library?”

“Of course. You’ll love it. The pools are lovely this time of year,” he said as if books often swam in pools. “Then we’ll have lunch in the palace gardens and we’ll be back just in time to rest a little and to prepare for our big dinner.”

His words traveled to Gourry’s ears and the mercenary stopped looking for dangers and threatening gestures. Instead, he smiled from ear to ear. “Awesome!”

He couldn't care less about architecture, history or books; but he had become a big fan of Hasturios’ cuisine combos: like kimchi and churros or that salty cheese with watermelon.

“Right?” Hannes smiled. “Let’s go, then.”

The group filed out of the hall door, and six guards in dark uniforms followed. The August sun shone down on them, leaving white glints on the canal and yellow crumbs on the rooftops.

The further they walked, the more citizens they saw. Yet, none approached them. They all kept their distance and gave away smiles. It was beyond polite. It was… weird. Suddenly, Amelia began to understand Zel's comments. She began to see the ‘too friendly-look’ he spoke of. The citizens rarely said anything to her beyond a ‘good morning’ or a ‘thank you’. If you asked them, they were in a hurry; and if Lina ever got pouty, they responded in the same way: with nervous smiles; the same thank you.

The only ones who seemed to behave differently were Hannes and the guards. The men in uniform spared no words when it came to explanations, and in the case of the prince, he was not didn’t spare any “dear” or attention either. In fact, his eyes were fixed on Amelia again. “Tell me, dear. What do you think of my city?”

“Oh, it's beautiful, Hannes, really. But…”

“But?”

“I think we're making your citizens uncomfortable. Have we done something wrong?”

“Oh, that? Don't worry, Amelia. They're just not used to seeing people from the outside world. That's all.”

She nodded and, just as she was about to let it go, Hannes came a little closer: “Would you like to see the artisan market with me tomorrow? It's not part of the itinerary, but they have the best chocolate you've ever tasted and… it's beautiful in the morning.”

“Well…”

“Honestly? It would be a real shame if you left the city without seeing it. Almost an insult, even.”

They were so close that the prince's ponytail brushed the princess's ear. She stiffened at the contact and he widened his smile. And,  before either of them could say anything, a raspy voice interrupted the scene.

“What a coincidence,” said the chimera. “Gourry and I wanted to stop by the market too.”

There, Hannes’ smile went from elastic and affectionate to rigid and full of teeth.

“Didn’t you, Gourry?”

“Huh?” the man in question answered.

“Didn’t you want to try the hot chocolate? I think they put chili in it here.”

“Of course! When are we going?”

Zel looked at the prince again and in the sweetest of voices repeated: “So, Hannes. When are we going then?”

One of the boy’s dimples had disappeared and the other was fighting for its life. Hannes looked at the group: at the polite princess and the fucking chimera; at the idiotic mercenary, the ill-mannered sorceress and, finally, at the green stuffed animal. He looked at them all and a small sigh escaped his lips. “I suppose we could go in the morning,” he said. “After breakfast?”

“Perfect,” the chimera replied.

The group continued walking, under the morning sun, under the cobalt blue sky. They walked faster now and the smiles were a little more spaced out in time. They walked in silence for a couple more streets, until Lina caught up with Hannes and Amelia. 

“Hey, what day do we see the barrier?”

“Well, the dome looks beautiful from the library. And at noon there is a viewing point in the gardens that…”

“No. I meant to see it up close.”

“What do you mean?” the prince continued talking, still smiling. “We don't plan to see it.”

“Why? I thought it was one of the wonders of the kingdom.”

He made a flourish, a gesture with his hand. “And it is, it is. But it is a little dangerous. You don’t want to explode violently, do you?”

“Beg your pardon?”

The entire group stopped, and the prince chuckled.

“You must forgive me. I am a bit dramatic sometimes. What I meant is that the necklaces you wear don’t react well to the proximity of the barrier. You can enter and exit through the city gates, but it is not advisable to approach it through other areas or spend too much time near the dome.” The guests’ eyebrows remained raised. Their faces still crumpled. “Relax, no one is going to explode, I assure you.”

“Does that mean you will take us?” the sorceress asked.

HIs smile grew wider, and he continued speaking. All calm and dimpled. “Oh, Cepheid, no. Not only could I destabilize the barrier protecting my kingdom, but I could also harm my guests. And I would be a terrible guest if I allowed that, don’t you think?”

Lina muttered a curse, and beside her, Amelia frowned. A seed of doubt was sprouting in her mind. It was small and tiny and yet, strong and spiky as well. What if this city was not different but weird? Because everything was starting to look a bit off: the collars; the guards that followed them everywhere; the citizens.

Xellos' voice echoed in her ears, just as clear as two days ago. Just as sinister and twisted too: You know that no kingdom isolates itself from the rest for altruistic reasons, right? And that, the more security there is, the more shady the secrets are. 

Perhaps it was worth investigating the secret of Hasturios. Maybe, and just maybe, the mazoku was right about something. That thought fueled Amelia's flame of justice. She had to investigate further. After all, she would hate to ignore people in need and, what was worse, she would hate to hear Xellos stupid voice telling her ‘I told you so’.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, there was indeed a water show. The library was a huge building surrounded by waterfalls and around it, there were pools of different blues and even light greens. But the most incredible thing wasn’t the water but that accompanied it: the humming lights, the vibrant whites; the violins; the fishes. It had been beautiful and, at the same time, too confusing to put into words.

It seemed to be the work of magic, and at the same time, it was unlike any spell they had ever seen before. And so, they made their way back to the castle in silence, trying to assimilate the experience. The only one who seemed in his element (confusion) was Gourry. And now he harassed poor Hannes with question after question:

"How did you convince those huge fish to jump?"

"Fish, you say? Ah. Yeah. We trained them. It takes a while to gain their trust, but once you do, seals are a delight."

"Hey, and those lights, how did you make them?"

“Ah, I didn't make them, Gourry” answered the prince.  “It was the artists in charge of the show.

“Yes, but how? With magic?”

“Well, yes,… it's part of the magic of the show.”

“What kind of magic?” interrupted Lina. She carried Pokota on her head, who also looked at the prince with interest. They had spent the whole event whispering with Zel about those strange fish with noses and fur and also about the lights and the odd way they flickered. Now, she had her arms crossed; he, his brow furrowed.

“Beg your pardon?” Said Hannes.

“What kind of magic was it?” She repeated, “I haven't seen anything like it.” 

Hannes' dimples returned to dominate his face. “Ahh! I'm glad you were so impressed, really. But… That's a secret.”

The hairs on the back of Lina’s neck stood up, and Pokota stiffed on top of her.

“Yeah… Sure.”

The six reached the palace gates just as the sun was high in the sky, just as the black iron gates were opening for them. Two butlers and six maids came out to greet the group, and all eight bowed in unison, in perfect, strange synchronicity.

“Welcome back, Your Highness,” one of the girls said. “Lunch is almost ready. We will bring it to the table in the gardens shortly. Please come this way.”

The small army of guards and servants escorted them to the back of the castle, to a huge white table that stood out against the green hedges; the pink ponds.

“This is wonderful!” Amelia whispered.

And Zelgadis could not help but agree. The sun and the barrier danced together. And both painted the pink ponds with shades of purple, coral and soft reds. In the background, there were the flowers of the garden, the blue stones of the palace.

The whole group smiled, but Hannes looked the happiest. His gaze went from guest to guest, from their mouths open in amazement to their distracted laughter. Finally, his gaze stopped at Amelia. The prince fixed his ponytail a little and approached the girl slowly. "Would you like me to show you the garden before eating…?"

But Amelia did not have time to answer, nor did Hannes have time to say ‘dear.’ 

Zelgadis was faster.

"Of course."

There, Hanne’s smile faded and his tone went from charming to sharp. "As you wish," he murmured through clenched teeth. “Anyone else?”

Amelia struggled to maintain her formal smile. She glanced at Lina, who responded with a wave of her hand. Then the sorceress planted her ass on one of the garden chairs and shouted like the polite young lady she was: "Have fun! We'll wait for you here, okay?"

Gourry dropped into a chair beside her and the stuffed animal watched them walk off into the garden, frowning. "What's that idiot doing?" Pokota murmured. "He's been annoying Hannes all morning."

"I know," she replied. "It's hilarious."

The stuffed animal turned around. His face was serious, his mouth tight."We have to tell him something."

"Come on, Pokota. This is the most interesting thing that's happened all day. And you want to stop it?"

"Lina, this is no joke! May I remind you that Saillune and Taforashia  are here on a diplomatic mission?”

“Yeah, yeah. Amelia gave us that talk already, Pokota. We have to behave and shit, right?”

“Exactly, and right now, Zelgadis is doing the equivalent of spitting in Hannes’ mouth.”

The sorceress burst out laughing and Pokota wrinkled his nose. “You don’t get it, do you? Royalty isn’t known for forgiving humiliation. Wars have been started over stupider shit, agreements broken over less.”

Lina frowned, trying to figure out if that green stuffed animal was trying to get her or if royalty really was as petty as he portrayed it. “But Phil and Amelia…”

“They’re the exception, not the rule. Look, I don’t care what you do, okay? But I’m warning you. Taforashia isn’t in a position to get into wars right now. If anything happens, my kingdom will remain neutral. And Amelia will be alone.

Pokota jumped from his chair to the floor, leaving Lina and Gourry alone at the big table. The stuffed animal's words weighed on the scene for a second, while she locked herself in her head and the mercenary searched for her thighs under the tablecloth. 

“Don't do it.”

The soft touch brought Lina out of her thoughts. She stiffened a little, until she noticed the tablecloth that hid his caress and how far away they were from other eyes and ears. “What do you mean?”

Gourry turned to look at her. He had a calm smile on his face, his thumb was busy in the curve of her knee. “I know it's hard for you not to be the protagonist but... I don't think it's a good idea for you to intervene. Not this time.”

The sorceress held back a shudder when her hand went to her thigh. Then, she kicked him under the table. It was an affectionate kick, even gentle. It was a ‘not now, idiot’ more than a ‘take your hands off, you asshole’. Then she rested her chin on one hand and reached for Gourry’s with the other. “Why not?”

Their fingers laced together under the table for a second. Then they separated again and he clicked his tongue. “For starters, because the more they notice Amelia and Zel, the less they’ll notice us. Didn’t you want a distraction? An excuse to explore the castle?”

She nodded and her gaze swept the garden. Gourry was right. Hannes only had eyes for Amelia and the guards seemed more interested in the angry chimera than in them. The mercenary moved a little closer to her. “And then, because… I don’t know, Lina. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

She snorted. “Would you rather Zel start a war?”

“No, but I don’t think he’s going to stop just because you ask him to either.”

She studied him. Gourry's smile was still soft but twisted in a curious way, as if to say ‘You know what I mean,’ but for once, she didn't understand shit. 

“Besides,” he continued, ”I thought you didn't like drama.”

And it was true, she didn't. But, as much as she hated drama, she considered wars worse. Food prices rose and it was hard to find basic everyday food, such as steaks and cheesecakes. Plus... there was Amelia. The sorceress hated to see her cry and she had the impression that, somehow, this story was going to end in tears.

Lina frowned and the mercenary's hands searched for hers again. He gave it a gentle squeeze before getting up from the table.

“You don't intervene, okay?

———————— ———————— ————————

Lina was very good at not intervening. She was so good that that afternoon she was not in front of Zelgadis' door. Her fists were not in contact with the wood either and she certainly did not say:

“It's me, open it.”

The chimera opened the door to the room. Lina slipped through before he could protest. Then she closed it behind her and leaned back against the wood. Arms crossed, eyebrows knit together: "What are you doing?"

"I was going to comb my hair, if that's okay with you, of course."

“Yeah, try again, bud. Now without taking me for an idiot. What the fuck are you doing?”

He ran a blue hand through his hair. “Look, Lina. I know what it looks like, but I'm just trying to protect Amelia, okay? I don't have a good feeling about that guy.”

“Oh yeah! Protecting her from terrible artisan markets and palace tours, right? Please!” she continued “If I remember correctly you were the first one who asked us to behave, isn’t that right?”

“I…”

“In the carriage?  Weren't you the one worried about how our actions affected Saillune and all that crap?”

Zel's face burned red and his cheeks turned dark with rage and shame. “You think I don't know? But what do you want me to do? Hannes keeps bothering her and calling her ‘dear’ and…”

“And Amelia is a grown-up, Zel. She knows how to take care of herself. If she was upset, she would say so herself.”

“Have you seen that guy, Lina? Every time she tries to say no, he insists until she agrees. That, or he pulls out the protocol and manners card. It's disgusting.”

“Hannes is a bit of a dick, yes, but…”

“But nothing” he cut her off. “I'm her bodyguard and I'm not going to look the other way if she seems uncomfortable.”

If she'd had her magic, Lina would have blown his ass off: for being such an idiot; for taking her for a fool too or, perhaps, because she was still angry about his betrayal in Saillune.

“Her bodyguard…” she muttered.

“That’s right.”

“Is that why you're doing this?”

“Why else would I do it?”

It took the sorceress a second to process her friend's stupidity. And another one to open her mouth again: “You're worse than Gourry” she said in a whisper.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing “ she replied. ”Just…”

She stopped. Just what? What the hell was she going to say to him? That he was an idiot? That messing with a prince's ego wasn't all that smart? That they had no magic in case everything went bad? Or that, if he continued like that Amelia might get her hopes up? Zelgadis already knew all that. She was sure he did. And he was, in fact, playing a very dangerous hand.

“Just be careful,” she said at last. “I don't have a good feeling about Hannes either.”

—------------—------------—------------

A couple of hours later, the gates of Hasturios closed behind the last of the dignitaries. The barrier rippled as the heavy metal doors made contact and the whisper of magic ran through the city, and up in Indigo Castle.

Inside the blue walls and aromas were already floating through the hall. Dinner was almost here. Dozens of guests filled the space, their conversations piercing the chimera's ears. He recognized the traditional clothes of the lands of Elmekia and the long robes of the mountains of Kataart. He also distinguished the flash of a blonde mane and Lina's scandalous voice.

"What do you mean there's a speech before dinner?" she shouted to a poor maid. "And how long does it last?"

There was a pause and a cry of horror.

"What do you mean two hours?!" Lina shrieked.

Zelgadis smiled and followed his friend's melodious voice. This realm was strange, but some things never changed: Gourry's hunger, Lina's bad temper and…. The chimera stopped dead in his tracks and looked his friends up and down. The mercenary had his hair back in a braid. However, the sorceress was different. The chimera raised an eyebrow. “Is that a dress?”  he asked.

His friend turned to look at him, and narrowed her eyes. “So what if it is?” She began. She sounded annoyed at first, until her eyes also scanned her friend and a crooked smile appeared on her face. “Is that a ponytail, Zel?”

“Shut up, Lina” the chimera muttered.

He looked away. He had tried to go out into the hallway in his usual clothes, but the staff had flatly refused to let him through. Hoods and gloves, he was told, were not well-regarded at a gala dinner. So today, Zel thought of doing something a bit different. He had left his sand-coloured cloak in the room and wore only his beige clothes. Today he also wore his wiry hair in a strip of dark leather. But, now, thanks to Lina, he felt ridiculous. Exposed. "Where is Amelia?"

The sorceress gestured to him and he followed the direction of her gaze. Amelia was wearing her pink dress, the one that hid her feet and left her shoulders bare. She was talking to Pokota and Martina.Her smile matched the pearls on her neck. She was beautiful.

Zel tried not to frown as Hannes approached his princess. His white hair was loose again over his shoulders and contrasted with the navy blue of her clothes. “Amelia, dear! You look divine!”

“Thank you very much, Hannes,” the girl replied.

“Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to the dining room?” the prince asked. “I have a surprise for you.”

The princess looked at him, confused. “A surprise? What is it?”

“Ah, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? But I think you'll like it.”

He offered her his arm and Amelia took it carefully. Behind them, Martina approached Zel and murmured: “He’s such a gentleman, isn't he?”

But Zel didn't respond. He too was busy giving the prince the side-eye.

—-----------------—-----------------

The dining room doors opened for them and the scent of dozens of candles and flowers assaulted their nostrils. There were lilies and roses. There were jasmines and, of course, food. A hundred plates filled the indigo tablecloth and their aromas floated through the room, filling every nook and cranny. And, at the back of the room; there was a throne on top of a platform. The prince climbed its steps slowly and bowed with a flourish. “Welcome! Welcome!”  his voice echoed through the windows. “Thank you very much for traveling so far. Please, come closer.”

The guests began to fill the room. They left the white table behind, until they approached the prince and the throne. Then, the dining room doors closed and the room entered and bowed.

“Welcome to Hasturios,” said Hannes. “Unfortunately the king is indisposed today and will not be joining us just yet. But I would like you to thank you for coming on his behalf.The Hasturian festival would not be possible without your presence. And don't worry, I won't take too long or let the dinner get cold” he paused as his gaze and boots wandered around the room. Both parts of his body stopped in front of Amelia. “I just want to start this happy event by giving a special gift to a lovely guest.”

Hannes extended a hand towards her and Amelia hesitated.

“Come on stage, dear. I have a surprise for you.”

One and two seconds passed and finally, the princess stepped onto the stage. The entire room held its breath, as the prince pulled out a wooden spoon from a dark case. “Would you do me the honor of accepting this gift?”

A stream of murmurs ran through the room, as Hannes moved closer to the princess and handed her the cutlery with both hands. The spoon looked handmade and was full of curves, hearts and carvings.

“No…” Zel blurted out.

“What is that?”  whispered Gourry.

“A damn spoon?” said the sorceress “Why is he giving Amelia a spoon? Zel? Do you know anything?”

But the chimera no longer had ears for Lina. All his senses were focused on the stage. On that white-haired bastard, on his damn wooden piece. Because this wasn't just any spoon, it was a lovespoon. It was a fucking marriage proposal, and worst of all, Amelia didn't seem to be aware of it.  He was pretty sure about that because, a few hours ago, he wasn’t aware of that tradition either. He found out about it just yesterday, in a footnote inside one of those stupid pamphlets. Zelgadis gritted his teeth, and yet the swear words escaped from his lips. “Fucking bastard.” 

The wooden piece was still in Hannes' hands. “Well, dear?” Now, he carefully placed it in Amelia's hands and then closed his own around her white fingers. “What are you saying? Don't you think it's appropriate?”

The princess’ lips pursed. Her hands were still trapped between Hannes's and her face was a mixture of surprise and discomfort. 

“I…” Amelia began. “I think that’s very considerate of you…”

“So that’s a yes then.” He went on. “Marvelous. Then..”

“THAT’S A NO, YOU FUCKING MORON!”

“What? Who said that?” Hannes' eyes were opened in shock as his gaze scanned the multitude. Yet, the rest of the guests seemed equally surprised. Martina was murmuring something in Zangulus' ear and Pokota watched the scene in silence. The only one who wasn't murmuring was Zelgadis. Because he was shouting.

“I DID. I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT!”

The chimera’s voice cut through the scene. It was full of anger and disgust. In two strides, he stood between Amelia and the prince. And in a gesture, he threw the spoon to the floor.

“Zelgadis…” Amelia murmured.

He moved a little closer to her. And then he turned to Hannes, his face was all fury, stones and teeth. “Do you think I don't notice what's going on? That just because you’re a prince you can get away with this?”

“Excuse me?” Hannes replied, his words were polite, but his voice was all warnings. “Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? To interrupt this moment?”

“Oh, yes,” Zel replied. “And why don't you tell everyone what I've interrupted? Come on. Tell Amelia what that damn spoon really means and how you're trying to trick her into marrying you.”

“How dare you?!” Hannes spat. “Trick her? Me? The nerve!” His laughter echoed through the room. It sounded cruel and sharp. It sounded cold. “I think you’re the only one fooling yourself here, young man. Amelia hasn't complained at any time. In fact, you're the ill-mannered one who keeps interrupting us.”

“Amelia might be too nice and polite to say it, but I’m not. I don't give a shit how rude I am” Zelgadis said “And I’ll call you out again and again. Until you stop pestering her.”

Behind the chimera, Amelia was still trying to absorb the scene. She had never seen Zelgadis so angry and her body was sending her contradictory messages. The danger signals were mingling with the butterflies in her stomach.

At the foot of the stage, the crowd was silent. Because everyone was now at the mercy of the scene and, also, because no one wanted enemies with Saillune and Hasturios. Then, there was Lina. Lina watched the scene with a frown and a dangerous idea in her mind.

“You're not going to intervene, are you?” the mercenary whispered in her ear.

She turned to look at him, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “I thought you said we needed a distraction”. 

She smiled at him. He pursed his lips.

“Lina, no.”

“Lina, yes,” she whispered.

Back, on the stage, Hannes was now more than offended. He was furious. “I've been nothing but patient and kind with the Saillune delegation but this... This is a clear insult!”

“Hannes, please” Amelia pleaded. “I know Zelgadis has been a bit harsh but I think if we talk…”

“No!” Hannes' eyes no longer looked at her with the love of this morning. Now there was only humiliation. Anger. Hatred. “I will not let myself be insulted like this in my own castle. Not in front of my guests.”

His voice touched another octave. The guards tightened their grip on their spears and Zelgadis moved closer to the princess. The air smelled of war while murmurs filled the room again. And, above them, a mercenary's warning could be heard followed by the voice of a certain sorceress.

“It is better to tell him the truth, Amelia.”

Dozens of heads turned to look at Lina Inverse. Amelia and Lina crossed a gaze and their eyes said what their mouths could not. Play along and I will get you out of this .

“I know you were waiting to announce it because of Eldoran's death and the mourning,” she continued” but I best to let them know.”

“Yes.” Came out of Amelia's mouth. She had no idea where this was going yet she went on “You are right, Lina.”

“What is this?” Said Hannes “What are you talking about?”

Zelgadis was wondering the same thing. In fact, all the guests were hanging on Lina. She smiled and slowly dropped the bombshell. "Isn't it obvious? Amelia and Zelgadis are engaged."

"What do you mean?" Hannes muttered. His gaze fell on the princess again. On her pale face, on her ringless finger. "But she hasn't said anything. And she's not wearing a ring!"

"Of course not. Because they got engaged shortly before Eldoran's death. They're waiting for her to finish mourning to announce it. Out of respect."

Hannes frowned and Lina continued explaining. "That's why Zel insisted on accompanying you everywhere. They didn't want to be rude, but you'll understand that theirs was a complicated situation. Philionel asked them not to say anything about the engagement for now and well, I think that gave rise to a couple of misunderstandings.”

The prince's face changed by the moment and Lina had to bite her lip to avoid smiling. This was the best fucking idea she had had in centuries! It was perfect. Just perfect. Not only was it the distraction she so dearly needed for but also; the solution to Hannes' tantrums and, also, a way to get revenge on Zel for that tip-off.

"Is that true, Amelia?" Hannes asked.

The chimera and the princess looked at each other and time stopped. Zel forgot how to breathe. His eyes were locked on her, his mind was trapped in an eternal loop, in a single syllable: no .

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, 

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, 

Beside him, Amelia was also looking at him. She saw his face and the tension he held in his mouth. The princess's lips parted. Slowly, she let out first one syllable, then the other two words that would end up condemning them: “Yes. It's true.”

Chapter Text

Three words were enough to make Zel break.

“Yes, it’s true”, Amelia said. His stomach tightened. “Yes, it’s true.”   And his fears slowly rose in his throat. “Yes, it’s true.” Bile rose in his mouth. His life in Saillune was fading away while his blood rang in his ears, his breathing lighter.

“So…Zelgadis?” Hannes whispered.

Amelia was still watching her friend, imploring him with her eyes. The chimera swallowed, trying to gain time and looking for alternatives. The entire room was waiting for his answer.

“Yes, it’s true.” He murmured at last.

That’s it. There was no turning back. Now Amelia would discover that he had been breaking their rules, that he was full of lies, shit, and drama. And… and… fuck. He was going to lose everything that mattered to him: his little room in the castle, his chess games with his princess, their afternoons under the fig tree. His whole world was crashing and there was nothing he could do about it.

Unless… unless he could convince Amelia to get them all out.

That's it! They just had to go. They just had to come up with the perfect excuse and get the hell out. Then they would laugh it off under their fig tree and everything would be the same again. Everything would be fine.

The princess was still at his side, smiling with a mix of gratitude and tensions, in plural. Zel looked at her and managed to smile back. Because now he knew everything would be okay. Because Amelia would agree to leave. He was sure of it. After all, she seemed to be as uncomfortable with the idea as he was. And Amelia was Amelia. It was easy to talk to her. She was sweet and good. maybe even too good.

The chimera nodded and turned his attention back to the room. Hannes seemed to still be processing the idea. A little further away, murmurs ran from mouth to mouth, from ear to ear. Martina was jumping up and down and shaking her poor husband. Pokota was frowning, and to the left were the mercenary and the sorceress. Gourry only had eyes for Lina, and she had not enough room in her face for such a big smile.

Zel narrowed his eyes and Lina's mouth moved without making a sound. ‘We're even now,’ her lips said. And he had to bite his tongue to avoid calling her slurs. He bit it until it hurt.

It took a few seconds, but Hannes finally got his smile back, his sing-song tone too. He even seemed happy with the explanation. The situation was no longer an aggravation for him. No one had made fun of him, no one had rejected him or wounded his ego. It's not that he wasn't charming and irresistible. It's just that Amelia was already engaged. Everything was but a stupid misunderstanding.

“Well. In that case, everything is clear, right?” Hannes' body bent in a flourish” I apologize for the confusion. If I had known, I would never have come between you and your fiancée, Zelgadis.”

Asshole . The chimera felt the tension build up in his fists. Fucking asshole. He wasn't apologizing to Amelia for what happened, nor was she regretting anything. All he was saying was ‘Oh, she’s already someone else's property? Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it then.

Luckily, Hannes wasn't expecting an answer. He turned to his audience and smiled heartily. “I hope you're hungry. I've asked my chefs to make typical meals from the foreign lands, so that everyone feels at home”. He gestured and a handful of waiters invaded the room. “It's a small thing, but I hope it pleases you. We have paella with chorizo, pizza with pineapple, and sushi with prosciutto.

Somehow, the prince managed to insult dozens of people with just three dishes. The entire room felt uneasy but, unfortunately, they were also very hungry. Trays began to parade through the room and mouths filled with crumbs instead of murmurs. The atmosphere calmed down as more trays entered the dining room. Now, there were also sandwiches; tapas, and tacos. And there were also too: nougats, cakes and…

“Lina! Lina! “Gourry shouted,” They’re serving churros!”

Gourry seemed to be the only one who didn't turn his nose up at the Hasturian versions of the typical dishes. He had a piece of pineapple pizza in one hand and, in the other, what looked like a bouquet of churros.

Lina swore as the mercenary wiped his sugary hands on her dress and Zelgadis took advantage of the distraction. He wanted to speak to Amelia in private but, when he turned, he saw that the princess was being attacked by a bunch of turquoise locks and a high squeaky voice.

“Oh, I knew it! I knew it!” Martina shouted ”I knew you two would end up together. In fact, I was just telling Zangulus that this morning. Didn’t I, Zangulus?”

“Yes, dear,” Zangy murmured obediently.

“Of course, I have a wonderful eye for these things. Just like I knew that Lina and Gourry would end up together after what happened with Phibrizzo and…

“What?!” Lina jumped between pieces of churro. “We are not together.”

The eyebrows of the Princess of Zoana rose until they merged with her hair. She didn’t expect that answer. But, well, they did not call her ‘Obsessive’ for nothing. “Well, that can be fixed.”

Lina snorted and the bird of prey that was Martina cornered Amelia again:  “So, tell me, how did it go? How did he ask for it?”

“Ask me for what?” Amelia asked, fearing the worst.

“For your hand, silly! How did the proposal go?”

“Well…” Amelia began.

Amelia froze and looked at Zel. Lying was not one of her strong points and Martina was a formidable enemy too. The chimera stepped forward: “It's a bit of a long story, really. In fact, would you excuse us for a moment? I have to talk to my... fiancée.”

Fiancée The word was heavy on his tongue and tasted strange in his mouth. He couldn't get used to it. And the princess couldn't get used to it either. The butterflies in her stomach stirred, in contact with the sushi and the paella.

“Of course!”  Martina answered, “Then, you tell me the story of the proposal, okay?”

Amelia smiled at her friend and ignored Pokota's frown as well as Hannes' strange look. Then, she followed Zelgadis down the hallway. She knew that this conversation was going to come sooner or later. So she took a deep breath and reviewed all her arguments and apologies.

Chimera and princess went out into the hallway and entered the most private place they could find: the bathroom. Then Zelgadis closed the hallway door behind him and looked at her. Suddenly, the huge bathroom felt cramped and she forgot all her dialogue. Her excuses and jokes, her plans; her apologies. “I-I know it was stupid, Zelgadis but…”

“It's okay, really.”

Amelia opened her mouth. She wasn't expecting that answer. She was expecting protests, sour faces and questions. With extra exclamation marks, with insults to Lina and three generations of her ancestors.

“It doesn't?”

“No. Because…”

He slid the latch and Amelia's mind raced. He moved a little closer to her and said in a whisper.

“I know how to fix it. I'll go find Hector and you get Lina and Gourry out of the dining room.”

“What?”

“What do you mean what? The city gates are still open, aren't they? So we're leaving.” His gaze searched for hers, hoping to see the relief he was looking for. Instead, he found confusion.

“What about finding your cure? What about Saillune and the trade agreements?”

He looked impatient now, almost nervous. A weak smile ran across his blue lips. “I know it’s not ideal. But I can’t think of any other way to get out of this ball of lies. So we’ll tell them you drank that juice Martina tried or that something urgent has come up in Saillune. What do you say?”

His question ended in a smile. Because he knew she’d say yes. That Amelia would nod and then…

“No.”

“No?” The chimera was speechless. Fear forced his throat closed. He tried hard to swallow them as the acid rose. “You can't be serious. You don't really intend to go through with  Lina’s plan, do you?”

She sighed. “It's not that it's the best of plans but…”

“But what?”

“We can't just leave, Zelgadis.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. He looked at her and his nervous smile slipped from his mouth. He had no plan B! He didn't expect her to say no. And he couldn't explain himself any further either. He couldn't tell her the shit he was dragging or how difficult this role-playing game was going to be for him. The chimera frowned and held on tightly to the white counter. He could still fix it, right?. He just had to insist a little more, right? Because he had seen Amelia put Lina before her own interests time and time again. Because she had done the same to him a few times as well. Amelia was too good, even for herself. So Zelgadis gulped and tried again. “Ame, please. Don’t ask me to.”

However, the answer that came out of Amelia’s lips was neither sweet nor good. Instead, the princess narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. “Is it really that terrible to play along with Lina’s plan? Is the idea of being my fake fiancé so awful? Even if it’s only for four days?”

“What?”

Zelgadis no longer had control of the situation. He didn’t understand anything. He stepped back and Amelia lit up like Fireball.

“I’ve seen you pretend to be a woman to get into the kingdom of Femenil.”

“That was…” he tried to interrupt.

“I’m not done yet! I’ve seen you dress up as a rabbit to look for the Claire Bible and put on makeup to participate as a woman in a magic tennis match. But is this where you draw the line? Really?”

The white marble creaked under the pressure of his fingers. Zel had no fucking idea what was going on. Amelia was always the kind and the good one. The one who smiled and turned the other cheek. Yet now he watched her as she continued to speak, with no smile on her face, and with something in her eyes that resembled pain. “This event is important to me, Zelgadis. I won't stop you if you want to go, but I'm staying.”

Zel's eyes widened in surprise. It was obviously a trap. He couldn't just leave without her. Not if he wanted everything to go back to the way it was. Besides, he was a jerk and a coward, but that didn't mean he was going to abandon her to her fate, in a strange country and... with Hannes no less.

So the chimera did her second stupid thing of the day, the third, if we count the bite of the pineapple pizza. He took a breath and, ignoring the warning cries his body was giving him, slowly opened his mouth: “In that case, I guess I'll stay too.”

There was a small pause as the two looked at each other and the white marble creaked a little more.

“That means…?” She began.

“I can't believe I'm saying this” he tried to smile, but he was too nervous and the gesture was barely a grimace. “Yes, we'll play Lina's stupid game and, yes, I'll be your fake fiancé.”

Amelia's mouth curved again and she murmured a "thank you" that melted the chimera inside. When she composed herself, Zel spoke again.

“Only so we can get out of this and so I can look at their library too, okay? And just during the days that the event lasts. Then we'll tell Martina the truth.”

“Of course,” she said between smiles. “We'll explain it to everyone: Zangulus, Pokota, daddy…”

Zelgadis remembered the size of Phil's fists and a tiny sound came out of his mouth. “I don't think we should bother Phil with that.”

“Okay.”

“But there will be conditions. And limits!”

“Of course,” She whispered. Then, the princess looked away. She dropped the smile a little and said “Thank you, Zelgadis. I know this isn't a small favor to ask.”

He studied her for a second, she wasn't serious anymore, but she didn't look completely uncomfortable with this whole idea either. She wasn't the Amelia he was used to, she was the one who wore black at her grandfather's funeral, the one who tiptoed with them in the carriage. But, even if she was a bit different, she was still Amelia, and he still couldn't deny her anything.

"Okay," the chimera replied. "But we'll have to square a few things, okay? Line up a couple of stories."

"Like what?"

"For example, what are we going to tell Martina about... about..." Zel paused, trying to find the words. Ceiphied, this was going to be complicated, "About how I asked for your hand."

Oh.

"Oh."

It was such a terrible sentence that they both looked away for a moment. But what Amelia said next was even worse. “I guess we'll have to come up with how we started dating, right? And… wedding dates and stuff like that.”

Zelgadis had to hold on to the marble with all his strength. His legs barely held him up and his mouth was dry again. Luckily, a knock on the door interrupted the scene.

They both jumped in place and the handle moved without the door giving way.

“Weird. The door won't open,” said a voice.

“Shit.“ Another voice interrupted.

“ Shit, ” Zel cursed too.

“We'll talk about it after dinner then,” Amelia murmured, “in my room?”

The chimera nodded. He pulled back the door lock and, far from leaving, stood there, frozen in the middle of the door, because in front of them stood Lina and Gourry. They were more smiling and less combative than usual. No, scrap that. Now they were pale. The four of them looked at each other, the two who entered the bathroom and the two who left it together.

Shit , the four of them thought at the same time.

"What's going on here?" The sorceress finally asked.

"It's not what you think," Zel muttered.

"Oh, goodie," said, of course, Gourry. "And what do we think, Lina?"

"We were just talking," Amelia added.

"Yeah," Lina replied. "In the bathroom. You're full of surprises, Zel. You know that? Here I thought you were one of those prudes who waited until marriage."

Zelgadis tried with all his might not to kill his friend. Instead, he contented himself with answering: "And you? What are you two doing outside the dining room?"

"We were looking for you, of course."

“In the bathroom?”

“Exactly”

"Wel, you found us, didn’t you?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

“It looks like that, yeah.” She growled.

A small silence fell over the four of them, while Lina and Zel pretended to believe each other's story and Amelia and Gourry waited for the storm of glances and gestures to pass. After a while, the sorceress noticed a small tug on her dress.

“Shall we go back then, Lina?” The mercenary whispered, “I think there are still some of those honey puffs you like.”

It took her a second to take her eyes off the chimera and say “Sure. Let's go.”

Thus, the four of them returned to the dining room in silence. To what would be remembered as a night of awkward questions and food poisoning.

Chapter Text

Back in the dining room, the guests were talking in small groups and the waiters were dancing around them, trays in hand. Everything was just as they had left it. Although… there were details. Details that only a trained observer could pick up. They were chords, notes and harmonies that marked a different waltz. Zelgadis noticed how Hannes' smile had returned to its place and how the gazes of the guests were fixed now on his blue face.

It wasn’t something new. He tended to stand out in crowds. But he hated it. Oh, he hated it so much. No matter how many years passed, he wasn’t still used to his condition. To the stares, the fear, the names. Here and there, his ears picked up fragments of conversations, whispers and murmurs that went unnoticed by human ears. Words like: chimera, hideous… monster.

He closed his eyes tightly.

Fuck.

“Zelgadis?”

A soft voice said his name and he turned to his left. Amelia was looking at him with a question on her face.

“It’s nothing.” He lied. He was getting nervous. He took a deep breath, and inhaled the equivalent of an entire circus, elephants included. “By Ceiphied, do you smell that? What is it?”

“I don’t know.” She replied. “There are… too many smells in here.”

Zel wrinkled his nose. The different dishes seemed to compete with each other on the table. Their smell now had more presence and body than all the guests put together. It was disgusting. The contrast of sweet, sour, and bitter caught in the guests’ throats and made some of them cough.

Hannes again and made himself heard over the crowd. “Ah, I see we’re all here now. Great. Please take a seat. Amelia, you can sit there, please. Next to the other representatives of the kingdoms.”

That was another detail, another change. Hannes had said ‘there’ and not ‘here’. He didn't insist on pulling out Amelia's chair, nor did he ask her to sit next to him.

"What's that face, Zel?" Lina asked.

"What do you mean? What face?"

In response, she gave him a look. He sat down and returned to his stern expression, to face the circus of smells that was dinner.

Zel swallowed as the princess sat next to him. She gave him a faint smile, and suddenly his senses saturated. They took in a thousand and one things at once: the wine; the murmurs; the smells; the touches.

FUCK

Princess and Chimera were still the center of attention and both were also close, too close. Zelgadis felt the fabric of the pink dress against his leg. He felt too many things. He heard the word ‘monster’ in every murmur; he tasted his own nerves on his tongue. Every time Amelia used the knife, he also felt how her arm brushed his blue skin, and the chimera jolted. He pulled away first his arm, then his gaze. And she… she drank from her glass in small sips, with her mouth tense. But what made her stretch her lips? Was it annoyance? Was it disgust? Or were those nerves? 

The candles were consumed as the night progressed, as the Chimera's stomach protested. Not only because of Hasturios' “delicacies”, but also because of the knot of emotions he carried inside. In front of him, dozens of plates colored the table. There were sweet macaroni, watermelon gazpacho, and other culinary aberrations. Lina insisted that the ham and melon combo wasn’t bad. But he felt sick to his stomach. The smell of paella with chorizo ​​filled his nose, and suddenly, the plate of kimchi passed by. He felt a wave of nausea.

Fuck.

Zel felt a gag coming. His body was tense, his mouth dry.

Fuck. Fuck.

The plate passed by, but the nerves and discomfort stayed where they were. Zelgadis leaned back in his chair a little. And, again, he swallowed.

Fuck.

Zelgaids tried to hide how upset he felt. He took a breath while his eyes swept the table. Amelia was at the mercy of Martina's questions. Good. They were too wrapped up in the conversation to notice. Next to them, ‘Zangy’ was talking swords with Gourry. Great. To the boys' right, Hannes was entertaining one of the dignitaries from the Kataart Mountains. And, on top of a pile of encyclopedias, was Pokota, fighting with a fork that was too big for his tiny teeny hands. Great. And, just when it seemed like no one had noticed a thing, his blue eyes landed on Lina. And… Fuck.  Again, the sorceress saw through his facade.

“Are you okay, Zel? You look a little… bluer than usual.”

Oh, no.

No. No. No.

“Great,” he growled.

The sorceress swept him with her gaze, without any shame or decency. She looked at his empty plate, his pale face. And, with a tone that was almost sweet, she asked: “Are you sure? If…”

“I think you've helped enough today, Lina.”

Her gaze turned hard. Like the stones on Zel's face, like the tone he had used with her. Lina narrowed her eyes and, after thinking about it for a couple of seconds, decided that it wasn't her problem.

“Suit yourself, handsome,” she answered. She put extra malice in that ‘handsome’ and extra meat on her plate afterward.

The chimera saw her swallow the pieces of meat without chewing and held her gaze, despite the nausea, despite the horrible manners of the girl. Each bite she took made his stomach turn more. Meanwhile, Amelia continued using the knife to his right and the murmurs of the guests continued. Only he looked up when he was sure that Lina had forgotten about the subject. He took a deep breath and counted to 10.

1, 2, 3, 4….

Fuck.

He never made it past 5. He had to leave sooner. He pushed his chair back and muttered some lame excuse before standing up.

What had he said? He couldn't remember. His mind was occupied by only three words:

RUN. FLEE. NOW

It took him an eternity to get to the hallway, another to pretend that he wasn't out of breath, nor did his mouth taste like bile.

He closed the bathroom door behind him and, slowly, the air returned to his lungs. Zelgadis' hands hit the white marble until he heard it crack. “FUCK! Fuck! Fuck!”

This was stupid. He wasn't being attacked. There was no one chasing him and yet his entire body was screaming at him that he was in danger. Just because the situation was uncomfortable. Because the smells were still in his nose and because that word followed him everywhere, because…

Because he was an idiot.

The chimera took another breath and looked at his hands with disgust, rage. He hated it. He hated not being in control of his body. He hated feeling so… What? Useless? Vulnerable? Stupid? He didn't know. Maybe sensitive was the word. Because he felt his pulse in his neck and the canapés still in his throat.

At least his hands weren't shaking, at least the canapés hadn't ended up in other parts of the bathroom. At least… Zelgadis sighed. He splashed water on his face and then gave himself a few more minutes before opening the door.

At least the night can't get any worse , he thought.

And, as usual, he was wrong.

--------------------------------------------------------------

When he returned to the dining room, he saw two things: first, that Lina had finished the entire platter of chops and, second, that the tone of the room was different again. There was less wine in the glasses now and more inside the stomachs. Thus, Hannes' smile was no longer elegant, but silly and sloppy. And there were fewer people hanging on the chimera. Less smells in the room.

Zelgadis examined the table. No one seemed to have taken his brief absence as an insult. He took a breath. His stomach protested as he sat down. Amelia's dress brushed his leg again and he decided to lie to himself.

"I can handle this," he murmured.

"What?" someone murmured back.

Amelia was looking at him, with those big blue eyes, with that glass of wine still in her hand. 

He shook his head. "It’s nothing. Don’t worry. How are you?"

She put the glass down on the table and looked at him again. Her lips were still tense, in a gesture that he still couldn't quite read. 

"Tired," Amelia replied.

Zelgadis studied his friend. Was that a lie? He didn't know and that stirred him up inside. She looked... different. She didn't tend to purse her lips nor murmur and tiptoe around him.

"And you? Are you okay?"

He sighed. "I will be. As soon as I get some sleep.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Then he looked away. She took the glass of wine again.

“Don't worry, I think there's only dessert left. After that, we can go.”

The chimera nodded. “Great. What's for dessert?”

“Granny’s cake. But don't worry, they've already asked if it was made out of grandmas. And the answer is no. Just pineapple and pecans.”

Despite his nerves, Zelgadis couldn't help but laugh. “You're kidding, right? Who's the idiot that...? Gourry?

“Gourry”. she answered.

The Chimera and the princess laughed again and, for a second, the laughter swept away the awkwardness, the lies, and the nerves. It was a small reprieve amidst the chaos that had been dinner. It was a nice illusion that lasted until she used the knife again and their arms brushed. Because there he jumped again, she pursed her lips.

The waiters brought the cake and the blue tablecloth began to empty. First, went the Gazpacho, then the kimchi, the glasses. Until only the cake remained, then even that went away as well.

"Well" Hannes began. "I hope you enjoyed your dinner."

There were a couple of grimaces and an enthusiastic ‘yes’ from Gourry.

"Good, good! In that case, I'll see you all here tomorrow at 9 o'clock sharp, okay? If you're so kind, the staff will show you to your rooms."

The prince started to get up from the table and Zelgadis jumped up too. He made it. He had done it.

His chair scraped across the floor and he turned towards the hallway. Now he just had to get out of the dining room at the same time as Amelia. Go to his room. Close the door And…

“Oh? Zelgadis?” someone called behind him.

It was Hannes.

Fuck.

“Uhm?”

“I’ve already asked for your things to be moved.”

“What?” His mouth felt dry. His hands were cold. “Where to?”

“Well, to Amelia’s room, of course.”

Fuck.Fuck.

The chimera looked at the princess and both of them allowed themselves a brief moment of panic. Then, Amelia parted her lips.

“Oh, it wasn’t necessary, Hannes. In fact…”

“Nonsense! It’s nothing. Besides, you don’t need to keep up appearances while you’re here, you know?” His Royal Majesty tried to touch his nose and, drunk as he was, stuck a finger in his eye instead. “The kingdom may only open its doors once every 200 years. But we’re not that old-fashioned. After all, there’s nothing wrong with some ‘Horizontal refreshment’ before marriage.”

A blush rose to Amelia’s cheek and, apparently, it was contagious. Because the red spread as well all over to Zel's blue face.

"But..." Zelgadis began.

He never finished his sentence. A huge hand patted his back as the prince brought the couple closer.

"Come on, come on. You don't have to thank me. I t was my pleasure,” Hannes slurred. “maybe yours, too?” And without further ado, he stumbled around the dining room.

The chimera watched him go. His mouth tense, his whole body tensed. He was going to kill that asshole. 

--------------------------------------------------------------

FUCK

The walk to Amelia's room was uncomfortable, but the look Lina gave them when they opened the door was even worse.

"Good night," she said. "If you sleep, that is."

"Lina!" Amelia protested.

At her side, Zelgadis said nothing. He just added one more name to the “list of people to kill this week.”

The bedroom door slammed shut, and after a while, one of them sighed. His eyes were fixed on the double bed, and hers on his serious expression.

“Fuck,” Zelgadis blurted out.

And she could only swallow. The two of them stood there for a moment, speechless. Until, finally, Amelia got tired of being uncomfortable. “Well, it didn’t go so bad, did it?”

The chimera gave her a look that said ‘I disagree,’ and Amelia shrugged.

“It could have gone worse, right? We haven’t been discovered yet.”

He growled, she lay down on the bed. The princess’s lips relaxed. She was a bit herself again. Cheerful, talkative. Her. The problem was that he was the opposite. He felt even worse now.

“Now we just have to hold on for three more days and… Zelgadis?”

Zelgadis was now pacing around the room, up and down. Down and up.

“What 's wrong?”

He felt the bile in his throat again, the nerves in his hands. I'm trying to escape from this , he thought. And instead, he said. “I'm thinking.”

She watched him walk around a few more times. Until the chimera snapped its fingers and stopped in place. He went to the window, and opening it wide, he muttered: “Rei Wing.”

However, the magic didn't come to him, his feet didn't leave the ground. A moment passed until his brain remembered: the magic necklace, the spell.

“Fuck.”

He carefully closed the window again, went back to the door. His movements were now frantic. His blue hands grasped the door handle with force. He forgot to pretend he was just uncomfortable. He forgot to hide that he was actually dead nervous.

"Where are you going?"

"Get some air," he murmured. "I'll be back in… well, I'll be back."

"Zelgadis…" she began.

But he closed the door behind him. And Amelia stared. One, two, three moments passed. Until her ears caught a conversation in the hallway, and the chimera appeared in the room again. Then he slipped to the floor.

"They have guards at the doors," he said.

"Oh, and… now what?" she answered.

Silence.

"Zelgadis?"

"Give me a second."

The princess gave him all the seconds in the world. She saw him close his eyes and breathe through his mouth. She saw him clasp his hands together and open his eyes once more.

“Come on, Zelgadis. What's wrong? Is it because of dinner? Because of Lina’s plan?” He didn't answer, she followed the direction of his gaze. “It's not the first time we've shared a room, right? We've slept with Lina and Gourry many times.”

“..Not in the same bed”. He murmured.

“Two days ago we slept on the same floor” she replied.

And Zel clicked his tongue.

“It's... different.”

“Different why?

“Because.”

Silence fell on them again. It weighed so much that Zelgadis was still on the floor. And Amelia... she didn't know how to react. She knew enough about the chimera to understand that this had more to do with him than with her. But that didn't make her feel better. Because she didn't know how to help. Because now she had just discovered that there were lies and secrets between them.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, almost guessing her fears.

She slowly stretched out a smile and patted the quilt with one of her hands. “Come, let’s talk.”

He looked at the bed with suspicion, almost with fear. “No.”

“No?”

“Tomorrow. Today has been a very long day.”

“Zelgadis…”

“Please.”

The princess swallowed, but her fears didn’t go down. So she nodded instead. “ As you wish.”

And with that, he got up from the floor and dropped, without any ceremony, into the desk chair.

“Good night,” he said, although it sounded more like ‘I’m done talking about this.’

“Good night,” she replied.

Chapter Text

The morning found Amelia between the white sheets. The princess opened her eyes and looked across the bed and... It was empty. Because Zel was still in the chair. In the same clothes. In the same stiff posture.

“Good morning,” She said.

“Ah. Hi.”

The chimera seemed less anxious. Still, there were traces of yesterday on his face. His hands were still clenched and he was still nervous.

Amelia looked out the window. Outside, the sky was still dark, without birds, without sounds. “What time is it?”

“Early,” Zelgadis replied. “You can go back to sleep if you want.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. Have you gotten any sleep?”

“Somewhat, yeah.” He replied. Although he hadn’t slept, not really. He had only managed to close his eyes. He was too uncomfortable to do anything else. The chair was hard on his ass and Amelia’s breathing was hard on his ears. “I've been… a bit distracted.”

Zel raised his hand. He was holding one of the pamphlets that came with the gift bag. It was titled ‘Tomatoes: The Noble Fruit That Captivated Hasturios.’

“You spent the whole night reading ‘that’?”

He shrugged. “It's not that bad. At least, compared to the last one.”

“What could be worse than a pamphlet about tomatoes?”

In response, Zelgadis threw a book at her. It fell hard on the bed with a loud thud . Amelia took it and noticed how heavy it was in her hands. 

She read the title out loud. “The Secret World of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane.”

Then she looked at Zel, half horrified and half amused.

“Is it… as terrible as it sounds?”

“Oh, yes.”

He curled his lips and their gazes met. There, Zel's smile froze in place. He was waiting  for the next question, the "Why?" or the:

"Shall we talk?"

Zelgaids looked away. He didn't feel like it. He didn't feel like it at all. He considered his options: the window over the garden; the closed door; and the pamphlets. Then, slowly, he said: "Okay."

He had been thinking all night about what he would say. How he was going to blame the Hasturian kitchen and dodge the issue until the next attack. In fact, Zel had it all figured out. He had the excuses, the lies, the arguments too.

Yet now, in front of her, his mind was but a bundle of knots and nerves.

Fuck.

He opened his mouth. He closed it. He tried again.

Fuck.

Amelia watched him look at her and say nothing, so she started talking. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

“I think so.” He ran her hand through his wired hair and stared at the table. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened to me last night. I just know that I started feeling awful after one or two bites.”

“Awful? Why?”

“I don’t know.” he shrugged. “It must have been something I ate.”

And, just like that, it was done. No. He had done it. He had now broken the first of her rules. He had lied to her face. The chimera held his breath, feeling the discomfort settle in his gut again. Zelgadis often danced between omissions and euphemisms. But this was not the same as calling Lina “frugal” instead of “stingy,” or Noonsa “graceful.” This was different.

The boy saw Amelia nod and his body began to move a little again. His blue fingers twitched and he stifled a sigh. His excuse made sense. Because, well, that was the only explanation, right? Because he himself wasn’t sure of what happened yesterday. 

He only knew this whole thing started when his body changed. Now some situations, food and stimuli made him jump. Now his chimera body hated crowds and contact. And, in those situations, he needed an escape route and a bunch of plans. Or, instead of that, a bathroom. Zel looked at the princess again. Her eyebrows were furrowed and covered in doubts.

"Is that why you went to the bathroom in the middle of dinner?"

He didn't like lying to her, but he didn't want to explore the truth either. He didn't like lying to her... but he did it anyway. "Yeah. The paella with chorizo ​​or... I don't know, the prosciutto sushi."

"Really? I liked the sushi. It was delicious."

The chimera looked at her as if she had said the greatest of blasphemies. 

"The Haggis was so-so, though."

"By Ceiphied!" Did you try that too? How are you still alive?

There, Amelia laughed. “I’ve eaten worse. Let’s just say, Dad’s stews are almost as destructive as Lina’s Drag Slaves. And his lentils… well, remember that stew Xellos cooked once?”

He grimaced and she smiled again. Her mouth rose and rose until she said his name. “Zelgadis?”

“Uhm?”

“Why didn’t you say anything last night?”

Zelgadis shrugged. He had been waiting for that question. “It’s not like you could do anything. Recoveries don’t work on indigestion.”

“You could have told me though!” Amelia stopped smiling. “I thought… well, never mind. My point is, if something makes you feel bad, I’d like to know.”

“Even if you can't help?” He asked.

“Of course!”

“Why?”

He snorted, she opened her eyes.

“What do you mean, why? Because we're friends.”

The princess fixed her big blue eyes on him and Zegadis felt the punch of guilt in his gut. The blow left him breathless and, without answers. After all, how does someone reply to that? The chimera considered several options. From ‘Mind your own business’ to ‘Thank you?’, ‘Why?’ or, just because he was feeling extra sarcastic ‘Don’t you mean fiancé?’ At the end he said: “Ah,” And added a timid “Of course.”

A tiny pause followed while the chimera processed that sentence, because he was not used to that. To touches, caresses and, well… feelings (TM).

Outside, time kept going. The morning covered itself in yellow and soft sounds: the chirping of birds, the footsteps of servants in the hallway. The princess and the chimera looked at each other and he held his breath. There was a subject they both had been avoiding. In his mind, Zelgadis counted: 1, 2, 3… He was going to bring it up when he got to 5. But Amelia spoke faster:

“So, you’re better now, huh? Do you think you can handle breakfast?”

He grimaced. “I’ll try at least.”

“And… what about the other issue?”

“What other issue?”

“You know. The ‘Pretending to be engaged’ issue.”

“Oh, that.” Zel tensed. The word still tasted odd on his tongue. “Well, we can start by creating a solid lie. We have to give the same details when they ask us things like… how I asked you to marry me or…

“It was a month ago. In Saillune, at the Fire Festival. You created a spell just for me and wrote it with tiny lightings  in the sky.”

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry.” She replied, tucking her charcoal hair behind her ear. “I had to improvise quite a bit last night. Martina had a lot of questions.”

Oh, Ceipheid.

“Define a lot, Amelia.”

“I’ll bring you up to date later.”

He growled. This was going to be a problem. First, because Amelia was terrible at lying; second, because that sentence sounded like anything but improvised. And third, because… Because… Zelgadis looked away.

Amelia was still in bed, with her messy hair behind her ear and as modest as ever. That’s it, very little. Those pink strappy pajamas were distracting him, especially that drooping strap and those…

Oh, Ceipheid.

Zelgaids cleared his throat.

“Fine. Shall we move on to the other… things then?”

“Things?” Amelia asked.

“You know, limits? Agreements? Rules for this stupid game we’re playing.”

“Ah, those things. Sure.”

The princess smiled from her place in the unmade bed. As if the subject didn’t bother her or, worse, as if it didn’t matter to her at all. Yet, here he was, feeling stupid and  struggling to get a few words out. 

The chimera cleared his throat again, trying to spit those damn words. “Look, I’d prefer to avoid the cheesy stuff. Holding hands, the affectionate nicknames…

“Makes sense.”

Did it? Good.

“It doesn't suit you at all.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, you're more serious and cold.”

There, Zelgadis went blank. Halfway between relieved and… offended? Why the hell was he offended? His hands began to crumple the tomato pamphlet.

Beside him, Amelia had gotten out of bed and was going here and there in those little pink pajamas. She was both preparing this morning's clothes and avoiding looking at him. She was looking at the closet, her mouth pursed.

“Okay,” she said, opening the closet. “Then the first ‘thing’ is not being cheesy.”

“Or you know, lovey dovey. Unless it's absolutely necessary. Public displays of affection are…” 

What? His mind raced. Complicated? Hell? Weird, Sure, let’s go with weird.

“Weird.”

“As you wish.” Amelia answered “Anything else?

Zelgadis thought about it. He wanted to say a thousand things. No touching, no kissing, no asking why he didn't sleep with her. His hands tightened around the paper and he thought about it again. The last thing he wanted to do was answer more questions.

So he tried to play it cool and shrugged, Yet the movement was more of a spasm. “I suppose we can say that I'm serious and sullen to avoid questions about why there aren't as many caresses or... kisses. Do you think that would work?”

“The serious part, yes. The sullen part…”

Zelgadis didn't wait to hear the rest. He grabbed onto that ‘yes’ like a man grabs to the edge of a cliff. With passion. 

“Perfect!” He said. “And you? Any other ‘thing’?”

“Yes, actually. Two.”

The princess turned to look at her friend. She had her white clothes in one hand and a serious look on her face.

“If you ever feel sick or unwell again, I want you to tell me right away, okay?”

He gulped.

“And the other one?”

But Amelia didn’t get to answer that. Because a knock sounded at the door and they both turned around.

“Couple? Are you visible? Can I come in?”

“No!” Amelia replied.

“No what? You’re not visible or I can’t come in?”

“Go away, Lina!” Zelgadis shouted.

There was laughter in the hallway and footsteps on the carpet. “Okay. But hurry up with… whatever you’re doing. Breakfast is ready.”

Zelgadis cursed under his breath. Lina was really getting on his nerves lately. And what had she said? Breakfast? The boy looked out of the open window and saw the sun peeking through the white walls. Was it that late?

At his side, Amelia was busy going back and forth in the room. She took the brush from the drawer and then the perfume from the table, the towel from the suitcase. When she finished, she gathered all the objects in her hand and turned to her friend. "Do you have to go into the bathroom? I was thinking of taking a quick shower."

Zelgadis took a second to react. He got up from his chair. First came the shame and then the words.

"I'll wait for you outside," He murmured.

"Oh, you don't have to..."

"I know," He replied.

And yet, Amelia heard the click of the hallway door closing.

Thus, the third ‘thing’ was left hanging in the air, along with the shame that covered Zel's cheeks and the smell of pancakes.

—-----------------------------------------------

Zelgadis rushed out of the room. He had his gloves and his mask with him, and yet he felt like he had forgotten something. In his head, he started reviewing his belongings: hood, cape, belt…

“Fuck!”

The chimera stood in the middle of the hallway. He had forgotten to ask Amelia about the third limit. And, what was even worse, he had forgotten to catch up on the fake engagement story too.

His feet were still fixed on the blue carpet. The sensible thing would be to go back to the room to ask, right? Yes, that did make sense. Then, why were his legs not moving? Ah, because his shame was wrestling with logic.

“This is fucking stupid“. He muttered.

He retraced his steps and his fingers brushed the doorknob. Then they retreated. Zelgadis sighed. Lina was right: he was a prude. The mere thought of running into a towel-clad Amelia made him uneasy. It made his pulse race and… No.

He clicked his tongue and dismissed the thought. He was already halfway to the stairs when a shrill voice called his name.

“Zelgadis? Zelgadis, wait.”

He knew that voice. His shoulders tensed and he began to walk faster. The hallway was short and he was taller. He had the advantage. He made his strides wider.

“Zelgadis!”

He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was too late. Martina was at his side, shouting in his ear.

“Oh, Zelgadis, my friend. Where's Amelia? Actually, never mind. You're going to have breakfast, aren't you? Let’s go then." She said the sentences with almost no spaces or periods. Without time for him to make up excuses either. "It's good that Hannes allowed you to sleep together, isn't it?"

Now she really paused. Zelgadis gritted his teeth. "Yes," he murmured, "Magnifique."

"My father is still old-fashioned, you know?"

"Aha."

Martina had two modes: the ‘question machine’ and the ‘chatter beast.’ Both were annoying, but at least the second did not require elaborate answers. Her questions became rhetorical and her silences were few. And so, the ‘uhms,’ ’ahas’,and ‘sure’ usually sufficed.

"Yes, he is very much into ‘respecting old traditions’, ‘waiting for marriage’, and all that stuff.”

"Of course." The chimera could almost see where this conversation was going. Thus, his strides became a little longer and more urgent.

“And you wouldn't believe how he reacted when I tried to explain to him that times had changed. That titles and lineages are things of the past. Right?”

“Right.”

“Well, I'm glad Philionel isn't like that. Amelia already brought me up to date and AH! She also told me how you proposed to her. You're quite the Don Juan, huh? Who would have thought?”

Zelgadis quickened his pace even more, but that damned hallway seemed to go on forever. Then, he attempted a smile as his skin changed color when he remembered the story Amelia had been telling. “Yeah, well…”

“She also described the ring to me. Silver with a blue stone, right? It's not very conventional, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. She brought it with her, didn't she?”

“Well…”

“It's a shame dinner didn't last longer last night. We still have to catch up., I haven't even told you how my honeymoon with ‘Zangy’ ended. What was the last thing I told you?”

“Uh…”

“You know what? Better to start again from the beginning. It'll be easier.”

Martina took a breath and a string of sentences came out of her mouth. They were as long as sausages and had the same number of punctuation marks. The boy suppressed a sigh.

The hallway was still going and Martina was still talking. They passed two more windows. At the third, Zelgadis had already learned Zangulus's favorite color, his curious allergy to yellow dye and... other details. Details that, he was sure, would now replace Rezo in his nightmares.

"I bet you didn't know a carrot could be used for that . Neither did I, until my honeymoon," said Martina. “Honestly? It was brilliant. I wanted to clap but my hands were tied.”

Finally, Zel's blue hands grabbed the door to the hallway. Sounds of the lower floors filtered through the open door. He heard footsteps, creeks, and voices. He even heard the sound of freedom. And yet, all sounds were quickly overwritten with details about carrots and other indecent vegetables. 

—-----------------------------------------------

That morning, breakfast was in the gardens. The place was lovely. There were toasts and custard tarts. Also juice, coffee and, of course, tomatoes. Its red stood out against the white of the tablecloth, against the blue of the chimera that was sitting on the left.

Zelgadis had an empty plate in front of him and his elbows on the table. That's how Amelia found him. He was sitting on the far side of the table with his hand between his eyebrows, making a monumental effort to hide his face.

“Zelgadis? Are you alright?”

He looked up. It had been less than an hour since they had seen each other, and yet, he looked years older.

“It's nothing.”

“Zelgadis…” The girl left the sentence hanging, but held her spoon in a threatening manner.

“Really, it's nothing. It's just that…” He looked both ways and then let out a sigh. ”Martina has cornered me in the hallway.”

“Oh, no. Has she been asking you a lot of things?”

“Worse.”

“Worse?”

“She's been telling me in DETAIL how her wedding night with ‘Zangy’ went.”

There, Amelia's face went through several states. First came horror and then the terrible terrible attempt to contain laughter.

“She was very explicit. And, apparently, the followers of Zoamelgustar have very specific rituals about what to do with knots, blindfolds and vegetables.”

“Vegetables?”

Giggle still escaped her lips when she leaned forward to get a custard tart. Then, she paused. No one had tried to take it from her and that could only mean one thing. Something was wrong. Her gaze swept the table. The tablecloth was suspiciously clean too.

“Where 's Lina?”

“No idea.”

When Zelgadis arrived at the garden, Lina and Gourry were not there with the rest of the guests. And that had brightened his morning a little. He didn't give a damn where they were. He was fed up with Lina's jokes. 

But they weren't the only ones missing. At the table were only a couple of dignitaries from Kataart, Martina, Zángulus and Pokota.

Amelia seemed to be thinking the same thing because she said: “Is it just us then?”

The chimera nodded. “Hannes was here a moment ago. He said he'll join us after breakfast. Apparently, there were more… absences last night due to kimchi and chorizo ​​paella.”

“Is Hannes sick too then?”

Ha! I wish .

“No, but he did say something about preparing for the next visit and also making sure the king was well taken care of.”

“The king, huh? I see”.

The princess made a little noise and Zelgadis stared at her. Her black hair was still a bit damp and her skin smelled of strawberries. She also looked… What was that? Curious? Surprised? There was an odd twist to her mouth. He didn’t know what it was, but he noticed that she hadn’t said ‘I’m glad he’s not sick’ or ‘That’s good to hear’. Just “I see”.

Chapter Text

“Sorry,” Lina murmured.

Yet, it was obvious from her tone that she wasn’t sorry. Her arms were crossed and her nose was wrinkled. If anything, she was sorry she got caught red handed.

Across from her, Hannes also had his arms crossed and his eternally friendly smile twitched. “You understand that you can’t wander around the castle without an escort, Lina.”

“Yeah. It’s just that… it was Gourry’s fault.”

“Gourry?” Hannes asked.

“Mine?” The mercenary said. And, feeling a blow to his ribs, he added, “Ah, yes.”

“Yes. You see, he has a horrible sense of direction. He got lost on the way to the bathroom. And, of course, I had to go looking for him.”

That was a big fat lie. But the prince stared at them for a second, almost hesitating. Then he pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and let out a huge sigh. “I’ll let it go this time. But no more unauthorized explorations, okay?”

“Of course!” Replied Lina.

Across the garden, Zelgadis was smiling. For once since they’d started their journey, people weren’t pestering him or Amelia. No. This time, the attention was on Lina. And he was enjoying the novelty. Because he was also so done with Lina.

He was so fed up that his mind went ‘You know what? Fuck it!’ And changed course. It had gone from suspicion and mistrust, to indifference and ‘if I don’t see it, it’s not illegal.’ Now, he decided, he didn’t give a shit what Lina’s motives were for entering the kingdom. In fact, he didn’t give a damn if she was lying or if she really wanted to steal treasures in Hasturios. Because…

He looked at Amelia and she smiled at him.

Because he had enough on his plate already.

The prince turned away from Lina and Gourry and started distributing a stack of papers among the guests. One for Zelgadis, one for Amelia, Zangulus, Martina, Pokota, and one for each of the dignitaries of Kataart who had survived the dinner. “I’ve taken the liberty of changing the itinerary a little. Some of the guests want to see the crafts market, so that will be our first stop today. I think you’ll like it, it’s an excellent cultural activity.”

Zelgadis almost laughed as he read the schedule. Hannes had tried to camouflage his flirting attempts as a group activity. Instead of being ‘beautiful’, the market was now a ‘cultural activity’ and ‘a unique culinary experience’.

But then he read on the more his mood soured.

This has to be a joke.

The paper divided the activities by day, each with different tortures scheduled.

Day 1: 

• Light Show: Enjoy a unique show in the world (now with extra seals!) 
• Welcome Dinner: Experience the wonderful kimchi and plum juice! A regional delicacy. 

Day 2: 

• Artisan Market: A unique culinary experience. 
• Cultural Exchange: Let's talk about bread prices! (No bread will be served. please eat beforehand)
• Masquerade Ball: Now with regional dances: from jotas to waltzes! 

Day 3: 

• Surprise Cultural Excursion: Hasturios will open its doors and show you an important piece of its history. 
• Picnic in the city's botanical garden. (Watch out for the swans.) 
• Symposium on treaties and trade agreements. 

Day 4: 

• Spa Day: Come and relax at the Hasturian terminal waters. 
• Closing Dinner: Ready for the grand finale? We will say goodbye with songs, karaoke, and a lot of surprise activities. 

There were quite a few worrying items on that list. From the “terminal” waters to karaoke to… swans? Zelgadis sighed. They had three days left in Hasturios and the activities were each more horrible than the last.

Zel looked at the other guests. Most of them seemed to taken to the itinerary with the same enthusiasm as him. Some were frowning, others were holding a forced smile, and then there was Lina, who was asking about celiac alternatives to get out of the bread talk. Then there was  Martina…

“Oh, how charming! Don’t you think so, Zangy?”

And Zangulus, who was used to his wife’s oddities, replied with a: “Yes, dear.”

“I’m glad you like it, Martina.” Hannes looked at the schedule and nodded. He looked happy, even proud of that awful work. “I wanted to make this a memorable week. Oh, and you’ll see when the ball comes tonight.It's going to be divine!”

"Hannes?" Amelia asked.

"Yes? Would you like me to reserve a dance for you?"

She put on her formal smile, but was careful not to give him an answer. Instead, she said, "How is the king? Will he be accompanying us on the excursion today?"

Here, Hannes let out a dramatic sigh. "I'm afraid he's still unwell. But don’t worry, we’ve got great doctors here. He’s in good hands."

A few feet from the ground, Pokota tensed. "Is he…very ill?" 

"Oh I,t's nothing to worry about. It's just food poisoning, probably. My father has always been a bit delicate, you know?"

"Does it happen to him often?" Someone asked.

"Well... yes. Whenever there's a big event, he gets excited and snacks before meals. And he always gets sick to his stomach," Hannes explained. "I have no idea why. The food is always of high quality."

Zelgadis never thought he would feel sorry for someone in the royal family, but at that moment, he felt terrible for King William.

“What a shame,” Gourry said, “last night’s dinner was great.”

A peculiar silence fell over the garden, as 8 pairs of eyes looked at Gourry and the smile returned to Hannes’ face.

“Ah, then wait until you see tonight’s dinner. This time, my cooks have outdone themselves.”

“And…” Pokota intervened. “The city gates are closed, right?”

“Oh, yes. Very closed.”

The sentence almost sounded like a threat, however, the prince of Hasturios continued as if nothing happened, with that white smile and those dimples on his face. Hannes clasped his hands and addressed the guests. “But first it’s time to visit the market. Everyone ready? Well, ‘vámonos’.”

————————————————————————————————————————

Hannes led them down endless wide avenues, filled with the light grey of the houses, the green of the trees and all sorts of blues. The further they went, the narrower the streets became and the bluer the landscape became. Not because there were more pennants, more pieces of sky or rivers, but because space was limited and, in front of him, Zelgadis saw only guards wearing blue thick armor.

One of these guards accidentally stepped on Lina and she let out a scream.

“Are the guards necessary, Hannes? Really?”

“Of course! You are important guests. I have to make sure that nothing happens to you while you are in my care. Besides, the market is always full of people. And you can be too careful.”

A little further on, the street opened up and filled with sun and smells. They had arrived. Awnings of all shades of blues filled the square and the smells, oh, the smells. They were nothing like the ones in the castle dining room. No. Here it smelled of honey, of cinnamon, and cavities.

Zelgadis looked around the place. There were people among the stalls but… it wasn’t ‘full’ or ‘packed’. The chimera counted a total of 40 people, 20 of them shopkeepers, and all of them, without exception, were smiling. In fact, they were smiling too much, with big mouths, with too many teeth. As if…

As if something didn't fit.

He looked again.

The children were a bit too stiff and the adults were a bit too elegant for a market day. Besides, where were the shouts from the fruit sellers? Where were the murmurs? Zelgadis counted again. 40 citizens, 7 foreigners. 15 guards.

It was strange. Unnerving. Like hearing a proverb for the first time. All the words make sense on their own, yet all together they don’t. And this was the same. It was as if Hasturios had tried to recreate a market. They had added awnings, stalls and people, and yet the result was different. Everything was out of place, out of order. It was not creative, like the kimchi and plum juice. Nor bizarre, like that tradition of his with broken pottery. It was, rather, as if everything was forced. Almost as if….

As if everything was theater.

Suddenly, Hannes put his hands together and the sound echoed throughout the square.

“Divine! Isn’t it? It’s so full of life, so real! Come, let’s start with the chocolate with chilli. It’s one of my favorites. Also, the shopkeeper is a real sweetheart.” He said as he winked.

The group started moving again and Amelia quickened her pace until she was level with Zel.

“We’re thinking the same, aren’t we?” The princess whispered in his ear.

That Hannes an idiot? Yes. But just in case, he said, “Maybe”

Amelia looked around. Her gaze stopped on every shopkeeper, guard, and citizen. Then, she turned back to the chimera and nodded slowly.

“Be right back.”

Zel's eyebrows furrowed, filled with a mix that was half confusion, half suspicion.

That ‘be right back’ stretched out for minutes at first, and then to quarters and half hours. Amelia spent the whole morning away from Zelgadis. She was going back and forth in the market, asking the price of cheese at one stand or for life as a Hasturian at another. It didn't matter what questions she asked. It was all smiles and different variations of the phrase ‘Excuse me, I'm just so very busy.’ At the end, she got no answers. The most she got was a couple of tense smiles and a discount on a kilo of tomatoes.

Zelgadis didn't quite know how to take the princess's haste. He saw her pursed her lips with each interaction and jump to another stand when the group approached. And he felt… what? Well, a lot of things. That the weirdness of Hasturios was permeating the group and that, for some reason, Amelia was avoiding him.

Because she hates pretending to be your partner just as much as you, you idiot. The boy shook his head. This stupid plan was affecting him more than he thought. During breakfast, he had found himself thinking about the princess's lips. About that mysterious way they had pressed together and about…

“Just three days,” he muttered to himself.

Just three more days and he would return to his nice routine. To that tree in the garden. To the separate rooms. 

Just three more days to lose sight of that obnoxious prince.

After a while, Amelia returned to the group. She was carrying a kilo of tomatoes in one hand and a pile of salty cheese in the other. Her lips were pressed together again and he still hadn't figured out why.

But it’s not like he was going to ask her about it. Not in front of so many people. Not alone either. 

In fact, he didn’t want to ask her. Not ever. He already knew the answer, and he didn't want to hear it from her pursed lips. Zel clicked his tongue. He buried that intention deep in his mind and reached out his hand. "Here. I can take that."

He took the bags of tomatoes and cheese from Amelia's fingers, and another pair of bags from Gourry’s hands.

"Such a gentleman!" Hannes said.

More like 'Such a coward',  

And there was a reason for his kindness. Busy hands couldn't hold other hands or wrap around other people's waists. Zel turned to his friend. "Is there anything else you want to buy, Amelia?"

"No, it’s fine."

A heavy silence fell over them both. It was awkward and big. Confusing and thick.

Meanwhile, the entire group was still captivated by the small market. Pokota was discussing cheese with Hannes and Zangulus was buying carrots at a stall. The rest had their mouths too full to speak.

Amelia watched Lina swallow a pie without chewing and Zelgadis counted 1, 2, 3. .. one person was missing. One he had been trying to avoid all morning.

"Zelgadis?" Said a shrill voice behind him.

Oh, no.

Martina was standing behind him.

“Isn't it cute?”

“What is?”

“The market, silly.”

“Oh, yes.”

Oh, no.

Martina seemed ready to go into ‘question machine’ mode and had chosen him as her victim. 

“I'm really enjoying this visit. Aren't you? The schedule is great and I'm looking forward to the dance tonight. I already know what I'm not going to wear.”

That was… an interesting way of putting it , he thought. He could sense Martina wanted him to ask. But he was not that stupid. He was still cringing from their latest conversation. So he politely nodded and the girl just kept on going. 

“You're going to dance with Amelia, aren't you? Oh, you have to dance! I've been told there's a regional song called Macarena that…

“I don't dance.” He cut her off.

“Nonsense. Even Pokota is going to dance.”

From a distance, Pokota’s and Zel's eyes met. And by the way he looked at him, it was clear that the stuffed animal shared his enthusiasm for the idea.

“It's an old Hasturian tradition, Zelgadis. And I doubt you want to offend your hosts.”

“Well… actually…”

“You don't want to get Amelia into trouble, do you, Zel?” Lina intervened.

Zelgadis hadn't seen her coming. There was some pie left on her face and a mischievous smile on her lips. He bit his tongue. “No, of course not.”

“Besides,” Martina continued, “I've been told that you're an excellent dancer.”

“What?”

The idea was so stupid that Zelgadis nearly laughed in her face. He hadn't danced for years. The most recent thing he had done on a dance floor was to cross it. In order to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

“Yes, Amelia was telling me about it last night.”

The chimera turned to look at her friend and found that Amelia was no longer at his side. She had taken Lina by the arm and was pulling her towards one of the tomato stands. There were two other stands just like that to her left. Yet she was super interested in the one that was furthest away from Martina and Zelgadis.

Traitor.

“Oh, really? And what else did Amelia tell you?”

“Well, she told me that you were a sore loser at chess and that you always brought her something when you went on trips. And that she found it adorable.” Martina now brought her hands to her mouth. “Oh! And she also told me not to tell you anything. That you were a little shy.”

The chimera was expecting another lie but... that last part was true. Well, the ‘sore loser’ part was debatable, and he did bring her presents when he went to look for new clues about his cure. However, he didn't expect her to find it ‘adorable’ nor to make it public. 

In the distance, the princess moved her lips without making any sounds “sorry”.

“But you don't have to be ashamed. I think that's very cute.”

“Yes…” He murmured. “Cute.”

For some reason, his cheeks turned the color of tomatoes. He looked away.

Cute?

—————————————————————————————————————————

When Amelia came back, Zelgadis gave her a look. One of those looks that screamed ‘We need to talk.’ He approached the princess and, while taking the bags of vegetables from her fingers, he whispered softly: “What Mazokus have you been telling Martina about me?”

He sounded irritated. But he was so close that all she could think about was how his breath brushed her ear and tickled her neck. Amelia took a small step back.

“I'm sorry,” she murmured.

“What were you thinking?”

“I was trying to distract her because… “ Suddenly, Amelia's cheeks turned red and she looked away.  “Because she kept asking me about something and… there was no way for her to drop the subject.

He raised one of his eyebrows. He knew Martina well enough to know where this was going and, at the same time, he knew Martina well enough to be scared. He was starting to get an idea. A terrible idea.

“What subject?”

“She kept asking me how… how well you move in bed and…I told her you ‘move great on the dance floor”

Zel's eyes widened in horror.

“It was the only thing I could think of, okay?”

“Saying that ‘I move really well on the dance floor’?! Are you kidding me?”

“You know what? Next time I'll point out to Martina where you are so you answer on your own.” Amelia's lips wrinkled again, her eyes narrowing. “Would you prefer that?”

“I…”

He fell silent. He had already experienced firsthand how annoying that woman could be and how terrible her questions were. Then there were her anecdotes, which he was pretty sure, counted as real torture.

“No. Sorry.” The chimera sighed. Years of life escaped with that breath. “Look, I know Martina is difficult to deal with. It's just that… now she's going around saying that we're going to inaugurate the ball tonight.”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes.” He answered.

They were still close together, murmuring and talking in whispers. The chimera's breath tickled her ear and he felt her dark hair brush his lips. The entire market seemed to have dissipated. Now there was only Amelia, Zelgadis and the threat that was tonight's ball.

"So... what are we going to do?" she whispered.

The chimera went to open his mouth but, before any sound came out of it, a giggle filled the market and slipped between their white cloaks and hair, between the narrow space between their bodies.

The laughter brought Zelgadis back to reality, to the plaza and the market. And it made him realize two things: first, that he was very close to the princess and, second, that the entire group was watching them.

The boy stood up immediately and a cherry color spread across his cheeks.

“Look at them, they're just like Zangy and I when we were engaged.” Said Martina. “Don't they make a good couple?”

The girl was addressing the group and, at the same time, no one in particular. So everyone took notice.

“Of course.” Whispered Lina maliciously.

“Uhm?” Gourry was heard saying.

“Adorable.” Answered Pokota and Hannes. One said it with disgust, the other, with the biggest smile.

“I don't know, “ Said Zangulus. ”They don't look in love that much, do they? I think we were more clingy.”

The chimera went silent. He felt all the eyes on his person and it made him feel sick inside. Beside him, Amelia tensed up.

Martina narrowed her eyes. She scanned the couple from top to bottom, taking in Amelia's stiff posture, Zel's red cheeks, and finally the gazillion bags he was carrying. "You think so, Zangy? I think it's because he's a bit more shy than you."

And Zelgadis, who knew how to spot an opportunity when it came in front of him, said, "Exactly."

"Besides, they can't really touch each other," she continued. "The poor guy is carrying too many things for that."

"Aha."

"Well," Hannes chimed in. "That can be fixed."

"...Say what?"

Before Zelgadis could react, the prince had already snapped his fingers. Suddenly, two guards snatched the bags from his hands while he stood there, confused, tensed, and worst of all, bagless.

"There. Your hands are free again,” He said, smiling a crooked smile. “You don’t have to thank me.”

Zelgadis wasn’t planning to. Instead, he gritted his teeth.

Yet that stupid smile was still there.

His heart was pounding in his ears and his stomach was protesting again.

Yet that stupid smile was still there.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Hannes said at last.

“Huh?” the chimera replied.

“Aren’t you going to hold your fiancée’s hand? Grab her wrist or something”

Shit.

The chimera tried hard not to shudder. He looked at Amelia. At the entire crowd. All eyes on that hand that was now sweating, empty of bags and excuses.

“I…"

Shit.

Could he refuse? It wasn’t clear. Should he refuse? It didn't seem likely, either.

In an attempt to prolong the inevitable, he took a breath. But the air eluded him and all those eyes were still there, fixed. Waiting.

In the background, he also felt Amelia's gaze. He felt how close her body was and, also, how heavy his felt now.

He only had to stretch his hand a little. Just like he had done when he took the bags. The same muscles, the same effort. But he couldn't. So many things weighed on him. The shame, the looks, the nerves.

Suddenly, he felt a brush against the back of his hand and a tickle when fingers intertwined with his. He made an effort not to jump. He felt Amelia's warm hand between his and his anxiety everywhere. He made an effort not to jump again.

Slowly, he looked down. First at the hands, then at Amelia.

“Come on, don’t be shy. We don’t have to hide anymore, remember?” The princess said out loud. “Here, there's a stall there that I haven't seen yet.”

Zelgadis swallowed. Then, let himself be dragged away from curious gazes. His heart was still pounding in his chest and…

Ah, yes. He had forgotten to breathe as well.

He took a breath and waited. He waited and hoped that his body would not betray him; for the sweat he felt on his neck not to run down his arm.

Chimera and Princess moved away from the group a little. She took him to see a candy stand. The smell of honey enveloped them and mixed with the pink color of Amelia's cheeks, with the chimera's nerves.

"Sorry." She murmured, "I'll let you go now. Are they still watching us?"

"Yes."

Zelgadis noticed Martina's eyes on the back of his neck. And Lina's laughter in the distance.

For a while, neither of them opened their mouths, nor did their fingers move from their places.

“Sorry,” Whispered the chimera. “I've gone blank.”

“It's okay.”

He looked at the princess. Her lips were pressed together again and she looked uncomfortable. The silence was now heavy. As thick as the smell of honey in the stall.

He had to say something. Anything.

The chimera made an effort and thought about topics. First about the weather, then about food, and finally he remembered the conversation they were having before that giggle interrupted them.

“I've thought of something.”

The princess turned to look at him and he continued talking.

“Well, it's not a wonderful plan. We're and yes, we, in, plural, are still screwed with the dance thing. But for now I've thought of something to make our lives easier.”

“I'm all ears.”

Zelgadis cleared his throat and tried a smile. Yet it was more of a grimace. “For now, I propose a new ‘thing’: To avoid Martina as much as possible.”

She nodded eagerly and he stared at her. The smile returned to her face and her fingers began to absentmindedly brush the back of his hand. Zelgaidis felt a tickle in his stomach. Half nerves, half rampant panic.

Only three days, He repeated. Three days of discomfort. Three days of avoiding making this the biggest mistake of his life.

Amelia's fingers continued to explore the back of his hand, her pads now making slow circles and brushing against the tiny pebbles.

“And what do we do about the dance?”

He growled under his breath. “I don’t know. Lie, pretend, make up excuses.”

“Like now?”

Now? He thought.

Ah. She was referring to how her thumb gently caressed his blue hand. How he intertwined his fingers between hers. He swallowed.

“Yes.”

“Do you think they are still watching?”

Zelgadis still noticed the eyes, the stares. He didn't know if they were guards or princesses, but he didn't care. His hand had started to sweat and he felt the nerves in his throat, the heat of Amelia's skin against his palms.

"I think we can stop making fools of ourselves for a while. “

The chimera stepped away from the princess with a quick move. “Although, just in case..." He looked for the largest sweets in the store. The ones that required two hands and several napkins to eat. In the end, he decided on two huge ice cream cups. They were perfect. They were full of spoons, syrups and almond pieces.

It was a relief to get his two hands back and it was even better to feel them full of napkins to crumple. He swallowed and his nerves subsided. He swallowed and a smile appeared on his blue lips.

"Much better."

The princess didn't say anything and he took it the way he was taking everything these days- anxiously He twisted his mouth a little and watched the princess carefully. Part of him wanted to bring up Martina again. Ask Amelia if she had really used the term ‘adorable’ when talking to her or not. He also wanted to point out that wanting a rematch didn’t mean he was a ‘sore loser’ at chess, and above all, he wanted to know what else she had been saying about him. But just because he cared about the plan, of course, about maintaining that fake engagement façade.

"Amelia? Anything else I should know?"

"Well... a couple of things."

He grimaced. He was preparing to hear more stories about Martina, or about her conversation with her in that damn dinner, or about their alibi, or even about how uncomfortable she was.

The chimera saw the princess nod in silence and then say something he wasn't ready for.

"You're right, I think it's time I brought you up to date on Xellos."

Chapter Text

“Xellos?”

Zel's body immediately reacted. His muscles tensed and his eyebrows trembled. His eye twitched. Fuck! The worst part was that it made sense. It explained why he was dealing with so much shit. Because whenever Xellos was around, he ended up screwed. Dressed as a rabbit, as a woman, or pretending to be Amelia's fiancé. The boy's mind went through various states. Confusion, anger, confusion again.

"Xellos??"

"Shhh." Amelia hissed at him, and he looked around. They were still in the market, separated from the group, with their hands full of ice cream.

"What does he have to do with any of this?"

"Not here," she pointed ahead with her spoon and whispered. "Come on. Let’s go somewhere more discreet."

Amelia was as subtle as delicate were Linas’s manners. And, of course, the entire market saw her gestures. She pointed to some benches in the sun. They were a bit far from the stalls, between blue pennants and crisp green grass.

The couple sat on one of the stone benches. Close, not touching. Then she brought the spoon and the ice cream to her mouth, and for some reason, Zelgadis felt himself melting too.

No. Focus. Xellos. We were talking about Xellos. The chimera cleared his throat and said eloquently, "Xellos?"

Beside him, Amelia sighed. The summer wind stirred her hair and carried the smell of grass with it. In the background, there was the murmur of the running water in the fountain, the restless movement of the chimera's foot on the ground. 

“Well, the truth is…,” She looked at him and paused, wondering where to begin her story.

 “Xellos dropped by a few days ago, on his way to Hasturios.” Then she waited, her spoon still full of ice cream.

He was still holding his tub, but he seemed to have forgotten about it. 

He was too busy watching the princess. 

“Why?”

“Apparently, he wanted to make a deal with me.”

Zelgadis knew the meaning of each of those words, and yet, together, they were a challenge. The whole thing just didn’t make sense. It didn’t sound like a joke, and it was too absurd to be a trap. 

Then, a thought struck him, and Zel frowned. He let out a groan. It had occurred to him that, maybe, this absurd plan wasn’t entirely Lina’s doing. Maybe, this really was a joke. But one at his expense. He hold his fingers.

Crack, crack, crack.

Cracked his knuckles.

"What kind of deal?"

Amelia dipped the spoon back into the ice cream. The chocolate was sweet, and yet, she grimaced. "I’m not sure.He asked me to look into the citizens of Hasturios. To find out why the kingdom isolates itself from the world."

"Why?"

"Because he says if I do, I'll discover something I don't like. Something evil, unjust, and..." she lowered her voice, adding in a murmur. "He wants me to help him. To put an end to it. To tear down the barrier."

So that’s the reason.  

Zel took a breath. The princess continued.

"But I already told him I had no intention of helping him." She frowned, almost remembering the scene. "After all, a warrior of Justice never helps Evil or the Mazoku. Ever!"

Amelia paused. She wrinkled the sides of the tub in her hands and searched for his gaze. "That's why I didn't say anything to you. Because I thought Xellos was trying to tease me somehow. I didn't think anything of it. But then we entered the kingdom and..."

"You saw the people’s smiles and the stupid rules." he finished.

She nodded and set the empty bowl aside. “YES!”  The princess approached him, her eyes full of Justice, her voice on the verge of breaking the whisper barrier. "You've noticed too, haven't you? I still don't know what it is, but there's something I don't like. It’s not that they’ve different traditions or culture. There's something... disturbing about Hasturios."

So that’s the reason.

A million doubts swirled around Zel's mind now. He still couldn't make sense of Xellos's request, nor could he explain the mystery of Hasturios. But at least, he was beginning to explain Amelia's behavior: why she'd spent the whole morning asking about the market and also… "Is that why you didn't want to leave?"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and for the first time since they'd arrived at the market, Zelgadis was able to read her again. She seemed confused and annoyed. Even regretful.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Zelgadis. That wasn’t nice of me. But I wanted to be sure. Sure it wasn't just Xellos being Xellos and me being naive."

The chimera couldn't care less about the apology. A wave of relief filled his stomach and swept away his doubts and fears. Of course. It made sense. That's why she'd agreed to Lina's stupid plan.

All of this, this whole mess, had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with her, with Amelia. With her silly obsession with Justice and speeches and peace. 

And that, in a way, was a relief. Because everything made sense again. Because there were no feelings involved. No jokes or games. That killed his hopes, but stopped the foolish thoughts altogether.

A weak smile returned to the chimera's blue lips. The summer stirred his white cloak. He looked at her. 

"I understand," Zel began. But then he frowned, "Well, no. Not really. I still don't know what Xellos wants from Hasturios. Or why he went to you and not Lina, like he always does."

First Amelia shrugged. Her lips parted a little and, as the princess prepared to tell her more about that night in the forest. He continued talking. 

"I'm not doubting you, Amelia. I think the story is crazy, yes. But it's not like our adventures are very normal, either."

A couple of his personal hells flashed through his mind: like the time he had to act as an anchor on a ship or the one where he woke up dressed in a ruff and tights. Then he shook his head, trying to dispel that last one. "All I'm just saying I'll need a little more context later. Also, I agree," he said, his hand pointing at the square and the market, "this smells funny."

"Right? I think so too! It smells rancid. Just like injustice. And villainy!"

Amelia nodded vigorously, her hands clutching the most evil of the tubs. Zel chuckled.

"I was going to say that it looks like one of our stupid adventures, but I think I like your version better." His eyes scanned the market. He noticed the smiles again, the guards in blue, then that smirk that was always present on Hannes’ face. The chimera narrowed its eyes. He was deciding who repulsed him more: a sexist, conceited prince, or a demon who fed on chaos and negative emotions. It wasn’t a hard choice. "What are you going to do? Are you going to help Xellos, then?"

She opened her mouth, closed it, and gave the most Amelia-like answer possible. "Zelgadis, I will never help evil in its vile schemes! You should know that." A menacing spoon was waved in front of the chimera's face, and he smiled a little. "However, I believe this is worth investigating. It is my duty as an ally of justice to get to the bottom of this."

"Is that so?"

"Of course! And if there really is something evil behind Hasturios, then I will do everything in my power to defeat it and bring peace back to the realm. But I won't do it to help Xellos. If I do anything, it will be in the name of goodness and kindness."

Typical Amelia. That sentence was adorable, yet aggressive. It was simple and full of dilemmas. Zelgadis clicked his tongue. This added the mystery of Hasturios to the list of things to consider. He had three days of anxiety ahead of him, and three days to figure out what the hell was going on inside the barrier.

The thought weighed on him for a second. There was a mystery that smelled funny, a role-playing game that was leading him astray, and, on top of that, Xellos was involved too. And yet, for some reason, he continued sitting on that bench, enjoying the summer sun, the sound of the fountain.

To his right, Amelia waited. Her gaze prickled his skin, and he felt himself already regretting this. Well, regretting it even more, to be precise. It's not like he liked pretending to be Amelia's fiancé, or holding her hand, or...

It's going to be three long ass days.

"Zel? Amelia?" a shrill voice asked. "Where are you?"

Zelgadis muttered a curse under his breath. He jumped up from the bench, and the ice cream, which had long since ceased to be solid, spilled out of the tub to explore new worlds. It ended on the bench, on Zel's blue fingers,  on his crooked expression, and on his hair.

"Shit."

In the background, Lina and the group's murmurs grew louder and louder, drowning out the noise of the fountain, making him remember his anxiety again. He threw the puddle of his ice cream into the trash and turned to the princess.

"Fine" he murmured. "How can I help?"

————————————————————————————————————

"Oh! There you are, you lovebirds!" Lina exclaimed. "Were you hiding from us?"

Zel squinted, and Lina stretched her smile.

The sorceress and the group ended up behind the fountain in the square. Their hands were full of bags, their mouths full of sugar and crumbs. Hannes pushed his way to the head of the group and addressed Zel and Amelia. Well, particularly Amelia.

"Please don't stray too far from the group," he said with a tight smile. "Otherwise, you might miss some of the planned activities. Like just now, for example. You missed some incredible juggling."

The words ‘juggling’ and ‘incredible’ together made Zelgadis raise his eyebrows.

"Yeah, mate," Gourry added, "I never thought you could do that with goats! Did you,  Pokota?"

"No! And did you see when he added the hedgehog?"

There the chimera's eyebrows arched, but in the opposite direction. Filled with doubt and fear. "Hedgehog? What do you mean...? Wait, you know what? I don't want to know. What's next?"

"Now," Hannes said, "We'll get something to eat before the cultural exchange. We'll stop by the artisans' street and eat something by the river. This way, please."

The prince led the way, as the group talked about hedgehogs and goats, as Zel's vision once again filled with the blue of the guards' cloaks. Suddenly, a sliver of red entered his field of vision. Lina stood beside him and smiled. Not in Amelia's sweet, tender way, but more like a coyote or a wolf. With a huge mouth full of sharp teeth.

"What?" he asked.

She smiled again.

"What??"

"Oh, Nothing. It’s just that you have a little something here." She brought her own hand to the corner or her lips. He mimicked the gesture, and Lina's smile grew wider.

"Here?"

"Not quite. It’s more on the left. No, your other left.”

"Uhh…better?”

Lina's smile crept up her mouth and opened as she burst out laughing. "Perfect."

"What? Hey, Lina!"

But Lina was gone. She'd moved forward and was now beside Gourry, whispering something in his ear. Zelgadis didn't understand a thing. He noticed the mercenary's gaze on his face and, also, a soft chuckle to his left. Amelia.

The chimera turned to her.

"Do you mind explaining the joke to me too?" 

His words sounded harsher than he'd intended. Yet, she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she said, 

"You still had ice cream in your hand, and now, thanks to Lina, it’s all over your face too. Here. Let me."

Amelia took hold of the corner of his white cloak. She reached out almost without thinking, and, by inertia, he stepped back.

The princess stood there for a second, with her hand in the air, surrounded by blue uniforms. Amelia's lips pucker as her arm lowered, her cloak fell back into place.

They were silent for a moment. Neither of them could say ‘sorry’ out loud, so they contented themselves with calling themselves stupid.

One for pushing her luck. The other for being unable to control his impulses.

The silence lasted a little longer. One, two, three seconds. Until one of the guards gently brushed them back together, and Zelgadis's brain started working again. It filled itself with questions, curses, and doubts.

Shit. Had anyone else seen it? Why was he such an idiot? It was just a cloak and… She was just a princess. Still, he jumped every time he saw her approach, as if she were a terrible foe to defeat or a cramp with legs.

Zel clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles. The bad thoughts didn’t go away, and neither did the tension. He sighed and stretched his fingers. He let the princess pass by, and little by little, the scene returned to a blue and cold state. Soon, the chimera was surrounded by a handful of guards and metal armor, and ahead of him walked Amelia, with her black hair and long cape. She was surrounded by the blue of the shields, the red of Lina's hair, and the blond of Gourry's mane. 

The distance between her and the chimera grew ever greater. Until both of them were but beacons in a sea of blue shades. Until, suddenly, a different color appeared on the scene. A white ponytail slid next to Amelia, along with a stupid hum and a:  

"Hello, dear."

"Oh. Hello, Hannes."

"Trouble in paradise?"

Hannes finished the question with a smile. Zel couldn't see the curve of his lips, but he heard it in his voice, in that quick glance that followed his words. His footsteps slowed, and the guards filled his field of vision. In the background, the chimera heard Amelia's reply. Distant, short.

"No. Zelgadis is just… shy.”

There was a lilting laugh. A small snort.

“Come on, darling,” Hannes continued. “You don’t have to pretend with me. It’s obvious you’re not together. At least, not for fun.”

Zel swore under his breath, amid the crunching of armor and the sound of cloaks and footsteps. They’d been caught.

Shit.

“W-what do you mean?” Amelia said.

His mouth dried. He felt the tension building in his fists. 

“You see, I didn’t mean to be rude in front of your fiancé, but… let’s just say I know a marriage of convenience when I see one.”

Shi… wait, what?

That… made sense. More importantly, it made sense of both of their discomfort, made the lie even more believable. Zelgadis felt like a complete fool. Why hadn't they thought of this before? He strained his ears even more. He waited for Amelia's response. Yet Hannes continued speaking.

"Come on, it's obvious someone like you can't possibly be with with something like it. Not without reasons, at least. So what is this? A political agreement? A debt of honor?" 

There, Zel felt his cheeks turning red, half from embarrassment, half from fury and rage. He wasn't happy at all that he'd been called it, and perhaps he was even more upset about the fact that a twat was questioning Amelia's honor or seeing her as mere trade. He gritted his teeth. Neither of them knew he was listening, and so he bit his tongue and prepared for the worst, for Amelia's answer, for…

 "I don't think I heard correctly... Did you just call my fiancé it?" 

Well, not for that.

Zelgadis still couldn't see Amelia's face. Even so, she looked angry. He could almost see her pursed lips, her furrowed brow.

"It's obvious that..." Hannes began.

"That what?" she said.

The prince didn't know what to do. Suddenly, all those guards and armor were working against him. They blocked his path, impeding his escape.

"Well, nothing. I just wanted to say that it's obvious you're different. That he's quite..." Hannes started to say something, then corrected himself at the last moment. "Is he a noble? Because the only Greywords I know of is..."

"Does it matter?"

"Well, that’s definitely not the main problem," the boy replied.

“Look, Hannes.” The formal tone had long since disappeared. Now, her tone had notes of anger and cold fury. “Zelgadis is an honorable and brave person. He’s an ally of justice.”

“Oh, dear,” Hannes said, and to Zel it sounded more like a ‘poor thing’. “Surely…”

But he didn’t finish the sentence. A female voice interrupted him, a babble of justice.

“I’ll let you know he’s the first to give up his seat to old ladies in the carriages. He’s considerate, hardworking, and above all, loyal to Saillune and the crown.” The princess paused for breath. She raised a Finger of Justice and waved it before the prince’s eyes. “Speaking ill of someone behind their back is villainous.”

“Come on, my dear, you’re not going to…”

“I’m not a dear, I’m Amelia. And I’ll not tolerate you speaking ill of him in my presence. Is that clear?”

"Of... of course, my… I mean, Princess Amelia. My apologies.”

Hannes took a step to the side, then another and another, until he disappeared behind the blue wall of guards, leaving Amelia alone with her fury.

A little further away, Zelgadis shook his head. That had been the perfect excuse to make the puzzle fit, to avoid Amelia’s pink pajamas, and give him back her private room again. And so, the cold logical part of him insisted they had missed a unique opportunity, and wanted to scream in frustration, to curse under his breath.

Unfortunately, it had been a long time since that part had been in charge. Because with each crazy mission, with each smile and chess game, that ice cold part grew smaller. Now the voice was but a mere murmur in the chaos that was his mind. Now there was… something new. Something louder and stronger was taking the lead. A new voice that said ‘What if...?’ and then fell silent. A wave of gratitude, a strange warmth in his stomach. A tiny Maybe.

The blue of the armors matched that of the canal, and the clinking of metal marked the rhythm over the melody of the stream and the water. Zel walked in silence. He remained uneasy about Amelia's words, and his mind wandered along the road, searching for distractions and colors to count: 10 blue armor suits, 2 green scarves, 3 white flowers. His eyes darted back and forth along the street, stopping at each artisan's stall. He saw intricate leatherwork and books with gold spines. He saw guitars, flutes, and there, a little farther away, he saw gems glittering in earrings, necklaces, and… rings.

“Sir?” one of the guards murmured. “Sir, please don't stay behind.”

“It'll just take a moment,” the chimera replied.

You're going to end up hurting yourself. You know that, right? said the icy voice.

It's part of the cover, said Maybe.

And, in response, the first voice snorted.

Chapter Text

After lunch, the group climbed the hill again, back to the palace. Now came the cultural exchange. Three whole hours on the price of bread… without any bread service.

"Isn't it fascinating?" Hannes had said. "It's a unique opportunity to learn about my kingdom and its cultural advancements."

Ugh, Zelgadis thought. And Lina said it a little louder.

"Yeah, no. You can count me out of that one.”

"Lina!" Amelia shouted.

"What? Come on, Amelia. I have no business in that meeting. With all that diplomatic jargon: investment, public spending, taxes..." A shiver ran through the girl. "Thanks, but no thanks. Plus, it's not my opinion that's going to count for anything in there anyways. And besides..."

"Even so, Lina..."

"And besides, there isn't even real bread," she finished.

Amelia just frowned; she couldn't deny that. It was true that her opinion wasn't going to count. Besides, a bored Lina was also an annoying one. 

The princess narrowed her eyes. "Hannes? Do you think it would be possible to give my companions a break? I'm afraid they're not used to political meetings." 

Hannes put a finger to his lips. "Well, it's a somewhat unusual request. But I suppose... yes, why not? We can make an exception." 

The prince clapped his hands a few times, and a group of maids appeared on the landing. 

"Your Majesty?" Clara said. "Have you sent for us?"

"Yes. We're going to split the group in two, Clara. The royals will come with me to the cultural exchange, and the rest..." 

"Will take a nice walk out," Lina ventured. 

"Without an escort? Oh, no, no. That would be improper. No. You'll go upstairs to your rooms to rest. Thank you very much." 

Lina muttered a curse under her breath, but if Hannes heard her, he showed no sign of it. 

"Very well, Your Grace," the maid replied. She bowed briefly and turned to the guests. "Please follow me." 

Lina and Gourry took a few steps, but the servants didn't move. 

"Well?" Gourry asked. "Shall we?" 

"Of course. As soon as we're all here."

"What do you mean by all?" Amelia asked. "Who is missing?" 

A couple of glances were exchanged, a tiny moment of confusion was shared. And then Zelgadis realized. They were waiting for him. Because Hannes had said 'the royals', and he, fake relationship or not, was not included in that group. 

The chimera looked to his right. He saw Amelia's confused face and the prince's crooked smile. He gritted his teeth. That smile... that fucking smile made him boil with rage. He didn't quite know why. But suddenly he was angry and offended. Furious. 

Hannes was playing with him. And he hated it. What was worse, he was testing their patience, and he didn't have much left. 

Zel took a few deep breaths, and the logical side of him took over. 

YOU KNOW YOU'RE GETTING ANGRY ABOUT NOT GOING TO A MEETING ABOUT THE PRICE OF BREAD, RIGHT? 

And he knew it, but still... He took another breath. Confused. Pissed off. 

PICK YOUR BATTLES, IDIOT. 

"You're not going to…" Amelia began.

Zelgadis never knew if she was referring to him or Hannes. He simply left Amelia behind and walked over to where Lina and Gourry were. "Let 's go, then." 

The servants began to slowly ascend the stairs, and before facing them, Zelgadis turned one last time to look at Amelia. "I'll see you later."

“Good, good. On we go too.” Added Hannes. “ Ah, and Zel? Just don’t tire yourself too much, okay? Don’t forget: we have a big dance tonight.” 

He finished the phrase with a wink.  And Zel climbed up the stairs, grimacing even more.  

—--------------------------------------------------------

After lunch, the afternoon brought clouds, and with them, calm arrived. Within the castle walls, barely a murmur could be heard. Just the wind rustling through the curtains, the blue armors squeaking down the corridor. 

There, in the meeting room, the lords' yawns could be heard as they listened to Hannes. And, upstairs in the bedrooms, the marble of the bathroom creaked beneath Zel's hands. His fingers twitched, half from stress, half, well, everything. 

The day had been too much for him. Too many stimuli, too many smells, touches, feelings. 

The day continued its course, while he gasped for air, alone among a sea of ​​mirrors and blue faces.

Zel wiped his mouth and looked up. A monster was watching him from behind the sink. He was gritting his teeth. His hands were shaking.

"I'm going to have to tell her," he whispered to his reflection. "Today."

—--------------------------------------------------------

The chimera stayed in the bathroom while the clouds dragged the sun to the edge of the wall, and sounds returned to the hallways. The scraping of boots on the carpet, laughter, and murmurs. A few knocks on the door.

"Zelgadis?"

That was Amelia's voice. But her meeting was supposed to last 3 hours. He looked out the window. Had it really been that long?

He cleared his throat, then looked at the cracked marble.

Shit.

Just like that, all his courage vanished. And that ‘I'm going to have to tell her’ began to weigh on his chest. Did it have to be today? He wasn't sure he could dance with her, and yet, explaining that sounded even more complicated.

So the explanation would have to wait. At least until his nerves gave him a break.

COWARD, said the icy voice.

"Are you there?" she asked.

"Y-yes. Just a second."

Zel straightened his clothes and muttered a spell to fix lines in the rock. But his hands didn't light up, nor did he feel the magic run through his fingers.

Shit. The necklace. He'd forgotten it.

"Shit," he whispered again.

He breathed in and grabbed the knob. Amelia was waiting on the other side, with a question all over her face. A question he decided to avoid. 

"How was the meeting? Is it over? Or are you taking a break?"

Her mouth twisted a little.

"We’re done for now. Everything okay?"

"Sure," he lied. "And you? How did it go?"

There, Amelia sat down on the bed. She sighed.

"It was... complicated. The issue of bread and food prices didn't last long, though. A couple of dignitaries mentioned guns, and suddenly everyone was shouting." The princess shook her head and looked back at him. 

The boy grunted. He knew enough about official meetings to get an idea of how that went. Shouting was the order of the day when it came to politics. And it was a must when dealing with Lina Inverse.

"I've never seen Martina so angry. I didn't expect her to be so in favor of firearms either. She said they were a way to control runaway mages. You should have seen Pokota's face when he heard those words. He had a look like… Yes, something like that."

Zelgadis looked like he was smelling something incredibly foul. His nose was pinched and his fangs bared. Controlling runaway mages... what a joke .

"Anyway, that led to a huge argument about tariffs and fees. And a lot more shouts too, but no agreements." Amelia frowned. "There, Hannes felt the need to talk about something revolutionary called VAT. He even seemed surprised that other kingdoms knew of such a novel idea."

"Why, I'm not surprised," he murmured, rolling his eyes.

She smiled at him a little, then pursed her lips again. "Then, something odd happened. The magic necklaces came up. Hasturios talked about the benefits of blocking magic ‘for public safety and for controlling prisoners’, Hannes said."

Zelgadis snorted. Magic was inherent in the old world. It was part of their industry, their legends, and their cultures. It was their only defense against the mazoku. People will never agree to that. "So they laughed in his  face, right?"

"No."

"No?"

"Zangulus thought it was a good idea."

Zangulus? The same one with the magic sword? That Zangulus?

"You can't be serious," he muttered.

"I’m afraid I am," Amelia replied. " Let's just say... the other kingdoms aren't very happy with what Lina did to Zoana. Then they talked about Zannafer's second coming, and, well, you can imagine the rest."

He clicked his tongue. I could almost see it. The fear on the dignitaries' faces. The money changing hands. Hannes's dimpled smile. Zelgadis clenched his fists. Fuck, he didn't like this one bit.

He breathed in. 

It smelled like lavender soap, like winds of war and change. 

On the bed, Amelia was also struggling to contain her anger. Her lips curled, her mouth tightened. 

"What's wrong? What else happened?" 

She made a pause, searching for the right words.  "It's just... It was horrible, Zelgadis. So much hate, so much fear..." Her hands fiddled with the white bedspread. She looked tired. "I wish Daddy were here. He always knows what to say in those meetings. And I barely made myself heard back there. I don't know, maybe I'm not made for this." 

Zelgadis swallowed. And anger turned into frustration. He hated seeing her like this, full of doubts and worries. And, above all, he hated not being able to do something about it. Not having the courage to give her a hug or knowing what buttons to press to make her smile surface. Still, the chimera tried. He sat on the floor beside her. "Hey, come on, you know that's not true. Look at me." 

Her blue eyes changed directions for a moment, before going back to the white bedspread again. Zelgadis took it as a sign that she was listening and kept going.

"I've been to a lot of these political meetings with you. You're good at it. Remember that time you managed to stop that Zomegulstar religion in Saillune? Or when that crazy king started attacking the walls with goats?" 

She made a tiny sound. It was half anger, half suppressed laughter. Her mouth curved upward a little, and suddenly, he didn't know what to do with his hands. He stretched out his fingers. He cracked his knuckles. He ran them down his thighs, and then... then he noticed something in his pockets. The ring. His fingers stopped, and, still smiling, he reached inside. 

"You're good at it, Amelia. It's just that Hannes is a massive jerk." 

Now, she sighed. "I hate this, Zelgadis." 

The chimera stood still. His hand was still in his pocket. Little by little, his hand tightened into a fist. 

PFFFT. SEE? TOLD YOU. Said the voice inside his head. YOU'RE SUCH A FOOL.  

And Zelgadis couldn't help but agree. He slowly got up from the floor and left his hopes behind. 

"Me too," he murmured. 

He took his hand out of his pocket and left the ring inside, turning his head enough to steal a glance. Amelia was still in bed, her hands lost in the white bedspread. 

DIDN'T YOU SAY THE RING WAS PART OF THE COVER? The icy voice whispered. WHY THE DOUBTS THEN?

Shut up, Zelgadis replied.

YOU'RE AN IDIOT, the voice whispered back.

The chimera growled, then looked at her and growled a bit more. "Come on. Let's go." 

She looked up. "Where?" 

To torture myself a little , Zelgadis thought. 

And instead he said: "To practice tonight's damn dance. What is it? Jota, Kolo?" 

"Waltz." 

He tensed up. 

"Great."

—--------------------------------------------------------

It was too late to see yellows or blues in the sky. Now pink flooded everything. It contrasted with the intense green of the garden, the purples of the barrier, and the white of the clouds.

In the background, the black of the night approached too and, with it, the wretched ball.

Two figures moved among the colors, hidden among the scent of jasmine and the dense leaves of the trees.

"Like this?"

"No. You have to touch me."

"I'm touching you."

"You're pinching my clothes, Zelgadis."

There was a sigh, and they both stopped moving.

"Let's take a break," he said.

His jaw was clenched, the rest of his body just as tense.

"Fine," Amelia murmured and looked up at the sky.

They had been trying this for a while. Zelgadis had stepped on her foot twice and mumbled a "sorry" at least five times. He moved beautifully when he practiced alone, but, when they tried to do it together, his movements became stiff. Clumsy and slow.

Because for him, this was more than complicated. It was difficult. Amelia's breath tickled his neck and his fingertips were all sweaty. His heart raced, and he felt everything: the anxiety and the wind. The sweat and the scent of jasmine. The touch of her fingers on his arm. The brush against his skin, and the panic.

Amelia could see the chimera holding its breath and struggling to keep its distance.

He seemed... restless.

Now he was sitting on a nearby stone bench. His foot tapped the ground.

Was it because he couldn't make the right steps? Or was it...? No. His hands rested on his thighs, gripping the fabric and balled into fists. He was frustrated.

There was... yes. There was something he wasn't telling her. She had her suspicions at the dinner, when he ran from her touch, and the market act made her all the more weary. But now… now she was sure of it. 

The princess stared at him. After a while, he rose from his seat. He offered her a blue hand and plastered on a smile. "Shall we give it another try?"

That was the tensest smile Amelia had ever seen. She stared at the outstretched hand. One second, then another. Suddenly, tensing her lips wasn't enough to contain her anger and the words she was holding. Two escaped. Only two. Soft yet sharp. "Stop it."

And Zelgadis stopped. His hand still in the air.

"Stop what?" he whispered.

"Just stop," she repeated. "With the secrets. With the tense smiles and with..."

She took a breath.

"I know something's wrong with you, Zelgadis. I don't know what it is, or why you don't want to tell me, but…" She bit his lip. "I don’t like it."

The chimera's hand slowly lowered. As he felt the anxiety creeping up his throat, Amelia's gaze flickered across his face.

Shit , he whispered to himself.

SHIT, said his logical side. DO YOU THINK WE CAN LIE TO HER AGAIN?

And you're asking me? Zelgadis replied. I thought you were the one with the plans.

The voice did the mental equivalent of a shrug, and Zel had to improvise the rest.

"It's nothing. My stomach is still upset. It's probably the ice cream, or…"

"You haven't eaten all day," she interrupted.

Zel grimaced. It was true. He hadn't even touched the ice cream, and he hadn't eaten anything at noon either. He'd been too nervous for that.

“Can I change my answer?”

“How about telling me the truth, Zelgadis?”

Shit, shit, shit.

She looked angry because, well, she WAS angry. Amelia watched him hesitate and make faces. As if he were trying really hard to swallow his words. And the more she saw him hesitate, the angrier she got.

"We said if anything happened to you again, you'd tell me, remember?"

"Look, it's not...fuck."

He ran his fingers through his wiry hair and cursed again.

"You're mad at me, is that it?"

"What? No."

"Then what?"

Zelgadis looked lost. Trapped. His gaze searched for places to hide, and yet, his feet didn’t move.

Shit. I have to tell her, don’t I?

"Zelgadis?"

Zel sighed.

"It's not you, okay? It's me. I'm the fucking problem."

The chimera looked at her. She knew this was coming sooner or later. He knew she had to tell him, and yet, none of it made it any easier.

"Because..."

His hands turned into his fists as he searched for the gentlest way to tell her that the touch of other skin on his was... too much. It made his stomach churn and his skin crawl.

"Because... I don't like being touched.” 

"What? Why...?"

"Because I don’t. Period."

Amelia remained silent, studying the sentence and the boy. He kept looking away, nervous. And... there was something else. Something that oscillated between shame and anger. Something that was still a secret. The princess saw his eyes fixed on the grass, his blue clenched fingers.

It was as if something clicked in her mind.

Suddenly, she understood his behavior at dinner. Why his arm withdrew every time she used the knife, and also the look he'd given her onstage. Yet there were still things that didn't add up. She didn't understand why. She didn't understand, either, why Zel had agreed to the plan. She didn't understand that ‘others.’ Because... she wasn't ‘others,’ was she? She was Amelia and... and...

She was a fool.

Amelia's fantasies began to shatter as the sun went down. As the chimera fell silent and the night drew on.

The sounds also arrived. The birds arrived, and the illusions of being ‘more than just friends’ fled. Murmurs appeared in the gardens, and the princess's voice was also a whisper.

"Forgive me."

Zelgadis looked up from the ground. He had expected many things: from questions to frowns. He had expected incomprehension, perhaps mockery, disgust, fear. He had expected everything. But not this. The chimera felt a small lurch in her stomach, and for once, it wasn't nerves.

"Why?"

And the roles had been reversed. Now she was the uncomfortable one, he was the one who didn't understand anything.

"I shouldn't have asked you to go along with Lina."

He shook his head. "You didn't know."

She looked at him and suddenly felt stupid. She snorted. She felt selfish and self centered.  "Shall we leave it?"

He clicked his tongue. He wanted to, and yet… "I don't think we can. Not now. The city gates have already closed, and I don't think 'His Royal Majesty' will take kindly to the lie."

She grimaced. "This is going to be complicated."

The chimera gave a dry laugh. "I think that's an understatement."

"Zelgadis?"

"Uhm?"

"Thanks for telling me."

A warmth crept up the chimera's body, and it wasn't the sun or the summer, it was... something else. Something odd and new.

Chapter Text

For a moment, they remained silent. Surrounded by jasmines, scents, and feelings. Neither of them moved a muscle.

The warmth the chimera felt evaporated, and now the only thing left was a small unease. A question weighed on him too: ‘now what?’

Because Zelgadis was still suspicious. That couldn't be all, could it? Amelia had taken it too well. Yet, Amelia was like that. She was unpredictable. She was stubborn, cheerful, and careless. She'd give you a half-hour lecture about ‘how evil lurks around every corner’ and then go straight to the wagon that said ‘free candy’, suspecting nothing. But he still waited... What? Well, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. But he waited, anyways.

He held his breath. But nothing happened.

He waited, and then, little by little, Amelia's foot moved back. He watched as she moved away from him, first a step, then another.

He grimaced. Yeah, that was more in line with what he imagined.

Shit.

Meanwhile, a ton of emotions raced through Amelia's mind. First came shame, the kind that always comes with knowing your affection isn’t reciprocated. And, on top of that, she also felt like a fool for mistaking his chivalry for interest, and desperately clinging to those blue smiles.

Then came the anger. She was angry with herself for putting him in such a bind. And a tiny part of her was also angry at Zelgadis too. Because he had broken the first of the three rules. He lied to her.

"Then why…? Why did you say it was something you ate?"

"Honestly, I don't think dinner helped, there. Didn't you see what that Kimchi juice did to Martina yesterday?"

She crossed her arms. Then, she raised an eyebrow. Her look said, ‘Try again, buddy’.

"What? It's not that big a deal," he replied. "So what if touch makes my skin crawl a bit. I can handle it. It’s not like….  look, we held hands at the market, didn’t we?"

"But it still makes you uncomfortable," she said.

It wasn't a question, and in response, he remained silent.

"I thought we didn’t lie to each other."

Zel looked away. It was clear she wasn't going to let it go.

"It's not a subject I like to talk about, Amelia," he replied.

"Why?" she insisted.

"Because."

"Does it have to do with Rezo?"

There, he tensed even more. "We're not going to talk about this."

He was fucking it up for good. And Zelgadis knew it. The ring weighed more than ever in his pocket, as he kept his mouth shut. He couldn't explain what he didn't quite understand, and there was no nice way to say ‘I don’t want to be touched’. So, with lies or pleasant truths off the table, he swallowed his words. Meanwhile, anxiety consumed him, and an irrational glint lit his eyes. 

It was a challenge. ‘Go ahead, be understanding now.’ Said those eyes. ‘Look at me and lie. Dare to say that everything is going to be okay’. 

But Amelia wasn't feeling particularly understanding right now. In fact, she was furious. Not only had Zelgadis broken their agreement. He had lied to her, and then refused to explain why The girl wanted to shake him and get the explanation out of him. She wanted... She wanted to see again if his fingers would flee from her touch. 

You're being a hypocrite, and you know it. Her conscience whispered to her. Y ou have no right to be angry. In fact, you've lied to him too. Amelia pressed her lips together.

You didn't stay here just because of Hasturios' mystery. Nor did you want to pretend to be his fiancée just because it was a good excuse.  

Something stirred in her. It was guilt. 

Who's being unjust now? Said that voice. 

Little by little, Amelia uncrossed her arms. That small voice had taken away her anger. Now all she had left inside was a cold and empty feeling. 

"And what do we do now?" she whispered. 

Zelgadis looked at her. This time, there was no longer any defiance in his gaze, but confusion. A lot of it. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Now came the part when she got angry, or when she cried and left. When the icy voice of his head tells him 'I told you so'. At least, that’s how he always imagined it. And yet.. 

"I...I don't know." 

She saw the boy walking through the garden. Up and down, down and up again. He looked overwhelmed. Like a tiger in a tiny cage or a buffet owner seeing Lina walk through his gates. 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" 

He stopped dead in his tracks. Ceiphied, now she wanted to help?! This was surreal. His anxiety took control of his fingers and he felt his mouth dry. "Just..." Don't touch me , he wanted to say. But without offending her, without implying that her presence disgusted him. How the hell was he going to pull that?! 

Amelia looked at him without opening her mouth, and in the background, the crickets sang their stupid tune, mocking them both. 

"Just treat me like always." Please , he pleaded inwardly. 

She paused for a second.  "I think I can do that," she said.

Amelia finished the lie with a smile and Zelgadis tried to match the gesture.

"Shall we practice some more, then?"

He nodded. Then took a breath and slowly extended his hand. 

The princess's fingers closed around his palm, and he jumped a little.

"Sorry," he murmured.

This time, Amelia's lips didn't purse. Instead, she shook her head: "It's all right. But are you sure you want to keep practicing? Maybe..."

"Amelia, I'm not going to break," he interrupted. "Besides, I'd rather make as little fool of myself as possible in front of Lina. Or she'll be reminding me of it for all eternity."

"Right."

She placed her other hand on his shoulder. And Zel slid his hand down her back, not quite touching her. He swallowed. He gently grasped Amelia's clothes, and together they began to spin while she kept count.

One, two, three, four...

At four, Zelgadis's anxiety rose in his throat. At eight, he noticed the sweat on his neck.

One, two, three, four...

At eight, they were spinning, and at one, they started again.

One, two, three, four...

At eight, they spun once more, and at one, Zelgadis felt a shiver go down Amelia's back.

Zelgadis let go of her hand. "Are you okay?"

"It’s nothing. Just..."

"What?"

"You're tickling me. When you pinch my clothes, the fabric rubs against my back when we spin."

The chimera looked away and moved his hand further away, as if it were burning. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I think it's just the area. I think... can you try placing your hand here? Maybe a little lower?"

He nodded. His fingers ran down her back. They felt clumsy and sweaty. And again, the fingers barely made contact with her skin. "Like this?"

"Better," she smiled. "But touch me more or you won't be able to lead me in the dance."

His fingers made contact with her back and he tried not to wince.

One, two, three, four...

They began to dance again.

One, two, three, four...

He tried. He really tried. And yet, they didn't reach eight. Zelgadis moved away sooner.

"Damn body," he whispered to himself.

Amelia looked at him. He had sat back down and was now hiding his face in his hands. She moved a little closer.

"Wait, do you think it has to do with being a chimera?"

He snorted. "What else could it be? Everything has changed since I transformed. It's like this body rejects human contact. I'm plagued by nightmares. Touching makes me nervous and…”

Zel stopped. He didn't want to continue. He wanted to tell her that some people disgusted him and that others did strange things to his body. They gave him a stomach ache and made him tremble all over. Unsure if it was from excitement or fear.

She leaned a little closer. "Do you have trouble breathing too?"

His gut twisted as he felt her by his side. And it took him a bit to be able to use words again. 

"Yes. I don't know. Sometimes."

A small idea began to form in the princess's mind. But she folded it carefully for now, because she wasn't sure. "So.. What now?"

"Uhhgg," the chimera replied.

"I'll talk to Hannes. Maybe if I tell him..."

"No. Wait. I'll think of something."

But the ideas slipped through his fingers, perhaps because of how much they were trembling.

"Apart from talking to him, I don't know if there's any other way, Zelgadis." Amelia replied. “The only ones who have skipped official activities are those who were sick. Like Martina and Zángulus the second morning, remember?"

He clicked his tongue. And I was about to dismiss the idea when...

"You know, maybe it's not such a bad idea."

"What do you mean it’s not a bad idea?"

"Don’t you see? It’s perfect. It's a good way to excuse myself from the dance. And that way it wouldn't offend anyone either."

"You're not serious. Are you really going to poison yourself? On purpose?"

"No. I'm just going to pretend to."

—---------------------------------------

Amelia got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel. "Zelgadis? I'm going in."

She grabbed the doorknob and entered the bedroom. As usual, there was no sign of Zelgadis. He always gave her space when she was in the bathtub. Although space was an understatement. More like he vanished. 

Amelia sighed. A few hours ago, she'd thought it was because he could barely tolerate her presence, and now... well, now she was sure of it. But she was glad he wasn't angry at her, that they could still be friends.

The two of them had hatched a plan to skip the initial dance. Zelgadis was going to pretend to drink one of those horrible juices that were ‘Hasturios' specialty.’ Then he'd say out loud how bad he felt and how sorry he was for having to excuse himself from the dance. It was the perfect plan. And, with some luck, he might even have his own room again.

The princess ran the towel through her black hair. Then, she started to get ready for the dance. She had chosen a blue dress that evening. It was the same shade as the Hasturios banners and more mature than the other pink one. It had a V-neckline and a bare back. She looked herself up in the mirror. The small stones on the skirt sparkled against the navy blue, like tiny stars in the sky.

She was still by the mirror when a white rectangle caught her eye. Something that hadn't been there before. She turned around.

It was one of Hasturios's brochures, the one about tomatoes, and Zelgadis had scribbled on it.

For the plan.

Z.

Next to the note was a tiny object. A ring. Amelia stared at it. It was just as the one she described to Martina. Silver, with a blue stone.

She slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. The princess turned and looked at herself in the mirror again. And, this time, she smiled a little.

——————————————————————————————

Ten minutes later, Amelia heard a soft knock.

"Amelia?"

"Yes, come in."

The person behind the door waited a bit longer. When the door finally opened and a tall, blue-haired chimera appeared behind it. He was wearing a black suit and a blue tie, matching her dress.

And he just stood there, staring at her dark dress. His gaze slowly moved down her neckline, settling on the ring on her finger.

"You...it looks good on you."

Then his brain realized what his mouth was saying: "The dress. The dress looks good on you," He said desperately.

The heat in the room rose a couple of degrees. He looked away, and she murmured, "Thank you."

Zelgadis looked more uncomfortable than sincere, but she smiled anyway. 

For a moment, neither of them said a thing. Then came the soft murmurs of a hungry Lina. "For Ceiphied's sake, Gourry! Will you hurry up?! At this rate, Pokota's going to finish off all the good wine."

There was a low "Ow!" as Gourry was dragged down the hall, then a shudder as the door slammed behind them.

“They never change, do they?” Asked Amelia.

“They’re as noisy as ever,” grumbled Zel.

She just smiled and shook her head. "Right. And.. Zel? I think we should get going too."

A tiny pause came. Then a silly and short cough. A nod.

"Right," 

———————————————————————————————

Zelgadis and Amelia followed the servants to the very top of the castle. There a pair of giant blue doors opened for them. Inside the night seemed to have taken a break. The white floor gleamed in the candlelight, and everything sparkled: the knobs, the glasses, the smiles. In the background, violins and flutes could be heard.

The room was enormous. All blue, white, and silver. Except on the dance floor, where the ball gowns painted the scene in dozens of colors: there was the red of Lina's dress and Martina's lime green. Hannes's nuclear white, and, to the sides, the dozens of blue shades of the armor.

Zelgadis felt his stomach tighten again. He wiped his hands on his dark suit and, just in case, went over the plan again. It was simple: Pretend to drink that disgusting thing Hannes called juice and then act as he was sick. Then, skip the dance.

The chimera nodded to himself and looked down at his friend. He wanted to make sure she was still on board with the plan, that she wasn't resentful or, worse, angry.

What he found was that Amelia looked worried.

"Zelgadis," she murmured. "We have a problem."

He glanced at her.

"What?"

"The juice is gone."

Zel turned around. It was true. The death concoction wasn't there. Nor... nor anything. No canapés, no kimchi... nothing. Just alcohol. Huge amount of alcohol. 

Shit.

Now what? It's okay, he could try to, he could...

But he hadn't prepared any alternatives. A shrill voice reached him from his knees.

"Ah, there you are," Pokota shouted, "the couple of the moment."

Zelgadis looked down. Pokota had two glasses in each ear and then another in his tiny hand. And from the way he slurred his words, it was clear there had been others before. Plural.

"Hey, Pokota," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Could you give us a second? Amelia and I were just talking about..."

"Guys!" he shouted louder. "They're here! They're here!"

Hundreds of faces turned in his direction, and Zelgadis felt two things: a desire to be really far away from there, and also, a strong urge to kick Pokota hard. Really hard.

"Ah! There you are," said Hannes. "Great! Just in time. Come on, what are you doing standing there? Musicians! Musicians!"

Zel felt Amelia's concern, the dozens of guests hovered over him. The chimera's mind was racing. He could, could...

He felt hands pushing him from behind, toward the center of the dance floor. The chimera tensed at the touch and started walking, almost to avoid the contact. Could he pretend he'd hurt his foot? Maybe start a quick arson?

But before he knew it, Amelia had stopped beside him, and an expectant silence filled the room. They were in the middle of the dance floor.

They looked at each other.

A light rumble filled the room, while Zelgadis felt it was pure anxiety.

Boom, boom.

Why were there drums? His eyes scanned the room. The orchestra only had flutes and string instruments. Where was that damn sound coming from? Then he realized. They weren't drums. It was his heart, pounding loudly in his ears.

Boom, boom.

He looked at the princess.

Boom, boom, boom.

His brain finally short-circuited, and he did the only thing he could think of. He held out his hand.

Amelia watched him for a second. She took his hand, and Zel did his best not to jump at her touch. His mouth was set, his body tense.

There was an attempt. Then, a pause.

"Zelgadis..."

He didn't respond. Little by little, he forced his right hand to move, until his fingers brushed Amelia's back. Until the distance between them became smaller, thinner.

Now it was the princess's turn. But...

"It's okay," he whispered.

Amelia nodded. She placed her left hand on his shoulder, and the chimera did his best to avoid her gaze.

This wasn't a good idea.

She could feel the touch of Zel's fingers on her back, the sweat running down her neck. The weight of a hundred eyes on her.

It was, in fact, a very shitty idea.

Beside her, the orchestra began to play. And suddenly, there was no turning back. The ball of lies had begun.

The music filled the room as the candles went out.

One, two, three, four.

They moved as they had rehearsed. Following the music and turning as they reached the eight.

One, two, three, four.

The flutes entered now, just as they began to move across the dance floor.

One, two, three, four.

She felt Zelgadis's cold fingers on her bare back, and she... what was she doing? Ah, yes, they were dancing and now came the eight.

Beside her, the chimera was having other kinds of problems. He felt nerves tightening in his stomach, the rumble of his heart saturating his ears.

One, two, three, four.

At eight, Amelia suppressed a shiver. Zel's fingers barely touched her and they tickled her with each turn.

"Sorry," she heard him whisper. And his hands tightened a little more on her back.

One, two, three, four.

Zelgadis held his breath. They were dancing. He felt his skin prickling, his heart racing. But they were dancing.

Little by little, other couples joined the dance. Amelia heard Martina's laughter as Zangulus twirled her and Lina's complaints as Gourry dragged her into the dance. They were no longer the center of attention. And that was good.

There was another turn, and she grimaced slightly.

"Am I...hurting you?" the chimera asked in a whisper. His fingers barely touched her body, but he moved them away again, just in case.

"I know..." he began. "I know that my skin..."

"It’s fine.” She cut him off. “Your hands are just a little cold."

It was their turn to twirl, and when they met again, Amelia whispered in his ear.

"If anything happens, I'll tell you, okay? Stop worrying."

And Zel laughed to himself. That wasn't an option. Worrying was part of his personality, like his irony, his anxiety, and his caffeine withdrawal.

In fact, right now, he was just a giant anxious knot. The logical part of his brain had long since given up. All he could hear was his heart pounding against his chest and Maybe's small voice whispering in his ear. Feeding him false promises. And, almost overwhelming his senses, was the touch of Amelia's fingers against his palm, the brush of her bare skin against his body.

The song was now a little slower and more melancholic.

"How are you?" Amelia asked.

"Fine," he said automatically.

Huh.

Then Zelgadis actually stopped to think about it. Well, yes, it was uncomfortable. He felt clumsy and nervous, but...

Huh.

It wasn't like Rezo's grip, or the way Dilgear or Eris had invaded his space. It also wasn't like the way other people hugged him, as if he were not only made of rock but also infused with poison. It was... Huh.

Tolerable.

He felt a little chill.

Up to a point, of course.

Zelgadis was particular about touch. He tolerated a handshake, but not prolonged contact. For him, it was just like dipping his fingers into ice water. He could hold it for a while, but he always ended up pulling his hand away.

However, right now he wasn't there yet.

Yes, he could somewhat handle it. Maybe even...

At that moment, Amelia's ring sparkled under the candles as she spun. Zel looked down. First at her hand, then at Amelia and her dress. That dress was putting him in a difficult position, in more than one way too.

They went around and around. The memory of the second rule, the one about not making a big deal out of it, weighed on them. It weighed on Zel, because he was trying hard not to run away. And it weighed on the princess because part of her was enjoying this. Despite Zelgadis's discomfort and despite his nerves. Despite everything. She smiled a bit.

And both of them, confused, continued dancing.

One, two, three, four.

And... Suddenly, there was no need to keep counting.

The flutes and violins kept time, and they just let themselves be carried away by the dance floor.

The sensation was strange. It was like a coordinated battle, a long spell.

The room ceased to exist for a few moments. There was no blue other than Zel's face, and no more people in the room than them.

Then Zel's fingers stopped making contact with her back. And suddenly... Everything returned. The other blues, the people, and the smells. The musicians had stopped playing, and the spell broke. Amelia returned to reality.

The song was over.

The dance was over, and yet, Zel's head was still spinning. He regained his right hand. She let go of his left. His skin still tingled, restless.

There was a brief silence as the two looked at each other. Then, the crowd began to applaud the musicians. There was clapping, Gourry whistled, and amidst all the commotion, the chimera gave her a small bow.

"Thankyoufordancingwithme," he murmured.

Thus, he turned away, looking for a place to hide.

And Amelia stood there, on the dance floor, with the memory of Zel's fingers between hers.

Chapter Text

Zelgadis made his way through the crowd, between silk dresses and a sea of ​​blue hues. Finally, he left the dance floor, and took a deep breath.

He was still surrounded by noises and smells, but at least there were no more people around. Not anymore.

His eyes scanned the room. There. Zel found a spot near the windows. A secluded area. A wall to lean against. He took another breath, and his breathing calmed. He looked at his hands. They still tingled from the dance.

In the background, the party continued. The music was livelier now, and he could hear laughter, giggles, and... screams? Martina and Hannes were dancing, and the prince was spinning, just like a peg-top, only squeakier.

"Martina, please!" Hannes said. "I think I've dislocated something."

She laughed and gave him another twirl. "Come on, Hannes!" I thought you knew how to dance.

He let out another squeal.

There were pauses and changes of partners. There was applause, singing, and bows. And Zelgadis watched it all from a distance, while he tried to calm down. While his eyes followed, with special attention, one of the couples.

First, it was Amelia and Pokota. Then Amelia and Zángulus. Amelia and Lina. Amelia seemed to be having a good time. She smiled, twirled, and Zel's eyes followed her around the dance floor.

The couples continued to change as the songs continued. Now, Pokota and Zangulus were dancing near the orchestra, and in the distance, the natural disaster that was Lina and Gourry was running over the other couples.

The song ended, and the musicians stopped playing. There was a round of applause. Afterward, murmurs arose and Hannes addressed the crowd.

"How are you? Are you having a good time?"

The guests chorused, and Hannes's smile widened.

"Great! Let's take our first break, shall we? The musicians will play again in 15 minutes."

The couples milled about. And the murmurs turned into isolated conversations and tiny islands of gossip. He heard Pokota complaining about the Vodka tasting funny while drinking Gin and Gourry talking about the times Lina had stepped on him while dancing. He also heard Martina squealing to Amelia when she saw the ring.

"Oh, Ceiphied! It's beautiful. Was it just like you told me? With the horses and everything?"

Zel frowned. Horses? Clearly, he still had some catching up to do with Amelia. He went to listen when he felt a sharp tap on his back.

"Zelgadis! Just the chimera I wanted to see.”

He growled softly. He recognized that voice anywhere. It was the voice of trouble. Lina's voice.

"So, how does it feel to be engaged to Amelia?" she continued.

"Leave me alone, Lina."

The chimera peeled itself away from the window and tried to shake her off. Of course, Lina followed.

They waded across the dance floor and headed for the drinks table. Meanwhile, the music filled the room again.

Zel took one of the glasses of clear liquid from the table and discovered, too late, that the stuff inside wasn't water. He coughed a couple of times. Then grabbed another.

There was another round of bows and applause. The partners switched. Gourry let go of Amelia's hand, and Hannes was now approaching the princess.

The mercenary approached Lina and Zel, wearing a huge smile and trying to fan himself with his own braid. "Phew, I’m beaten. What are you drinking, Zel?" Gourry asked.

"Sanitazer." He replied reluctantly.

The mercenary took a drink. Then he scrunched up his face.

Zel's eyes remained on the dance floor. They were glued to Amelia, and likewise, Hannes's hand seemed glued to the girl's back.

"So, how's it going?" Lina said.

"How's what going, Lina?" He answered, without taking his eyes off the dance.

"With your cure, idiot. Isn't that why you agreed to come here?"

"I…"

Huh. Strange. He'd forgotten that part. Wait, he'd forgotten that part?! He panicked for a moment, but then he saw Hannes's hand lower again, and all thoughts about his cure slipped down his throat. A growl escaped his mouth.

"I've been busy," he finally muttered.

She followed his gaze, and her smile widened.

"Oh, I can see that." She gave him a friendly nudge, making the chimera double over in pain. "Is that a wedding ring Amelia's wearing, Zel?"

"Fuck off, Lina."

"Hey, hey, Zel. No drama and no hard feelings, remember?"

"No drama, my ass!" he growled. "You got us into all this, remember? So stop having fun at my expense."

She didn't even bother to hide her laughter.

Zel looked away from the hand dragging Amelia by the waist, spinning her around while she smiled. He clicked his tongue. Perhaps it was that alcohol that tasted like sanitizer, or maybe it was the fact that Lina was even more of an idiot than usual. Maybe it was that stupid dance, but something was really getting on Zelgadis's nerves today.

"What do you want now, Lina? You already have what you wanted. Why do you keep bothering me?"

"Ah. Almost. You see, I need a little favor."

"No."

"Come on, Zel. Don't be like that. I..."

"No," He said louder. "You and your little favors can go to hell for all I care. I'm not in the mood."

He turned his back on her, and a flurry of emotions flashed across the sorceress's face: anger, surprise... malice.

"Fine, fine. Let’s change the subject then. Tell me... Have you told Amelia yet?" she said, taking his arm and whispering in his ear. "Have you told her how we met? What did you do before joining us?"

He looked away.

"You haven't, have you? You haven't told her that you caught me because I was powerless that day. That you knocked me unconscious. Or that you left me tied there and..."

But he looked at Gourry and stopped.

"And what?" he asked.

"Not now, Gourry."

"That's a low blow, Lina," Zel murmured. "Even for you."

She moved away from her friend a little and gave him the most terrifying smile.

"What's wrong? You don’t think Amelia would like to know? Or maybe… maybe you don’t think I'm capable."

Oh, yes. He saw her capable of that and much more. Zel felt another shiver. Partly because of Lina's smile, and also because her hand was still squeezing his arm. He jerked free.

"Look at you. A few years ago, all this would have slipped by you. You've changed, Zelgadis Greywords."

He gave her a look filled with hatred. And, for the first time all night, he really looked at her. With her crooked smile, with her imposing red dress.

"Yeah," he said, "and you're still the same as always."

Lina's smile widened. Full of teeth and threats.

"So... about that little favor..."

"What the fuck do you want?" Zelgadis snapped.

"Nothing special. I just need you to create a distraction tomorrow, during the picnic."

"Fuck, Lina," he said through gritted teeth.

Lina took that as a yes. And smiled again.

"Good boy."

And so, with a smile on her face, Lina let go of his arm and took Gourry's, ready to return to the dance.

"You go ahead," Gourry whispered to Lina. "I want to talk to..."

"No."

She pulled harder, but Gourry didn't move. Then she stepped on his foot, and the mercenary finally reacted. He let himself be dragged.

"I'm coming, okay? I'm coming."

He placed his glass on the table and, as he stepped away, gave Zelgadis a long look. Yet, this wasn’t one of his usual looks. He didn’t have one of his puzzle looks, nor those wrinkles near his eyes that appeared when he smiled. No. Now, Gourry’s mouth twisted and he seemed angry, furious, even.

Yet the illusion lasted a second, the time it took for Gourry to turn around and Zel to stand there, stiff and confused.

—--------------------------------------------

Zelgadis lost count of the songs. They all sounded the same to him. Just violin, applause, and then violins, flutes, and harps again.

He didn't return to the dance floor. Sometimes, he walked around the room watching the dancers, and sometimes, he walked around the room, cursing Lina under his breath.

There was another round of applause, and Hannes spoke again.

"Let's give the musicians a rest, shall we? They'll play again in 20 minutes."

A round of murmurs. Some guests were annoyed that they had to stop dancing. Others were annoyed by that ‘again’ that implied that the event was far from over.

"We've also prepared refreshments for you," the prince continued. "To the left, you can find cocktails, traditional Hasturios juices, and a few sweet treats too."

Zelgadis looked in that direction. Turns out there were bottles of that horrible juice.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Zelgadis whispered. “Now they bring out the juices?”

He saw something else out of the corner of his eye. He saw a girl in a dark blue dress with a glass in her hand. Amelia. She was approaching the wall Zel leaned against 

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hey." 

Amelia leaned a little closer. Enough to whisper together, but without actually touching him.

"How are you? I saw you've been talking to Lina. Has she been pestering you again?"

"Something like that," he replied.

Zelgadis didn't elaborate, and she didn't dare ask further. She'd asked too much of him tonight. And she could see how he was already at the end of his rope. Spending too much time with Lina had that effect, but there were also too many people in that room. Too much noise.

"Thank you for dancing with me."

He waved his hand, as if to dismiss it.

She raised the glass to her lips and, with a courage she hadn't had before she started drinking, said "You dance quite well."

Zelgadis smiled a little. She loved his laugh. It sounded like two stones colliding. Deep. Dry.

"Well, I never said I couldn't dance." There was a brief silence. Then a question. "Are you... are you having a good time?"

She nodded. "Dancing with Martina has been fun." Then she lowered her voice and leaned a little closer. "Besides, I've learned a couple of new things about Hasturios."

"Really?"

Zel saw the princess approaching and had to restrain his urge to step back. Instead, he took another sip of his drink.

"Uh-huh. One of the guards proudly showed me an invention that a magician brought the last time the gates were opened. He says he bought it himself from the merchant in Ruvinagard."

"But that's impossible," Zelgadis whispered. "The last time the gates were opened was..."

"Two hundred years ago," she finished.

The chimera frowned. He opened his mouth to ask something, but someone spoke first.

"Ah, there you are."

Chimera and the princess turned around. They saw Hannes standing near them, his eternal smile on his face. Although this one... seemed sharper at other times. How long had he been there? How much had he heard?

"We were just..."

"Yes, I know what you were up to, you rascals."

Yet, something about that sentence didn't quite fit. Perhaps it was the use of the word "rascals," perhaps it was the tone with which he said everything.

Hannes pointed to the ceiling. There was a sprig of something green and red hanging from one of the beams. Were they... tomatoes? Zelgadis looked at the sprig and then back at the prince.

"It's our oldest and most sacred tradition," Hannes explained. "We borrowed it from a barbarian tribe many years ago. They used mistletoe, but we are more civilized here, so we use tomatoes, of course."

Hannes looked at them expectantly, and Zel racked his brain, trying to remember everything he knew about mistletoe and ancient traditions. Mistletoe was… red? Poisonous? From a cold climate? None of that explained what it was doing hanging from a beam in the middle of the ceiling, and neither did the look Hannes was giving them.

"They're cherry tomatoes," said the prince, as if that explained everything.

"Yeah, I can see that," Zel replied. "...So?"

"Well, there's tradition..."

He stared at Hannes.

"Tradition? You mean hanging vegetables inside a house?"

There was a muffled squeal.

"How dare you! Tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable! And, you're talking about one of our most cherished traditions: the cherry tomato bouquet."

Beside him, Amelia let out a tiny gasp.

Oh, no. That didn't bode well. But the look he gave her confirmed it.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Zel asked.

"It's... a local tradition," she murmured. "It was in one of the Hasturian books we have at the castle."

She fell silent, and he raised an eyebrow. Suddenly Amelia was redder than he remembered.

A circle of curious spectators began to gather around them: the red-faced princess, the lost chimera, and the idiot prince.

"According to tradition,” continued Amelia “you're supposed to kiss under these bouquets."

Ay, no.

"Exactly," Hannes. “Always, without exception.”

Before Zel could realize it, the crowd had surrounded them, and there was no escape.

AY, NO.

He looked at Amelia, who also didn't know where to hide.

Millions of thoughts crowded Zelgadis's mind.

First came a huge, agonizing Why?! And then a whole fleet of tiny thoughts, each more scattered and confusing than the last : Oh, no. This is stupid. It's just a kiss. Shit. Run away. I can't. Can I?! Fuck. 

It's just a kiss.

In the background, the group of onlookers, led by Lina, all shouted in unison: KISS, KISS, KISS.

Zel took a deep breath. He felt a squeeze on his arm and looked to the side. Amelia was nodding beside him. Was she... giving him permission?

It'sjustakiss.It'sjustakiss.It'sjustakiss. He repeated to himself, as the choir grew louder.

He moved a little closer to her. He could feel his arm moving around her waist and how his body leaned toward her.

Amelia stood on her tiptoes and...

And their lips met. It could have lasted an eternity. It could have lasted only an instant, and Zelgadis wouldn't have been able to tell. Because his brain had gone kaput, and he was kissing her back, his eyes closed.

Just like that, softly and slowly, the third rule was broken. The one that said the two of them were content to be just friends.

"I'm sorry," Amelia whispered.

Zelgadis opened his eyes. Amelia's lips left his, and he took another breath. He blinked a couple of times. The chorus of onlookers was still there, now cheering and howling.

Little by little, the gears of his brain began to work again. Well, maybe working wasn't the right term. They struggled. His head was barely getting any blood because his body was sending it to the wrong place. And his first thoughts, disjointed, chaotic, were:

He had kissed Amelia. And he had liked it.

He had kissed Amelia. And Phil was going to kill him.

--------------------------------------

The noise of the party was now barely a murmur. It reached him, muffled by the balcony doors and the carousel of thoughts inside his head. It was a whole carnival, with flashy lights, roller coasters, and circus tunes.

And above all that, there was the feeling of Amelia's lips on his. Her hands on his waist. Her dress and her...

Zelgadis gripped the railing as he felt his pulse quicken.

He breathed a few times.

It didn’t help.

He breathed a little more, gripping the metal until his knuckles turned white. Until the bile returned.

That's it.

He breathed again.

That's it.

He leaned on the railing, his hands still tense, his gaze fixed on the barrier.

Chapter Text

The walk back to the room was... strange. Lina was silent. Zelgadis felt all the eyes on him. Lina's gaze was curious, and Amelia's was shifty. Then there was Gourry's, which was still dark and not very friendly.

When they reached the chambers, the maid gave a small bow.

"I'll see you tomorrow, dear guests. Rest easy."

Zel sighed and grabbed the doorknob. But something held him back. It was Gourry's hand.

"Just a moment, Zelgadis."

"Gourry..." Lina was heard saying.

He ignored her and moved closer to the chimera. "Let's talk for a second. You and me."

"Now?"

"Yes. In my room"

He looked at him. And considered the alternatives. To be alone with Amelia after kissing her or to see what the hell Gourry wanted.

"Sure."

He followed the mercenary to his room, and the door slammed shut behind them. Now Gourry was standing right next to him, squeezing his arm.

"I want you to tell me what happened the day you took Lina," Gourry began.

He tensed. "Why?"

"Because Lina doesn't want to tell me."

"Look, I'm not going to get involved in your shit. If she doesn't want to tell you, that's your problem."

Gourry's hand tightened a little on his bicep. He growled. Why the hell was everyone so keen on touching him tonight? "Let me go."

The hand stayed there. Gourry’s face moved a little closer to his.

"Did you hurt her?"

"Why are we talking about this now? It happened a long time ago and..."

"Answer my question, Zelgadis."

"Yes."

His eyes narrowed. His hand pressed even tighter against Zel’s flesh. "So her nightmares are your doing?"

Now, Zelgadis was completely lost. "What nightmares? What are you talking about?"

"There was also a blond warrior with a black mask?"

"A blond warrior? With a...?" Something clicked in Zel's mind. He was referring to the time Phibrizzo had controlled Gourry and turned him against them. He remembered that battle. And Lina's face when she found out who she was fighting.

"No."

Gourry frowned. He seemed to be sorting through his thoughts. Separating what he could say from what he couldn't, his emotions from the facts.

"So who...?"

"I’ve answered your question. Now let me go, Gourry," the chimera repeated.

And the mercenary's hand gave way. Zel rubbed his arm.

Both calmed a little. The atmosphere went from aggressive to just tense. Then, Gourry gave him space and murmured a small, "Sorry, man."

Zelgadis said nothing. He stared at him, his mind trying to connect the dots.

“Wait. Is that why Lina wanted to sneak into this realm? Because of the nightmares?"

"I can't tell you," he replied. Suddenly, Gourry looked tired and lost. Confused.

"I... look, just talk to Lina about it, okay?"

The mercenary gave a dry laugh. "Not that simple. Have you tried talking to her?"

And Zel couldn't help but agree. After tonight, he'd rather lose an arm than talk to Lina about feelings. 

The chimera clicked his tongue,  "Fair. But… I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not going to open that can of worms.” So he patted him on the back a couple of times and whispered, “Good luck, buddy."

Zel opened the door and, instead of continuing toward the room he shared with Amelia, stayed in the hallway. Thinking.  He thought that, for the first time this entire trip, he had something with which to bribe Lina back, something with which to stop her from bothering them. He could threaten her with this new information, he could...  But no, he couldn't. Because then he also remembered the hugs she'd given Amelia when Eldoran died, the times she'd risked his life to save them, the pancakes she'd made for them on the way to Hasturios.

Lina was right. Zelgadis had changed.

-----------------------------------

When he entered Amelia's room, he saw the princess in bed. She was still wearing her blue dress,  smiling from ear to ear. She had taken the blankets out of the closet and made a small makeshift fort out of them. They ran from the window to the floor lamp and from the lamp to the corner of the desk.

"Hello."

"Hello," she repeated. "Is everything okay with Gourry?"

"Well... I’m not sure. But more importantly, what happened here? What's all this?" He gestured at the fluffy fortress.

"An experiment," she said, smiling.

"We can't sleep in separate rooms, so this is the closest thing I could come up with."

"A blanket fort?"

"Go on. Try it."

Zelgadis sighed, but entered the fort. He lay down inside and… "This is stupid."

"Yes, but does it work?"

There was a pause, then a couple of grunts. She laughed.

"How did you come up with this? Why...?"

The words weren't coming out. It was hard to imagine someone remembering what he said. And, the fact that she understood him as well was... almost bizarre.

She smiled a little. The fabric obscured her expression, but somehow, Zel guessed.

"I wasn't sure.” Amelia started.  “I only did something that calmed me as a child. Whenever there was too much noise or when I felt like crying, I would set up one of these. I also climbed a tall tree to sing, but I imagine..."

"Not in a million years," Zelgadis replied.

They both laugh a bit. It was definitely stupid, yet Zel felt himself feeling calmer and closer to her, despite all the fabric in between and all the pillows that surrounded him.

"So... What else helped you?"

She shrugged. "Gracia's hugs when I was sad. The stories of princesses who weren't delicate flowers, and... The adventure books."

Zel closed his eyes. He knew about Gracia. Amelia mentioned her sometimes. Rarely, if never. He also knew she'd been gone for a long time, right after her mother died. And Phil... well, Phil was amazing, but there was only one Phil for all of Saillune. And unfortunately, he only had so many hours a day and there were too many treaties, meetings, and audiences he had to attend.

So he imagined a tiny, lonely Amelia. All by herself in the middle of a huge castle or alone in one of these pillow forts. And she reminded him of someone. A boy hiding from his grandfather in the woods, playing knight without a horse or sword.

He said nothing. He wasn't good with words. They got stuck on his tongue, on his lips.

Lips.

He thought back to the kiss and...

"Fuck."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he whispered. He was still inside the pillow fort, and thank goodness he was. He didn't want Amelia to see his stupid grin or how red his face was.

He tried to calm down. While his mind screamed at him: Quick, say words, syllables, something!

"Um... I heard you talking to Martina tonight."

"Ah. That."

Zel poked his head out of the fort and raised an eyebrow:

"Horses?"

Now, Amelia was the red one. She shrugged. "Is that… bad?"

"Oh, no. Not at all. It's just... where the hell do you get these ideas?"

"Promise me you won't laugh."

"I'll try," he said, adding a smile.

"Zelgadis!"

"Okay, okay, I promise."

Amelia gestured for him to come closer. And she jumped out of bed to rummage through her backpack. From inside, she pulled out a blue-covered book with a title that made Zelgadis raise another eyebrow.

"Are you serious? Is this where your ideas come from? From ‘The Reins of Love: Games in the Stable’?”

He reached for the book, and she hesitated for a second. “I don't think it's your style.”

“Because of the title?”

“Among other… things, yes.”

Now the chimera was curious. He leaned a little closer to her and looked at the cover. “Do you mind if I read it?”

“Uhh…”

“Come on, it can't be worse than the snail brochure. And you obviously like it.”

“Okay, okay. You win.”

“Just… Don't say a word to Lina.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

She reluctantly gave it to him. And Zel started skimming through it. He opened it, read a few lines, and suddenly understood why Amelia didn't want Lina to know about it. The book was about a pair of lovers who liked to meet at the stables. The plot twist was that they didn't ride horses. Instead, they…

"Oh."

He took one, two, three breaths. It was clear he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight. He slammed the book shut and tried to distract himself. He looked down at the bedspread.

Amelia's hand rested there, close by. Part of him wanted to see if his fingers would still recoil from her touch. If, after the kiss, his body still needed space, or if the magic of the cherry tomatoes and the social pressure had changed anything. But as tempting as it was, to reach for her hand, it didn't seem right either. Because he knew for Amelia, this was but an excuse to investigate Hasturios; because she was still a princess and he still was a chimera.

He raised his eyes. Amelia still hadn't changed. She was still wearing that stunning blue dress, and without realizing it, Zel's gaze lingered on the peak of her cleavage, then lowered. First to her navel, then to the ring on her finger.

They both stared at it for a moment.

"Where...?"

"The ring? From the market. This morning."

"Yes, but how...?"

He shrugged. "Martina described it to me before, among horrible anecdotes from her honeymoon. It wasn't so hard to find something similar after that. In case you haven’t noticed, everything is extremely blue around here."

She stared at the ring she'd imagined so many times. Of course, in her mind, it always had an inscription inside, something like ‘forever and ever,’ ‘in the name of love and justice.’

"It wouldn't hurt if you told me about the things I've given you, too," the chimera added. "I didn't give you any zebras on our fake anniversary, did I?"

She smiled a little. "No, no zebras. Only horses."

"Perfect. So, nothing else I should know?"

That I like that your lips are cold to the touch , she thought. That you kiss better than I imagined. That… She shook her head.

“No. Nothing.”

Chapter Text

Zelgadis and Amelia didn't sleep much that night. Instead, they spent hours talking about the romance book Amelia had brought, and about Martina's strange obsession with carrots.

It was just like old times, when they both spent the afternoons playing chess under the fig tree and sharing stories under its leaves. Just like when he was Zel and she was just Ame.

They also talked about new things, like Hasturio’s mystery of Hasturios or the crazy things Amelia had told Martina.

"50 horses?" Zel asked. "Really?"

"Honestly, I said some things only to see Martina's reaction. But no matter how many horses I added, that woman just didn't seem impressed."

Zel laughed, and Amelia joined him. In fact, she did more than just laugh. She almost choked. The princess brought her hand to her mouth, and as she lowered it, it brushed against the chimera's fingers. A pleasant tingle ran from her fingers up her arm. He stiffened a little.

"Sorry," she apologized, moving her hand away.

"Amelia, I'm not going to break. We danced together and I'm still standing, remember?"

Amelia smiled. Yes, they had danced together and... they had also kissed too. But they hadn't talked about that yet. None of them felt ready. And so, they kept talking about Martina and later, Xellos.

"Okay, now that I've caught up on the horse thing, tell me more about Xellos and that Hasturios’ mystery.I feel like I’m missing something here."

This time, Amelia started from the very beginning. She had already given him a couple of details at the market, but now she tried to remember every word that had come out of Xellos's mouth, every perfidious look he had given her.

The princess told him what she knew: that Xellos claimed there was some kind of injustice or dark secret behind that barrier; that he wanted her help and not Lina's, that the royal family of Hasturios had stolen something important from the mazoku. Something powerful.

From time to time, Zelgadis asked her questions. Why hadn't Xellos come in person? What kind of object were they looking for?

Many of those questions were the same ones she'd asked the mazoku a few days ago. Others were new.

"Is that it?" Zelgadis asked. "That’s all he said?"

Amelia nodded. "I said he'd collect the blood debt. But he didn't elaborate. Knowing Xellos, it could be an entire village, a lineage, or a single person. It's hard to know how a villain thinks.”

Her eyes stopped on him for a second, thinking. "I feel you might know more than me here. Do you have a theory?"

He curled his lips. "You just called me a villain, Amelia?"

"What? No! It's just that sometimes... Sometimes you think like Lina."

He didn't know whether to feel offended or flattered. Lina was intelligent. She was also sharp when it came to money, and at the same time, he'd also seen her eat centerpieces. "Thank you?"

She laughed. "What I mean is, you see the world differently than I do. And sometimes you see things I don't."

It was true. Amelia was too kind sometimes, and that permeated her worldview. To her, police officers were always allies of justice, and she used phrases like ‘the greater good’ without sarcasm or malice.

"Well?"

Zel put his hand to his chin. "I don't have many clues, but... I'd say Xellos is referring to the royal family. William, and maybe Hannes too. His family was the one who stole the object, right? If I had a debt to anyone, it would be the thief, or someone in his family. I have no proof, but no doubts either."

"How so?"

Amelia frowned. He tried to explain it.

"I know you said Xellos can't breach the barrier. But I don't think that will stop him from wiping out Hasturios from the outside. Even if magic doesn't work, there are surely non-magical means of drowning a city, starting a flood, a plague, or..."

He stopped when he saw Amelia's horrified face.

"I'm just saying, if Xellos wanted to, he could wipe out everyone from the outside. It's obvious he's only interested in certain individuals."

"Why would a mazoku want to save the rest?"

Zelgadis decided not to answer that. Because, sometimes, sparing the details was the kind thing to do. He knew Xellos wasn't exactly thinking about saving the rest. No. He was thinking about torturing his targets in the longest and most horrific way. He wanted to be present while they suffered, wanted to savor their fear. To taste that sweet sweet despair.

"Xellos is Xellos.” He said, trying to brush it off. “Sometimes there’s no clear answer behind his actions.”

He looked at her and finally breathed when she relaxed. “So… what do you want to do, Amelia?"

"I don't know," she muttered.

Amelia pulled the quilt closer around her, trying to disappear into the sheets. She looked lost, and Zelgadis, again, hated himself for it. He hated not having the courage to hug her. To comfort her as she deserved. 

"Zel? Do you think I'm cruel?"

"What? Of course not! Why do you ask?"

She shrugged and hid her hair behind her ear.

"If it's because of Lina, believe me. You're way too nice to her."

"It's not that." Amelia took a breath. She looked away. "No... I don't like the idea of ​​helping Xellos. And yet... if what he says is true, if there really is something keeping people here against their will... maybe I'll end up doing it."

She bit her lip. It was clear she hated the idea of collaborating with a mazoku in any form.It made her nervous. It made her question her tidy concept of right and wrong. 

And Zel frowned. It wasn't a very Amelia response. She always knew what to do. Not that she was always right, which she wasn't, but that optimistic, simple way of seeing the world was something he envied. Everything was black or white. Good or bad. Now... now it seemed there were shades of gray too.

"I don't think you're cruel or mean, Amelia," Zel replied. "Cruel people don't make blanket forts or pay for Lina's destruction with their weekly allowance."

"But..."

"No buts. Besides, I don't think you have to decide anything right now. Let's do some research first and then we'll decide, okay?"

The princess didn't miss that use of the first person plural. She smiled and, under the quilt, played a little with the fake engagement ring.

"Okay."

There were a couple more brushes while they talked. Sometimes, it was because Amelia was trying to take the horse romance book from him. And other times, because she loved to gesture with her hands. Zel stiffened at all of them, but he didn't always shy away from the contact. On two occasions, his hand remained there for a couple of seconds. And in one, she broke the contact first.

And yet, part of his head was still reeling from the mystery of Xellos and Hasturios.

It didn't make sense. It was bizarre, like Hasturian food combinations, like that damned tomato tradition. Everything was spinning. His head ached and his eyes were closing.

Zelgadis yawned. And she stared at him.

"Zel?"

"Uhm?"

"How long has it been since you slept?"

He looked away.

"A while."

"And how long is that?"

Zel mumbled something that sounded like "two days."

"Two days?! Let's sleep then, we'll continue tomorrow."

"But we haven’t..."

The next thing he knew, she had pushed him out of bed and his rocky ass hit the floor.

"Amelia?!"

"You said to treat you like always, didn't you?"

"This wasn't what I had in mind," he said, smiling, "but, fine."

He got up from the floor and went into the bathroom to put on his pajamas. When he came out, Amelia was already wearing her pink outfit. And she was looking at him, snuggled up in the sheets. "Are you sure you don't want me to make room for you?"

"Sure," he said.

She blew out the candle on the nightstand, and he crawled into his makeshift tent. Then they sat in the dark for a second. In silence.

"Amelia?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

She chuckled. And her laugh sounded cheerful, warm. He loved her laugh. It reminded him of summer and sunshine. Of fig trees.

"You're welcome, Zel. I'll kick you out of bed as many times as you want."

Above all, he liked the way his name sounded in her mouth.

—————————————————————————

Something woke Zelgadis up in the morning. It moved, trying not to make a sound, yet causing a small commotion: doors opening, stumbles, footsteps.

"Amelia?"

The chimera rubbed his eyes and left the small fort. Amelia was standing in the middle of the room. She was still in her pajamas, but she was armed. She had a brush in one hand and boots in the other.

"What are you doing at this hour?"

"Investigating."

He looked out the window. The garden was silent, and the birds were still asleep. It was too early.

If he'd been more awake, he would have accompanied her, or better yet, given her reasons to go back to sleep. But he wasn’t and his lips murmured:

"Okay, take care."

With that, he went back to sleep, and Amelia left the room.

—————————————————————————

When Zelgadis woke up again, it was already daylight. The sun was shining through the window, and his room was quiet. Too quiet.

"Shit."

The memories came flooding back. The kiss last night, the mystery, Amelia. Amelia! The chimera jumped up and got out from under the covers. Amelia wasn't there.

Shit. She'd left alone. Zel went to the door, still in his pajamas, and before he'd even touched the handle, the door opened. And it hit him right in the face. "Ow!"

"Zelgadis?" Amelia's voice said. "What are you doing behind the door?"

"I was going to go out to find you," he replied, rubbing his nose.

He stepped aside to let her in. The princess closed the door behind her. 

Good, he thought . She is back to her hyperactive self. Happy and cute. 

CUTE?! Echoed the icy voice.

Zel shook his head, shooing the thought away. "Is everything okay? Have you discovered anything?"

She walked to the bed. Then sat down and grimaced. "They haven't let me leave the palace. But still... It's strange, Zel, very strange."

He couldn't help but smile at her use of the nickname. But no. There was no time for that. ‘Zel’ forced himself to focus again. "What did you find?"

"No one has seen the king since the gates opened. And... it seems the servants are forbidden to speak to us. They fall silent when the guards appear. Or they smile and run away when they hear Hannes."

Amelia lowered the volume, and he leaned a little closer. "And I found something else. Look."

She was holding something shiny in her hands. Something small and round.

"A coin?"

"A clue," she replied.

He reached out, and Amelia handed him the object. They hadn't seen any money since they'd entered the kingdom. But that wasn't unusual in itself, right?. They were foreign emissaries, guests. The Crown of Hasturios took care of their lodging and expenses. When the group went on excursions, they were given vouchers to spend as they pleased. And when they ate out, the menu was already discussed and paid for in advance.

Zel turned the coin over a few times between his blue fingers. At first glance, everything looked fine. Nothing unusual about it. Like any other coin, this one was made of metal and had a date, two sides. Hannes's face on one side and an older one on the other. Then he looked a little closer, at the engraved date, at the drawn men.

And yet…Something didn't add up. He blinked a few times. Something was bugging him. He recognized William's stern face from the palace paintings, as well as Hannes's stupid, smiling face. Still, he had to be sure.

"These are William and Hannes, right?" the chimera asked. “Not their ancestors?” 

"Aha."

"And this date here is..."

"The minting date."

"That’s not possible."

"I asked Clara the same thing, and she confirmed it. Then I asked her to show me a couple more coins. Zelgadis, they're all the same."

The coin he had in his hand had been minted 400 years ago. How the hell could Hannes appear on it? The chimera clicked his tongue. He didn't like this. He didn’t like this at all.

He made a sound, annoyed. Still didn't quite see the whole puzzle. Only loose pieces: a lost object, a magical barrier, unknown magic, and a bizarre society. Then there was Amelia's latest discovery. Mentions of historical events as if they were recent, and a name that kept recurring.

It was like...

"A loop."

"What did you say?"

But he shook his head. That magic didn't exist. There were impenetrable barriers. There were pact stones. But there were no time loops. There were no sorcerers capable of sealing an entire city, and no way to escape death without the help of a Mazoku. Still…

"What the hell is going on here?" Zelgadis muttered.

"I don't know," Amelia replied. "But I intend to find out."

—————————————————

Half an hour later, the chimera and the princess were ready to go down to breakfast. They had gone over what they knew of the mystery once, twice, even three times. But there were no more threads to pull. So, now, they were going over their alibi. The couple had turned it into a kind of game. They took turns asking each other questions, giving themselves the opportunity to make up excuses and embellish the story in their own way.

"So what did Dad say when you asked him for my hand?" Amelia began.

"Ask him? By Ceiphied, what century is this? I asked you, of course."

She smiled. "Your turn."

Zel narrowed his eyes. "Okay, okay. I have one. How many horses did we finally say there were?"

"Depends. At the proposal or on our second date?"

"Uh..."

“Let's say 2 for the date and 20 for the proposal. Do you think that's too many?”

Now it was Zelgadis's turn to laugh. “Amelia, it's your imaginary proposal. You can have as many horses as you want.”

Amelia caught that silly laugh, and they were both still laughing when a knock sounded on the door. It was Clara.

“Dear guests?”

“Yes?”

“Breakfast is served.”

Zel and Amelia looked at each other.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

————————————————————————————————————

This morning, breakfast was in one of the greenhouses. Though maybe greenhouse wasn't the right word. The place was strange. Either Hasturios was trying to show off or they still didn't understand the purpose of these buildings. Instead of clear glass, there were stained-glass windows, and instead of crops, there were ponds, water lilies, and carps.

Still, the chimera had to give it some credit. It was beautiful. The light hit the glass and danced on the water. It was green at times, red and yellow at others.

Surrounding the pond were a bunch of small white tables. Zel studied them: there were only two free spots, but each was at a different table.

One at Lina, Gourry, and Hannes's table. The other, at Martina, Zángulus, and Pokota's. The chimera studied both fronts. Both were options were less than ideal. One was terrible, and the other had  Martina 

"Please sit down," Clara said from behind them. "Food will be served shortly."

Zelgadis looked at Amelia, and she smiled back.

"I'm sorry, Zelgadis."

"Why are you..."

But Amelia was no longer by his side. She had run straight ahead and sat at Lina's table.

Traitor , Zel thought. And yet, he couldn't help but smile.

He sat down at Martina's table, and immediately a waiter brought him a napkin and a piece of paper. Zelgadis sighed as he read it.

Today's menu:

Pineapple and avocado toast.

Carrot juice.

Eggs Ben.

Bloody Myriam.

Mushroom coffee.

Right below that list of threats was the summary of today's activities.

Day 3:

Surprise cultural excursion: Hasturios will open its doors and show you an important piece of its history.

Picnic in the city's botanical garden. (Watch out for the swans.)

Symposium on treaties and trade agreements.

The chimera frowned. The day seemed… pleasant? Well, except for the symposium, of course. But there were no dances and no activities that raised an eyebrow.

He ordered the mushroom coffee and looked at the rest of the people sitting at the table. Pokota had what was described as a ‘wine flu’. Zangulus was already on his third serving of eggs, and Martina… Martina was looking at him. Just like a predator looks at its prey. Without blinking. Without mercy.

“Good morning, Zelgadis.”

“Oh, hello, Martina.”

“Did you have a good time last night? I barely saw you dance.”

“Well…”

“Oh, it even seemed short to me, to be honest.”

Good , he thought. Martina’s ‘middle-aged lady who talks a lot’ mode had kicked in. The girl started talking without commas or spaces for him to chip in. And she talked and talked and...

"My dear, slow down a bit," said Zangulus. "You're not letting him talk."

Zelgadis glared at the man, but the damage was already done. 

"Oh, that's true," she replied. "How silly of me. Just this morning, I was telling Zangy that we still had some catching up to do. Amelia didn't tell me how you started dating. Why don't you tell us that story?"

Shit. They hadn't rehearsed that.

"Well, then..."

Zel’s eyes searched for Amelia. But the princess was too far away. Plus, she was too busy to save him anyway. She was trying to stop Lina from eating the centerpiece. He was going to have to improvise.

"How did you ask her?"

Shit, shit.

"Actually, she asked me."

"Oh. Really?" She gripped his arm with the strength of ten golden dragons. "Tell me everything!"

Zel gulped and tried to wriggle free. Her hands gripped him tighter. "Well..you see..."

Martina's hands dug into his stony skin, her breath too close to his face. He stiffened again, and decided to embellish the truth. 

"It was when Amelia offered me to be her bodyguard. I asked her if she was granting me the position so she'd have an excuse to spend more time alone with me, and she... she just admitted it.”

"Wow! Just like that?"

"Just like that. She told me that it was very kind of me to finally realize that she was flirting with me. That took me long enough."

It was the biggest lie ever lied. Phil was the one who had offered him the position, and he was sure the last thing the man wanted was for Zelgadis to flirt with anyone in his circle. Not with his cousin, not with his father, and certainly not with his daughter. But Martina seemed pleased. Her hands released the chimera's arm, and Zel's mind began to function at a normal pace again.

The girl brought her hands to her mouth and burst out laughing."I love it. What a beautiful story!"

There, Zel's coffee arrived, along with Zangy's eggs, and Martina's toast. The chimera stifled a sigh. He'd finally have a few minutes of silence. People couldn't ask questions and swallow at the same time. But nothing was impossible. Not for Martina, anyways. He watched in horror as the girl spoke and chewed at the same time.

She asked him question after question, between bread crumbs and giggles.

FACE IT, THIS IS YOUR LIFE NOW , said that cold voice in his head.

Zelgadis couldn't tear his eyes away. It was a pitiful, yet hypnotic sight.

"So," Martina said between bites, "when's the wedding?"

"We don't have a date yet. Phil's coronation will come sooner, and..."

"And do you have any plans for where to go for your honeymoon?"

"Er..."

"Because if you want, I can recommend Amelia..."

Zel almost choked on his coffee. He didn't like the beginning of that sentence, and he had the feeling he was going to like what came next even less.

Luckily, she never finished her sentence. An annoying green stuffed animal interrupted him first.

"Would you please shut up?!" Pokota screamed. "Some of us still have regency here."

Zelgadis was sure Pokota had meant to say ‘decency,’ but he didn't correct him. He welcomed every opportunity to ditch the conversation.

Besides, the stuffed animal seemed on its last legs. He looked even greener than usual.

Thus, the rest of the meal passed in silence, amid uncomfortable glances and the agonized screams from the poor Pokota.

When they finished eating, Hannes gathered all the guests at the greenhouse door. "Okay, are we all ready? Are you all fully awake now?"

There were a couple of murmurs of agreement, and the prince smiled.

"Great. In that case, I'll meet you at the castle gates in 20 minutes. Today we're going on a hike to a very special place."

"To see the barrier?" someone asked.

"Oh no," the prince replied. "This place is much better."

He paused for show, and Lina, not known for her patience, said, "Well? Spit it out, will ya?"

"Oh, to the tomato farm, of course."

Zelgidis hadn't expected anything, and yet he was disappointed.

And he wasn’t the only one. Even Zangulus looked perplexed. "Was that a joke?"

"Oh, not at all," Hannes replied. "Don’t worry, you'll love it."

He smiled. And he did it in a way that made Zelgadis's skin crawl. He knew that smile. He'd seen it yesterday, during the dance.

It was a sharp grin. Full of teeth and ‘bro vibes.’

What? Why the hell would we like a tomato farm?

Suddenly, a slight suspicion stirred in Zelgadis's mind. "Hannes?"

"Yes?"

"What kind of tomatoes?"

Hannes stopped in place and turned to look at the chimera. "Excuse me?"

"What kind of tomatoes are there on the farm?"

"Oh, cherry tomatoes, of course." he said, his smile widening.

That smile. That fucking smile was the problem. It was what made Zel's anxiety spike and his mind race. He could almost see it. It was going to be like at the ball, with the stares and the cherry tomato bouquet. Only 10 times worse.

Shit.

Chapter Text

The houses became smaller and instead of blue, green now predominated. The green of the terraces, the trees along the road, and the green of a sickly Pokota.

"Pokota, what's wrong?" she asked. "Are you sick?"

"I mean, he's pretty well considering all the drinking he did last night," Lina murmured.

Amelia gave her a look. "That's cruel, Lina. The poor thing is having a bad time, and on top of that, you're insinuating he was drinking?"

"Pfft. I'm not insinuating anything, Amelia. You were distracted dancing, but I saw him. He was wasted."

"Ugh," Pokota replied, not denying anything.

"Look at him, poor thing," Amelia said, “you want uppies?”

For a few moments, Pokota had two problems: a hangover and shortness of breath. The stuffed animal let out a soft whimper as it was squashed, more out of embarrassment than disgust.

That only made Lina roll her eyes harder. "Amelia, you're too damn nice ."

Beside her, Zelgadis couldn't help but agree. That was one of the things he liked about her. Amelia was kind to everyone, even when they didn’t deserve it.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Hannes whispered in his ear.

The chimera frowned. Many things bothered him, like how close that damn prince was. "You're going to have to be more specific."

Hannes gestured toward Amelia. She was still holding Pokota. "That," he said, pointing at Pokota. "Doesn't it bother you?"

"Should it?" he whispered back.

"Well, engaged couples don't usually hold others in their arms. Or dance with other people, show so much skin, or..."

Wait, they didn’t?

"Let's pretend I'm kind of new to this," and, in a way, he was. "What are they supposed to do?"

"Well, you know, stay home, cook, cross-stitch..."

Zel tried to imagine the scene. He looked at his hand. Rough and big. “I don’t know about the cross-stitch thing”.

“Not you. Amelia.”

The chimera imagined Amelia stabbing the fabric with every stitch in the name of justice. Amelia making boxing gloves out of thick wool. He laughed.

"Cross-stitch? Amelia?"

"Exactly," Hannes continued, "and then there are the chocolates, the flowers, the perfumes..."

"I get the feeling you don't know much about Amelia."

"Ah, but you see, women..."

There was something about that sentence that made him wrinkle his nose. Something irritating and… just plain wrong. It wasn't just his tone or how close the prince was to his face. 

"Amelia is Amelia," he said. "She's a person, not something to be molded into a mold. And, fuck, I’m getting a bit…"

The rest of the people had turned to look at him. And Zelgadis realized he'd stopped whispering.

The dozen guards accompanying them gripped their spears. Martina and Zangulus exchanged glances; Lina moved her lips in a silent curse. Then there was Gourry, who looked as confused as usual; also Pokota and… Amelia.

The princess turned and gave him a confused smile. "Zelgadis? Is something wrong?"

He opened his mouth, but Hannes got there first. "It's nothing, we were just discussing our cultural differences, weren't we, pal?"

Zelgadis was irritated, but he noticed the guards' spears, Amelia's smile. He restrained himself.

Walking the fine line between politeness and honesty was a problem. Especially when your opinion could start wars and your host was such an asshole.

They continued walking. The sun was already high, and the landscape was now entirely green, filled with fields, crops, and, far in the distance, the iridescent barrier.

Everyone walked in silence, thinking. Lina was thinking about the hands of a certain mercenary, and Gourry was thinking about nightmares. Then there was Pokota, who was trying to keep the breakfast in, and Zel, who was thinking about Amelia. 

The conversation he'd just had with Hannes was stuck in his head. What did Amelia like? She likes chess, climbing to high places, and giving speeches about justice. But he knew there were still things he had yet to discover about the princess. These days he had also discovered that she wore pink pajamas, that she liked romance novels, ballroom dancing, and… his gaze returned to Amelia. He looked at the ring on her left hand and smiled. He wouldn't change a thing about her.

YOU'RE AN IDIOT, that cold voice whispered. IT'S ALL A LIE, DO YOU REMEMBER?

Zelgadis shook his head. Yes. He knew it. He wasn’t a fool.

—-----------------------------------

Little by little, red began to creep into the landscape. They were tomatoes, tiny tomatoes that stood out against the green, like strange grapes, like small threats.

The plants were enormous. They arced above their heads, shielding them from the sun and, at the same time, turning the land into a minefield.

The prince paused for a second. He scanned the group: the guards in blue, Gourry, Zangulus, Martina, Pokota, Lina, Amelia, Zelgadis, and… Amelia again.

"Well, my dears," he said, "we're almost at the farm. To get there, we just have to go through these arches first."

Hannes gestured with his hand, indicating the cherry tomato vines and the arched walkway.

"And, as a Hasturian authority, it is my duty to remind you that the cherry tomato bouquet is one of our most sacred traditions." His gaze lingered again on Amelia, and he smiled in a… disturbing way, "and ignoring it is seen as something very rude and disrespectful in these lands. Don't forget it."

Hannes's smile widened, and his guests' discomfort got bigger.

"Besides, what happens in Hasturios, stays in Hasturios," he said, winking at them. "Now, have fun."

The prince was the first to enter through the archway. The rest thought about it for a bit. Amelia left Pokota on the ground, and Zelgadis kept a good distance from the rest. Just in case.

It was just a stupid path full of vegetables and yet… the group hesitated, then followed Hannes through the tunnel.

Fifteen minutes later, the vegetables claimed their first victim.

"Oh, look, Lina!" Martina shouted. "Up there. Tomatoes."

The sorceress followed the direction of the martina's finger, and sure enough, there was one above her and Gourry’s head.

"Oh, what a coincidence," said Gourry.

Lina narrowed her eyes and said something that sounded like ‘coincidence, my ass.’ 

She tried to step back, but Martina spoke again:

“Ah, no, Lina. You heard what Hannes said, didn’t you? It would be very rude to…”

Lina muttered again. It sounded like ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this’ and ‘wait until I get my magic back. I’ll show you all’. Then, she leaned toward Gourry and gave him a kiss. It was something between a peck and a lip smack. Aggressive. Angry. After that, the group tried to keep some distance from Lina, just in case.

The only one who didn't seem scared was the mercenary. But Gourry was... well, Gourry. He had an incredible tolerance for pain, and therefore, for Lina Inverse.

He loved poking her. He always took the joke a little too far, until she screamed, or threw fireballs at him. Then he did three things. First he dodged, then he smiled. And he came back for more.

After the third lip attack from the sorceress, she stepped out from under the tomato bouquet and pushed Zangulus closer to Gourry. The mercenary approached Zangy, smiled, and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Lina simply watched the scene. Angry, frustrated, and... something else. Yes. There was something shining in her brown eyes, but whatever it was, she turned her head too quickly, and Zel couldn't guess what it was.

They continued moving forward, and soon, the tomatoes created a strange tension in the group. Pokota and Zangulus, for example, were no longer around each other. Then there was Zelgadis, who was minding his own business. He walked at the back of the group, amid Lina's screams and Martina's laughter. He had a lot to think about that distraction Lina asked him for. About Hasturios’ mystery, about the whole fake romance thing, about Amelia, about Amelia, about Amelia.

Someone stumbled. Not Zelgadis, of course. He was too smart not to watch his step. Until now, he had dodged all the tomatoes, all the potholes, and Lina's trips. And the key to that sentence was ‘until now.’ The one that stumbled was Amelia. And so, he gathered momentum to grab Amelia before she lost her balance. He pulled her toward him with his arm and...

"Zelgadis?"

He felt a tug on his clothes. It was Amelia. He came closer. She smelled like strawberries and cream.

"What's wrong?"

"I think... I've got us into trouble, sorry."

She was pointing up. Another one of those damn tomato bunches was hanging red and threatening. She was just as red. Zel forgot a lot of things. What was he thinking about? Where were his hands? Was he still around her? 

"It’s no trouble," he said.

This time, he kissed her.

A shock ran through his stony skin and he pulled away from Amelia. His hands tingled again.

Keep walking, keep walking.

——————————————————————————

When they finally reached the farm, the whole group acted strangely. They weren't talking, they weren't looking each other in the eye. Except for two of the guards, who were holding hands at the back of the group.

"Well! We're here!" Hannes announced. "What do you think?"

It was a farm. A stone farm in the middle of nowhere. It had tomatoes, plants, and... pigs? It smelled like there were pigs.

They turned the corner. This part of the farm was less pretty. There were mounds of mud, huge, suspicious-looking buckets, and also a couple of grandpas.

One of them stood up and walked over to the group. "Your Majesty! I'm glad to see you. And who do we have here, huh? Oh, what handsome young lands. young and healthy, yes indeed."

He smiled and extended his hand. Everyone stepped back a little. The old man didn't have any teeth. What he did have were two huge biceps. Thick as Doric columns.

"Ah, George," said Hannes, who had also stepped back. "How are you? We came to see the farm."

"Of course, my lord! Follow me."

The old man started walking, and the group followed at a safe distance. They passed a warehouse full of tomatoes, a drying room. The place seemed bigger inside than out. There were kitchens and more kitchens, also courtyards, ovens, vats, and...

"Pigs?" Gourry asked.

Now, the smell was unmistakable. So were the squeals. They were in one of the courtyards. Behind a fence was an entire herd, all huge and pink. The old man smiled and started to answer, but the prince was quicker.

"Clever, isn't it?" Hannes said, as if the idea had occurred to him. "We feed the pigs tomato scraps to make their meat extra delicious. They go crazy for the things!' 

The group smiled, trying to be polite. The smell was pungent, the air was starting to get thick. 

“Aha, super smart. Now, can we keep going?” Lina asked.

“Oh, I see. You’re excited to see more, aren’t you?” Said the prince with a smile. “Well, come right this way. Now it's time for the jam factory and where we dry the tomatoes. I'm sure you've never seen anything like it."

The tour moved. There were sheep in the next fence, and farther back, they could hear and smell chickens. Lina’s nose wrinkled and Pokota’s face turned greener, and Amelia...

He looked at her. She was talking to Pokota and smiling. He stared. Because.. well, for many reasons. Because he liked her smile, because he thought maybe she could help with that damn distraction for Lina. Because...

Their eyes met.

He approached her. Despite still being close to the animals, Amelia smelled of strawberries and cream. She felt a tug at her clothes.

"I need your help," she said.

There was a pause. The strawberries' scent was… intoxicating. He smiled.

"Sure. With what?" 

"I'd like to explore this, but I know Hannes won't let us wander off on our own."

That was perfect. Not only because of that little ‘us’ the princess had included, but also because Lina needed a distraction, too.

"Do you have any ideas?"

He curled his lips. "I might have some ideas, yes."

In fact, he had more than one. He had a dozen. All absurd and far-fetched. They ranged from passing off limbo as ‘a traditional Saillune dance’ to asking Martina to tell everyone about Zoana's wedding-night traditions. But, after hearing Hannes talking about the pigs, he'd come up with something better. Something simple, yet effective.

Ah, but he still had to wait for Lina's signal. He looked at the sorceress. She shook her head. Her look said: not yet. Wait.

He frowned and mouthed, "When?"

There, the sorceress narrowed her eyes and made something rude with her hand. Something Zel interpreted as, ‘When I say so. Now, stop making faces at me, you dumbass.’

Zelgadis felt another tug on his clothes.

"Zelgadis?" the princess whispered. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing, let's continue. But stay alert and... close. Just in case."

He offered his hand, and she took it. Because it was part of the plan. It was, he told himself, a very important part. Their hands intertwined, and they continued walking through the factory. They were still inside the courtyards and stables, but now it all smelled of strawberries, cream, and anxiety. Amelia squeezed his hand, and the visit continued. People kept talking about something he didn't give a damn about. In the background, Lina was sneaking glances at him, and he... he had something to do, right? His brain was working weirdly. He was somewhere between nervous and excited. He was...

"Zelgadis," someone whispered.

But he was distracted. He was trying his best to keep his thumb from circling Amelia's hand, and also to...

A kick caught him square in the shin, and the chimera let go of Amelia's hand.

"What the...?! Lina?"

"Oh, sorry, Zel. I tripped. Silly me."

Behind him was Lina, looking as if she'd hurt her foot after the kick. She glared at him. Okay, that was the signal. And, damn, it hurt like hell. Zel rubbed his leg. He turned to Amelia.

"Come with me."

He reached for her hand again. It was something he still struggled with. The touch, the pressure. The anxiety. Because Zel was still him. He still felt that tension in his stomach every time he initiated contact, and at the same time, there was desire too. There was something about it that made his skin prickle.

Their walk became slower. Until there was a small gap between them and the group. A gap enough to whisper, enough to act clueless instead of suspicious. They were still holding hands and slowly approached the pig pen.

He waited. But a couple of guards were still watching.

He waited. Hannes talked about how beautiful hard work was and how abhorrent magic was.

He waited. Lina opened her mouth, and he heard a ‘Oh really? And tell me…’

Now.

When no one was looking, he opened the door a crack, barely a crack. Then he signaled Amelia to do the same with the sheep’s pen. They were almost finished. The last thing Zelgadis did was take a handful of tomatoes out of his pockets. He threw them as he walked.

They plopped and rolled on the dirt floor.

Plop, plop, plop.

When he was done, he wiped his hands and smiled at the princess.

"And now?"

"Now we continue with this damn tour and wait."

——————————————————————————

The noise was infernal. There were human cries, cackling. Chaos. Lots and lots of screams. Pokota was being harassed by a bunch of chickens, Zangulus was busy trying to rescue his hat from a sheep, and Martina, who had been the smartest, was watching everything from atop a tree. A bit further, George was shouting, and Hannes was barely a white dot amid a sea of ​​soldiers and spears.

"Reinforcements! I need reinforcements!!" a guard shouted.

Ah, yes. The plan had worked.

“They’re coming!” cried another. “Run for your lives!” 

Though… Maybe it had worked too well. The chickens were running wild, the sheep were nibbling at the tomatoes, and the pigs… the pigs were rampaging. 

And, amid the blue uniforms, the shouts, and the pigs, there were Lina and Gourry, who were running around with various objects. Zelgadis saw them dragging a ladder, a key lime pie, two gas cylinders, and then what looked like a squid.

Someone whispered in his ear. "What's Lina doing with a squid?"

He stiffened. It was only Amelia. But she was close, very close.

"I don't want to know," the chimera murmured. "Shall we?"

She nodded, and they both slunk away.

No one saw them. No one shouted at them in the distance. And Chimera and Princess made their way through the animals, the buckets, and the sacks.

Amelia ran, he followed her. They waded through the farmhouse and entered the first kitchen. It smelled musty and grainy.

"What are we looking for?" he asked.

"I don't know," She was rummaging through the kitchen books. "Something suspicious, weird."

Her hands searched the shelves. She picked up a book, opened it, and snorted. Outside, the chaos continued. The chickens seemed to have joined forces with the pigs. A donkey appeared through the window. Amelia threw the book on the counter.

"Ahh! There's nothing here, let's keep looking."

She offered her hand to the chimera and then realized there was no need; they were alone. Zel took it anyway. They ran.

Zelgadis wasn't sure what clues there could be in a farmhouse, but she wasn't complaining either. Amelia squeezed her hand and the pigs squealed outside. A shiver came over her.

I can get used to this.

They went into another room. A hallway. There were doors on either side. Amelia stopped running.

"Zelgadis, look."

She pointed to a door on the left. It said ‘No Entry’ in giant letters, and light filtered through the cracks. Something glimmered behind the forbidden door.

"Perfect."

The princess grabbed the handle. Of course, the door was locked. She clicked her tongue.

"Allow me," Zelgadis whispered.

He looked both ways. The chickens had reached the corridor, and the guards were still yelling. There was enough noise that no one would notice he made a little more.

He kicked the door a couple of times, near the latch.

Snap!

The door swung open. The flickering light turned out to be just a couple of torches. But it didn't matter. There were also shelves and documents. Piles and piles of papers.

Outside, the cackling and the squalling continued.

Good, Zel thought.

The donkey crossed the hall.

He closed the door as best he could and hurried to help Amelia. Together, they opened drawers, rummaged through folders. The room was narrow, windowless. Inside, there was only them a huge sideboard filled with papers and scrolls.

"What's all this? Recipes?"

"And invoices, estimates," Amelia sighed. "Damn."

There didn't seem to be anything interesting in that storeroom. Unless, of course, you were passionate about tomatoes and jams. Still, they kept looking. Zel tucked a couple of papers into his cloak. There were repeated names and terms he wanted to look up later.

They kept looking. Reading, rummaging. More and more frustrated, more and more focused. They barely heard the noise outside anymore; there were only words, numbers, and… hang on.

"Amelia?"

"Uhm?"

"Do you hear anything?"

She stopped for a moment.

"No."

"Exactly."

There were no more animal sounds. No cackling, no growling, no… oh, no, wait, there was something. Footsteps. Footsteps that were getting closer. They sounded heavy.  Like legionnaire's boots or soldier’s.

" Amelia? Ma’am?"

"Mister Zelgadis?"

Amelia made a face, more because of the ma’am than because of the guards' shouts. They were getting closer. From the sound, it sounded like a group. Their armor creaked, their boots sounded heavy against the floor.

"Shit," Zelgadis whispered.

They were in a restricted area. In a room with no way out. No hiding places, and most importantly, no excuses either. How were they going to get out of this?

"Zelgadis?" Amelia began.

But he wasn't listening. Shit. The footsteps were getting closer. Could he move the bookshelf? He looked around. 

"Zelgadis! Listen, I need you to..."

"Wait a minute, Amelia, I'm trying to..."

"I need you to kiss me."

"What?!"

On the other side of the door, the footsteps stopped.

"Kiss me. That way they won't ask for explanations."

"This is so cliché," he whispered.

"Would you rather explain to those 10 kind guards what we’re doing in a room that is kept locked?"

He grunted. But he didn't argue this time. He walked over to her and kissed her.

Actually, he didn't know why he kept protesting so much. He liked kissing her. He liked it when her fingers grabbed his clothes. When her lips kissed back.

In those moments, he almost forgot that all of this wasn't real. That it was just a stupid plan.

"What are you two doing in here?" one of the friendly guards shouted. "This is..."

Then he fell silent. Amelia dared to look as her hand moving up the back of Zel's neck and the chimera's hand playing with her shirt. The guard closed the door as he left.

Zel stood still for a moment. But the guard didn't return. He moved to face Amelia, or at least he tried to; his legs weren't up to it. Or maybe his brain was the one not cooperating.

Amelia's arms were still around his neck, now playing with his wiry hair, while her lips curved. Zel smiled.

"Have they gone?" the princess murmured in his ear.

And reality returned, hard as a slab on Zelgadis’ shoulders. His smile soured. He moved away from the princess.

What am I doing? he asked himself.

YOU’RE SUCH A FOOL, the voice in his head replied.

He nodded.

"Yeah, they're gone."

Chapter Text

The kiss ended and the spiral of feelings returned. 

Idiot. 

PFTT. YOU FUCKED UP REAL GOOD THIS TIME, HUH? 

His mouth had gone dry, and he just stretched his fingers. He pressed them again. Clearly, he was stupid. He'd fallen for a princess and she... she'd just asked him if the guards had left yet.. Because, he reminded himself, we're just pretending. Fuck. It was almost funny, right? So why was he trembling? 

"Are you okay?" she asked. "It'll just be one more day, okay? If you want, we can stop after tomorrow."

Zelgadis stopped fidgeting and looked at her again. There was something... something odd about that sentence. About the way she'd chosen her words. She'd said ‘if you want,’ and that if… that if…made him think.

What if…?

DON’T.

What if..?

But no. That line of thought was dangerous. It didn't matter that Amelia was now fidgeting with the ring, that she was no longer pursing her lips, that she was smiling at him. It was all fake. Wait... Was it? They were still in that dark room, and now the princess was looking at him in a way he had no words for. What was it? He clicked his tongue. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. 

"We should go," he forced himself to say. 

"We should, yes." And yet, she moved closer. 

What if…?

STOP IT, his reason screamed. 

What if…? 

_PLEASE, 

The voice grew less imposing as the princess drew closer. 

"Zelgadis?" 

"Yes?" 

"I think..." 

"Yes?" 

"I think I got a little lipstick on your face, sorry." 

He brought his hands to his mouth. 

"Not there," she said, "a little more to the left." 

"Here?" 

"No. It's a little... wait, may I?"

A pause. A doubt. She was waiting for consent. He trembled a bit more.

"Sure." 

This time it wasn't like the market. He didn't move away when he saw her hand coming. And slowly, she touched his lips. The princess's thumb caressed his mouth and she smiled, and the ‘what ifs’ filled his brain again. What if it wasn't all fake? What if she felt something too? 

_PLEASE, begged his reason again. 

But he wasn't listening anymore.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

The guards were waiting for them in the hallway. And, just as Amelia said, they didn't ask a thing. They just escorted them back outside.

The noise and the animals were gone, but the farm was in chaos. There were chewed-up chairs, broken doors, and suspicious stains on the floor. Sometimes they were red, sometimes brown. Zelgadis looked a little closer. They weren't just on the floor, but there were also specks on the ceiling, on the guards' armor.

He squinted. Most of it was mud. But that red kept rubbing him the wrong way.

Amelia had noticed, too. She looked at the guards with a worried face and a guilty expression.

"Excuse me. Are you okay?" she asked the guard who looked worse. "You have something red on your armor." 

The guard frowned and followed her gaze.

"Oh, this?" He put a finger to his armor and then to his mouth. "Yes, tomato puree. Oh, no, wait." He licked it some more. "It’s jam."

Amelia's mouth opened, but she didn't have time to answer. Hannes was running towards them. He looked terrible. His hair was disheveled, his clothes stained. "Oh, there you are! Are you all right? Any broken bones? Any sprains?"

"We're fine," Zel assured. 

Hannes's sigh echoed through the hallway. "Thank goodness! I feared the worst when those pigs started claiming the ladder. I must say, I'm terribly sorry about what happened. Please follow me. We must return with the rest at once."

Maybe it was the brown stains, maybe it was the torn shirt, but this Hannes looked more unhinged than the one this morning. One leg was covered in jam, and the other was half torn and chewed up. Then there was his hair.

"Hannes?" Amelia began. "You... you have something in your hair. Is it mud?"

The prince tensed. "It's not mud. It's... something else."

He began to walk faster, putting distance between them and raising his voice a little.

"I can't understand how this could have happened. This is unforgivable," he continued. "How shameful!"

"Have there been any casualties?" Zel asked. "Your guards look battered."

"It’s fine. Nothing we can't eat."

"What?!"

Zel felt Amelia clutching at his clothes, and his eyes widened.

"The pigs trampled a couple of chickens, but it's nothing we can't eat so...." Hannes looked at them and saw their horrified faces, then put two and two together. "Did you think…? Oh, Cepheid, no, no. Everyone's fine. Pokota will need a couple of Band-Aids, but that's all."

They turned the corner of the atrium. The rest of the group was there. Lina was busy comforting poor Gourry, whose hair was now uneven. Martina was smiling and Zangulus was missing a piece of his cloak. Then there was Pokota, who looked mushier than usual. They were all right. Angry, dirty, and in various states of shock, but still in one piece.

The princess's hand was still tugging at Zel's clothes. But now, it was less tight. "I'm glad you're all right,"

"Of course we are, Amelia," said Lina. "It'll take more than a stampede of pigs to finish me off."

"Again, I'm so sorry," the prince chimed in. "I don't know what happened. Maybe some farmer... Ow!"

He had to stop because Lina was patting him on the back.

"Calm down, man, calm down. Nothing happened. The pig just stepped on Pokota a little. In fact, some of us were even having fun, weren't we, Zelgadis?"

She winked at Zel.

Subtle, Lina, very subtle.

He grunted, and she smiled.

"See?" "We're all cool as cucumbers," said the sorceress, giving Hannes a couple more slaps. "Shall we go back to the castle?"

Hannes sighed. "Yes, that's for the best. I'll have to cancel the picnic, but I think a rest and a hot meal will do you all good before the symposium."

"Oh, is the symposium still on?" Lina asked.

"Of course."

She grimaced, but no one else protested. Thus, the group headed back to the castle. They walked slowlier and were less talkative, but, truth to be told, they also carried way more emotional baggage and agricultural traumas.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

"Are you sure it's barely noticeable, Lina?" Gourry asked. “Really?”

The mercenary had a big bite in his hair at the back of his head. Huge, in fact.

"Gourry, if you ask me again, I swear I'll make it even worse," she threatened. He pouted, and she paused. "Fine. I'll fix it when we get to the castle, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Yeah, yeah I promise," she said, smiling sweetly. "Now, just a second. I'll be right back."

The sorceress turned and looked behind her. Zelgadis saw her lips curl and approach him. He got suspicious, very suspicious. "What do you want now, Lina?"

She shrugged and looked at Amelia. Her hand was still tugging at the chimera's clothes.

"Me? Nothing," she said innocently. "Can I steal him from you for a moment, Amelia?"

"What? Oh!" She released his shirt. "Sure."

"Shall we, Zelly?"

How could I refuse? He thought. The threat she'd made him was still weighing on his mind. He didn't want her to tell Amelia how they'd met. Especially now that... well, things had happened. So, he snorted and let her drag him to the back of the group. Then she leaned closer, until her breath brushed his neck. He suppressed a shiver.

"Well? You've got your distraction now. Are you happy now?" He whispered.

She shook her head.

"No, but that doesn't matter. We're even," she said. And, still being Lina, she added, "For now."

"Great. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He started to go back to Amelia, but Lina held his arm. "One more thing, Zel. You better not fucking screw this up. Am I clear?"

The sorceress's gaze was fixed on Amelia. She didn't say anything else, but he got the warning, or rather, the threat.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

They continued walking in silence, between fields, and olive trees. And, without a sound, Zelgadis was alone with his thoughts. He thought about the kiss from earlier, about Amelia's hand clutching his clothes.

What if...? he repeated in his mind. The wedding ring glittered on her hand.

What if...?

He and Amelia were close again. They had grown accustomed to that. To the contact and the touch. It wasn't instinctive or easy. It was... Intense. Sometimes, he would get chills, and she would pull away. Other times, she would catch her staring at him while Martina pestered her. Their eyes met as Martina lectured her about swings and Zel took Amelia’s hand to rescue her. She, however, made a face.

"Zelgadis, you don't have to... you know."

She didn't elaborate, but squeezed his hand. He understood the rest.

"Oh, sorry, does it bother you?"

"No, but..."

"Then don't worry," he whispered.

He dared to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb. They walked together. Five, ten minutes. He let go of her hand. 

_{YOU’RE A FOOL. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOU’RE NOT HUMAN?  SHE MAY BE GOOD. BUT SHE'S NOT THAT GOOD. STOP FOOLING YOURSELF. STOP TRYING.}

Yet she was smiling at him.

What if...?

What if she thought it was okay to try?

Was it worth the risk and confessing how he felt? For a tiny chance? The voice of reason was barely a murmur, and that smile... that smile made Zel wonder about so many things. How adorable it was that Amelia had found a way to get closer without brushing his skin or that ‘we should’ she'd said to him in the dark room.

What if it wasn't all in his mind?

"Amelia...?"

She stopped talking to Lina and looked at him. She was still smiling, oh, fuck, she was still smiling. Then she followed his gaze, and….

“Oh!”

 For some reason, her hand was clutching his shirt again. She let go of his clothes.

"Oh, I... sorry."

He shook his head. He looked away.

"It's not that. I... can we talk later? Alone?"

"Sure," 

Amelia didn't ask anything else. She just curled her lips and then walked away to talk to Martina.

——————————————————————————————————————

By the time they arrived at the castle, the sun was already setting in the sky, and the entire group either wanted a bath, a meal, or a quick murder order for a certain prince.

Hannes's bad mood had quickly vanished. Unfortunately, it had been replaced by something worse: verbosity. He hadn't been happy that his guests were missing out on this ‘magnificent’ picnic, so he'd tried to give them a description of the event as they walked back to the castle. The last half hour had been spent describing every plant in the park and the names of the 20 damn swans in the pond.

"But my favorite is definitely 'Doña Jimena.' She has such a fiery temper and a... Ah! Look, we're here!"

The castle gates opened, and Lina said what everyone was thinking.

"Finally! 

"Ah, I agree. This morning has been more…intense than I expected," said the prince, clasping his hands. "In that case, we'll give you free time until 7, how’s that? So you can recharge your batteries and rest for a bit. I'll tell the servants to prepare a buffet in the dining room. Oh, and open the gardens too. My swans don't compare to Doña Jimena's, but they still have an exquisite bearing."

Smiles returned to the guests' faces. The truth is, a break sounded like a fucking treat. No tomatoes, no pigs, no guards.

"Great. It’s settled then," Hannes continued, and before leaving, he added, "Oh, but don't forget: we have a symposium later."

He winked at everyone. Lina frowned.

"How could I forget?" She murmured.

The group split up. The guards remained at the door. The prince accompanied Pokota to the infirmary, and Martina and Zángulus disappeared down the ground-floor corridor. The remaining four climbed the stairs.

"Lina, don't forget my hair," Gourry said.

"Yeah, yeah, I wasn’t going to. Let me ask Clara for some scissors and..."

"Let me come with you, then.” Said Amelia. “We’ll find her sooner that way.”

Lina paused. Finding the scissors didn't require two people and four hands. Still... the sorceress frowned.

"Shall we?" Amelia insisted again.

"Sure."

Lina retraced her steps, and the princess followed her down the corridor. Before leaving, she turned to the chimera.

"You shower first, Zelgadis. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay."

The two girls left, and Zelgadis opened the bedroom door. He entered the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror was smiling because he had made up his mind. He was going to talk to Amelia and confess it all. He was going to tell her how much he liked her smile, that he still kept that pink bracelet under his pillow, and also... Oh, fuck, his lips were curling.

The chimera showered. He waited. He changed his clothes and even picked up the damn tomato brochure again. He read a few pages, then some more... Where was she? The sun was setting, and Amelia was nowhere to be seen. His fingers tapped his thigh. He was sweating. Was talking to her a good idea?

_{IT'S NOT.}

She was a princess, and he was just a knight.

_{IT'S THE WORST IDEA YOU'VE EVER HAD.}

But they had a good time together, right? Right? Zel thought back. He remembered catching Amelia playing with the wedding ring. He remembered how she smiled when he returned to Saillune, and also that hand that had moved up the back of his neck, tangling in his hair.

Yes, he was sure. There was something there.

He had to tell her. But, oh, wait. How? Just like that? He needed flowers, didn't he? Oh... horses? He was new to this. Her fingers kept dancing on his thigh. He was nervous.

Zel looked out the window. The sun was now barely a sliver on the wall.

He waited, but Amelia didn't return. Where was she?

————————————————————————————————————————————

The minutes passed and she didn't appear, so he got up and decided to look her up. Lina’s room was empty and quiet. Gourry’s was locked.

She must be in the in other floor.

He went down to the hall. Nothing.

He searched the dining room. Nothing.

The chimera clicked its tongue. What if something had happened to her? He went out into the garden, but there was no sign of her black hair or her white clothes. There were only the ponds, the green of the leaves.

"Mr. Zelgadis?"

He turned. Behind him was Clara, the maid. "Can I help you? Are you looking for something?"

"Have you seen Amelia?"

"Ah, the princess. Yes, she's with her friend Lina in the greenhouses."

"The greenhouses?"

"They said something about shears and scissors."

"Oh, Ceipheid.  Shears?"

Zelgadis offered a silent prayer for Gourry's hair and thanked Clara. He walked a little further into the trees. Surrounded by the greens and white flecks of jasmine.

The greenhouses were further ahead. All three were dark, but in one of them, two figures could be made out behind the glass windows.

He smiled. The smaller silhouette was Amelia, for sure. The other, the one waving her hands, was Lina. He moved a little closer. The two shades were very close together, just as if whispering. Well, just as they were indeed whispering.

"Has he done something? Is that it?" Lina asked. "Because if he went too far, I swear..."

Zelgadis stood still. He should leave. This was a private conversation, and having better hearing than a human was no excuse for prying into other people's business. Yes, it was best to go back the way he'd come. And yet… his feet didn't move. Went too far? Who? Hannes? Pokota? He frowned.

"No, I..." Amelia began.

"Amelia, don't. If he's done something to you, I won't care how hard his rock ass is, I'm going to put a fireball in his…"

Oh, they were talking about him. Zel's hand gripped tightly on the bark of a tree as the words churned his stomach. Wait… Had he gone too far? Had he hurt her in any way?

"What? No, Lina! It's not that."

"So what’s the problem then?"

There was a soft sigh. "You don't understand. It's… complicated."

Lina snorted and said, ‘Complicated my ass.’ Then the small figure shrank a little more.

"Oh, shit. No, Amelia, don't cry. I'm sorry, okay? Come on, tell me what happened.”

Amelia sobbed, and the other figure put his arm around her.

"Don't worry. Take your time, okay?"

Outside the greenhouse, Zelgadis held his breath. The bark of the tree yielded beneath his fingers. Amelia's sobs pierced his soul. 

"Lina, I... I don't know what to do. Zelgadis asked me to treat him the same as always, and I can't." There was another pause, another tiny cry. "I'm trying, I really am. But... I don’t know how much I can pretend."

And just like that, his whole world collapsed. I'm an idiot. He'd made her cry. I'm an idiot. And to think that for a moment I'd believed the kisses, the touches were...

Inside, the princess continued whispering. "I know there’s only one day left but now he wants to talk to me, and I... I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix it.”

The chimera spun around and walked out.

I TOLD YOU YOU WERE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF, the icy voice in his head said.

Zelgadis clenched his jaw. Because that voice was right. It was always right.

YOU'RE AN IDIOT.

He nodded, and the voice swelled in his mind, for now it had taken full control of his brain.

DUMBASS. DID YOU REALLY THINK SHE LOVED YOU BACK? THAT SOMEONE WOULD EVER DID? YOU'RE MORE DELUSIONAL THAN I THOUGHT. LOOK AT YOU!! YOU'RE...

"A monster," he finished.

The word tasted bitter on his tongue, and he grimaced. He was furious with himself. Furious for letting himself be vulnerable. For daring to hope. Zelgadis turned around, crossed the gardens, and went back to the palace.

Meanwhile, in the greenhouse, the conversation between Amelia and Lina continued, far from the chimera's ears. Amelia had stopped crying, and Lina ran her hand through her dark hair, confused.

"Well, so you’ve caught some feelings. And? What's the problem? Is it Phil? Some princess thing, maybe?"

"You don't understand."

"Explain it to me, then."

Amelia shook her head. It wasn’t her place to tell Lina about Zelgadis’ issues with being touched. That wasn’t her story to tell. Although, perhaps, she could tell her other details.

"I heard him, Lina. At the market. He's counting the days until we leave." His words still echoed in her mind, and her mouth twisted at the memory of them. ‘Only three days.’ "It's not that he has a hard time being my fake fiancé. It's just..."

"What?"

"He hates it, Lina. He really hates it. I know it," she sighed, her eyes filling with tears again.”And yet, I'm a fool who can't stop thinking about kisses, about his thumb circling my hand. You should have seen his face at the farm, when I asked him to kiss me”.

Lina opened her mouth. Then closed it again. “Okay, I’m going to need more details, there.”

“It was at the farm, after the pigs escaped. The guards were coming and I told him they wouldn’t ask why were were in a private room if we pretended to make out.

“Why the hell were you on a…? You know what? I don’t want to know. Please, go on. Did he kiss you back?”

 "Yes. And the plan worked. But when the guards closed the door Zelgadis just… went quiet. He was shaking and, I don’t know, I’ve never seen him like that, Lina."

Lina's snort echoed in the greenhouse. 

"Oh, girl. You two are meant for each other."

Amelia frowned. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean that  you're both equally dumb, Amelia."

Despite the insult, she finished the sentence with a smile and went over to wipe the tears from her face.

"Look, I know Gourry told me not to interfere anymore, but... Fuck it. Amelia, that guy is absolutely crazy about you. Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

Amelia furrowed even more as she remembered. Sometimes she smiled at him, yes. But he also avoided her gaze and turned his face away.

"Believe me, Zel will be happy to know how you feel."

"But..." Amelia began.

"No buts. Didn't you notice that back at the farm, he seemed to be looking for excuses to hold your hand? That stupid face he gets when he kisses you?"

Amelia was still hesitating, and Lina, at her side, was already losing a little patience.

"Listen, I know what I saw, okay? And I'm sick of watching you two dance around each other. So, come on, get out of here and talk to that dummy before I blow both your asses off." Besides, have I ever been wrong?

"Oh yeah, many times," she replied.

"Well, yes. But... arhg, nevermind. Trust me on this. Now get up and talk to that blue fool."

Amelia smiled a little and had to get up because Lina was pushing her off the bench.

————————————————————————————————————

The princess left Amelia to look for the shears alone and went back to the castle. Her plan was to meet with Zel in the room before Lina blew both their asses off. However, someone intercepted her in the hallway. It was Pokota. The stuffed animal looked better than he had this morning. There were a couple of bandages on his ears, but at least he was lime-colored again, not vomit green. 

"Oh! There you are! “said Pokota.” Come on, Hannes was looking for you. We're late."

"Late?" 

"For the symposium?" 

"Oh, right." She blinked a couple of times. "I didn't know it was so late. I'll go find Zelgadis and..."

"Don't bother, only you and Lina are missing. Now come on, Gourry went to get her."

Amelia glanced up the stairs, toward the room she shared with Zelgadis. The conversation would have to wait, I guess.

She followed Pokota through the gallery, to the Sapphire Room. There, among wine glasses, princes, tomatoes and 3 very flat chickens, was Zelgadis. Amelia smiled at him, but he didn't return the gesture. She sat down next to him and watched his body shrink slightly.

"Zelgadis? Are you okay?" she whispered.

He just nodded, lowering his gaze.

It wasn't a very convincing answer, and Amelia's mind filled with more questions. But this wasn't the time or the place, so she carefully saved them for later. They would have to wait until the meeting was over. So she sipped her glass of wine and waited.

"Oh, Lina!" Hannes said. "Okay, everyone's here. Shall we begin?"

The next two hours were miserable, even for Amelia. Zoana spent half an hour talking about tariffs on legumes, and Hasturios insisted on charging different rates for aubergine and eggplants. Two chairs away, Lina melted in her chair. Gourry's mind had long since left this plane. Then there was Zelgadis, who just stood there, stiff, serious. She couldn’t help but to stare.

A couple of claps brought Amelia back to reality.

"So it's decided, is it?" Hannes heard herself say. Gambling will be taxed at 20%, except on Tuesdays and rainy days. Everyone in favor?

The princess blinked. Her wine was all gone and the meeting had concluded without her noticing. Amelia didn't know where the hell that initiative had come from. But, at this point, she didn’t care less. She just wanted to be alone with Zelgadis. She raised her hand.

"Wonderful," Hannes continued, "Then we're done here. Please follow me. The moon is beautiful this evening and the servants have snacks ready downstairs."

A dozen chairs scraped across the floor. The attendants stood up, and Amelia offered her hand to Zel.

"Shall we?"

They were still surrounded by people. He stared at the gesture. He looked…

"Are you sure you're okay?" she whispered to him.

“Fine.”

He stretched his lips in the hint of a smile. Then he took her hand. They left the room.

————————————————————————————————————

The group was escorted out of the meeting room and into the gallery. And, what was first an orderly queue turned into chaos when Lina and Gourry decided to race each other.

“Lina, please”, tried Hannes. “I’m sure there will be plenty of food for everyone”.

And Martina, who knew the pair better, urged her husband. “Hurry up, Zangy, or else there would be no snacks by the time we get there”.

The couple disappeared, then followed the dignitaries, the guards and Pokota. Zel waited until the last guest left the gallery, and then his smile fell; he let go of Amelia’s hand. 

"That’s enough, Amelia."

"What?"

"They're gone now. There's no need to keep pretending. So don't bother."

Amelia's smile died too.

"But it's not..." She swallowed. This wasn't how she wanted to start the conversation. But they were alone together, and maybe, just maybe, they could talk about it now. "Zel, I wanted to ask you something. You see, Lina thinks that, well, it's silly, but she thinks you might not be pretending, and I wanted..."

Fucking Lina, he thought. It was all her fault. All because of her stupid plans, her obsession with meddling in everyone’s business. Amelia's hand gently brushed his, and he couldn't hold back any longer. He exploded.

"Amelia, I said that’s enough. Stop it!"

Time stopped too. They stared at each other. He was gritting his teeth, she didn't know what to do with her hands. She looked like she was about to cry and... Fuck. Zelgadis looked away. He didn't care. He was screwed too. He didn't care. He was furious. And yet...

He breathed in.

And yet, he had to calm down. Because he did care for her after all. And they had to keep pretending. At least, for one more day.

He breathed out.

"Last night you asked me if you were cruel.” He said. “This is cruel."

"Why?"

He made a move to leave, and she finally found something to do with her hands. She tugged at his clothes. "Explain yourself. How am I being cruel?"

Very well. She wanted to talk? Then they would talk. He leaned closer to her. Her lips were trembling. She smelled of strawberries and cream.

"I heard you talking to Lina this afternoon. About how there's only one more day left, about how difficult this is for you."

"You…heard it?"

"Yes, and I also know it's hard for you to treat me like you used to, so please, PLEASE. Leave it. You don't have to be considerate to me. Or nice or even pretend to care about me."

"But I’m not pretending. That's the problem!" Her hands were still clutching Zel's cloak, and now they were shaking. "Why do you think I agreed to Linas’ plan in the first place?"

Zelgadis suppressed a shudder. Amelia's hands were now hiding her face. He didn't understand. The blue ring gleamed on her finger. He didn't understand a thing.

"What do you mean?"

She swallowed and slowly forced herself to look at him. "That I knew this was a bad idea, and yet I wanted to try it. That I knew it was hard for you, and yet... I was too busy enjoying it."

"What?"

"I know. Forgive me. This is hurting you and all I can think about is your hands, how much I love your kisses, and..."

Zelgadis's mind was still processing it, but his hands had already begun to move. His fingers caressed her lips.

"Don't apologize," he whispered. He leaned closer to her. His hands moved now along her jaw, to her ear, to her neck. "Because I love your kisses too."

They had kissed before. But not like this. This time her mouth tasted of wine, and her lips parted. It wasn't a gentle caress. It was a hungry kiss.

This time, he didn't pull away when he finished. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her again. Again and again. Until Amelia's hands moved up his chest and nestled on his neck.

He felt a shiver, but still went back for another kiss. And her hands returned, obediently, to give him space.

"Sorry," Amelia began. "Maybe it would be better if we went slower. I don't mind if..."

"No."

"No?"

"I don't want to go slow."

Her blue hand moved up to take his hand and then brought it to her lips. His fingers tingled. He tried to ignore it.