Birth Rite

Title: Birth Rite Chapter 15: The Mala

Author: Tsutsuji

Fandom: Slayers

Pairing: Xelloss/Zelgadis

Rating: NC17 overall / This chapter PG

Warnings: nothing to warn for in this chapter

word count: 5900+ yeslongchapterislong

Summary: The mysterious Mala makes a surprising first impression on Xelloss and Zelgadis.


---


While Zelgadis slept, Xelloss lay beside him in the dark and amused himself - entirely pointlessly, he was sure - by trying to recall any sensible details from "The Making of Worlds." As dull as that mental exercise was, it made the night fly by. Not that there was much night left by the time they finally left the bath and came inside the cottage to continue not having lessons, he remembered with a grin.


It was just turning light outside the window, the diffuse gray light of another misty morning, when an unusual sharp blast of emotional energy yanked Xelloss out of his virtual sleep. He glanced at Zelgadis, but the chimera was still sleeping soundly, not even dreaming as far as he could tell. The emotions he sensed came from outside the cottage, and were of quite another flavor entirely from Zelgadis' familiar, enticing mixture. In fact, Xelloss realized, the energy was similar to the odd miasma of the Temple: a taut blend of ecstasy and bittersweet sorrow, powerful yet muted, and difficult to fathom or absorb.


He peered out through the window and saw Kemara walking back and forth across the lawn in front of the cottage. No, hardly walking, he observed with a grin; she was fairly floating back and forth, dancing on bare feet in the wet grass with arms flung wide, and spinning each time she turned. Her black and red High Priestess robe was open, fluttering in her wake. He was amused to see that the dress she wore underneath it was all lace and flowers. One hand waved free in the air; in the other she held the final volume of The Princess of Fate.


Xelloss went out to greet the High Priestess of the Golden Lord.


"Oh! Xelloss-sama!" she cried as soon as she saw him, breaking the early morning stillness. She immediately clamped her hand over her mouth, but that didn't hide the huge smile that lit up her face, and of course it didn't dampen the shaft of pure joy that radiated from her.


"Oh," she continued more softly as she came over to him with her eyes shining. She clasped her hands over her heart, and tried, with very little success, to bring her joyful energy under control. Considering what he guessed to be the cause of those feelings, Xelloss didn't really mind them.


"You - Xelloss-sama, you saw Her!" Kemara said, breathless with awe. "You spoke with Her!" She caught herself up short on lingering doubt, and stopped in front of him, searching his face, hoping and wondering. "It is true, isn't it? That's what really happened?"


Xelloss smiled at her, eyes open and gleaming.


""I expected you would decipher the truth, Kemara-sama, no matter how badly Martina-san managed to twist it," he said. "It is true, just as you guessed from reading Martina-san's somewhat fanciful version of the event. The Golden Lord did indeed appear in the form of the sorceress Lina Inverse."


In place of Lina Inverse who had technically ceased to exist, he knew he should say, but since the Princess of Fate was not entirely clear on that point, he decided it wasn't necessary to elaborate any further. Kemara didn't question his answer. She grinned at him with a little more mischief in her eyes as she continued.


"I think the Loremasters and the official High Priestess will agree that the donation of this story covers your room and board here very nicely, for the entire winter if you and Zelgadis-san care to stay that long," she said. "Although you can surely expect to be badgered for more accurate details -- which, I will say right here and now, you are under no obligation to provide. However, we will also certainly welcome any other tale you might care to share with us!"


Xelloss bowed graciously. "I'm honored by your hospitality, Acting High Priestess-sama," he said. "And I'll be glad to tell a tale or two, although Zelgadis-san might warn you against letting me do so!"


He grinned, and she grinned right back. He had a feeling she might actually enjoy some of his stories, and the Loremasters' reaction to them, almost as much as he enjoyed Zelgadis' reactions to them.


She turned toward the other cottages across the green. "In the meantime, I hope you don't mind if I begin by passing this tale along to Kervan next. He did go to a great deal of trouble to acquire the previous book that Zelgadis-san destroyed!"


"Not at all," Xelloss said, "It's yours to do with as you like, High Priestess-sama!"


He would have asked why Kervan had such a particular interest in the story, but he was interrupted at that moment by a sudden shaft of perfectly familiar emotion from inside the cottage. Zelgadis was waking up, and Xelloss didn't want him to think he was out bashing the Claire-Bible-filled brains of some Loremasters, or some such mischief. More importantly, since it was still so early, there was plenty of time for a little early-morning pillow talk before they had to run off and meet the Mala. He excused himself with a bow before he left the High Priestess dancing in the dew and flitted back inside the cottage.


----


Zelgadis woke up slowly. His first nearly coherent thought was relief that he didn't have to get up early to deal with any stuffy or curious Loremasters. Automatically, even before he tried to open his eyes, he made sure he could sense Xelloss nearby, as usual. Just as he did, the bed bounced as Xelloss plopped down and leaned across him with one arm on his hip.


Zel opened one eye and peered up at the trickster priest's grinning, too-wakeful face.


"W'time's'it?" he muttered. Judging by the gray light filling the room, he guessed it was either very early or very foggy.


"Still so sleepy!" Xelloss chided, sounding more delighted than surprised. "Well, I suppose we did stay up rather late last night, even after our relaxing bath!"


They'd been staying up late and waking up early most of the time lately, Zelgadis reflected, and usually for the same rather strenuous reason. He squirmed under Xelloss, trying to stretch and to wiggle out from under the blanket, and winced as his lower back reminded him of just how "strenuous" they'd been recently.


Next time, he vowed, he was actually going to relax in that bath. He scowled up at Xelloss (as if it was all his fault, which was not entirely true). As eager as he was to meet the Mala and his library, he found himself wishing he could have a quiet breakfast alone before facing any people. Of course, even if there was time, that was not likely to happen with Xelloss already so awake and so cheerful.


Zelgadis managed to sit up even though Xelloss didn't budge when he moved. It occurred to him that part of the reason for Xelloss' extra happy mood was probably due to the fact that they were not going to pursue any more Claire Bible manuscripts at the moment. Or, he thought, as Xelloss scooted his butt up the bed and leaned closer to pin him back against the pillows, maybe there was some other reason for that gleam in the Mazoku's amethyst eyes.


"As a matter of fact," Xelloss continued, "it's still fairly early; we have plenty of time before we're expected at The Mala's place. Since we neglected our lessons last night, perhaps we should use the time for a little refresher?"


As he spoke, Zelgadis felt shadowy fingers brush against his astral body. As languid and weary as he was physically, his body still responded, his pulse quickening and his senses coming fully awake all at once. He couldn't completely hide the mixed desire and irritation that surged up inside him, but even if that reaction wasn't obvious to Xelloss, the way his astral form squirmed to press back into the light touch would have given him away. Xelloss grinned even more broadly.


"Since we can't practice your astral defensive spells here," Xelloss said, "I suppose this kind of lesson will just have to do for now..."


Zelgadis raised his hand between them; all that accomplished was to increase his awareness of the solid weight of Xelloss' body under his shirt. The finger-light touch on the astral side spread around him. It was echoed by the way Xelloss spread his hands around Zel's arms, gripping lightly, but the astral touch grew firmer and demanded more of his attention there.


"Do you think you can slip from my grasp?" Xelloss teased. "I'm barely touching you now. If you concentrate hard enough on that side, maybe you can push me away... if I let you concentrate, that is!"


Zelgadis grunted in protest at the impromptu lesson, and tried to convince himself that he wanted to push Xelloss away, on either side of his awareness. But of course, Xelloss made it a point to distract him on the physical side by lunging down to clamp his lips to Zel's throat, tongue and lips sucking hard on the rough skin over his pulse.


Zelgadis gasped, and did exactly the opposite of what he was supposed to be doing before he could stop himself, clinging to Xelloss' astral form instead of slipping out of its reach. Xelloss chuckled against his skin.


"Damn it, Mazoku," Zelgadis hissed. Belatedly, he tried to squirm out of the astral grasp instead, but his senses were too divided now, his concentration lost entirely in enticing sensations. It was too late, now, anyway; Xelloss had tightened his grip, spreading more of his spirit around Zel's smaller astral form. He was trapped.


He curled his fist in Xelloss' shirt and tried to push him off, although that was just as useless, especially when Xelloss raised his head to look down at him.


Zelgadis swallowed hard, trying to get emotions and spirit under control again, but it was hopeless with Xelloss' mouth descending, so close to his...


... only to brush lightly over his lips with a sigh and turn aside. Suddenly the Mazoku's grip on his arms relaxed, and his astral touch melted away.


"Ah well, I suppose the rest of the lesson can be kept for another time," Xelloss said.


"What?" Zelgadis squawked, almost loudly enough to wake any still-sleeping neighbors in the nearby cottages.


Xelloss sighed and gave him a rueful grin as he sat back and turned toward the doorway. Zelgadis blinked in frustrated confusion, until he realized that Xelloss must have sensed someone outside. Before he could refocus his own magical senses to tell who it was, his nose caught the beautiful aroma of freshly brewed coffee.


With his attention still half caught by the astral world, he watched as Xelloss rose up quickly and went out through the other room to open the cottage door.


"Good morning, Myona-san!" he said cheerfully. "Thank you for 'knocking' so politely, but it's quite all right, we're already up! Aren't we, Zel-san!"


Zelgadis pressed his palm to his forehead and gritted his teeth.


"We are now," he muttered. But then he caught the wonderful scent of coffee again, and his stomach growled almost loud enough to drown out Myona's soft voice outside the door.


"Good morning, Xelloss-dono. I know it's a little early, but I hope you and Zelgadis-sama won't mind. I brought breakfast for you, just in case you didn't want to wait until we get to The Mala's."


"He's already had his breakfast," Zelgadis muttered with a scowl in Xelloss' direction, but he was out of bed and nearly dressed by the time Xelloss had ushered their hesitant guide into the cottage.


----


It turned out that Myona had brought not only breakfast, but supplies for more meals at the cottage - coffee, hard rolls, some fruit, extra cups and bowls for them to use later.


"Marcus always gets takeout," he said by way of explanation, after they'd sampled enough of the offering to take the edge off Zelgadis' morning grumpiness. "They never cook or do dishes over there, so it probably didn't occur to him that you would, but I thought you might not mind..."


"You are brilliant," Zelgadis said, finally forgiving the boy for his untimely interruption earlier. He had been getting low on coffee and had dreaded the thought of having to go out among the residents of the temple first thing in the morning to get it. His enthusiastic gratitude brought a startled blush to Myona's cheeks, and that, in turn, brought an equally startled frown of - was that jealousy? - to Xelloss' face. Zelgadis chuckled.


"Let's be off, then," he said, throwing his cloak around his shoulders.


"By all means," Xelloss agreed, immediately cheerful again. "We certainly don't want to keep The Mala waiting on us, do we!"


They let Myona lead them on a tiny path that crossed the slope behind and above the village, a shortcut back to the road they'd arrived on two days ago. When they left the Temple grounds, Zelgadis felt the unusual aura fade as if they'd crossed an invisible barrier, and Xelloss turned his head as if he suddenly missed a familiar scent.


The path edged along the steep hillside behind the village. They looked down into narrow kitchen gardens, mostly harvested and turned for winter, or small back yards where fishing nets were strung on poles to be mended, or racks of fish laid out over fragrant wood fires. Everywhere near the village, the fragrant smoke of hickory and alder wood drifted to them on the gusty wind. The storm they'd seen approaching the night before was still lying in wait out at sea, a line of black clouds strung across the horizon. Overhead, a high haze filtered the sunlight, leeching the color out of the landscape.


Myona led them through a narrow, low gap in the hedge behind the last village house, and they found themselves back on the road they'd followed two days ago. Before long, they saw the roofs and turrets of the mansion. A thin trail of smoke rose from one of the chimneys now, tattered by the wind like a war banner.


"What else can you tell us about the Mala, Myona?" Zelgadis asked as they walked. "Is he really likely to let a stranger into his library of rare, magical manuscripts?"


"That does seem very generous of him," Xelloss said thoughtfully. "Most sorcerers prefer to guard that kind of collection - presuming the books are authentic."


Myona glanced back over his shoulder. His brow furrowed for a moment as he seemed to think about it, then he shrugged.


"Well, there's nothing much to say about Melly, really. He's just, you know, Melly..." his voice trailed off, as if he couldn't think of any other way to describe the Mala. "I'm pretty sure he'll let anyone use the library, if he likes them; I mean, he lets Shuno use it all the time, and he's pretty annoying. Oh, but..." he gnawed on his lower lip briefly before he went on. "I forgot, he didn't want to let that nice Professor from the Guild in, for some reason. I don't know why, she was...really... nice.... "


He trailed off again. Curious about what had distracted him this time, Zelgadis was surprised to see a blush flooding Myona's cheeks before the boy ducked his head and turned away.


He glanced over at Xelloss, whose grin seemed to confirm what he thought he'd seen. He wondered if Professor Herringull knew she'd been the object of a young man's crush. Probably not; if he wasn't an object of study, Zelgadis guessed she wouldn't have noticed him at all.


He scowled when he thought about Melly's reluctance to let her use his library. It wasn't surprising that the Mala had not liked Professor Herringull, who was a meticulous scholar and well known as a skeptic about Skye, but that didn't reveal whether Melianthus would welcome a more open-minded researcher into his library or not.


After a second, Myona gave his tousled head a shake and brought his thoughts back to the question.


"Kervan-san used to go there a lot when he first came here, even though Melly didn't want to let him in at first. I remember Sis saying Kervan could probably finagle his way into any place. I don't think anyone else has ever asked, though; not since I can remember."


"Kervan-san studies ancient magic as well?" Xelloss murmured. "How interesting."


"I don't know what he studies," Myona shrugged. "As far as I can tell, he just likes to read everything he can find."


"Well, at any rate," Xelloss said cheerfully, "it sounds like we want to make a good first impression on Melly-san, if that's what it takes to get into his library!"


Zelgadis had to agree, and could only wonder how difficult it might be to do that. Under the circumstances, blasting his way into the library or sneaking in (both methods he'd used without a qualm in the past) did not seem like the best tactics. He glared suspiciously at Xelloss, knowing that the trickster was just as likely to make a bad first impression merely for the sake of getting on his nerves - assuming he didn't have any other reason to keep him away from the information in the Mala's library.


There was no reason to think he did; Xelloss didn't seem to have known of the library's existence before they arrived. Zelgadis decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least on that point.


"If we're going to make a good impression, you might not want to call him Melly-san when we get there," he pointed out.


"Oh, I don't know if he even cares what anyone calls him," Myona said, with another shrug of one thin shoulder. "I don't think he really likes being called The Mala, anyway; he always waves it off when anyone calls him that in person, except maybe my sister. Like it embarrasses him to be reminded that he's supposed to be someone important, or something."


"My, my, such humility," Xelloss said, grinning.


They were walking along the high edge of the northern point now, with a view of the bay and the hooked cliff to the south, and the open sea beyond. Myona's steps slowed a little as his eyes were drawn toward the great, black stones of the ruins. Xelloss turned his head to stare at it for a moment as well.


"We haven't heard your tales of those ruins yet, and your other stories, Myona-san," Xelloss said, turning back to their guide.


Myona's dark eyes got rounder and darker, although Zelgadis was certain he came close to breaking out in a full-fledged smile. But he ducked his head and turned toward the path ahead a second later, bashful again, Zelgadis thought - or secretive, perhaps? He couldn't be sure. Considering how well the boy seemed to be able to control his emotions, he wasn't sure Xelloss would have been able to tell which it was, either.


"You should probably hear Melly's story about the ruins, too," Myona said. "Unless you know that tale already?"


"Only the rumor that he might actually be descended from the Sorcerers of Skye who might have landed here," Zelgadis said. He frowned, keeping one eye on Xelloss for his reaction. "Although I don't suppose he has any actual evidence to prove it, does he?" he mused.


After all, he thought, if the Asmalath family had any proof of their claim, the Mala should have welcomed Professor Herringull's investigation. Whatever else he thought of her research, he felt fairly certain that she was ethical enough to report such evidence in her findings.


Myona tipped his head with an odd look in his dark eyes and the hint of a smile on his lips.


"The proof of a tale is all in the telling," he said. "Or so the Loremasters say!"


Typically cryptic of the Loremasters, Zelgadis thought, with a huff of impatience. Xelloss veiled a smile behind his hand.


----


It became even more blustery as they followed the smaller path that lead out onto the point toward the mansion. They walked through a stunted forest of pines and cedars, all bent toward the mountains by the nearly constant sea wind. When the path turned to the right and came out of the trees, even Zelgadis felt the force of a gust that hit them as if it was trying to push them back toward the village. Their cloaks whipped around their legs, flapping like sails. Myona walked hunched over, his dark hair blown back from his face, but he looked up into the wind, almost smiling as if welcoming its rough touch.


Xelloss stared ahead, as placidly unconcerned as ever, even with his hair darting like whip ends around his face. Zelgadis followed his gaze to the mansion that was now sprawled out directly in front of them. It was long and rambling, just as the glimpse of its roofs had suggested, built of weathered gray stone the color of the sea on a cloudy day. Rows of high, narrow windows faced the sea, their multiple panes of glass glinting in the late morning light.


Zelgadis was surprised to find an elaborate garden spreading out around the seaward side of the mansion. The path now passed between carefully tended beds of flowers, many of them still in bloom with bright red and gold flower heads fluttering in the gusty wind. They made a surprising splash of color out here on the rugged edge of the land.


The wind dropped suddenly as they approached the main entrance of the mansion, giving Zelgadis the odd feeling that it was relenting to let them near the place after all. He gazed ahead at the building, wondering which of the many rambling wings of it held the library. He also wondered for the first time if anyone else lived here beside Melianthus, and whether they would meet any other members of the Asmalath family.


He heard a murmur of surprise from Xelloss, and ahead of them, Myona suddenly slowed down. Glancing up the path, Zelgadis was surprised to see a familiar face approaching them. It was the bat-winged serving girl, but without her usual layers of dark makeup, and wearing the simple gray gown and white apron of a housemaid. She approached demurely with her hands clasped in front of her, but even in such a domestic disguise, her lip still curled when she saw Myona, as if, Zelgadis thought, she wanted to lick her fangs at the sight of him. But a second later she caught herself, and after a brief glance to acknowledge himself and Xelloss, she lowered her eyes and curtseyed toward them politely.


"Master Melianthus is taking his morning tea in the garden, if it would please his honored guests to join him," she said.


"Thank you, we'd like that very much," Zelgadis said, just managing to sound equally polite.


"This way then, please," she said, and turned to lead the way without raising her eyes again.


Myona gave a barely audible sigh.


"I forgot Dulcinea works here sometimes too," Zelgadis heard him mutter in a deflated-sounding whisper. "Figures she'd be here this morning."


He followed her down the path, and Zelgadis and Xelloss fell into step behind him.


"It must take quite a large staff to keep up a place like this," Xelloss remarked. "Does Melianthus-sama do the gardening himself, I wonder? It's quite the splendid setting."


"The Master has a cook and a manservant, and a few of us from the village come out to keep house for him, day to day," Dulcinea said. She turned her head to toss her next words back over her shoulder as she walked. "A woman from the Temple does the gardens. It's tradition, I've heard."


It was quite an impressive garden, Zelgadis noted. At the Temple, the gardens rambled up the hillside like a half-tamed wilderness among the many boardwalks and buildings, as if to reflect the chaotic nature of the Golden Lord, but they were as much functional with vegetables and herbs as they were decorative. In contrast, the Asmalath gardens were formal and impeccably neat, and almost entirely ornamental. Even the occasional magical herb fit into the pattern, but unlike some sorcerer's gardens, there was no magical meaning to the design, as far as he could see.


Dulcinea slowed to a stop, stood aside and curtseyed again as the path curved around a small yew tree in an urn at the end of a low stone wall. Myona nervously ducked past her, then halted as well. They were in the heart of the garden now, Zelgadis discovered as he came up beside their guide; white paving stones brought several paths onto a circular terrace with a small pool at the center. Near the pool, there was a table laid out ready for breakfast with a white cloth, gleaming white china and silverware.


The terrace was somewhat sheltered from the wind by clipped cedars and a low stone wall, so there were only fitful gusts to bob the white and purple mums planted around the pool. Golden plumes of dry sea grass waved like tresses of a maiden's hair caught on the breeze.


Amidst all that, it was a few seconds before Zelgadis noticed a woman standing with her back to them on the other side of the terrace. She was working over a table full of pots and spades and other gardening tools, and as he watched, she plunked some cut flowers in a vase. The hair that fell down her back was a paler shade of the gray sea grasses, almost colorless, and longer than Gourry's. She was nearly as tall as he was, but more slight of build; the cut of her cream-colored robes accented narrow shoulders, slim hips and long legs. She hardly seemed sturdy enough to be a gardener, in fact Zelgadis thought she looked like a full gust of the sea wind might blow her right off the point.


He glanced around at the table all set for breakfast, but there was no one else in the terrace. Myona hesitated, fidgeting nervously. Dulcinea curtsied to all of them, and then turned and walked away.


Xelloss peered around the terrace curiously, ignoring the gardener.


"Oh, dear," he murmured, "I do hope we're not unfashionably early!"


The woman seemed to notice them then; she turned around to face them, a swirl of white and lavender robes with her hair flashing like a spiral of sea spray as she turned. As her face came into view, Zelgadis suddenly realized that she was neither a gardener nor a woman.


They all stood there staring at each other across the pool, and absolutely nothing happened for several seconds except for the flowers bobbing in the breeze. Myona made a little squeaking sound in his throat. Zelgadis wasn't sure if he was choking from nerves or trying not to laugh at all of them.


"Myona-kun," the person in the white robes said, "how nice to see you! Please do me the honor of introducing me to your friends?"


Myona really did choke then. He ducked his head and spoke in a voice so quick and whispery that even Zelgadis could barely catch the words.


"Sir, may I please present to you Xelloss of the Mazoku and Zelgadis Greywords who are our honored guests at the Temple; Xelloss-dono, Zelgadis-sama, please allow me to introduce to you Melianthus Asmalath, The Mala."


"Ah!" Xelloss said.

Zelgadis hoped his surprise wasn't too obvious. He bowed, stiffly, calling up rarely used manners.


"It is our honor to meet you, Mala-sama," Zelgadis said.


After a second, Xelloss drew his staff across his chest and bowed too, very formally - formal enough to be an outright mockery of politeness, Zelgadis thought, but the Mala didn't seem to notice. He waved a pale hand at them as he came around the pool, pausing to deposit the lopsided flower arrangement on the table along the way.


"Oh please, none of that stuffy 'Mala' business! Melianthus will do!" he said, just as Myona had predicted. "And anyway, the honor is most certainly mine!"


He rushed toward them in a sweep of trailing sleeves and long hair, his arms spread open. For a moment, Zelgadis thought with horror that he was going to embrace the both of them, but he merely grasped one of each of their hands in his and beamed at them.


"My, my!" he exclaimed, stepping back to look at them. "I'm so excited to meet such famous adventurers! But I must say, the tales don't do you justice at all! Please come and join me at the table. Dulcinea will be back with the tea in a moment."


He led the way to the table. Along the way he dropped Xelloss' hand, but he kept held of Zelgadis by the arm until he'd pulled out a chair and fairly deposited him into it. He took the chair next to Zel for himself, and gestured Xelloss over to sit across the table from him. Zelgadis hid his discomfort under a polite smile. Xelloss circled the table to sit in the indicated spot, keeping his hidden gaze on Melianthus the entire time.


----


By the time they were all settled together with the tea and scones Dulcinea served them, Zelgadis had decided that, aside from the fantastically long hair and delicate figure, Melianthus Asmalath was simply the most ordinary looking person he had ever seen. A few minutes after meeting him, he could not have given a description of the Mala; he could not have told anyone the color of his eyes or the shape of his face. Melianthus' voice wasn't particularly impressive either; it was not quite monotonous enough to be irritating, but it had no noticeable expression, either. Even with his rather feminine features, he was simply too plain to be called pretty. His welcoming smile seemed to be nothing more than a show of perfect, white teeth.


At any rate, he was certainly not alarming. Even Myona relaxed, only stammering with nerves if he was called upon to speak or to do anything noticeable. In fact, Zelgadis caught their guide rolling his eyes once when Melianthus was speaking. Even he did not take The Mala very seriously, after all.


Zelgadis had to force himself to pay attention to whatever Melianthus was saying; it was far easier to let the words flutter past his ears unnoticed. He found himself watching Xelloss instead, his attention snagged by the purple highlights in his dark hair, the way a few strands blew around his face, and the way he absently tucked those stray locks of hair back behind his ear.


Caught up in these details, he finally noticed that Xelloss was leaning toward the Mala with an intense, fascinated expression, so intent that Zel could see the gleam of his half-open eyes under his bangs. He tried to see what was so interesting to the mazoku, but failed. In fact, he found it just a little irritating that Xelloss appeared to be so fascinated by someone he already found too boring to listen to.


There was not the slightest hint of a magical aura from the man. Aside from the rich robes and the delicate figure, there was absolutely nothing to distinguish this man as a member of an ancient and powerful magical family. If Zelgadis had passed Melianthus Asmalath in the street, he would not have spared him a single glance.


He sat back, suppressing a sigh of familiar disappointment, and caught Myona watching him with his lips sucked in between his teeth and his eyebrows twitching. It looked suspiciously like the boy was trying not to laugh.


Xelloss' voice finally brought him back to the conversation.


"Why yes, Melianthus-sama," Xelloss was saying enthusiastically, "in fact, I'm sure Zelgadis-san would love to hear the story of your honored ancestor's arrival here, or perhaps read an account of it. Assuming there is a written account, that is?"


Zelgadis suddenly realized why Myona was amused. He was so benumbed by the Mala's utter lack of personality that he'd forgotten why they came here in the first place.


"Yes indeed, I would like very much to hear about your family's great history," he said quickly.


He forced himself to focus on Melianthus and look him in the eyes, although it was rather like trying to find life in a cloud. Grey eyes stared back at him, blinking slowly, as if he didn't quite comprehend Zel's words. Zelgadis thought he might have jumped into the conversation too abruptly; maybe his comment didn't make sense after what Xelloss had just said, after all. He also worried briefly that he might have offended Melianthus; the magic-less Mala might be sensitive to mentions of his illustrious family. But after a moment Melianthus smiled, although to Zel it seemed that his eyes were still blank.


"Oh, yes," he said breezily. "There are some written accounts, in fact there are several translations from the old diaries of the first Asmalaths to arrive on this continent. I'm not very good at story-telling myself. Oh, I know, such a scandalous thing to admit in this town!" he added dramatically, with a wink at Myona. "Well, we can't all be loremasters, can we? But if you're interested, Zelgadis-san, perhaps you'd like to visit my library?"


He leaned toward Zelgadis, smiling more broadly, almost with actual emotion. He waved his hand in the direction of the mansion, and then let it fall onto Zelgadis' knee.


"Please allow me to show you around my humble home," Melianthus said, blandly gracious. "I rarely have any visitors at all, so I'm a little rusty at playing host, but I would be delighted if you would be my guests for the afternoon! And of course, I'll be glad to show you to the library as well. Please do say you'll stay, Zelgadis-san!"


Zelgadis blinked in surprise. His first instinct was to recoil from the attention, but even the Mala's fiercest interest was barely enough to arouse his self-consciousness. The lure of the library was much stronger. He'd expected to have to cajole his way inside, somehow; he never thought it would be this easy!


He was about to reply when he caught a glimpse of Xelloss past Melianthus' shoulder.


He hadn't seen such a thunderous scowl on the mazoku's face since they'd left Mystport. It wasn't the expression of cold rage or gleeful violence that the Soldiers of Shimer had inspired, though; it was the soul-burning glare that Xelloss had trained on Professor Herringull when her back was turned, when she'd been fawning over him as if she wanted to keep this fascinating chimera specimen for her very own.


Zelgadis glanced down at the Mala's hand that lingered on his knee, and then back up at the bland face grinning into his. He smiled back, and - to his own surprise - dropped his hand onto Melly's.


"Why, certainly, Melianthus-sama," he said warmly. "Thank you, I'd like that very much!"


He heard Myona choke and cough into his hand. He didn't quite dare look at Xelloss.


----


to be continued! How far will Zelgadis go to get his hands on the contents of the Mala's library? And how far will Xelloss go along with it? ~_^

So... yeah. finally. Comments please? )o.o(