I never expected to miss the capital. For years I had lived inside its walls, walking the same crowded streets, attending the same suffocating gatherings where nobles pretended they liked each other while quietly plotting their rivals' downfall. It had always felt too loud, too busy, too full of eyes watching everything you did.
Now, standing at the edge of the city again, it felt strangely different. Like seeing a home after a fire.
The capital stretched before us beneath the pale morning sun, its tall stone walls rising high against the horizon. The towers of the royal district were visible even from here, gleaming faintly as the light caught the white marble.
Somewhere in that maze of streets, Leanna was probably waking up next to my or ... was my fiancé in the palace I was supposed to enter as a bride. The thought made my stomach twist. I pulled the hood of my cloak lower over my face.
"Are you going to stare at the walls all day," Mal said beside me, "or are we going inside?" His voice was calm, almost bored, like we were discussing the weather instead of returning to the city that had tried to execute me twelve hours earlier. "I'm thinking," I muttered.
"You have been thinking for several minutes."
"That's how thinking works." I snapped back in frustration.
Mal watched me with the faintest hint of amusement. Through the strange bond between us I could feel it his steady, quiet curiosity brushing faintly against my own thoughts. It was still a bizarre sensation, like realizing someone else was standing just behind you when you thought you were alone.
I shifted uncomfortably. "Stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Feeling things."
"That is not something I can turn off."
"Great." I exhaled slowly and turned back toward the city, I knew that but his feelings where starting to overpower my own, or at least it felt like it.
Even from here I could hear the streets of the city waking up. The faint hum of morning traffic, wagon wheels against cobblestones, merchants shouting as they opened their stalls. The air smelled like bread baking somewhere nearby mixed with the sharper scent of smoke from morning fires. A year ago that sound would have meant routine. Now it sounded like danger.
My pulse picked up slightly. Mal noticed. "You are nervous."
"I'm not nervous."
"You are."
I crossed my arms. "I'm cautious."
He tilted his head. "Humans have many words for fear."
"Do demons not?"
"No." His answers always seemed so simple when he said them, like it was a matter of fact not opinion.
"That sounds exhausting."
Mal said nothing. For a moment neither of us moved.
The city gates stood open ahead of us as travelers came and went under the watchful eyes of two armored guards. Wagons creaked through the entrance while merchants argued over tariffs with bored officials. Normal life, as if nothing had happened, as if yesterday hadn't shattered mine completely. A wave of anger stirred in my chest again. I tried to force myself to breathe slowly.
"Alright," I said finally. "We need to blend in."
Mal looked down at himself. "What is wrong with my appearance?"
I followed his gaze. Black coat, black boots, black hair, completely black eyes.
"Yes," I said flatly. "Nothing suspicious about that at all."
His lips twitched slightly. I reached into the satchel we'd bought from the innkeeper that morning and pulled out a pair of tinted spectacles. "Put these on."
Mal took them slowly. "You want me to wear human eyewear."
"Yes." I chuckled a little, it was the first time I had actually seen him flustered.
"I am a demon king."
"You are currently a demon king trying not to get arrested, who also made a contract with me." He considered that. Then, with obvious reluctance, he put them on. The dark lenses hid his eyes completely.
I stepped back and examined him. "Better."
"I feel ridiculous."
"You look mysterious."
"That... is not an improvement."
I smiled faintly. Despite everything that had happened, the normal rhythm of the conversation grounded me in a way I hadn't expected. For the first time since the cathedral, I almost felt like myself again... Almost.
"Ready?" I asked.
Mal glanced toward the gates. "After you."
We joined the slow line of travelers moving toward the city entrance. My heart beat steadily harder with every step closer to the guards. Don't look nervous. Don't look guilty. Just walk. The line moved forward, one wagon at a time, one traveler at a time. Then suddenly it was our turn. The guard stepped forward, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Names?"
I froze for half a second. Mal answered smoothly. "Marcus and Eliza."
I blinked. The guard looked at me. "Eliza?"
I nodded quickly. "Yes." My voice sounded calmer than I felt.
The guard glanced between us suspiciously. "Where are you coming from?"
"Traveling merchants," Mal replied easily. "We were visiting family outside the city." He said it with such confidence that even I almost believed him.
The guard grunted. Then he stepped aside. "Move along." Just like that, we walked through the gate and into the capital. My chest loosened slightly.
"That was easier than I expected," I whispered once we were several steps away.
Mal shrugged. "Humans rarely question confidence."
"Good to know." The streets were already busy with morning activity. Market stalls lined the road, vendors shouting over each other while customers haggled aggressively over prices. Children ran between carts while bakers carried trays of fresh bread out onto display tables.
Life continued here. Completely unaware that I had nearly been executed less than a day ago. I kept my hood low. Every familiar building felt like a ghost. I knew these streets, I had walked them for years, but now I felt like an intruder in my own home.
Mal's voice broke into my thoughts. "Where are we going?"
I slowed slightly. "The black market district."
His eyebrow lifted behind the tinted lenses. "You know where that is?" His shock was evident.
"Everyone in the capital knows where it is."
"And yet the guards do nothing about it."
"Because half the nobles buy things there."
Mal chuckled quietly. "Humans are fascinating."
I glanced sideways at him. "You're enjoying this to much."
"I am."
"That's slightly concerning."
The streets gradually narrowed as we moved deeper into the older parts of the city. The elegant stone buildings of the noble district gave way to darker alleyways and crowded shop fronts. The air smelled different here, less of bread, more of smoke, and something faintly metallic beneath it. Magic.
I felt it before I understood it. A strange tingling brushed across my skin, subtle but unmistakable.
Mal stopped walking. "So," he said quietly. "You feel it too."
My heart skipped. "Feel what?"
He studied me carefully. "The magic."
I blinked. "I thought that was you."
"It is not."
The tingling intensified slightly as we stepped deeper into the district. A flicker of unease crept into my chest.
"Is that normal?" I asked.
"For most humans?" "No."
I frowned. "Then why can I feel it?"
Mal didn't answer immediately.
Instead he looked at me with a thoughtful expression that made me suddenly uncomfortable.
"Interesting," he murmured.
"Mal."
"hmm?" He hummed.
"Stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"The mysterious demon observation thing."
He smiled slightly. "Later."
I groaned. "You're impossible."
"Correct." He chuckled lightly
We continued walking until the street narrowed into a crooked alley lined with crooked shops and faded lanterns. Strange symbols were carved into the wooden doors, some glowing faintly with magic. This was the place. The part of the city where laws became… flexible. Where the grey zone existed. I stopped in front of one narrow building with a faded red door.
Mal glanced at the sign hanging above it. "You believe the mage is here." He questioned me.
"Yes."
"How certain are you?"
I reached for the door handle. "Not very."
Mal smiled slowly. "Good."
"Why is that good?"
"Because uncertainty usually means something interesting is about to happen."
I pushed the door open. The bell above it rang softly. And somewhere deep inside the shop, someone whispered: "Oh." The voice sounded surprised. "Another one of her bloodline."
My stomach dropped. "Mal," I said slowly. He looked at me out the side of his eye but didn't take his eyes off the person before us.
"I think we just found the mage."
And judging by the look on Mal's face, the mage had found something else too.