Page 63 of Zel
“Did you enjoy that as much as I did?” Zel asked.
“You need to ask?”
“Sometimes, it’s difficult to imagine I could be anything special to you. You must have been with so many others.”
“I was. And while pleasure could be achieved, there was always something missing.” Ulrich stroked Zel’s back between the dangle of jewels, and Zel tilted his head up to meet their gazes. “I had no love for myself, no love for anything, and so all the world seemed numb and tasteless, like my senses had been muted. Until you brought color and life back into it.”
Zel’s smile was an added burst of radiance, but it quickly faded. “Backinto it means there was color once. With your friends?”
“Yes, but long before the events I showed you, I knew a different kind of happiness.”
“With your mother?”
Such a clever cabbage to have guessed right. “I would rather not think on that tonight. Color and true undiluted happiness in this gray world can be found right here, and I wish to think on nothing else.”
“Then here is where we shall stay.” Zel tilted his head higher for a kiss and whispered, “I love you, Ulrich.”
He had implied it before, and Ulrich had heard him admit as much to Rudy, but to hear it said directly to him stung worse than Ulrich expected.
Or perhaps that was the sting of tears in his eyes.
“Beautiful Zel, you are a singular entity in this world.” Ulrich petted Zel’s hair, lulling him with magic to fall asleep faster than he would have naturally. Only after Zel drifted into slumber did Ulrich whisper back, “I love you, little cabbage.”
He could not possibly live without Zel after this. Which was why he did not plan to. He would not live at all after tomorrow night, and Zel could have a happy life with someone else someday who would be far more deserving.
Ulrich could only hope that Zel forgave him once this was finally over.
Fourteen
ZEL
Our dearest Rapunzel,
Your father and I await the return of our beloved child with open doors whenever you next darken them. We know the sorcerer will have found you worthy as your final day with him wanes, and we hope to celebrate your marriage soon.
Though little has changed in the day-to-day lives of our friends and neighbors, trust that they miss you dearly, as do we.
-Your Enduring Mother
The day had come. Everything was set. The coded message from Zel’s parents implied they were ready as well, and that Lothar’s schedule should be as usual, given the wording of “little has changed in the day-to-day.” The hope was to reach Lothar stealthily with minimal encounters, but should fighting commence, Ulrich was a powerhouse, and Zel was confident in his skills with a dagger, as well now in his skills with his hair.
How much easier it would have been to simply blend in and walk freely as guild members with Ulrich disguised as one too, if Zel had not been the most recognizable of members, and everyone knew he should be at the tower—or only returned with the sorcerer's head. They had considered feigning that as well but couldn’t be certain if Lothar would keep the audience private or invite the whole of the guild to celebrate.
With evening on approach, Zel doubted his parents would read a reply letter before events transpired, but he sent one anyway.
Mother & Father,
I will see you soon. I love you both. But please, from now on, call me Zel as others do, for Zel is who I am.
-Your Devoted Child
Ulrich ported them into the city at sunset. Before they left, Zel used the orb that could see anywhere its wielder had been to check every corridor and room he could within the ThievesGuild. But although he should have been able to see inside Lothar’s sanctum, since he had been there before, he could not. One of Lothar’s many trinkets must have been blocking outside magic. That did not bode well, but they had to trust Zel’s parents were correct that Lothar would be there as usual.
They blinked into existence in a back alley rarely frequented by foot traffic, like the one they had used when heading to Hessen House. This one was closer to Pied Pipers—Zel’s home, with living quarters above and an entrance into the Thieves Guild through the storeroom. The shop would be closed for the evening, but all doors would be unlocked, just as Zel’s mother had hinted at when she’d written “open doors.”
Perhaps Zel was being sentimental, but it seemed fitting to wear his pendant from Rudy beneath his remade assassin garb, which he had crafted using the magical loom. He hadn’t brought his original outfit to the tower, but he had mimicked it with the finer fabrics from Ulrich’s treasure room, made it better, even allowing his hood to be a more vibrant violet because it still blended well with the shadows and Ulrich had said the hue looked lovely on him.
Ulrich donned no base disguise to dull his brilliance but wore a similar outfit to Zel’s to hide the sparkle of his hair and the aura about him that no one could miss when looking upon his visage. Their outfits were enough that if anyone spotted them darting through the dark, they would assumeThieves Guild assassinsand leave them be.
