Bacchus was as good as his word about the tour. Alice found that he made a surprisingly good tour guide. In fact, she might have found it interesting if she weren’t so distracted.
He took her down long corridors and into large, spacious rooms done in marble and gold. The first was a bath house, which Alice gaped around at in awe, feeling the misty steam curl around her and brush past her cheeks. It was huge, nearly the size of a football field. Marble columns ran down each section, dividing the pools. There were baths of every shape and size, a heart shaped bath with peach coloured water, a circular, crystal blue pool, a clam-shaped pool with green water. Here and there, beds had been set up, and there were a couple of people receiving massages from the silent, white-clad servants.
When she looked up she caught Bacchus staring sideways at her. He didn’t flinch or look away, just smiled in a way that made her skin prickle.
“Do you like it?”
“It looks…relaxing.”
It did. Alice wanted to cut the tour short before it began and stay here. The steam curling off the waters looked inviting, and she was so tense. A massage would be wonderful.
“Well, this place is heaven,” Bacchus pointed out.
Alice smiled. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She hung back a little when he turned for the door, listening to the music being piped over the speakers in the corners. Gentle music, classical, if she wasn’t mistaken. She could really learn to like this place.
“Shall we continue?” Bacchus swept one hand towards the exit. “I promise, there are still more pleasures waiting, many more.”
She didn’t doubt it, though the way he said “pleasures” made her a little nervous. He had better not get any funny ideas. Instinctively, Alice found herself reaching for the necklace she always wore, but then she dropped her hand away, holding back a laugh. He was a god, two measly little threads of magic weren’t going to help. The thought of the magic though, it was enough to make her reach up and touch the vial hanging from the chain. She missed that electric tingle, the buzz of taking in magic. She hadn’t done it in so long.
Maybe she should, just to hold it inside, just in case he tried anything.
For the second time, she looked up and caught Bacchus staring, but this time his eyes had gone narrow, and they glittered knowingly. She pulled her hand away and blinked at him, heart suddenly beating furiously. What was that look for? He looked like he thought he knew something, or…like he’d figured out something about her.
Bacchus said nothing though, he just opened the door for her and gestured for her to go ahead. They were both silent the rest of the way down the long corridor, and Alice took in the ornate, Grecian sculptures on pedestals lining the walls, and the decorative ferns that draped from the sconces. Everything was lush and colourful and utterly beautiful. Of course, this was heaven, so it was no surprise.
“You know,” Bacchus broke the silence, finally. “You could only half sacrifice yourself.”
Alice nearly tripped over her own feet, skidding to a stop, but Bacchus kept going down the hallway, not even looking over his shoulder to see her reaction.
She hurried to catch up. “What? What are you talking about?”
He shrugged, carefully casual. “I mean, the reason my people want you is because of your power. Because they’ve never seen a witch of such power and they covet you, or they want you dead. But if you only gave up some of your power….”
YOU ARE READING
Goddess Unravelled
Fantasy"Who will we send after the little witch?" The room went silent as one of them stood up from her throne, pacing forward. Her skirts flowed over the marble floors as silently as a whisper. Every eye was drawn to her. "I will go after her and make he...
