As Tess led me into the treatment room, the scent of jasmine hit my nose with almost overwhelming intensity.
"Your herbal infusion bath has been prepared."
When she hit a switch on the wall and the cover over the oversized tub retracted, my heightened werewolf senses made the mixture of herbs in the water nearly intoxicating.
Luckily these slippers have good soles, otherwise I may have slipped and stumbled while bracing my footing.
"Each ingredient has been specially chosen to promote relaxation and rejuvenation. If you have any questions or concerns, please just let me know."
Steam rose from the water's surface almost like the hot springs near the mountain border of my kingdom. Though I recall a very different, pungent, sulfur scent there.
I'm sure this one will not be any less effective for missing that as its strongest smell.
"Thank you."
I nodded at her and waited until she closed the door behind her. When I untied the robe, another mirror caught my reflection as the cloth fell from my shoulders and to the floor.
> Humans really do like to see themselves, don't they? I understand, as I am notably vain, but still… <
I stare again at this body. With its somewhat familiar but unfamiliar curves… and most importantly, what grew inside it.
My hand drifted to a flat stomach. The swell really shouldn't be visible for months yet, but knowing the system's pack roster told me it was there…
Helene's child.
A piece of her I couldn't simply wash away or have a stylist pull apart. The last piece of her, which I'd already vowed to see through to the end in-
Well- anger and rage?
Which are probably not the best reasons to keep a child. But they can't be any worse than my Queen Mother.
A woman who informed me on my twelfth birthday that she mated with her King, my father, that year only to get out of traveling to a raven shifter centennial cultural event.
Carrying me almost kicked off a trade war.
For a moment, it sinks in that I might be risking the same sort of high stakes. Jace is well enough liked in the Duskpaw.
If he decides to come for the child, while a very tall and beautiful white haired businesswoman… wait, what am I thinking?
There would be no… Lunar War, I believe they call them, over me. When she learns I'm pregnant with a former mate's child, she'll rescind all this talk of fated mates.
Surely.
> Shut up, stop growling. I get it. <
My wolf's sudden opinion startled me, but I didn't disagree. I can't predict what that Alpha will do.
When I started talking back to her, she hadn't acted as I'd expected. Which is all the scarier.
Court intrigue is a game that thrives on knowing your opponents, allies, and useful pawns moves even before they make them. I am so out of my depth in this world, in so many ways.
"Wasting time standing here and stressing myself out. So much for relaxing scents!"
I carefully stepped into the tub and sank into its water, which was hot enough to make my skin flush pink quickly. But not quite enough to scald this human skin.
Perfect temperature, really. Like my favorite bathing spring in the mountain villa.
When I leaned back against the smooth porcelain, even more tension began to drain from muscles than had in the shower. Places I hadn't even realized were quite so knotted loosened.
I even let out a few questionable moans in Helene's voice…
"I suppose I should start thinking of names."
After a minute of comfort, my thoughts circled to this.
> Something fitting for a child of two worlds, perhaps. Though maybe I should think about naming you first, hm? <
"Barking like that at me is only going to make me want to give you a name you won't like more."
It quiets down in my mindscape. My sight unfocuses and drifts. However, I cannot fully relax.
The snowflake glyph pulsing faintly at the edge of my vision is a reminder that according to this Apocalypse System, there might not be much point to anything I do.
What sort of world will even be left for the woman's progeny to inherit in less than two months?
I closed my eyes, trying to push the cynical thought away. Trusting all the information it has given to me implicitly was a bad choice without understanding its motives.
Besides, what did that word even mean in this context? Certainly not the 'Biblical' end of all things, right?
"This girl and her memory. A pagan fox, placed in a pagan wolf, yet somehow I can know the general source of such a term in this world."
It makes it all the more clear that this system was always meant for her. If this was all in my original language, I might better understand the nuance.
Still… it must not be a total end. Otherwise, why 'choose' Helene? My gaze brings up the timer again and I sigh.
"Unless you really are just a cruel fey trickster, showing part of the truth while providing false hope. If so, you have a truly horrendous personality and I hope the dissolution of the universe claims you as well."
The herbs worked their magic as I deeply breathed in the steam. Chamomile and lavender soothed my frayed nerves while mint and rosemary cleared my head.
So long as I didn't let myself spiral deeper into my worries.
⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖
I must have dozed off. Because the next thing I knew, Tess was gently tapping on the door to let me know it was time for my next treatment.
The water had cooled off to the room's temperature. A glance at the system's map and its clock tells me that it's been nearly half an hour.
"Not good, I already don't want to leave this place."
I muttered with no real conviction as I wrapped myself in the robe for another trip through the building. Though part of me thinks that might have been her plan.
Foist a luxurious experience on me that makes me crave to stay by her side.
"The full body scrub is next. Unless you'd like to take some time to yourself in your room?"
Part of me thinks I should. Just to go check and make sure my backpack is still where I left it.
That my things have not been rifled through. But I just shake my head.
"No, I'll be fine."
The next room I was taken to is cooler, the air rich with scents of coffee and more vanilla. Inside was a woman with silver-streaked, dark hair that delivered a practiced smile with her hands locked low together.
"Welcome. I'm Sonya. I'll be performing your coffee exfoliation treatment today."
I glanced at the padded table in the center of the room. It was covered with a clean white sheet and had a hole where I imagined a face might go if laying on one's stomach.
"Coffee... exfoliation?"
Only one of those words was familiar. The brown liquid that so many humans in the city walked around with in their cups.
The other one, Helene did not know for once! I should not be so happy about that, but I am.
"Yes."
The woman gestured to an array of bowls and jars arranged on a nearby trolley. She lifted a small one to show me its contents - a dark, gritty paste that smelled quite intensely.
"The grounds help remove dead skin cells while the caffeine stimulates circulation. The vanilla oil afterward helps moisturize."
The concept wasn't entirely foreign. In my kingdom, many noble ladies used crushed walnut shells mixed with honey for a similar purpose.
Some of the merchants' daughters I'd spent the most time with had skin that felt impossibly soft from such treatments.
"What do I need to do?"
My voice came out a little too… excited. I'd still been trying to convince my mother to let our beauticians start to provide those treatments for us, but the woman hated walnuts.
Which meant I had to hate them as well.
She was clearly a 'psychopath'.