“That would be one way to put it.”
Alice was silent for several paces. Lily had no clue what was going on in her head. The woman didn’t seem to have expressions.
Finally she spoke. “I will bathe with you today.”
Lily really couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to that. It wasn’t as if she could tell the woman no, but—what the hell?
Alice’s pale lips turned up the tiniest amount. “You may relax. I did not intend that as a sexual overture, and I repeat that I am not interested in retribution. You put an end to certain possibilities when you ended Helen. Most of those possibilities were abhorrent to me.”
“But not all.”
“Not all, no.” A long pause. “I did not realize that until later. It came as quite a surprise.”
? ? ?
ALICE and Helen Báitóu—Whitehead in English—had been physically altered by the Zhu Shēngwù, Master of Body Magic, to look European. Lily learned that as they headed for the bathhouse. She also learned the names of Alice’s mother, who was dead; her father, still alive but senile; her three half siblings through her father, all of whom lived in a village three days’ journey to the south; one grandfather, dead for many years; and both of her grandmothers, also dead. Her mother’s mother—her lái grandmother—had lived to a ripe old age, however, being over a hundred when she died. Alice’s voice took on a ghost of warmth when she related that, as if the woman’s longevity was a source of pride.
That grandmother had been named Alice; this Alice was named for her.
Lily did not learn the name of Alice’s other grandfather. The one still alive. The one who was a dragon spawn. That, she was informed, was too personal.
Alice had strange notions about where to draw boundaries, Lily thought as she entered the dim, steamy bathhouse. Or maybe she found it convenient to assert that some matters were “too personal.” Maybe she didn’t want Lily to know who her grandfather was because . . . what? Because Lily wouldn’t approve? Not likely. She might not understand Alice, but she knew the woman was not an approval junkie.
Ah Hai was waiting. She bowed to each of them, but Lily got the first bow. “Ah—the honorable Alice is my guest today,” Lily said in Chinese, “so she should go first. With the lathering and rinsing, I mean.” Let Alice get naked first. She’d insisted, hadn’t she? Switching back to English, she looked at Alice. “Why change your appearance to look European?”
“So we would blend in.” Alice began stripping as matter-of-factly as she did everything.
“When you went to my realm, you mean. To the U.S.”
“Yes.” Naked and unconcerned about it, Alice moved to sit on one of the stools. She was in good shape, Lily noted. Amazingly good shape for a woman her age . . . not that Lily knew her real age. Helen had supposedly been fifty-one when Lily killed her, but Helen had also supposedly been born in Sacramento. Her age might have been as much of a fabrication as the rest of her personal history.
Ah Hai had begun the scrubbing on Alice’s shoulders. It must have felt good. Alice’s eyes closed. Lily persisted with the question Alice hadn’t really answered. “I don’t understand. There are lots of Asians in California. Why change your appearance?”
“The goal was to attract little notice. Therefore, it was thought best for us to appear to be part of the dominant population.”
“Who thought this? Whose choice was it?”
“I was not part of the discussion.”
Lily knew a dodge when she heard one. She let it pass for now. “Helen went to the U.S. because the G.B. wanted her to hook up with the Azá and start prepping for the hellgate. Why did you go? What was your job?”
“To learn. I went to one of your universities. The University of California, Santa Barbara.”
Lily blinked at the idea of the pale, partly human Alice taking classes at an institution sometimes known as UCSB—University of Casual Sex and Beer. “Did you stay in a dorm?”
“For the first semester only. I am not suited to living with a roommate.” She paused while Ah Hai rinsed her off, then started on her hair. “This is pleasant, but I do miss showers. Your world has excellent plumbing. I brought back several books about it. We do not yet have the infrastructure to implement sewage and water systems such as your world enjoys, but I have made some improvements and have plans for more. Are you planning to bathe in your clothes?”
Lily grimaced and pulled off her tunic. “How did you get to my realm?”
“I will not discuss that.” She glanced pointedly at Ah Hai, who was about to pour water over her head to rinse. “I enjoyed my time at the university. Did you attend a university?”
“Sure,” Lily said. Apparently Alice didn’t want to talk about important stuff in front of Ah Hai. Was she paranoid, or did she have good reason to think Ah Hai might understand English? Lily couldn’t make up her mind, but she went along with Alice’s unspoken suggestion. While Alice went to soak in the hot pool and Ah Hai started scrubbing Lily, the two of them chatted about their college experiences.
She would much rather have asked Alice about that shield of hers. It couldn’t be coincidence that the only person she’d met who had a mental shield used to have a telepathic twin. A vampiric telepathic twin who’d eaten Alice’s sense of self . . . had Alice developed her shield before or after Helen cut the cord? After, Lily thought. If Helen had been as much in the driver’s seat as Alice claimed, she wouldn’t have let her twin develop a way of shutting down that control. But had Alice wanted to? Had her “innate drive to differentiate” made her long to shut her sister up mentally? That was a more interesting question.
Not one Lily could ask, however, not when she wasn’t supposed to know about Alice’s shield. Might as well talk about dorm life and algebra . . . which was as far as Lily had gotten, math-wise. Alice had taken multivariable calculus for its soothing properties.
“. . . gave my textbook from that class to my grandfather. He enjoyed it, also. Ah Hai,” she said, switching to Chinese as Lily eased herself into the steaming water, “I did not provide myself with clean clothing to put on after my bath. I need you to fetch some for me.”
Ah Hai bobbed politely and glanced at Lily . . . who smothered a smile. “Yes, please get the honorable Alice’s things for her. Do you know where to go? What she will need?”
Ah Hai knew where to go and was certain that the honorable Alice’s maidservant would know what clothing her mistress required. She hurried off.
“She does consider herself yours,” Alice observed.
“She was told to tend me by Kongqi. Kongqi outranks you. What did you want to discuss that made you work so hard to get the two of us some alone time?”
“I appreciate the efficiency of bluntness, but have found that few others do. First I need your promise not to repeat or reveal to anyone what I am about to say unless I give you specific permission to speak of it with someone.”