"You smell like three sewers."
Alice nodded.
"Maybe four."
Andre glared.
The two women ignored him.
An hour later.
Andre emerged.
Clean.
Mostly.
His hair had been fixed.
His clothes replaced.
His wounds bandaged.
He almost looked respectable.
Almost.
Alice stared.
Raj stared.
Andre stared.
Silence.
Then Alice nodded.
"Still ugly."
Andre immediately looked offended.
"You're ugly."
"Impossible."
Raj walked away before either could continue.
Her sanity had limits.
After changing clothes and eating enough food to feed a small family, Andre was finally escorted deeper into the palace.
The halls became quieter.
The guards became fewer.
Eventually they reached a familiar section.
Alice stopped before a large door.
"He's inside."
Andre folded his arms.
"Still sleeping?"
Raj nodded.
"Doctor said he needed rest."
Andre became quieter.
The joking disappeared for a moment.
The sewer.
The collapse.
Fais.
The cultists.
Everything came back.
For the first time since escaping—
He looked genuinely relieved.
"Good."
Alice noticed.
But said nothing.
Raj noticed.
But said nothing.
Some things didn't need words.