that, Dante could make no reply. He left Forthwind to his brooding and went to prepare his clothes for the ball.
Chapter Four
"There's an old saying that applies to me: you can't lose a game if you don't play the game."
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Despite his best efforts, Naoki was sober, exactly as his stepmother had wanted. The house guardie kept him from leaving, the servants were too well paid and terrified of his stepmother to defy her, and there was no point in asking his sisters. Which meant all the alcohol had been put well beyond his reach, and there was no way to venture out to get more.
Since a drunken haze was out of the question, Naoki settled for hiding away in his private garden. He sat before the pool of water that dominated it, fed by a delicate little waterfall that in turn came from the little river that wound around and through the whole of the house, helping to keep it cool and allowing for plenty of ways and places to practice the magia that kept their family wealthy and powerful.
They did not, as people believed, control water. Nobody could control any part of nature that way. Water wasn't a dog to be brought to heel or a horse broken to saddle. No, if water was anything at all, it was a lover. Water loved them, indulged them, replied when called, and occasionally granted their requests. Not on a large scale. If a tsunami or hurricane truly wanted to destroy Verona, there would be little Naoki and his family could do to stop it. Mitigate perhaps, but not stop it.
Verona stayed safe from such things because so far the water did not want them harmed, and that love extended, to a lesser degree, to the blood they spilled on ships and in tokens. Anything that carried their blood was by extension family, and largely left alone by the mercurial Oceana, Goddess of the Deep.
He held his hand out over the pool and pushed his will into it, his desperate love to feel the magia, the water, move through and for him. If there was any reason to remain sober from time to time, it was for the one-of-a-kind feel of connecting with water.
The pool rippled out from where his hand hovered, then rippled back in. Next it turned and turned, sinking into a whirlpool and then slowly rising up into a miniature waterspout.
Naoki held on to it until his ears began to ring, and then let it go, watching as the water collapsed into nothing but a calm pool once more.
Next he worked on waves, small at first, and then with increasing strength. Working with such a small pool wasn't anything like full scale, but it was always good for learning and practicing the motions. On days he had actual free time and didn't feel like getting severely drunk, he would go down to the family's private beach and practice in the tide pools, or go swimming and see what he could do amidst the ocean herself.
That was dangerous, of course, and something he was never supposed to do alone, but rules like that were meant for people who cared if they lived. Naoki had been so long resigned to dying, it was starting to get disappointing when death failed to keep the appointment.
A discreet cough drew his attention, and Naoki let his latest efforts collapse back into ripples as he smoothly rose and turned. One of the servants, Ken, bowed low. "Pardon for the interruption, Naoki-don, but Mineko-donna requests an audience, if you're not occupied with anything more important."
Naoki didn't laugh at that, but it was a near thing. Refusing to go see his sister when she summoned was as stupid as refusing an audience with his parents. "Of course, I'll come once I've changed into appropriate attire."
Ken bowed again and left, steps soundless on the wooden floor. Everyone in the house excelled at moving quietly, lest they stir the dragon that was his stepmother.
Dread churning in his stomach like too much bad booze, Naoki left his garden and returned to his room, where he slid open a portion of wall to reveal his wardrobe. Well, part of it. The whole wall was devoted to his clothing, and there were chests in the floor for shoes, jewelry, and more.
He was sorely tempted to show up in jinbei and bare feet, get her good and angry right from the start, begin as they would undoubtedly go