Draith
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Chapter 13 - City On The Water
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 21:00:07 +0000 UTCTrue to Althon's word, he held a citywide celebration.
Water was the theme of the day. There were races in the channels in our honor, followed by water dancers.
I had to fight to keep from taking notes as we watched the dancers. At the start, I thought they might simply be mortals, but as the dancers sung to the beat, the water moved with them, lifting them ever higher, and ever faster.
By the end of the performance, they were weaving around each other like bees on an early spring day, a perfect symphony of organized chaos.
It was beautiful, yet the most over-the-top part of the day was the glistening figures of Nexxa and I. A trio of young women, all of them Magus Dominus, had woven water infused with floral-scented dyes into our forms, meaning that at least our representations that towered over the palace smelled nice.
“This is better than the Rift! You can probably see us from outside the city,” Nexxa said, spinning in place under her figure, reaching out as though she could catch the mist that fell off it.
“Undoubtedly. I’d hazard to guess one might be able to see your distinguished forms from the edge of the valley,” Calbern said. Somehow, his voice didn’t carry any trace of sarcasm, only pride.
“Wasn’t there supposed to be a play?” I asked. Nexxa might enjoy the attention, but I couldn’t help but think of how big a target Althon was painting on our backs. And unlike Nexxa, I still couldn’t cast a spell without an hour of channeling.
“Yes! Theater!” Nexxa yelled, running off towards the gondolier who’d been running us around, but not without grabbing me by the sleeve first. “Come on, Perry. We can’t be late.”
“There is no worry of that, Lady Nexxa,” Calbern said, following at a more sedate pace.
I readjusted my collar after being released from Nexxa’s grasp. “Yeah. They’re not going to start it without us. Guests of honor and all that.”
“Bah, they have a schedule. We can’t make them wait just cause,” Nexxa countered, to which I simply gave her a small open-handed shrug.
The play was situated in one of the grand theaters ensconced in the side of the palace. Before the gondolier pulled us up, I hadn’t even noticed that there were grand theaters in the sides of the palace.
It wasn’t a style of play I’d experienced before, as Nexxa and I actually had a part to play, though we’d be playing it from the stands. Luckily, it was a non-vocal part. All we had to do was stand up and wave whenever the low fog rolled over the rest of the audience.
There’s a feeling you get when the entire audience is invested in you, in your performance, and that of the others performing with you. I mean, when they’re truly invested, like five-grand on the scrappy kid with messy black hair and scars all over his back invested. That feeling isn’t a pleasant one, exactly, but it was at least familiar.
It was entirely different from what we’d been asked to do, yet even that strained my desire to stand in front of a crowd.
The play itself started innocently enough. It was about a young man from the City on the Water who had ended up in a distant land.
That land came under attack by monsters, and he spent most of the play stumbling from one unlikely survival scenario to the next, always one step ahead of death, even as the civilization he was visiting crumbled around him.
Finally, he was cornered, forced to choose between drowning or burning to death.
That was when Althon had shown up to 'save the day', despite the entire distant kingdom having already fallen. That young man was the only one who’d survived out of a cast of over a hundred. Yet there was still a scene showing a parade celebrating Althon’s mighty achievement.
It felt like I was missing something, cause as I’d seen it, it was like letting Godzilla stomp all over the entirety of Japan then showing up once it had moved into the ocean, only to knock it out with a single punch.
And for whatever reason, folk ate it up.
The main character was pretty funny, even if all they did was survive more and more impossible scenarios by the skin of their teeth.
Honestly, if it wasn't for how the audience reacted to Althon’s appearance, I would've thought it was satire.
It was still highly entertaining. Our part in the show had actually been foreshadowing for Althon’s eventual appearance.
“That’s some subtle reinforcing of our roles,” I said as we left the theater behind.
“Uh…” Nexxa said, looking toward Calbern, who just shrugged.
“Having us act as stand-ins for Althon,” I said, nodding back towards the stagge. “It’s showing the people that we’re his representatives, even in fiction.”
“Perry, you’re taking it too seriously,” Nexxa said, throwing her arm over my shoulder. “It’s just a play.”
“While generally, I would encourage such critique, I do believe lady Nexxa is correct, in this instance,” Calbern said as we all climbed into the gondola.
I simply hummed in response. Didn’t have much more to say, and they were probably right.
Next on our agenda was a party with the other Magus Dominus, as well as any other ensouled who happened to be in the city.
The moment we arrived, Althon greeted us.
“Ah, young Dominus Perth and Dominus Lanexxa, welcome. I hope you have enjoyed the festivities?” he asked, his arms stretched wide as he drew Nexxa into a hug. He ran his hand along her hair, once more sending me a languid wink.
“It’s been a blast,” Nexxa said, her smile stretching from ear to ear as she broke their embrace to look past him. “Oh, more water dancers?”
“These are a newer band. More experimental. Very new Mage, or so, I’m told,” Althon said, his grin almost as wide as Nexxa’s.
They continued chatting about the party, and as Nexxa said, she seemed to be having a blast. Considering how much attention she’d avoided at the family estate, I was a little surprised at how much she was clearly enjoying being the center of attention.
Althon handed us each a small pamphlet with several of the other Domini we might want to meet, and a short description of each. I glanced at it, but my attention was on Althon. His weird behavior had me on edge. Throughout the whole event, he rarely took his eyes off her. Whatever he had planned, I wanted to be ready.
Not that I imagined I could foil the plans of a Dragon-souled, but if there was even a chance… I'd only known Nexxa for a month, and already she was like the sister I never had. I wasn't ready to lose her.
Yet nothing happened. The event passed quietly, or at least without incident. There was nothing quiet about the band of water dancers and their thundering performance.
I did overhear several Magus Domini talking about Nexxa. And about how none of the nearby domains were available, so how valuable could a prodigy really be. Some thought we might supplant existing Magus Domini. Others were certain we'd be sent upriver, just past the border, where we'd be used to shield the 'actually valuable' Magus Domini.
It surprised me that they all had domains close enough to return to the capital for her celebration. Then I learned that most of them lived in the City on the Water, and only traveled to their domains for a few weeks each year.
As we sat on the gondola on our way back to the first house, Nexxa was singing along to the gondolier's song. She was off key in the worst way, but the gondolier didn't seem to mind.
I stared out across the water, wondering if I'd been wrong. Maybe Althon didn't have anything sinister in mind for Nexxa.
"What's eating you?" Nexxa asked, stopping down beside me to drag an arm in the water.
"What do you mean?" I replied, not turning away from the water.
"Come on. We've spent the last month gearing up for this trip. I've never seen you more alive, Per-per. Then they throw this big party, and you go sullen. You're not jealous, are you?"
"Jealous?"
"Yeah, cause I'm getting all this attention and they're treating you like, you know…"
"I'm not sure I do," I replied, a trace of amusement making its way through my concern.
"Crimson goddess, you're gonna make me say it aren't you?"
I simply raised my eyebrows at her, a small smile tracing my lips.
"They're treating you like father did, before you awakened. Like the rest of our goddess cursed family still does. Like you’re not worth being part of the family. Like you don't matter," Nexxa was squeezing her hands into fists by the time she finished.
I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "That doesn't matter now. We're Magus Domini, Nexxa. And just cause I'm a little behind, doesn't mean I'm gonna stay here."
"So, you're not jealous?"
"Goddess no. Better you than me."
"Then what's with the whole… you know, brooding."
I was unable to hold back a laugh. "I wasn't brooding. I was watching. There's something off about Althon."
"I had noticed that as well, master Perth," Calbern said, his brow furrowed as he looked back towards the palace.
"You mean other than his whole… everything?" Nexxa asked, waving a hand at me.
"Hey now," I objected.
"Whatever. You get what I mean. The man looks wrong."
"Yeah, he does. But there was something else. He had this look in his eyes whenever he looked at you. Like he'd seen a burger after years of eating nothing but lettuce."
There was a moment of silence as Nexxa and I stared at each other.
It was finally broken by Nexxa asking, "What?"
"I mean, he looked hungry."
"Yeah, no, I got that part. What in the Rift is a burger?"
"It's… uh… like a sandwich made of ground up meat," I explained, looking to Calbern for support only to find him giving me a questioning raise of his eyebrow. "Come on, they had them at lunch."
"Oh, local cuisine. And you didn't save me one? What sort of brother are… are… hmm…" the rest of Nexxa's question was lost forever as she slipped into sleep, her head lolling to the side.
"I'm surprised she lasted this long," Calbern said gently pulling Nexxa back from where she’d been leaning over the side of the gondola. "If I'm not mistaken, she exhausted her mana pool at least twenty times today."
I whistled softly. "She really is a prodigy, isn't she."
Calbern simply nodded while draping his jacket over her shoulders. "Prodigy or not, she is family first."
"You and her, Calbern. All the family I'll ever need," I said, reaching over and squeezing his shoulder.
He didn't respond, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
