A Wager Of The Heart

6. Stumbling Upon Heaven

:::Kent:::

I stood at my door listening to the commotion in the hall. It was late and I heard my family return to their beds laughing and the idea infuriated me. Their levity caused me great annoyance in the face of my dismal future. How they could enjoy the company of that little minx and her conniving father was beyond me. I felt betrayed and the anger gave my movements a kind of static energy that caused me to pace back and forth behind my door.

I stopped and listened again. Silence. I smiled and slowly opened my door. There was no one about the hall and I stepped out into the near darkness. Little enough had changed in the last ten years and it was easy enough to traverse the halls with only one major problem. I meant to head to my father's study and raid his brandy but was stopped half way there and nearly found out.

"Find it!" I heard Rivers mean snarl and just in time to duck into a dark corner as the other man came around the corner with several others. In the darkness I could see the angry flash of his eyes. "No, keep looking, I'll not have it found by someone else." He snapped in response to an unheard question.

I stayed in my hiding spot as the small group passed me. It would do me no good to find refuge in my drink if Rivers or one of his cronies found me out. I couldn't go back to my room, I needed a release of some kind. If I were on my own I'd have had any number of releases at my command. I smiled wickedly at the thought of my favorite girl. She wasn't much to look at, but then I rarely saw her face. 

I chuckled and began to wander toward my mother's garden. I wasn't much for leisurely walking but it was the best option I could see to release the angry tension that made me believe I could break my father in two. Come tomorrow I would be forced to face my Lady and be nothing but a gracious host lest I call the wrath of my father. I would not have the presence of mind to maintain civility toward her if I didn't get rid of the irritation that creased my brows and turned my black eyes soulless. 

The private entrance to the garden was a door in the library and I crept slowly towards it. The garden had been a sanctuary of sorts when I was younger. I didn't care much for the vegetation but I would follow my mother for hours as she toiled away in the summer sun tending the plants. Or spend hours hiding and chasing Amelia, and on a rare occasion, my parents. The rest of the estate might hold memories of anger and betrayal but the garden would always remind me of the few good days.

The door did not creek as I opened it slowly and filled the library with the light of the moon. The air was cool as it swept past me. I stepped out and started walking. I didn't know where I would go, the garden was large and hand many options, but I let my feet guide me. My mother had not designed the garden, it had been there for generations, but she had improved the layout by adding all new types of plants that came from her home by the sea. She'd also commissioned the building and placing of several fountains, covers walkways and groups of benches so she wouldn't be forced to sit in the dirt to enjoy her flowers. Which she often did.

I wandered aimlessly hearing nothing but the trickle of water from the many fountains or the occasional nocturnal creature. As I walked my anger slowly left me to be replaced by a blind stubbornness and determination. Both of these had the potential to turn quickly once more to irrational fury but I felt more in control to simply think of them as dormant.

I would be my father at this game, I was a master and Preston knew nothing of the lengths to which I would go. I still struggled with my pride to remain in this cowed into a corner by his threat. It irked me to my very core and it was only that same determination that kept me here. I wanted, more than anything, to leave and wash my hands of the whole lot of them. But I would not let my father win nor would I submit. Where did that leave me? Stomping around the garden at night, I thought, answering my own question and then I laughed and disturbed the quiet night air.