Chapter 25 Artistry

"I m glad to see that this garden has survived this morning s altercation," I remark airily as I slide off Excalibur s back in the Japanese garden, which looks somewhat the worse for wear, with puddles and debris everywhere, but somehow no less lovely all the same. "The air is so fresh and clean." Dmitri chuckles warmly as he joins me on the ground. "Yes. Bright with the promise of new beginnings and the joy of those creatures who survived, yet eerie with the reminders of those things that did not," he answers sagely as he picks up some of the vegetative debris scattered by the consequences of the quarrel. "Truly, what happened to cause such an uproar? I understand why your parents were angry, but—" "Mother woke up this morning just as angry as she was when she went to bed, about how things turned out at the ball. As you ve already heard, she s positively livid that so many secrets she intended to keep until after our wedding have b