Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Nesia 015


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So the vote was for the engagement and the accident.  I can work with that.  Also, next post might be delayed or just a day late because I will be out of town for the weekend.
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“So we got engaged,” Nesia said slowly.  “And then shortly after that I end up in a coma and wake up with amnesia.  Could you possibly explain what happened?”
Donavan looked like he was expecting that question, but she could not identify the emotion behind his business mask that was reforming.  She had never been good at reading people.  That was Preston’s and Card’s specialties.  That was why working with Donavan was so difficult sometimes.  Donavan wrapped himself up in a business aura molded by his father.
“We went to His Excellency to discuss the nature of our relationship,” Donavan said as he faced her.  “He wished to speak with me alone…and when I left the office your dear cat was already in the processing of attacking you.  You backed against the railing and lost your balance.  I was unable to reach you in time.”
Nesia nodded a little as she listened.  This was hardly any more information that what she got from Izen, but she really was not sure what she was expecting to hear.  It did answer the question as to why Donavan had been unable to save her.  He was not even in the same room as her when the psycho cat got possessed.
“If the rails of the estate had actually been in compliance with regulation safety laws and not for aesthetics,” Donavan continued, “then you would not have fallen.  I have immediately set to work the modifications necessary to ensure that such an incident never happens again.  In addition, I had Serendipity immediately taken to a veterinarian.  I was informed that your cat had developed a condition and as such needed to be put down.  It had also been near fatally shot by one of the house guards.”
He said the last bit almost as a side note.  Still, her brain was trying to desperately pull the information together to form a memory.  All she could get was a puppet show mirroring what she had been told.  Nesia sighed and leaned back.  Doctor Grainger had warned her that she may never get back the moments before the accident.  Even if she did, they would probably be fragmented.  Short of seeing an actual surveillance video, which Izen had said he would look for, Nesia only had description to go off of.
“Are you feeling well, Katherine?” Donavan asked.
“As good as I can be without my mind,” Nesia said.  “Is the engagement party really at the end of this month?”
“I tried to delay it,” Donavan said, genuine apology slipping through his business mask.  “But His Excellency would not allow it, and had said that your parents were of the same opinion.”
Of course.  Because this whole relationship had started out as a business engagement.  Marrying their daughter to the Asuraeson heir was a guaranteed income for the Algernons.  And adding the Algernon wealth and connections was a business expansion for Lord Asuraeson.  The emotions and desires of the matched heirs meant nothing to the parents.
In fact, the one problem in their perfect business merger had been Kate.  While Donavan would not defy his father, Kate had distanced herself from her parents in her teens.  At only twenty-one, Katherine Algernon had developed a reputation of being wealthy on her own accord and a little eccentric.  That was why they had not gotten engaged on day one.
So much information was falling into place, but there was still so many gaps in her knowledge.  Nesia could not even chase back her own thoughts to try to find what she was missing.  Still, she knew that they probably would not have much time left before the replacement bodyguard obtained a hotel keycard and just let himself in.  If she wanted to ask anything with the hopes of getting an honest answer she needed to do it soon.

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What should Nesia say while she still had time?

1 – “So what exactly is the nature of our relationship?”
2 – “If we are engaged then where is the ring?”
3 – “That party is being delayed whether they like it or not.”
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