Aquaria: A City of Masks and Wraiths

Four

Darius couldn't help but smile at Lord Flavius's daughter. In all honesty, it was a smirk to himself. The girl was an unequivocal beauty. This was going to be easy.

His father had informed him and his brother of the girl, of her beauty. And of the advantages of involving themselves with her family. Besides, they were the perfect age to be wooing maidens.

'Though, I think all three of us know,' his father had said, 'which one of you would accomplish the task. Even though I would have preferred it if it was the other one.' Augustus had his head down, tightly crossing his arms. He knew his father wanted him, the eldest, to be the one to win over the potential business partner's daughter.

So that was the plan -they would sway Lord Flavius from every angle. Ignatus and his wife would tackle Lord and Lady Flavius, become instant friends, welcome them into their elite circle, while Ignatus's son would elevate Livia into a celebrated young woman among their peers. Lord Ignatus had instigated the lunch that afternoon to get straight to his agenda.

Flavius wanted a chance to meet Aquillus at the lunch too who came with his eldest, Dominicus. Darius suspected that the other young man was also instructed to get Livia's attention.

Darius wasn't worried. He had faith in his abilities to charm a young woman. However, he suspected that his show of admiration for Livia might look a little false. On seeing her, he wasn't worried about that either.

Lord Flavius's daughter was a girl that anyone would adore. Her fair hair -a rare sight in the South- was in a simple fashion that fell around her shoulders in thick waves, the afternoon light brushing it in a honey-golden glow. Her big, hazel eyes didn't look entirely trusting, adding to the sweetness of her face. It was the perfect combination of 'childlike' and 'blossoming beauty'. The soft pink dress she wore looked plain by Aquarian fashion trends. However, in it she looked ever the gentle princess from story books, on whom all the good fairies bestowed gifts and with whom princes fell in love at first sight.

Unless, that prince was Darius.

Thankfully, his job wasn't to fall in love with her. It was to sweep her off her feet so that it got him on her father's good side. It would help to strengthen a union between their families on a business occasion. Any other type of union wasn't his father's goal, rather a welcome by-product.

Livia smiled at the guests as Mayor Morelli introduced her. But it was a brief smile, not too confident but not coy either.

Darius glanced at Augustus. Other than the moment when his name was said, his brother avoided looking up openly at Livia.

As the Mayor ushered them to the table Darius decided he had to make the move in his brother's lack of action and prepared to steal a seat next to Livia. After all, Dominicus was also very confident with the ladies.

'My lady,' said the young man called Darius, the one that smiled at her. He was now smiling gently and holding out a chair.

'Thank you,' she said quickly and took the seat. She made a note to herself to pull out her chair more swiftly next time so that it didn't give gentlemen the chance at displaying pretentious chivalry. No sooner did she sit down that she received the interest of another gentleman: Dominicus.

He pulled out the seat opposite her and smiled at her as he sat down. She also caught him give a smirk to Darius. Livia figured Dominicus's approach was to hold her attention from across the table. Sure, he wouldn't be able to exchange many words with her over the generous width of the table, as Darius could at her right side. However, sometimes it was all in the glances when it came to blossoming affection.