Nandita To Nandini
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Sow And ReapChapter 34: The Meaning Of Dreams free porn video
Mokuba, Noah and I were invited to bring one guest each to spend New Year's Eve at the Imperial Palace. Mokuba took Hawkins and I took Kawai.
Noah took Tristan. As a friend.
It was an impressive event. The Emperor does not throw inferior celebrations and to say that my lioness was dazzled would be an understatement. I took great pleasure in introducing her to some of the most powerful people in Japan and mourned every second that her son was not beside us.
The high point of my evening was when I asked the Minister of Health if he would like to hear my 'mother's' honest opinion on the current state of health care and he – foolishly – said yes. Kawai did not hesitate and roared at him without reserve.
Midway through the event, I spotted Prince Katsura – an old man, wheelchair bound, and quite unassuming apart from the large Order of the Chrysanthemum hanging around his neck. Toshimura was hovering near him. I excused myself from Kawai and left her with several of the Imperial wives.
I found Noah and Mokbua and lead them to the Prince. "Your Imperial Highness." We bowed as was proper.
Toshimura frowned at us, but the Prince smiled fondly. "Seto, Noah. Not-so-little Mokuba. Happy New Year." He looked past us slightly. "Kaiba-chan did not join you?"
"Mother was feeling a bit under the weather, I'm afraid." Noah answered. "She sends her regrets."
"I see."
"Sir," I glanced at Toshimura and saw his scowl deepen. "May I speak with you in private for a moment?"
The Prince looked at me oddly and then nodded. "Yes, it must be past time that we spoke."
"Thank you. Mokuba, would you do me a favor? There is a gift for the Prince in the car. Would you have it brought here please?"
"Of course, Nii-sama." He bowed formally to Noah and me, then more so to the Prince, and then sped off. Noah and I both chuckled.
"A handsome lad." The Prince sighed. "And so exuberant. Not at all like your father."
"No," I agreed. "Not like him at all."
The three of us made some small talk until Mokuba returned with the gift-wrapped box.
"Thank you, Brother."
Prince Katsura turned his chair, pulling away from a surprised Toshimura. "This way, if you please, son." He had always called me that and I had presumed nothing from it. Now I had to wonder if it was Gozabura or the Prince who initiated the agreement.
The Prince led me out of the crowds and to a bay of elevators. We rode up two floors and then walked down a short hall to a small den.
"Close the door, please." He directed me. "We shall not be disturbed here."
He gestured to a seat across from his chair, but I preferred to stand. "I'm sure you know why I am here."
He nodded. "Of course. After the marriage, I will step aside – as will my brother and my cousin. My father is nearly senile. None of us is young enough to care about power now. The boy, Hisahito, can be handled. The problem, as was always, is Naruhito and Akishino. They will not abdicate."
I sat.
Becoming part of the Imperial Family was one thing. Ploting to take the Empire was quite another.
"And you will have to contend with your brother, Noah. He precedes you for the throne." The Prince shrugged. "But I am sure that you have a plan for that."
A plan. For removing my cousin so that I become heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. I still could not find words for the moment.
The Prince continued. "I will make arrangements for the marriage to take place as soon as you'd like. There is no reason to delay. There will be some controversy over your lineage, but the birth certificates were signed by the Imperial Physician and should be beyond reproach." I nodded. "Beyond that, I don't foresee any problems."
No problems. "Of course not. May I ask, Imperial Highness, do you love my aunt?"
"Love?" He chuckled. "What was your father's word? Irrelevant. I love the Empire. I do not agree with this 'new' Imperial Household Law. It is how the American occupation changed us. It has thinned the Imperial bloodline. In sixty years, Showa's direct line has produced three sons. The Oke have produced ten – including you three." He paused. "The Kaiba line would still be part of the Imperial Family had the Americans not poisoned us."
"Part ... of?"
"Kaiba was a Daimyo, part of Nashimoto-no-miya. Emperor Showa took your great grandmother as concubine and your grandfather was his illegitimate son. The Household Law abolished him from the Imperial membership. Otherwise, your father would be Emperor now and you, the proper Crown Prince. I am restoring the family."
He was senile. He had to be. He wanted to overthrow the Emperor simply to restore a bastard bloodline to the throne. "You would do this for me?" I asked finally.
There was a tap on the door. "Imperial Highness? Prince Katsura?" Toshimura's muffled voice called. He opened the door. "My apologies, sir, but..." He saw me and entered the room, closing the door behind himself. He came to the Prince and knelt on the floor beside him. "You must not do this, my love. Please. You endanger yourself and your position. I could not bear it if you were dishonored because of me."
The Prince stroked Toshimura's face. "No risk is too great for you, precious." The Prince looked at me. "For you, Kaiba? No. But for my Toshi, I could do no less if it protected him. I am sure you saw your father's files. If the truth about Toshimura's past were revealed, he could be imprisoned – or worse. I cannot allow that. Gozaburo found a way to protect him; restoring you to the line of succession was his price. I would have paid twice as much."
This old man was willing to de-stabilize – possibly assassinate – the Imperial family for the love of one man. And the irony was that Gozaburo had left nothing about Toshimura; whatever his past was, there was no evidence to support the blackmail.
It was all moot point. I had already decided that I did not want the complications of the Imperial life and since my aunt did not wish to marry anyone, I was hoping to dissolve the contract. Still, it never paid to lose an advantage. "Toshimura, the Prince would sacrifice much for you. What would you give for him?"
He looked at me. "What would you ask of me? I have nothing his highness did not give me."
"You have yourself." I pointed out.
"Myself?" He repeated. Then he looked back at the Prince. "My love. Forgive me." He stood as he turned to me. "If you will release his highness from the marriage contract, you may do as you will with me."
"Toshi – please." The Prince reached out to him and, to my shock and discomfort, I realized that there were tears in both men's eyes.
"Not quite what I had in mind." I swallowed hard. Would Joey have ever made such a sacrifice for me? Would Pharaoh? Would I have made any sacrifice for either of them? I sincerely doubted it and found it depressing to realize.
I picked up the gift box and handed it to the Prince. "If I allowed my aunt to marry you, the Kaiba Family would be absorbed into Katsura. I mean no offence, but I do not wish that to happen. This box contains the contract and most of the information Gozaburo had. In exchange, I ask that he be given a posthumous Order of the Paulownia Flowers." If I asked for nothing, they would always suspect my intentions; they would always look for the other proverbial shoe to fall. The Paulownia was the highest honor the Emperor could bestow.
They looked at each other. "Is that all?" The Prince whispered.
Toshimura snatched the box and fairly ripped it open. He searched through the papers and photos. "It's not here." He complained after sorting through it all.
"I prefer to keep my options open." I bowed to the Prince. "But the Order would certainly support my current position to forget the matter. I wish you both a happy new year." I left without waiting to be dismissed.
At midnight, the couples around me kissed and I felt more alone than I had ever before. The Prince and Toshi were willing to give everything for each other. I couldn't find someone willing to give me anything. I took a vow of celibacy on the spot and resigned myself to a life without passion.
Two weeks later, Anzu went into labor – almost two months early – and delivered a healthy girl, six pounds, eight ounces, ten fingers and toes. Honda was at her side for the entire delivery. He even got to cut the cord. I was unaccountably proud of my friend and touched beyond all measure when Honda came out of the delivery room and introduced Honda Hianko to me. I was the first person she met – even before her grandparents. I realized suddenly that this child was as close to fatherhood as I would ever be. I promised myself that she would never ever want for anything.
I threw myself into KaibaCorp completely. I told Ryou to discontinue my 'dates' and concentrated on getting KaibaLand 1 open in time for Mokuba's fourteenth birthday. I began spending a lot of time flying back and forth between Domino and the US site in Arizona so I was able to get the flight hours to renew my pilot's license. And I learned – finally – how to drive a car and got my driver's license. I bought a condo in Phoenix and discovered that I liked Southwestern cuisine enough to have Verne come to the States to attend classes for it.
I found that two of Mokuba's sleeping pills and a glass of sake were quite effective at providing me with a dreamless sleep.
"Hey Big Bro!" Mokuba called me bright and early one morning. "When are you coming home?"
"Two weeks or so, I expect." I sipped my coffee and flipped through the mail Kogoro had forwarded to me. "Why?"
"Think you could come back this Thursday?"
"I doubt it. That's rather short notice."
"Yeah. Sorry about that, but I just got a call from one of my high school buds; he works at the Egyptian Embassy now. They just appointed a new Ambassador to Japan and Friday night's the reception to welcome him. Egypt's one of the arms deals we cancelled and they've been bugging me to re-negotiate it." He laughed. "Until I do, though, I get invites to every fancy, high-brow party they throw. The food at these things is unreal!"
"Sound more like an event Honda would appreciate. Why not take him and Anzu?"
"Well," he hesitated, "I kinda thought maybe you might want to go. You could take Yami – he's Egyptian, right?"
"As is Isharru." I countered. "You could take her." He didn't comment. "In fact, you could take all four. No need for me to be there at all." Certainly, no need for me to see Pharaoh again; the mere thought of him was beginning to frustrate me. Taking him on a date would be intolerable.
The last envelope in my package was on rice paper and bore the Chrysanthemum seal. "Just a moment, brother." It was the official notice that the Emperor was awarding Gozaburo an Order of the Paulownia Flowers. "Well, this should please you. The Emperor has chosen to give Gozaburo a posthumous Order." Mokuba didn't know about the contract with Prince Katsura and I saw no reason to tell him.
"Really! Awesome! Which one?"
"Paulownia Flowers."
My brother gasped. "Holy fuck! That's – that's – just – wow."
I smiled; I hated to honor the man, but anything that left Mokuba speechless was worth the price of admission. I glanced at the date of the award ceremony. "And you get your wish. I'm getting this notice a bit late, but they are honoring him on Saturday so I may as well return Thursday for your event."
"Huh? Oh. Yeah."
"But do invite Honda and Anzu. I don't believe they've left the house since Hianko was born and, as adorable as she is, I'm sure she could use a night without either of them."
"Yeah. A Paulownia. Fucking awesome!"
I laughed. "Was there anything else?"
"After that? Does Noah know?"
"I just opened the envelope so I would doubt it."
"Can I tell him?"
"Yes. And Oba-san. In fact, please send a company-wide email after you tell them. This should be considered good news for the entire KaibaCorp family."
"Really! Cool! I'll go tell them now. Later, Nii-sama. Oh, wait – Friday. Are you going to bring a guest?"
"I sincerely doubt it." Who was there to bring?
He sighed. "OK. Well, you are coming, aren't you?"
"Yes, brother. I'll attend." I finished my coffee. "Now. I have things to deal with if I'm going to be flying back this week. I'll talk to you this evening."
There wasn't really much to resolve, but there were several reports I wanted to read about Arizona's deserts and how they differed from the more familiar sand deserts of Africa and Asia. I decided to use a pilot this time and spent most of the late Thursday/early Friday trans-Pacific flight reading.
I woke, or at least thought I was awake, in a dark world. It was nearly pitch black and yet I could see the vast emptiness around me. There were beings in the darkness, just as dark. Moving, watching. They seemed to stay back from me with a definite air of fear. I felt different – not wrong or uncomfortable just different. That feeling of putting on clothes you have worn before, but not for a long time. They don't seem to fit at first and it takes a few minutes to remember how they hang.
I began to realize that part of why I could see was because I was glowing. I looked at myself and could see words written across my chest and down my arms. It was not in any language I recognized and yet I could read it. Words of protection and power. Strength. Guidance. Health.
The air moved and I noticed that I was naked and, most confusing, bald. The only thing I wore was the necklace with Pharaoh's ankh and Joey's dog tag. For some reason, I always wore that – even, apparently, in my dreams.
'Where am I?' I thought and in the air before me began appearing an image. A duel card. The Shadow Realm. I reached out, touched the image, and seemed to absorb the card's information at the touch.
A dangerous place of mystic power. A place where souls can be banished and dark souls often linger for dark purposes. I had been here countless times before; the card showed me all of them in a flash of memory.
'How did I get here?' was answered by the appearance of three cards – the Dark Magician, Blue Eyes White Dragon and Red Eyes Black Dragon – they merged and became one card. The Triad.
'That means nothing' I thought. 'It's not even a real card. How do I leave?' I had the feeling of waking, yawning, stretching and shaking off the Realm as one would a bad dream.
And then, I began to remember.
I closed my eyes and reached into the darkness, into the raw power of the Realm and pulled the cards I wished from the air. Time, Rejuvenation, Purification. I arranged them in the air before me and called their essences to me.
I found myself refreshed. Restored.
I, who had been High Priest of Set, Most Trusted of Pharaoh.
I, who had been Horus Mighty Bull, Blessed by Set and Isis, He of the Two Ladies, His Heart is Most Pure, Horus of Gold Wealth of All Ages is His, Divine in Form and Beauty, He of the Sedge and Bee Most Prized of Atemu, Son of Set, Atemuseto the First, Thirteenth Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, King of Upper and Lower Egypt.
I, who am Kaiba the Dragon.
The Shadow Realm: as much a home to me as once was the desert sand. Power I once commanded in mystic forms as easily as I now command it in commercial forms. I was beginning to recognize what I was seeing. Banished Souls. Dark Spirits. Evil, inhuman things that had never been part of mankind and hated its existence. I gestured and dismissed them all.
There were lines of power connected to everything. Many of them ran through me. I found I could draw them in and use them, but the entity the line stemmed from withered and died if I was not careful. Two of the power lines in particular were thicker and seemed to glow more brightly. I sensed that power was flowing to me along them, but flowing from me to them as well.
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