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Only after the question slipped out did she realize she had overstepped.
She pressed her lips together and turned her gaze toward the torch on the wall.
The flame crackled in its bronze holder, throwing off a spark.
In the brief silence, the distant battle songs of the giants could be heard, their deep voices making the beams and pillars tremble faintly.
"A marriage alliance."
The answer was simple and direct. "The Charlotte Family's usual method."
Gion's fingers curled slightly.
She stared at the gleaming brass buckle on the toe of her boot. Several seconds passed before she spoke. "Did you agree?"
"The Family doesn't need marriage to hold anything together."
There was a soft sigh in the voice, almost mocking. "Besides-it's too early to discuss that."
Cheers suddenly erupted in the courtyard outside the corridor. Fireworks shot into the sky, painting everyone's faces in ever-shifting colors.
In the flickering light, Gion looked beside her. No one was there; only a draft swept up the hem of her cloak.
She remembered a certain harbor many years ago, where a boy had slung his soaked coat over his shoulder and laughed, saying how ugly Marine uniforms were.
The tide had just gone out then, leaving footprints of varying depths on the beach, soon swallowed by another wash of foam.
"Time to go in."
She said it to herself, then turned toward the brightly lit hall.
Her heels struck the stone slabs in a clear, steady rhythm, like some sort of countdown.
In the shadows of a terrace she could not see, someone was tossing a coin and catching it.
Its metal surface reflected the brilliant colors of the celebration below before it was finally tucked into a palm and clenched tight.
With the abilities Rossi had shown, who in the