| For this too was a part of the unspoken terms of her relationship with VencelThat however many times he might speak this wild fabrication of a lie, and he said it many times a day, in one variant or another, she was to nod knowingly, reflectively, as if pondering the message hidden in the grandeur of his fall
Only in her rooms alone with Scelto could she give way to fits of girlish giggling at the very thought of the vasty saishan head being more than he was now, or at the subversive, deadly imitation Scelto could give of Vence?s speech and gestures
"You do that wonderfully," she might say innocently, as Scelto dressed her hair, or polished her curved slippers till they shone
"It is a thing I know about, you see," he would reply if certain they were alone, his voice pitched high above its normal rangeHe would gesticulate slowly, expansively"For as you are aware, I have been a King in Khardhun
She would laugh like a little girl who knew just how naughty she was being, dolce and gabbana handbags replica the more out of control because of that very fact
She had asked Brandin about it onceHis Khardhun campaign had been only a marginal success, she learnedHe was frank with her about such things by thenThere was real magic in Khardhun, in that hot northern land across the sea, beyond the coastal villages and the desert wastesA magic far greater than anything in the Peninsula of the Palm and equal to the sorcery of Ygrath
Brandin had taken one city and established a tenuous control over some lands that lay on the fringes of the great desert stretching northThere had been losses though, serious losses she gatheredThe Khardhu had long been celebrated for their skill in battle, nor was this unknown in the Palm: many of them had served as well-paid mercenaries in the warring provinces before the Tyrants had come and made all such feuding irrelevant
Vencel had been a herald captured late in the campaign, Brandin told herHe'd already been unmanned: a thing they did to tiffany bracelets messengers in the north, for no reason Brandin had understoodIt had been manifestly evident where the castrate belonged when brought back to YgrathHe had already, Brandin confirmed, been enormous
Dianora straightened as Vencel withdrew his finger from the red gleam of the vairstone
"Will you escort us down?" she asked
"I think not," he said judiciously, as if actually giving thought to the matter"Perhaps Scelto and Hala can manage that office between themI have some matters that need my attention here this afternoon, you see Dianora glanced over at Solores and each of them raised a spread palm in respectful saluteIn fact, Vencel hadn't left the saishan wing in at least five yearsEven when he toured the rooms on this floor it was on a cleverly contrived rolling platform of cushionsDianora could not remember the last time she'd actually seen him stand uprightScelto and Solores's Hala attended to virtually all the formal out-of-saishan dutiesVencel believed in delegating
They went omega fake watches down the stairway that led out from the saishan to the worldOne flight below they accepted the scrutiny, respectful but careful, of the two guards posted outside the heavy bronze doors that barred access to and from the level where the women wereDianora responded to their cautious glances with a smileOne of them returned it shylyThe guards were changed often; she didn't know either of these two, but a smile was a start at bonding and a friend never hurt
Scelto and Hala, dressed unobtrusively in brown, led the four women out of the saishan wing along the main corridor of the palace to the Grand Staircase in the centerThere the two castrates paused to let the women precede themWith some pride but not with hauteur, they were the captives and concubines of a conqueror, Dianora and Solores led the way down the sweeping stair
They were noticed of courseThe women of the saishan were always noticed when they came outThere were a number of people milling about in the marbled louis vuitton duffle bags vestibule waiting to enter the Audience Chamber; they made way for the four of themSome of the newer men smiled in a manner that had taken Dianora some time to accept
Others knew her better and their expressions were rather differentIn the arched doorway to the largest of the formal reception rooms she and Solores paused again side by side, this time entirely for effect, the blood-red gown beside the green, and then walked together into the crowded room of state
As she did so, every single time she did so, Dianora offered an inward voicing of gratitude for the impulse that had led Brandin to change the rules for his saishan here in the colony he now ruled
In Ygrath, she knew, this would never have been allowedFor a man other than the King or one of the castrates to see, let alone hold converse with a saishan woman was death for both of themAnd, Vencel had told her once, for the head of the saishan wing as well
Things had been different here in Chiara almost from the chanel bag gold chain star |
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