PART TWO ? DIANORA

Chapter 7

DIANORA COULD REMEMBER THE DAY SHE CAME TO THE Island
The air that autumn morning had been much like it was today at the beginning of spring, white clouds scudding in a high blue sky as the wind had swept the Tribute Ship through the whitecaps into the harbor of ChiaraBeyond harbor and town the slopes mounting to the hills had been wild with fall colorsThe leaves were turning: red and gold and some that clung yet to green, she remembered
The sails of the Tribute Ship so long ago had been red and gold as well: colors of celebration in YgrathShe knew that now, she hadn't known it thenShe had stood on the forward deck of the ship to gaze for the first time at the splendor of Chiara's harbor, at the long pier where the Grand Dukes used to stand to throw a ring into the sea, and from where Letizia had leaped in the first of the Ring Dives to reclaim the ring from the waters and marry her Duke: turning the Dives into the luck and symbol of Chiara's pride until beautiful Onestra had changed the ending of the story hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and the Ring Dives had mulberry vintage ceasedEven so, every child in the Palm knew that legend of the IslandYoung girls in each province would play at diving into water for a ring and rising in triumph, with their hair shining wet, to wed a Duke of power and glory
From near the prow of the Tribute Ship, Dianora had looked up beyond the harbor and palace to gaze at the majesty of snow-crowned Sangarios rising behind themThe Ygrathen sailors had not disturbed her silenceThey had allowed her to come forward to watch the Island approachOnce she'd been safely aboard ship and the ship away to sea they'd been kind to herWomen thought to have a real chance at being chosen for the saishan were always treated well on the Tribute ShipsIt could make a captain's fortune in Brandin's court if he brought home a hostage who became a favorite of the Tyrant
Sitting now on the southern balcony of the saishan wing, looking out from behind the ornately crafted screen that hid the women from gawkers in the square below, Dianora watched the banners of Chiara and Ygrath flap in the freshening spring breeze, and she remembered how the wind had blown her hair about her face more replica chanel earrings than twelve years agoShe remembered looking from the bright sails to the slopes of the tree-clad hills running up to Sangarios, from the blue and white of the sea to the clouds in the blue skyFrom the tumult and chaos of life in the harbor to the serene grandeur of the palace just beyondBirds had been wheeling, crying loudly about the three high masts of the Tribute ShipThe rising sun had been a dazzle of light striking along the sea from the eastSo much vibrancy in the world, so rich and fair and shining a morning to be alive
Twelve years ago, and moreShe had been twenty-one years old, and nursing her hatred and her secret like two of Morian's three snakes twining about her heart
She had been chosen for the saishan
The circumstances of her taking had made it very likely, and Brandin's celebrated grey eyes had widened appraisingly when she was led before him two days laterShe'd been wearing a silken, pale-colored gown, she remembered, chosen to set off her dark hair and the dark brown of her eyes
She had been certain she would be chosenShe'd felt neither triumph nor fear, even though she'd been pointing her gucci horsebit hobo life toward that moment for five full years, even though, in that instant of Brandin's choosing, walls and screens and corridors closed around her that would define the rest of her daysShe'd had her hatred and her secret, and guarding the two of them left no room for anything else
Or so she'd thought at twenty-one
For all she'd seen and lived through, even by then, Dianora reflected twelve years later on her balcony, she'd known very little, dangerously little, about a great many things that mattered far too much
Even out of the wind it was cool here on the balconyThe Ember Days were upon them but the flowers were just beginning in the valleys inland and on the hill slopes, and the true onset of spring was some time off even this far northIt had been different at home, Dianora remembered; sometimes there would still be snow in the southern highlands when the springtime Ember Days had come and passed
Without looking backwards, Dianora raised a handIn a moment the castrate had brought her a steaming mug of Tregean khavTrade restrictions and tariffs, Brandin was fond of saying in private, had to be handled vintage omega watches selectively or life could be too acutely marredKhav was one of the selected thingsOnly in the palace of courseOutside the walls they drank the inferior products of Corte or neutral SenzioOnce a group of Senzian khav merchants had come as part of a trade embassy to try to persuade him of improvements in the crop they grew and the cup it brewedNeutral, indeed, Brandin had said judiciously, tastingSo neutral, it hardly seems to be there
The merchants had withdrawn, consternated and pale, desperately seeking to divine the hidden meaning in the Ygrathen Tyrant's wordsSenzians spent much of their time doing that, Dianora had observed drily to Brandin afterwardShe'd always been able to amuse him, even in the days when she was too young and inexperienced to do it deliberately
Which thought reminded her of the young castrate attending her this morningScelto was in town collecting her gown for the reception that afternoon; her attendant was one of the newest castrates, sent out from Ygrath to serve the growing saishan in the colony
He was well trained alreadyVencel's methods might be harsh, but there was no denying that they spy bag replica worked

It made it difficult to concentrate on business in the state offices above the Grand Square
He raised taxes in Astibar and introduced, for the first time, transit duties for merchants crossing from one of his provinces to another, along the lines of the existing tariff levied for crossing from the Eastern to the Western PalmLet them pay, literally, if they chose not to believe what had happened to him in that cabinHalf the massive Nievolene grain harvest was promptly shipped home to BarbadiorFor an action conceived in anger he considered that one to be inspiredIt had pushed the price of grain down back home in the Empire, which hurt his family's two most ancient rivals while making him exceptionally popular with the peopleIn so far as the people mattered in Barbadior
At the same time, here in the Palm, Astibar was forced to bring in more grain than ever from Certando and Ferraut, and with the new duties Alberico was going to rake a healthy cut of that inflated price as well
He could almost have slaked his anger, almost have made himself happy, cartier tank watch watching the effects of all this ripple through, if it wasn't that small things kept happening
For one, his soldiers began to grow restlessWith an increase in hardship came an increase in tension; more incidents of confrontation occurredEspecially in Tregea where there were always more incidents of confrontationUnder greater stress the mercenaries demanded, predictably, higher payWhich, if he gave it to them, was going to soak up virtually everything he might gain from the confiscations and the new duties
He sent a letter home to the EmperorHis first request in over two yearsAlong with a case of Astibar blue wine, from what were now his own estates in the north, he conveyed an urgent reiteration of his plea to be brought under the Imperial aegisWhich would have meant a subsidy for his mercenaries from the Treasury in Barbadior, or even Imperial troops under his commandAs always, he stressed the role he alone played in blocking Ygrathen expansion in this dangerous halfway peninsulaHe might have begun his career here as an independent adventurer, vintage rolex watch he conceded, with what he saw as a nice turn of phrase, but as an older, wiser man he wished to bind himself more tightly and more usefully to his Emperor than ever before
As for wanting to be Emperor, and wanting the cloak of Imperial sanction thrown over him, however belatedly, well, such things surely did not have to be put into a letter?
He received, by way of reply, an elegant wall-hanging from the Emperor's Palace, commendations on his loyal sentiments, and polite regret that circumstances at home precluded the granting of his request for financingHe was cordially invited to sail home to all suitable honors and leave the tiresome problems of that far land overseas to a colonial expert appointed by the Emperor
That, too, was as usualTurn your new territory over to the EmpireCome home to a parade or two, then spend your days hunting and your money on bribes and hunting gearWait for the Emperor to die without naming a successorThen knife and be knifed in the brawl to succeed him
Alberico sent back sincerest thanks, deep regrets, and another chanel jumbo flap case of wine
Shortly thereafter, at the end of the fall, a number of men in the disgruntled, out-of-favor Third Company withdrew from service and took late-season ship for homeThe commanders of the First and Second used that same week to formally present, purely coincidence of course, their new wage demands and to casually remind him of past promises of land for the mercenariesStarting, it was suggested delicately, with their commanders
He'd wanted to order the two of them throttledHe'd wanted to fry their greedy, wine-sodden brains with a blast of his own magicBut he couldn't afford to do it; added to which, exercising his powers was still a process of some real strain so soon after the encounter in the woods that had nearly killed him
The encounter that no one in this peninsula even believed had taken place
What he had done was smile at the two commanders and confide that he had already marked off in his mind a significant portion of the newly claimed Nievolene lands for one of themSiferval, he said, more in sorrow than in anger, had been put chanel earings out of the running by the conduct of his own men, but these two well, it would be a hard choiceHe would be watching them closely over the next while and would announce his decision in due course
How long a while, exactly, had pursued Karalius of the First
Truly, he could have killed the man even as he stood there, helmet under his arm, eyes hypocritically lowered in a show of deferenceOh, spring, perhaps, he'd said airily, as if such matters should not be of great moment to men of good will
Sooner would be better, had said Grancial of the Second, softly
Alberico had chosen to let his eyes show just a little of what he felt
Sooner would let whichever of us you choose have time to see to the proper handling of the land before spring planting, Grancial explained hastilyA little ruffled, as he should be
Perhaps it is so, Alberico had said, noncommittallyI will give thought to this
"By the way," he added, as they reached the door"Karalius, would you be good enough to send me that very competent young captain of yours? The one with the forked black balenciaga blue bea

Then, when her father had replied, and she came gradually to understand who this was, Alais had thought her heart would stop from sheer excitementShe could feel the tell-tale color rising in her cheeks
When it became clear that the musicians were coming inside, it had taken a supreme act of self-control for her to regain the mien and composure proper to her parents' oldest, most trusted child
In the house it became easier because the instant the two male guests stepped through the doorway Selvena had gone into her predictable mating frenzyA course of behavior so embarrassingly transparent to her older sister that it drove Alais straight back into her own habitual, detached watchfulnessSelvena had been crying herself to sleep for much of the year because it looked more and more as if she would still be unmarried when her eighteenth naming day came in the spring
Devin, the singer, was smaller and younger-looking than she'd expectedBut he was neat and lithe, with an easy smile and quick, intelligent eyes under sandy-brown hair that curled halfway chanel pearl necklace over his earsShe'd expected him to be arrogant or pretentious, despite what her father had said, but she saw nothing of that at all
The other man, Alessan, looked about fifteen years older, perhaps moreHis black, tangled hair was prematurely greying, silvering actually, at the templesHe had a lean, expressive face with very clear grey eyes and a wide mouthHe intimidated her a little, even though he was joking easily with her father right from the start, in exactly the manner she knew Rovigo most enjoyed
Perhaps that was it, Alais thought: few people she'd met could keep up with her father, in jesting or in anything elseAnd this man with the sharp, quizzical features appeared to be doing so effortlesslyShe wondered, aware that the thought was more than a little arrogant on her own part, how a Tregean musician could manage thatOn the other hand, she reflected, she didn't know very much about musicians at all
Which made her even more curious about the womanAlais thought Catriana was terribly beautifulWith her commanding height and the startlingly chanel diamond watches blue eyes under the blaze of her hair, like a second fire in the room, she made Alais feel small and pale and blandIn a curious way that combined with Selvena's outrageous flirtation to relax rather than unsettle her: this sort of activity, competition, exercise, was simply not something with which she was going to get involvedWatching closely, she saw Catriana register Selvena's soft flouncing at Devin's feet and she intercepted the sardonic glance the red-haired singer directed at her fellow musician
Alais decided to go into the kitchenHer mother and Menka might need helpAlix gave her a quick, thoughtful glance when she came in, but did not comment
They quickly put a meal togetherBack in the front room Alais helped at the sideboard and then listened and watched from her favorite chair next to the fireLater she had genuine cause to bless Selvena's shamelessnessNone of the rest of them would have dreamt of asking their guests to sing
This time she could see the singers so she kept her eyes openDevin sang directly to her once near the end and fake cartier watches Alais, her color furiously rising, forced herself not to look awayFor the rest of that last song about Eanna naming the stars she found her mind straying into channels unusual for her, the sort of thing Selvena speculated about at night all the time, in detailAlais hoped they would all attribute her color to the warmth of the fire
She did wonder about one thing though, having been an observer of people for most of her lifeThere was something between Devin and Catriana, but it certainly wasn't love, or even tenderness as she understood either of those thingsThey would look at each other from time to time, usually when the other was unaware, and the glances would be more challenging than anything elseShe reminded herself again that the world of these people was farther removed from her own than she could even imagine
The younger ones said their good nightsSelvena doing so with a highly suspicious lack of protest, and touching, shockingly, fingertip to palm with both men in farewellAlais caught a glance from her father, and a moment later she rose new omega watches when her mother did
It was impulse, nothing more, that led her to invite Catriana to come up with herImmediately the words were spoken, she realized how they must sound to the other woman, someone so independent
and obviously at ease in the company of menAlais flinched inwardly at her own provincial clumsiness, and braced herself for a rebuffCatriana's smile, though, was all graciousness as she stood
"It will remind me of home," she said
Thinking about that as the two of them went up the stairs past the lamps in their brackets and the wall-hangings her grandfather had brought back south from a voyage to Khardhun years and years ago, Alais tried to fathom what would lead a girl her own age to venture out among the rough and tumble of long roads and uncertain lodgingOf late nights and men who would surely assume that if she was among them she had to be availableAlais tried, but she honestly couldn't grasp itDespite that, or perhaps because of it, something generous in her spirit opened out toward the other woman
"Thank you for the music," she said chanel ceramic watches sh

Once she'd been safely aboard ship and the ship away to sea they'd been kind to herWomen thought to have a real chance at being chosen for the saishan were always treated well on the Tribute ShipsIt could make a captain's fortune in Brandin's court if he brought home a hostage who became a favorite of the Tyrant
Sitting now on the southern balcony of the saishan wing, looking out from behind the ornately crafted screen that hid the women from gawkers in the square below, Dianora watched the banners of Chiara and Ygrath flap in the freshening spring breeze, and she remembered how the wind had blown her hair about her face more than twelve years agoShe remembered looking from the bright sails to the slopes of the tree-clad hills running up to Sangarios, from the blue and white of the sea to the clouds in the blue skyFrom the tumult and chaos of life in the harbor to the serene grandeur of the palace just beyondBirds had been wheeling, crying loudly about the three high masts of the Tribute ShipThe rising sun had been a dazzle of light striking along the sea from rolex submariner 50th anniversary the eastSo much vibrancy in the world, so rich and fair and shining a morning to be alive
Twelve years ago, and moreShe had been twenty-one years old, and nursing her hatred and her secret like two of Morian's three snakes twining about her heart
She had been chosen for the saishan
The circumstances of her taking had made it very likely, and Brandin's celebrated grey eyes had widened appraisingly when she was led before him two days laterShe'd been wearing a silken, pale-colored gown, she remembered, chosen to set off her dark hair and the dark brown of her eyes
She had been certain she would be chosenShe'd felt neither triumph nor fear, even though she'd been pointing her life toward that moment for five full years, even though, in that instant of Brandin's choosing, walls and screens and corridors closed around her that would define the rest of her daysShe'd had her hatred and her secret, and guarding the two of them left no room for anything else
Or so she'd thought at twenty-one
For all she'd seen and lived through, even by then, Dianora reflected twelve prada black bags years later on her balcony, she'd known very little, dangerously little, about a great many things that mattered far too much
Even out of the wind it was cool here on the balconyThe Ember Days were upon them but the flowers were just beginning in the valleys inland and on the hill slopes, and the true onset of spring was some time off even this far northIt had been different at home, Dianora remembered; sometimes there would still be snow in the southern highlands when the springtime Ember Days had come and passed
Without looking backwards, Dianora raised a handIn a moment the castrate had brought her a steaming mug of Tregean khavTrade restrictions and tariffs, Brandin was fond of saying in private, had to be handled selectively or life could be too acutely marredKhav was one of the selected thingsOnly in the palace of courseOutside the walls they drank the inferior products of Corte or neutral SenzioOnce a group of Senzian khav merchants had come as part of a trade embassy to try to persuade him of improvements in the crop they grew and the cup it brewedNeutral, prada fairy bag indeed, Brandin had said judiciously, tastingSo neutral, it hardly seems to be there
The merchants had withdrawn, consternated and pale, desperately seeking to divine the hidden meaning in the Ygrathen Tyrant's wordsSenzians spent much of their time doing that, Dianora had observed drily to Brandin afterwardShe'd always been able to amuse him, even in the days when she was too young and inexperienced to do it deliberately
Which thought reminded her of the young castrate attending her this morningScelto was in town collecting her gown for the reception that afternoon; her attendant was one of the newest castrates, sent out from Ygrath to serve the growing saishan in the colony
He was well trained alreadyVencel's methods might be harsh, but there was no denying that they workedShe decided not to tell the boy that the khav wasn't strong enough; he would very probably fall to pieces, which would be inconvenientShe'd mention it to Scelto and let him handle the matterThere was no need for Vencel to know: it was useful to have some of the castrates grateful to her as chanel top well as afraidThe fear came automatically: a function of who she was here in the saishanGratitude or affection she had to work at
Twelve years and more this spring, she thought again, leaning forward to look down through the screen at the bustling preparations in the square for the arrival of Isolla of Ygrath later that dayAt twenty-one she'd been at the peak, she supposed, of whatever beauty she'd been grantedShe'd had nothing of such grace at fifteen and sixteen she remembered, they hadn't even bothered to hide her from the Ygrathen soldiers at home
At nineteen she'd begun to be something else entirely, though by then she wasn't at home and Ygrath was no danger to the residents of Barbadian-ruled CertandoOr not normally, she amended, reminding herself, though this was not, by any means, a thing that really needed a reminder, that she was Dianora di Certando here in the saishanAnd across in the west wing as well, in Brandin's bed
She was thirty-three years old, and somehow with the years that had slipped away so absurdly fast she was one of the powers of this chanel cc necklace pal

We've got concerts tomorrow, too
Alessan's mouth quirked"I do seem to recall that," he said
"Three," said Catriana unexpectedly
"Three," Alessan agreed cheerfully"And one the next day at the Woolguild HallI also have, it has just occurred to me, a substantial wager in The Paelion that I expect to win
Which drew an already predictable growl from Baerd"Do you seriously think the Festival of Vines is going to blithely proceed after what has occurred tonight? You want to go make music in Astibar as if nothing has happened? Music? I've been down this road with you before, Alessan
"Actually, I'm quite certain the Festival will go on"Alberico is cautious almost before he is anything elseI cartier tank louis think tonight will redouble that in himHe will allow the people their celebrations, let those from the distrada scatter and go home, then slam down hard immediately afterBut only on the three families that were here, I suspectIt is, frankly, what I would do myself
"Taxes?" Alessan askedHe raised them after the Canziano poisoning, but that was differentAn actual assassination attempt in a public placeHe didn't have much choiceI think he'll narrow it this time, there will be enough bodies for his wheels among the three families here
Devin found it unsettling how casually the Duke spoke of such thingsThis was his kin they were discussingHis oldest son, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, chanel 2.55 bag cousins, all to be fodder for Barbadian killing-wheelsDevin wondered if he would ever grow as cynical as thisIf what had begun tonight would harden him to that degreeHe tried to think of his brothers on a death-wheel in Asoli and found his mind flinching away from the very imageUnobtrusively he made the warding sign against evil
The truth was, he was upset just thinking about Menico, and that was merely a matter of costing the man money, nothing morePeople moved from troupe to troupe all the timeOr left to start their own companiesOr retired from the road into a business that offered them more securityThere would be performers who would be expecting him to go on his own after his success replica miu miu this morningThat should have been a helpful thought, but it wasn'tSomehow Devin hated to make it appear as if they were right
Something else occurred to him"Won't it look a bit odd, too, if we disappear right after the mourning rites? Right after Alberico's unmasked a plot that was connected with them? We're sort of linked to the Sandreni now in a wayShould we draw attention to ourselves like that? It isn't as if our disappearance won't be noticed
He said it, for some reason, to BaerdAnd was rewarded a moment later with a brief, sober nod of acknowledgment
"Now that cloth I will buy," Baerd said"That does make sense, though I'm sorry to say it
"A good deal of sense," Sandre paddington chloe handbag agreedDevin fidgeted a little as he came under the scrutiny of those dark, sunken eyes"The two of you", the Duke gestured at Devin and Catriana, "may yet redeem your generation for me
This time Devin refused to look at the girlInstead his glance went over to the corner where Sandre's grandson lay by the second, dying fire, his throat slashed by a family blade
Alessan broke the silence with a deliberate cough"There is also," he said in a curious tone, "another argument entirelyOnly those who have spent as many nights outdoors as I have can properly appreciate the depth, as it were, of my preference for a soft bed at nightIn short," he concluded with a grin, "your eloquence has quite overcome me, new cartier watches D