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Her heart would scald her at the very thought of...
10:40, 2010-Jan-31
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Her heart would scald her at the very thought of her brother so, even if death might spare him a grief so final as seeing where she had come, but each and every morning she prayed to the Triad, especially to Adaon of the Waves, that he was overseas and so far away from where tidings might ever reach him of a Dianora with dark eyes like his own in the saishan of the Tyrant
Unless, said the quiet voice of her heart, unless the morning might yet come when she could find a way to do a thing here on the Island that would still, despite all that had happened, despite the intertwining of limbs at night and the sound of her own voice crying aloud in need assuaged, bring back another sound into the worldInto the voices of men and women and children all over the Palm, and south over the mountains in Quileia, and north and west and east beyond all the seas
The sound of the name of Tigana, goneGone, but not, if the goddesses and the god were kind, if there was any love left in them, or pity, not forever forgotten or forever lost
And perhaps, and this was Dianora's dream on the nights she slept alone, after Scelto had knock off balenciaga bags massaged and oiled her skin and had gone away with his candle to sleep outside her door, perhaps it would come to pass that if she could indeed find a way to do this thing, that her brother, far from home, would miraculously hear the name of Tigana spoken by a stranger in a world of strangers, in some distant royal court or bazaar, and somehow he would know, in a rush of wonder and joy, in the deep core of the heart she knew so well, that it was through her doing that the name was in the world again
She would be dead by thenShe had no doubts as to thatBrandin's hate in this one thing, in the matter of his vengeance for Stevan, was fixed and unalterableIt was the one set star in the firmament of all the lands he ruled
She would be dead, but it would be all right, for Tigana's name would be restored, and her brother would be alive and would know it had been she, and Brandin Brandin would understand that she had found a way to do this thing while sparing his life on all the nights, the numberless nights, when she could have slain him while he slept by her side after love
This was Dianora's dreamShe used to be buy miu miu driven awake, tears cold on her cheeks, by the intensity of the feelings it engenderedNo one ever saw those tears but Scelto though, and Scelto she trusted more than anyone alive
She heard his quick light footsteps at the doorway and then briskly crossing the floor toward her balconyNo one else in the saishan moved like SceltoThe castrates were notoriously prone to lassitude and to eating too much, the obvious substitutions for pleasureSlim as he'd been when she met him, he still sought out those errands the other castrates strove to avoid: trips up into the steep streets of the old town, or even farther north into the hills or partway up Sangarios itself in search of healing herbs or leaves or simply meadow flowers for her room
He seemed ageless, but he hadn't been young when Vencel assigned him to Dianora and she guessed that he must be sixty nowIf Vencel ever died, a hard thing to imagine, in fact, Scelto was certainly next in line to succeed him as head of the saishan
They had never spoken about it, but Dianora knew, as surely as she knew anything, that he would refuse the position if it were offered to rolex watch knock off him, in order to remain bound to herShe also knew, and this was the thing that touched her, that this would be true even if Brandin stopped sending for her entirely and she became merely another aging ignored item of history in the saishan wing
And this was the second thing she'd never expected to find when hate had carried her through autumn seas to Chiara on the Tribute Ship: kindness and caring and a friend behind the high walls and ornate screens of the place where women waited among men who had lost their manhood
Scelto's tread, rapid even after the long climb up the Great Staircase and then another flight up to the saishan, clicked across the mosaics of the balcony floor behind herShe heard him murmur kindly to the boy and dismiss him
He took another step forward and coughed once, to announce himself
"Is it terribly hideous?" she asked without turning around
"It will do," Scelto said, coming to stand beside herShe looked over, smiling to see his close-cropped grey hair, the thin, precise mouth, and the terribly broken hook of his noseAges ago, he'd said when she'd askedA fight over a woman back in chloe paddington handbag chocolate YgrathHe'd killed the other man, who happened to be a nobleWhich unfortunate fact had cost Scelto his sex and his liberty and brought him hereDianora had been more disturbed by the story than he seemed to beOn the other hand, she remembered thinking, it had been new to her, while for him it was only the familiar coinage of his life, from a long time past
He held up the dark red gown they'd had made in the old townFrom his smile which matched her own Dianora knew it had been worth cajoling Vencel for the funds to have this doneThe head of the saishan would want a favor later, he always did, but through such exchanges was the saishan run, and Dianora, looking at the gown, had no regrets
"What is Solores wearing?" she asked
"Hala wouldn't tell me," Scelto murmured regretfully
Dianora laughed aloud at the straight face he managed to maintain"I'm quite sure he wouldn't," she said"What is she wearing?"
"Green," he said promptly"High waisted, high neckTwo shades in pleats below the waistA great deal of gold everywhere elseHer hair will be up, of course
Dianora laughed againScelto allowed himself a tiny smile of cartier watches satisfac
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