|
She was just a little too untutored, too country, to succeed in her ambitious hopes, they agreed sagelyThey also agreed, a few drinks later, that she had the most extraordinarily appealing smileSomething about her eyes, what happened to them when she was pleased
In the morning Dianora was dressed and packed and waiting very early at the main gate of the fortShe struck a bargain for passage to Stevanien with a pleasant-enough middle-aged merchant from Senzio carrying Barbadian spices for the luxury tradeHis only reason for going to dreary, flattened Stevanien, she learned as they started west, was because of the new restaurant, The QueenShe took that coincidence as a good omen, closing the fingers of her left hand over the thumb three times to make the wish come true
The roads were better than she remembered; certainly the merchants traveling them seemed to feel saferRolling along in the cart, she asked chanel earrings the Senzian about itHe grinned sardonically
"The Tyrants have cleaned out most of the highway brigandsJust a matter of protecting their own interestsThey want to make sure no one else robs us before they do with their border tariffs and taxes He spat, discreetly, into the dust of the road"Personally I preferred the brigandsThere were ways of dealing with them
Not long after that she saw evidence of what he was talking about: they passed two death-wheels beside the roadway, the bodies of would-be thieves spreadeagled upon them, spiraling lazily in the sun, severed hands rotting in their mouthsThe smell was very bad
The Senzian stopped just across the border to do some dealing in the fort of ForeseHe also paid his transit duties there scrupulously, waiting patiently in line to have his cart examined and leviedThe death-wheels, he pointed out to her after, in the acerbic Senzian manner, were not reserved for black and white chanel purses highway thieves and captured wizards
Thus delayed, they spent the night at a coach-house on the well-traveled road, joining a party of Ferraut traders for dinnerDianora excused herself early and went to bedShe'd paid for a room alone and took the precaution of pushing an oak dresser in front of her doorNothing disturbed her though, except her dreamsShe was back in Tigana and yet she wasn't, because it wasn't thereShe whispered the name to herself like a talisman or a prayer before falling into a restless sleep shot through with images of destruction from the burning year
They spent the second night at another inn beside the river, just outside the walls of Stevanien, having arrived after sundown curfew closed the city gatesThey ate alone this time, and she talked to the Senzian until lateHe was decent and sober, belying the cliches about his decadent province, and it was clear that he liked herShe enjoyed small chanel purse his company, and she was even attracted to his dry, witty mannerShe went to bed alone thoughThis was not the village in Certando: she had no obligations
Or not those kinds of obligationsAnd as for pleasure, or the ordinary needs of human interaction she would have been honestly uncomprehending if anyone had mentioned them to her
She was nineteen years old and in Tigana that-had-been
In the morning, just inside the city walls, she bade farewell to the Senzian, touching palm to palm only brieflyHe seemed somewhat affected by the night before but she turned and walked away before he could find whatever words his eyes were reaching for
She found a hostelry not far away, one where her family had never stayedShe wasn't really worried about being recognized though; she knew how much she had changed and how many girls named Dianora there were scattered across the PalmShe paid in advance for three nights' lodging 925 tiffany's necklace and left her belongings there
Then she walked out into the streets of what had been Avalle of the Towers not very long agoAvalle, on the green banks of the Sperion just before the river turned west to find the seaThere was an ache building in her as she went, and what hurt most of all, she found, was how much the same a place could be after everything had changed
She went through the leather district and the wool districtShe could remember skipping along beside her mother when they had all come inland to Avalle to see one of her father's sculptures ceremoniously placed in some square or loggiaShe even recognized the tiny shop where she'd purchased her first grey leather gloves, with coins hoarded from her naming day in the summer for just such a thing
Grey was a color for grown young women, not for little girls, the red-bearded artisan had teasedI know, six-year-old Dianora had said proudly that autumn long women rolex watches |
| 