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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 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 925 tiffany's necklace 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 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 knockoff chanel jewelry 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 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 chanel quilted bag classic black 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 when her mother did
It was impulse, nothing more, that led her to invite Catriana to come up with herImmediately the buy fake rolex watches 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 shyly
"Small return for your kindness," Catriana said lightly
"Not as small as you think," Alais fashion d |
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