Scelto had already laid out the clothes she would...
Scelto had already laid out the clothes she would wear, the garments of ritualDark green for the going down: her outer robe and sandals, the net that would hold her hair and the silken undertunic in which she would diveFor afterwards, after she came back from the sea, there was another robe, white, richly embroidered with goldFor when she was to represent, to be the bride come from the sea with a gold ring in her hand for the King
She was almost astonished at her own calmIt was easier actually because she hadn't seen Brandin since early the day before, as was proper for the riteEasier too, because of how brilliantly clear all the images seemed to be, how smoothly they had led her here, as if she was choosing or deciding nothing, only following a course set down somewhere else and long ago
Easier, finally, because she had come to understand and accept, deeply, and with certitude, that she had been born into a world, a life, that would not let her be wholeThis was not Finavir, or any such dreamplaceThis was the only life, the only world, she was to be allowedAnd in that life Brandin of Ygrath had come to this peninsula to shape a realm for his son, and Valentin di Tigana had killed Stevan, Prince of YgrathThis had happened, could not be unmade
And because fendi black leather spy bag of that death, Brandin had come down upon Tigana and her people and torn them out of the known past and the still unfolding pages of the worldAnd was staying here to seal that truth forever, blank and absolute, in vengeance for his sonThis had happened and was happening, and had to be unmade
So she had come here to kill himIn her father's name and her mother's, in Baerd's name and her own, and for all the lost and ruined people of her homeBut on Chiara she had discovered, in grief and pain and glory, that islands were truly a world of their own, that things changed thereShe had learned, long ago, that she loved himAnd now, in glory and pain and wonder, had been made to understand that he loved herThis had all happened, and she had tried to unmake it, and had failed
Hers was not a life meant to be made wholeShe could see it now so clearly, and in that clarity, that final understanding, Dianora found the wellspring of her calm
Some lives were unluckySome people had a chance to shape their worldIt seemed, who could have foretold?, that both these things were true of her
Of Dianora di Tigana bren Saevar, a sculptor's daughter; a dark-haired dark-eyed child, gawky and unlovely in her youth, serious and grave, though with flashes of wit and tenderness, beauty mulberry bayswater bag coming to her late, and wisdom coming later, too much later
She took no food, though she'd allowed herself the khav, a last concession to years of habitShe didn't think that doing so would violate any ritualsShe also knew it didn't really matterScelto helped her dress, and then, in silence, he carefully gathered and pinned her hair, binding it in the dark green net that would hold it back from her eyes when she dived
When he was done she rose and submitted herself, as always before going out into the world, to his scrutinyThe sun was up now; its light flooding the room through the drawn-back curtainsIn the distance the growing noise from the harbor could be heardThe crowd must be very large by now, she thought; she didn't go back to the window to lookShe would see them soon enoughThere was a quality of anticipation to the steady murmur of sound that gave evidence, more clearly than anything else, of the stakes being played for this morningTwo different dominions here, if it came to thatPerhaps even the very Empire in Barbadior, with the Emperor ill and dying as everyone knewAnd one last thing more, though only she knew this, and only she would ever know: TiganaThe final, secret coin lying on the gaming table, hidden under the card laid down in the name of j12 chanel watch love
"Will I do?" she asked Scelto, her voice determinedly casual
He didn't follow that lead"You frighten me," he said quietly"You look as though you are no longer entirely of this worldAs if you have already left us all behind
It was uncanny how he could read herIt hurt to have to deceive him, not to have him with her on this last thing, but there was nothing he could have done, no reason to give him grief, and there were risks in the doing so
"I'm not at all sure that's flattering," she said, still lightly, "but I will attempt to think of it that way
He refused to smile"I think you know how little I like this," he said
"Scelto, Alberico's entire army will be on the border of Senzio two weeks from nowBrandin has no choiceIf they walk into Senzio they will not stop thereThis is his very best chance, probably his only chance, to link himself to the Palm in time She forced herself to sound a little angry
It was true, it was all trueBut none of it was the truthThe riselka was the truth this morning, that and the dreams she'd dreamt alone here in the saishan through all the years
"I know," Scelto said, clearly unhappyAnd nothing I think matters at all
"Please!" she said, to stop him before he made her cry"I don't think I can debate this with you now, SceltoShall louis vuitton we go?" Oh, my dear, she was thinkingOh, Scelto, you will undo me yet
He had stopped, flinching at her rebukeShe saw him swallow hard, his eyes loweredAfter a moment he looked up again
"Forgive me, my lady," he whisperedHe stepped forward and, unexpectedly, took her hands, pressing them to his lips"It is only for you that I speak
"Of course," she saidThere is really nothing to forgive, Scelto She squeezed his hands tightly
But in her heart she was bidding him farewell, knowing she must not cryShe looked into his honest, caring face, the truest friend she'd had for so many years, the only real friend actually, since her childhood, and she hoped against hope that in the days to come, he would remember the way she had gripped his hands and not the casual, careless sound of her words
"Let's go," she said again, and turned her face away from him, to begin the long walk through the palace and out into the morning and then down to the sea
The Ring Dive of the Grand Dukes of Chiara had been the most dramatic single ritual of temporal power in the Peninsula of the PalmFrom the very beginning of their dominion on the Island, the leaders of Chiara had known that theirs was a power granted by and subject to the waters that surrounded themThe sea guarded them and fed dior saddle handbag th