They passed the doorway to the baths and then the...
They passed the doorway to the baths and then the entrance to the dining roomsBoth were empty and silentThey turned a corner toward the stairway that led down and out of the women's wing, and there Dianora saw that one person at least had remained, and was waiting for them
"Let me look at you," Vencel said, the usual words"I must approve you before you go down
The saishan head was sprawled as always among the many-colored pillows of his rolling platformDianora almost smiled to see his vast bulk, and to hear the familiar words spoken
"Of course," she said, and slowly turned full circle before his scrutiny
"Acceptable," he said at lengthThe customary judgment, though his high distinctive voice sounded more subdued than she had ever heard itperhaps you would like to wear that vairstone from Khardhun about your women rolex watches throat? For luck? I brought it with me for you, from the saishan treasures
Almost diffidently Vencel extended a large soft hand and she saw that he was holding the red jewel she had worn the day Isolla of Ygrath had tried to kill the King
She was about to demur when she remembered that Scelto had brought this back for her as something special for that day, just before she had dressed to go downRemembering that, and moved by Vence's gesture, she said, "Thank youI would be pleased to wear it"Would you put it on for me?"
He smiled, almost shylyShe knelt before him and with his deft and delicate fingers the enormous saishan head clasped the jewel on its chain about her neckKneeling so near she was overwhelmed by the scent of tainflowers that he always wore
Vencel withdrew his hands and leaned back to look at herIn chanel purse spray his dark face his eyes were unwontedly soft"In Khardhun we used to say to someone going on a journey Fortune find you there and guide you homeSuch is my wish today He hid his hands in the billowing folds of his white robe and looked away, down the empty corridor
"Thank you," she said again, afraid to say moreShe rose and glanced over at Scelto; there were tears in his eyesHe wiped them hastily away and moved to lead her down the stairsHalfway down she looked back at Vencel, an almost inhumanly vast figure, draped in billowing whiteHe was gazing expressionlessly down after them, from among the brilliantly colored panoply of his pillows, an exotic creature from another world entirely, somehow carried ashore and stranded here in the saishan of Chiara
At the bottom of the stairs she saw that the two doors had been left tiffany jewelry imitation unbarredScelto would not have to knockHe pushed the doors open and drew back to let her pass
In the long hallway outside the priests of Morian and the priestesses of Adaon were waiting for herShe saw the scarcely veiled triumph in their eyes, a collective glittering of expectation
There was a sound, a drawing of breath, as she came through the doors in the green robes of a rite that had not been performed in two and a half hundred years, her hair drawn back and bound in a net green as the sea
Trained to control, being what they were, the clergy quickly fell silentAnd in silence they made way for her, to follow behind in orderly rows of crimson and smoke-grey
She knew they would make Scelto trail behind themHe could not be part of this procession of the ritesShe knew she had not properly said farewell to himHers chanel latest handbag was not a life meant to be made whole
They went west down the corridor to the Grand StaircaseAt the top of the wide marble stairs Dianora paused and looked down, and she finally understood why the saishan had been so silentAll the women and the castrates were gathered belowThey had been allowed out, permitted to come this far to see her pass byHolding her head very high and looking neither left nor right she set her foot on the first stair and started downShe was no longer herself, she thoughtNo longer Dianora, or not only DianoraShe was merging further into legend with every step she took
And then, at the bottom of the staircase, as she stepped onto the mosaic-inlaid tiles of the floor, she realized who was waiting by the palace doors to escort her out and her heart almost stopped
There was a cluster of men tiffany and co. jewelry there