| There is so much more than freedom in a peninsula in any single generation at stake in this!"
She fell back, coughing, pulling a square of blue silk from a pocket in her robeDevin saw Alessan begin a movement up from his knees, and then check himselfHis mother coughed, rackingly, and Devin saw, before he could turn his eyes away that the silk came away red when she was doneOn the carpet beside her Alessan bowed his head
Erlein di Senzio, from the far side of the room, perhaps too far to see the blood, said, "And shall I now tell you the legends of Senzio's pre-eminence? Of Astibar's? Will you hear me sing the story of Eanna on the Island shaping the stars from the glory of her love-making with the god? Do you know Certando's claim to be the heart and soul of the Palm? Do you remember the Carlozzini? The Night Walkers in their highlands two hundred years ago?"
The woman in the armchair pushed herself straight again glaring at himFearing her, hating her words and manner and the terrible thing she was doing to her son, Devin nonetheless felt humbled in the face of so much courage and such a force of will
"But that is the point," she said more softly, sparing her strength"That is the heart of thisCan you not see it? I do remember those storiesAnyone with an education or a library, any fool who has ever heard a troubadour's omega speedmaster watches sentimental wailing can remember themCan hear twenty different songs of Eanna and Adaon on SangariosDon't you see? Not Tigana anymoreWho will sing of Micaela under the stars by the sea when we are gone? Who will be here to sing, when one more generation has lived and died away in the world?"
"I will," said Devin, his hands at his sides
He saw Alessan's head come up as Pasithea turned to fix him with her cold eyes"We all will," he said, as firmly as he couldHe looked at the Prince and then, forcing himself, back to the dying old woman raging in her pride"The whole Palm will hear that song again, my ladyBecause your son is not a cowardNor some vain fool seeking a young death and shallow fameHe is trying for the larger thing and he is going to do itSomething has happened this spring and because of it he is going to do what he has said he will do: free this peninsula and bring back Tigana's name into the world
He finished, breathing in hard gasps as if he had been running a raceA moment later, he felt himself go crimson with mortificationPasithea bren Serazi was laughingMocking him, her frail thin body rocking in the chairHer high laughter turned into another desperate fit of coughing; the blue silk came up, and when it was withdrawn there was a great deal of blood stainShe clutched at the arms of her chair to steady tiffany silver herself
"You are a child," she pronounced finally"And my son is a child for all the grey in his hairAnd I have no doubt that Baerd bar Saevar is exactly the same, with half the grace and the gifts his father had'Something has happened this spring,' " she mimicked with cruel precisionHer voice grew hard and cold as midwinter ice: "Do you infants have any idea what has really just happened in the Palm?"
Slowly her son rose from his knees to stand before her"We have been riding for a number of days and nightsWe have heard no tidingsWhat is it?"
"I told you there was news," Danoleon said quickly"But I had no chance to give you the
"I am pleased," Pasithea interruptedIt seems I still have something to tell my son before I leave him foreverSomething he hasn't learned or thought out all by himself already She pushed herself erect again in the chair, her eyes cold and bright like frost under blue moonlightThere was something wild and lost in her voice though, trying to break throughSome terrible fear, and of more than deathShe said:
"A messenger came yesterday at sunset, at the end of the Ember DaysAn Ygrathen, riding from Stevanien with news from ChiaraNews so urgent Brandin had sent it by his sorcerous link to all his Governors with instructions to spread the tidings
"And the tidings are?" Alessan had braced himself, as if chanel cambon ligne bag preparing to receive a blow
"The tidings? The tidings, my feckless child, are that Brandin has just abdicated as King of YgrathHe is sending his army homeAll those who choose to stay with him must become citizens of this peninsulaOf a new dominion: the Kingdom of the Western PalmChiara, Corte, Asoli, Lower CorteFour provinces under Brandin on the IslandHe has announced that we are free of Ygrath, no longer a colonyTaxes are to be shared equally among us now, and they have been cut in halfCut by considerably more than half here in Lower CorteOur burden will now be equal with the othersThe messenger said that the people of this province, the people your father ruled, were singing Brandin's name in the streets of Stevanien
Alessan, moving very carefully, as if he were carrying something large and heavy, that might shift and fall, turned toward DanoleonWho was nodding his head
"It seems that there was an assassination attempt on the Island three days ago," the High Priest said"Originating in Ygrath: the Queen and Brandin's son, the RegentIt apparently failed only because of one of his Tribute womenThe one from Certando who almost started a warYou may remember that, twelve, fourteen years ago? It seems that in the wake of this Brandin has changed his mind about what he has been doingNot about staying in the Palm, or about Tigana and coco chanel earrings his revenge, but about what must be done in Ygrath if he continues here
"And he is going to continue here," Pasithea said"Tigana will die, still be lost forever to his vengeance, but our people will be singing the Tyrant's name as it diesThe name of the man who killed your father
Alessan was nodding his head reflexivelyHe seemed, in fact, scarcely to be listening, as if he had suddenly withdrawn entirely inside himselfPasithea fell silent in the face of that, looking at her sonIt grew deathly still in the roomOutside, far away, the uncontrolled shouts and laughter of the children in the field came to their ears again, the louder for the silence withinDevin listened to that distant mirth and tried to slow the chaos of his heart, to attempt to deal with what they had just heard
He looked at Erlein, who had laid down his harp on the window-ledge and walked a few steps into the room, his expression troubled and waryDevin tried desperately to think, to gather his scattered thoughts, but the news had caught him hopelessly unpreparedWhich was what they wanted, wasn't it? Except that it wasn'tBrandin was staying, they were not free of him, or the weight of his magicAnd Tigana? What of Tigana now?
And then, quite unexpectedly, there was something else bothering himA distracting, niggling awareness tugging at the corner of his cheap tiffany's jewelry min |
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