Erlein waited, his hands motionless on the harp, and Devin did, leaving him a space in which to reach upwards alone, yearning towards that high note where confusion and pain and love and death and longing could all be left behind him for a very little while

Chapter 18

NORMALLY WHEN SHE WENT UP ON THE RAMPARTS OF HER castle at sunset it was to look south, watching the play of light and the changing colors of the sky above the mountainsOf late though, as springtime turned towards the summer they had all been waiting for, Alienor found herself climbing to the northern ramparts instead, to pace the guard's walk behind the crenellations or lean upon the cool rough stone, gazing into the distance, wrapped in her shawl against the chill that still came when the sun went down
As if she could actually see as far as Senzio
The shawl was a new one, brought by the messengers from Quileia that Baerd had told them would comeThe ones who carried the messages that could, if all went right, turn the whole world upside downNot just http://www.ooluxury.com/scategory_9_Louis-Vuitton.html" target="_blank the Palm: Barbadior too, where the Emperor was said to be dying, and Ygrath, and Quileia itself where, precisely because of what he was doing for them, Marius might not survive
The Quileian messengers had stopped on their way to Fort Ortiz, as was appropriate, to pay their respects to the Lady of Castle Borso and to bring her a gift from the new King of Quileia: an indigo-colored shawl, a color almost impossible to find here in the Palm, and one which was, she knew, a mark of nobility in Quileia, It was evident that Alessan had told this Marius a fair bit about her involvement with him over the yearsMarius of Quileia, it seemed, was one of them; in fact, as Baerd had explained it the afternoon after Alessan had ridden into the Braccio Pass and then away west, Marius was the key to everything
Two days after the Quileians passed through, Alienor began a habit of springtime rides that took her, casually, far enough afield to necessitate one or two overnight stays at neighboring castlesAt which time she relayed a quite http://www.ooluxury.com/scategory_21_Tiffany-Jewelry.html" target="_blank specific message to half a dozen equally specific peopleBefore Midsummer
Not long afterwards, a silk-merchant and then a singer she rather liked came down to Castle Borso with word of tremendous troop movements among the BarbadiansThe roads were absolutely clogged with mercenaries marching north, they saidShe had raised her eyebrows in quizzical mystification, but had allowed herself more wine than was customary each of those two nights, and had rewarded both men later, after her own fashion
Up on the ramparts at sunset now, she heard a footstep on the stair behind herShe had been waiting for it
Without turning, she said, "You are almost too lateThe sun is nearly gone Which was true; the color of the sky and the thin, underlit clouds in the west had darkened from pink through crimson and purple most of the way down to the indigo she wore about her shoulders
Elena stepped out on the parapet
"I'm sorry," she said, inappropriatelyShe was always apologizing, still uneasy in the castleShe moved to the guard's walk beside Alienor http://www.muluxury.com/category_27_Chanel-Watches_1.html" target="_blank and looked out over the gathering darkness of the late-spring fieldsHer long yellow hair fanned over her shoulders, the ends lifting in the breeze
Ostensibly she was here to serve as a new lady-in-waiting to AlienorShe had brought her two young children and her few belongings into Borso two mornings after the Ember Days had endedIt was considered a good idea that she be established here well before the time that might matterIt appeared, incredibly enough, that there could actually come a time when her being here might matter
Tomaz, the gaunt, aged Khardhu warrior had said that it would be necessary for one of them to stay hereTomaz, who was very clearly not from Khardhun, and just as clearly unwilling to say who he really wasAlienor didn't care about thatWhat mattered was that Baerd and Alessan trusted him, and in this matter Baerd was deferring to the dark, hollow-cheeked man absolutely,
"One of whom, exactly?" Alienor had askedThe four of them had been alone: herself, Baerd and Tomaz, and the red-headed young girl who http://www.snluxury.com/categorys_92_Coco-Chanel-Shoulder-Bag_1.html" target="_blank didn't like her, Catriana
Baerd hesitated a long time"One of the Night Walkers," he said finally
She had raised her eyebrows at that, the small outward gesture serving to show all she was prepared to reveal of her inward astonishment
"Really? Here? They are still about?"
Baerd nodded
"And that is where you were last night when you went out?"
After a second Baerd nodded again
The girl Catriana blinked in manifest surpriseShe was clever and quite beautiful, Alienor thought, but she still had rather a great deal to learn
"Doing what?" Alienor asked Baerd
But this time he shook his headShe had expected thatThere were limits with Baerd; she enjoyed trying to push towards themOne night, ten years ago, she had found exactly where his boundaries of privacy lay, in one dimension at leastSurprisingly perhaps, their friendship had deepened from that time on
Now, unexpectedly, he grinned"You could have them all stay here, of course, not just one
She had grimaced with a distaste only partly feigned"One will be sufficient, thank http://www.ualuxury.com/category_6_Fendi_1.html" target="_blank yo