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Behind her she heard Scelto speak one quick, cryptic sentence, and then another in answer to a questionThen she heard his footsteps coming down the corridorA moment later the door swung shut behind themScelto caught up to her
"I think it will take a brave man to stop you today," he said quietly"They all know what happened yesterdayIt is a good morning to be trying this
It was the only morning she would ever be trying this, Dianora thought
"What did you tell them?" she asked, continuing to walk
"The only thing I could think ofYou are going to a meeting with d'Eymon about what happened yesterday
She slowed a little, considering that, and as she did, the glimmerings of a proper plan came to her, like the first faint illumination of the sun rising in rolex oyster perpetual explorer watch the east above the mountains
"Good," she said, nodding her headThat is exactly what I'm doing Two other guards walked past them, taking no notice at all"Scelto," she said, when they were alone again, "I need you to find d'EymonSay I want to speak with him alone before we all go out this afternoon for the end of the raceTell him I'll be waiting in the King's Garden two hours from now
Two hours might or might not be enough; she didn't knowBut somewhere in the vast expanse of the King's Garden on the north side of the palace she knew there was a gate that led out to the meadows, and then the slopes of Sangarios beyond
Scelto stopped, forcing her to do the same
"You are going to go without me, aren't you?" he said
She would not lie to him"I expect to be chanel handbags collection back in time for that meetingAfter you give him the message go back to the saishanHe doesn't know we're out already, so he'll have to send for meMake sure the message goes directly to you, I don't care how
"They usually do," he said quietly, clearly unhappyWhen he does send we'll have our excuse for being outTwo hours from now come back down yourselfI should be in the garden with him
"And if you aren't?"
She shruggedI have to do this, Scelto, I told you
He looked at her a moment longer, and then nodded his head onceJust before reaching the sweep of the Grand Staircase on their left Scelto turned right and they went down a smaller stairwell to the ground levelIt brought them out into another east-west corridorThere was no one thereThe palace was replica prada handbags only just beginning to stir
She looked over at SceltoFor a fleeting moment she was sorely tempted to confide in him, to make an ally of a friend
What could she say, though? How explain in the middle of a dawn corridor the dark night and the train of years that had led her here?
She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed
Without looking back she walked alone a little way down the hallway, pushed open two glass doors leading to the labyrinth of the King's Garden, and went out into the grey, cold beginning of dawn
It hadn't always been known as the King's Garden, nor had it always been as wild as it was nowThe Grand Dukes of Chiara had shaped this pleasure ground for themselves over successive generations, and it had changed over the years as tastes and fine jewelry tiffany styles in the Island court had changed
When Brandin of Ygrath had first arrived it had been a glittering exercise in topiary: hedges artfully trimmed in the shapes of birds and animals, trees precisely spaced and arranged throughout the enormous walled expanse of the garden, wide walks with sculpted benches at easy intervals, each one under a sejoia planted for fragrance and shadeThere had been one tidy box-hedged maze with a lover's seat at the center, and rows and rows of flowers carefully arrayed in complementary colors
Tame and boring, the King of Ygrath had labeled it the first time he walked through
Within two years the garden had changed againA great deal this timeThe walkways were less wide now, dappled and overhung with leaves in summer and d |
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