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He'd had no idea what to expect when they'd set out five days later with Rovigo's horse-drawn cart and three other horses, bound for Ferraut town with a bed and a number of wooden carvings of the TriadTaccio had written Rovigo that he could sell Astibarian religious carvings at a serious profit to merchants from the Western PalmEspecially because, as Devin learned, duty was not levied on Triad-related artifacts: part of a successful attempt by both sorcerers to keep the clergy placated and neutralized
Devin learned a great deal about trade that fall and winter, and about certain other things as wellWith his new, hard-won patience he would listen in silence as Alessan and the Duke tossed ideas back and forth on the long roads, turning the rough coals of a concept into the diamonds of polished plansAnd even though his own dreams at night were of raising a surging army to liberate Tigana and storm the fabled harbor walls of Chiara, he quickly came to understand, on the cold paths of day, that theirs would have to be a wholly different approach
Which was, in fact, why they were still in the east, not the west, and doing all they could, with the chloe paddington handbag chocolate small glittering diamonds of Alessan and Sandre's plans, to unsettle things in Alberico's realmOnce Catriana confided to him, on one of the days when, for whatever reason, she deemed him worth speaking to, that Alessan was, in fact, moving much more aggressively than he had the year before when she'd first joined themDevin suggested it might be Sandre's influenceCatriana had shaken her headShe thought that was a part of it, but that there was something else, a new urgency from a source she didn't understand
We'll find out in the spring, Devin had shruggedShe'd glared at him, as if personally affronted by his equanimity
It had been Catriana though who'd suggested the most aggressive thing of all as winter began: the faked suicide in TregeaAlong with the idea of leaving behind her a sheaf of the poems that that young poet had written about the SandreniAdreano was his name, Alessan had informed them, unwontedly subdued: the name was on the list of the twelve poets Rovigo had reported as being randomly death-wheeled during Alberico's retaliation for the versesAlessan had been unexpectedly disturbed by that news
There was other information in the letter fake louis vuitton handbag from Rovigo, aside from the usual covering business detailsIt had been held for them in a tavern in north Tregea that served as a mail drop for many of the merchants in the northeastThey had been heading south, spreading what rumors they could about unrest among the soldiersRovigo's latest report suggested, for the second time, that an increase in taxes might be imminent, to cover the mercenaries' newest pay demandsSandre, who seemed to know the Tyrant's mind astonishingly well, agreed
After dinner, when they were alone around the fire, Catriana had made her proposalDevin had been incredulous: he'd seen the height of the bridges of Tregea and the speed of the river waters belowAnd it was winter by then, growing colder every day
Alessan, still upset by the news from Astibar, and evidently of the same mind as Devin, vetoed the idea bluntlyCatriana pointed out two thingsOne was that she had been brought up by the sea: she was a better swimmer than any of them, and better than any of them knew
The second thing was that, as Alessan knew perfectly well, she said, a leap such as this, a suicide, especially in Tregea, would fit seamlessly into everything chanel cambon ligne bag they were trying to achieve in the Eastern Palm
"That," Devin remembered Sandre saying after a silence, "is true, I'm sorry to say
Alessan had reluctantly agreed to go to Tregea itself for a closer look at the river and the bridges
Four evenings later Devin and Baerd had found themselves crouched amid twilight shadows along the riverbank in Tregea town, at a point that seemed to Devin terribly far away from the bridge Catriana had chosenEspecially in the windy cold of winter, in the swiftly gathering dark, beside the even more swiftly racing waters that were rushing past them, deep and black and cold
While they waited, he had tried, unsuccessfully, to sort out his complex mixture of feelings about CatrianaHe was too anxious though, and too cold
He only knew that his heart had leaped, moved by some odd, tripled conjunction of relief and admiration and envy when she swam up to the bank, exactly where they wereShe even had the wig in one hand, so it would not be tangled up somewhere, and foundDevin stuffed it into the satchel he carried while Baerd was vigorously chafing Catriana's shivering body and bundling her into the layers of clothing they'd louis vuitton replicas handbags carriedAs Devin looked at her, shaking uncontrollably, almost blue with the cold, her teeth chattering, he had felt his envy slipping awayWhat replaced it was pride
She was from Tigana, and so was heThe world might not know it yet, but they were working together, however elliptically, to bring it back
The following morning their two carts had slowly rattled out of town, going north and west to Ferraut again with a full load of mountain khavA light snow had been fallingBehind them the city was in a state of massive ferment and turmoil because of the unknown dark-haired girl from the distrada who had killed herselfAfter that incident Devin had found it increasingly hard to be sharp or petty with CatrianaShe did continue to indulge herself in the custom of deciding that he was invisible every once in a while
It had become difficult for him to convince himself that they had actually made love together; that he had really felt her mouth soft on his, or her hands in his hair as she gathered him into her
They never spoke of it, of courseHe didn't avoid her, but he didn't seek her out: her moods swung too unpredictably, he never knew what response he'd vintage rolex watch g |
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