| He dined there himself several times a week, Dianora learned
She'd picked up all of this in gossip among the merchants during her days checking out the prices and styles of clothing available in Fort SinaveShe needed some things fit for the city, she knewIt might make a difference
From the very first time she'd heard the name she'd realized that The Queen would be perfect for the next stage of her plan to change her past
What she learned from the merchants was that no one from Lower Corte was allowed to dine hereTraders from Corte were cordially greeted, as were those from farther afield, in Asoli or Chiara itselfAny Ygrathen, naturally, soldier, merchant or whoever he might be, come to seek his fortune in the newest colony, was graciously ushered in to salute the portrait of Queen Dorotea that hung on the wall opposite the doorEven those merchants crossing the line that divided the Eastern Palm from the West were more than welcome to leave some of whatever currency they carried in The Queen
It was only the King's true enemies, the denizens of Lower Corte, of Stevanien itself, who were forbidden to stain or sully the ambience with their postulent, balenciaga bag replica heir-murdering presence
They never did, Dianora learned from a Ferraut trader bound back north and east with leather from Stevanien that he expected to sell at a profit, even with that year's tariff levelsWhat the inhabitants of Stevanien had done in response to the ban was simply refuse to work for the new establishmentNeither as servers or kitchen help or stable hands, nor even as musicians or artisans to help decorate and maintain the splendid rooms
The Governor, when he learned what was happening, had vowed in red-faced rage to force the contemptible inhabitants to work wherever they were required by their masters of YgrathForce them with dungeon and lash and a death-wheel or three if needed
The master chef, Arduini, had demurred
One did not, Arduini had said, in a much-quoted display of artistic temperament, build up and maintain an establishment of quality by using enforced, surly laborHis standards were simply too high for thatEven the stable-boys at his restaurant, said Arduini of Ygrath, were to be trained and willing, and to have a certain style to them
There had been widespread hilarity when that was reported: stylish stable-hands, indeedBut, white chanel purse Dianora learned, the amusement had turned to respect quite soon, because Arduini, pretentious or not, did know what he was doingThe Queen, the Ferraut trader told her, was like an oasis amid the deserts of KhardhunIn dispirited, broken Stevanien it cast a warm glow of Ygrathen civility and graceThe merchant lamented, though discreetly on this side of the border, the complete absence of any such traits in the Barbadians who had occupied his own province
But yes, he said, in response to Dianora's apparently casual question, Arduini was still struggling with staff problemsStevanien was a backwater, and a backwater, moreover, in the most oppressively taxed and militarily subjugated province in the PalmIt was next to impossible to get people to travel there, or stay, and since none of the trickle of adventurers from Ygrath had come so far from home to wash dishes or clear tables or tend to a stable, however stylish a stable it might be, there appeared to be a chronic need for workers from elsewhere in the Palm
In that moment Dianora had changed every plan she hadShe cast the line of her life, with a silent prayer to Adaon, in the direction of this chance dior saddle informationShe had been intending, with some real apprehension, to go northwest to CorteThat had always been the next-to-last destination in her plansShe had seriously wondered, almost every night as she lay awake, whether three years in Certando would be enough to shake off anyone pursuing the true history of her lifeShe'd had no good ideas about what else she could do, though
And so it was that a few nights later, in the largest of the taverns in Fort Sinave, a cheerful crowd of young people watched their new friend drink more than was good for her for the first time since she'd arrivedMore than one of the men saw cause for cautious optimism in that, with respect to possibilities later in the evening
"You've settled it then!" Dianora cried in her attractive, south-country voiceShe leaned for support against the shoulder of a bemused cartwright"Hand to the new plow for me tomorrowI'm over the border as soon as I can to visit The Queen of Ygrath! Triad bless her days!"
Triad shelter and hold my soul, she was thinking as she spoke, absolutely sober, cold to her bones with the sense of the words she was so glibly shouting
They silenced her, laughing fake louis vuitton handbag uproariously, in part to cover her wordsIn Barbadian Certando it was a long way from the path of wisdom to thus salute Ygrath's QueenDianora giggled quite endearingly but she subsidedThe cartwright and another man tried to see her up to her room afterwards, but found themselves charmingly put off and drinking together amid off-duty mercenaries in the one all-night tavern Fort Sinave possessed
She was just a little too untutored, too country, to succeed in her ambitious hopes, they agreed sagelyThey also agreed, a few drinks later, that she had the most extraordinarily appealing smileSomething about her eyes, what happened to them when she was pleased
In the morning Dianora was dressed and packed and waiting very early at the main gate of the fortShe struck a bargain for passage to Stevanien with a pleasant-enough middle-aged merchant from Senzio carrying Barbadian spices for the luxury tradeHis only reason for going to dreary, flattened Stevanien, she learned as they started west, was because of the new restaurant, The QueenShe took that coincidence as a good omen, closing the fingers of her left hand over the thumb three times to make the wish come buy chanel bag true |