have gone mad, even if it is a madness that suits his purposes.”
She actually laughed a little at that, then lifted her shoulders. “I will do what I can. But I think as long as you know the truth in your heart, that is the most important thing.”
Yes, I had seen that truth…or at least what I perceived to be that truth. I could only hope that I would not wake on the morrow, and discover that it had changed once again.
----
B ut I did not . Oh, yes, I ached for the hurt I had caused Thani, and the realization that I would not be his wife twinged as well. Under that, though, was an odd sense of relief, as if I had somehow known all along that our match was never truly meant to be.
And after that, I did not have much time for rumination, for of course that evening before dinner Ambassador Sel-Trelazar had to pay his respects and shower me with praise for my discernment, my beauty, my graciousness in accepting his master’s suit. My mother even paid me a visit soon afterward, almost happy for once, clearly pleased that I had made the correct decision at last in agreeing to be the queen of a far-off land, rather than stay here and be the wife of a duke…especially a duke whose mother had the ungracious temerity to be a commoner.
So much planning, so much to do! The junior ambassador was dispatched with the news at once, to return to his homeland so that preparations could be made there against my arrival. He did not look overly pleased to be sent away so quickly and required to abandon the pleasures of the Sirlendian court for a treacherous sea journey in mid-Fevrere, but there was no help for it. It was his role to go ahead, and then Ambassador Sel-Trelazar and the rest of their retinue would accompany me once that same voyage was deemed safe enough for me to attempt.
In the meantime, the ambassador took it upon himself to instruct me in the Keshiaari tongue. It was difficult, but not impossible, for I already knew the common tongue spoken in both the lands of North and South Eredor, and Purth and Farendon, and I had taught myself Selddish as well, though no one beyond the borders of that secretive land bothered with it. Sel-Trelazar seemed pleased with my progress, and said that by the time I disembarked in Tir el-Alisaad, the capital of Keshiaar, I should be speaking his language like a native.
More than that, a new wardrobe was ordered, for the ambassador assured me that my gowns of heavy velvet and brocade would not do well at all in his homeland’s warm climate, and so garments made up to his specifications were constructed for me. I wondered at them, at the gossamer-fine shirts, meant to be layered under the short-sleeved tunics of thin silk, edged in costly embroidery, with billowy trousers to be worn underneath. I had blushed at first to even contemplate wearing such a thing, but then I realized that truly they were more practical — and comfortable — than my layers of hose and petticoats and knickers, not to mention the bone reinforcements that had lately begun to be stitched into the bodices of gowns. All this I gazed at, and wondered how truly different things must be in Keshiaar, for their garments to be so unlike ours.
I already knew something of that land’s histories and customs, for of course I had studied those amongst reading books on North and South Eredor, and Farendon and Purth as well. Never had I thought I would travel to that distant realm, let alone become wife to Keshiaar’s ruler, but at least I was not completely unfamiliar with its traditions. No complicated nobility, with its layers of barons and earls and dukes. Only the Hierarch, and below him what seemed like an uncounted number of princes, all of them claiming that title because of their connection to the royal family of Kel-Alisaad.
A hot, inhospitable place, but one with vast mineral wealth. And not all dry and dusty, for the great river Al-sheer wound through the country, emptying into the same Carulan Sea that touched
She actually laughed a little at that, then lifted her shoulders. “I will do what I can. But I think as long as you know the truth in your heart, that is the most important thing.”
Yes, I had seen that truth…or at least what I perceived to be that truth. I could only hope that I would not wake on the morrow, and discover that it had changed once again.
----
B ut I did not . Oh, yes, I ached for the hurt I had caused Thani, and the realization that I would not be his wife twinged as well. Under that, though, was an odd sense of relief, as if I had somehow known all along that our match was never truly meant to be.
And after that, I did not have much time for rumination, for of course that evening before dinner Ambassador Sel-Trelazar had to pay his respects and shower me with praise for my discernment, my beauty, my graciousness in accepting his master’s suit. My mother even paid me a visit soon afterward, almost happy for once, clearly pleased that I had made the correct decision at last in agreeing to be the queen of a far-off land, rather than stay here and be the wife of a duke…especially a duke whose mother had the ungracious temerity to be a commoner.
So much planning, so much to do! The junior ambassador was dispatched with the news at once, to return to his homeland so that preparations could be made there against my arrival. He did not look overly pleased to be sent away so quickly and required to abandon the pleasures of the Sirlendian court for a treacherous sea journey in mid-Fevrere, but there was no help for it. It was his role to go ahead, and then Ambassador Sel-Trelazar and the rest of their retinue would accompany me once that same voyage was deemed safe enough for me to attempt.
In the meantime, the ambassador took it upon himself to instruct me in the Keshiaari tongue. It was difficult, but not impossible, for I already knew the common tongue spoken in both the lands of North and South Eredor, and Purth and Farendon, and I had taught myself Selddish as well, though no one beyond the borders of that secretive land bothered with it. Sel-Trelazar seemed pleased with my progress, and said that by the time I disembarked in Tir el-Alisaad, the capital of Keshiaar, I should be speaking his language like a native.
More than that, a new wardrobe was ordered, for the ambassador assured me that my gowns of heavy velvet and brocade would not do well at all in his homeland’s warm climate, and so garments made up to his specifications were constructed for me. I wondered at them, at the gossamer-fine shirts, meant to be layered under the short-sleeved tunics of thin silk, edged in costly embroidery, with billowy trousers to be worn underneath. I had blushed at first to even contemplate wearing such a thing, but then I realized that truly they were more practical — and comfortable — than my layers of hose and petticoats and knickers, not to mention the bone reinforcements that had lately begun to be stitched into the bodices of gowns. All this I gazed at, and wondered how truly different things must be in Keshiaar, for their garments to be so unlike ours.
I already knew something of that land’s histories and customs, for of course I had studied those amongst reading books on North and South Eredor, and Farendon and Purth as well. Never had I thought I would travel to that distant realm, let alone become wife to Keshiaar’s ruler, but at least I was not completely unfamiliar with its traditions. No complicated nobility, with its layers of barons and earls and dukes. Only the Hierarch, and below him what seemed like an uncounted number of princes, all of them claiming that title because of their connection to the royal family of Kel-Alisaad.
A hot, inhospitable place, but one with vast mineral wealth. And not all dry and dusty, for the great river Al-sheer wound through the country, emptying into the same Carulan Sea that touched
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