As they had to be for all ambitious men in the... As they had to be for all ambitious men in the Empire: toward what else should an ambitious man aspire?
"I am aware of that," he said, as calmly as he could
"Then what do we do?" Grancial askedA real question, not a challengeGrancial was the weakest and the most loyal, because of that weakness, of the threeAt Karalius, not at Grancial
"You gather my armies," he said deliberately, though his pulse was racing very fastThis was dangerous and might be final, every instinct within him told him thatBut he also knew that time and the gods had thrown a glittering gem down toward him from the heavens, and if he did not move it would fall away
"You gather my armies in all four provinces and take them northI want them massed together as soon as possible
"Where?" Karalius's eyes were almost shining with anticipationOn the northern border with Senzio Senzio, he was thinking
"How long will it take you?" he asked the three of them
"Five weeks, no more," Grancial
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"Four," said Siferval, smiling
"The First Company," said Karalius, "will be on the border three weeks from now
"I will," said Alberico
He sat alone at his desk for a long time after, toying with a paperweight, thinking upon all sides of this, over and around and aboutBut however he looked upon it all the pieces seemed to slide into placeThere was power to be grasped here, and triumph, he could almost see that shimmering jewel falling through the air, over water, over land, into his reaching handShaping events himself, not being impacted uponHis enemy would be vulnerable, enormously so, until this new chaos settled in the westQuileia's choice could be forced and be no choice at allThe Empire could be made to see, on the eve of his final journey home, just what his sorcery and his armies could doThe time was offering a jewel, truly, falling from the heavens, waiting to be claspedTo be set upon his brow
He was still uneasy though, almost
omega seamaster watch uncannily so, sitting alone as the morning brightened, trying to convince himself of the truth of all this shining promiseHe was more than uneasy; his mouth was dry and the spring sunlight seemed strange to him, almost painfulHe wondered if he was illThere was something gnawing away like a rat in darkness at the unlit corners of his thoughtsHe forced himself to turn towards it, trying to make a torch of his careful rationality, to look within himself and root out this anxiety
And then indeed he did see it, and understood, in that same moment, that it could not be rooted out, not ever be acknowledged to a living soul
For the truth, the poisonous gall of truth, was that he was afraidDeathly afraid, in the deepest inward places of his being, of this other manOf Brandin of Ygrath, now Brandin of the Western PalmThe name had been changed, the balance changed utterly
The truth of fear was exactly as it had been for almost twenty years
A short while later
chanel cambon bag he left the room and went down the stairs and underground to see how they killed the messenger
Alais knew exactly why she was being granted this unprecedented gift of a journey in the Sea Maid with her father: Selvena was getting married at the end of summer
Catini bar Edinio, whose father owned a good-sized estate of olive trees and vineyards north of Astibar, and a modest but successful banking house in the city, had asked Rovigo for his second daughter's hand early in the springRovigo, urgently forewarned by his second daughter, had given his consent, a decision calculated, among other things, to forestall Selvena's oft-proclaimed intention to do away with herself should she still be living at home and unwed by the autumnCatini was earnest and pleasant if a little dull, and Rovigo had done business with Edinio in the past and liked the man
Selvena was tempestuously ecstatic, about plans for the wedding, about the prospect of running her own home,
vintage tank watch Edinio had offered to set the young couple up in a small house on a hill above his vineyards, and, as Rovigo overheard her telling the younger girls one evening, about the anticipated pleasures of the marriage bed
He was pleased for her happiness and rather looking forward to the celebration of the marriageIf he had moments of sadness that he strove to mask, he attributed it to the natural feelings of a man who saw that his girl-child had become a woman rather sooner than he had been prepared forThe sight of Selvena making a red glove for her bridal night affected Rovigo more than he had thought it wouldHe would turn from her bright, feverish chatter to Alais, neat and quiet and watchful, and something akin to sadness would touch his spirit amid the anticipatory bustle of the house
Alix seemed to understand, perhaps even better than he did himselfHis wife had taken to patting his shoulder at sporadic, unexpected moments, as if gentling a restive
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