Kushiel's Avatar - Jacqueline Carey [344]
I touched my bare throat, where once Melisande's diamond had hung.
I had a promise to keep.
Although, I thought, riding under the bright blue D'Angeline skies, it may be that Hyacinthe would be willing to share with me the alphabet alone, and mayhap a phonetic guide to the pronunciation of the unknown characters. After all, I'd done a fair job of teaching myself Jeb'ez from Audine Davul's guide. Kaneka may have laughed at me in the zenana, but she'd understood me well enough, and I'd garnered that much studying on shipboard and over campfires. A few hours here and there ... I need not devote the last years of my youth to an all-consuming apprenticeship, but a good deal can be accomplished in a few stolen hours over time, if one is determined enough. Who knew what texts might be unearthed if correspondence was established between Saba and Terre d'Ange one day? Eleazar ben Enokh would be glad of the endeavor, of that I was sure. As the schism grew deeper among the Children of Yisra-el, those Yeshuites who sought peace over war were more and more likely to turn to his way of thinking; their presence among us on this journey was proof of that much.
"What on earth are you plotting now?" Joscelin's black gelding ranged alongside mine.
"Nothing." I smiled at him. "Just thinking."
Some five miles outside the City of Elua, the first emissaries met us; ajoint party of Ysandre's and Drustan's men, the Queen's Guard resplendent in the blue and silver of House Courcel and the Cruarch's bare-chested in woolen Alban kilts, their elaborate woad markings and copper torques signifying that each was a nobleman's son. They formed an escort around us, leading us through the first of innumerable floral arches built along the way, a court herald calling out the news in stentorian tones to any who had not yet heard it, which I daresay was no one.
From there, our procession grew very, very slow.
I have ridden in a triumph once before, when Ysandre returned to the City after the battle of Troyes-le-Monte, where we defeated the Skaldic army. I remember it well, for it was bittersweet, that occasion; as much as I was gladdened by our victory, I could not help but remember the dead and grieve for our losses.
This time, it was different. For all the terrors that had beset us on the waters, there had been no cost to human life. Hyacinthe was freed, and no one had died for it. As long and arduous as the journey had been, no one else had born the price of it. If I had entered the cavern of the Temenos and undergone the ritual of thetalos there and then, the chains of blood-guilt I bore would be no heavier.
I had not realized until then how profoundly grateful I was for it.
There was Daršanga, of course; there would always be Daršanga. None of us who had been there would ever be free of its shadow. But that. . . that had been somewhat other, and not the triumph we celebrated today.
Ysandre and Drustan met us at the gates.
How many times had I stood among the throng welcoming Drustan's return? As many years as they had been wed. Now I beheld a like spectacle from the other side, riding at a snail's pace down the packed road, while onlookers shouted and threw a hail of flowers and the harried City Guard sought to keep spectators from spilling onto the road. The white walls of the City of Elua were crowded with watchers. A contingent of Ysandre's ladies-in-waiting tossed sweets and coins to the children, who shouted with glee.
As befitted their status, Hyacinthe and Sibeal rode first, flanked by Cruithne warriors. Behind Quintilius Rousse, I