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"Why are no rear guards posted along the forest path to warn you if someone approaches, as I just did? Why were no servants left here this afternoon to guard this cabin? Have you even the faintest awareness of how dead the five of you would be, severed hands stuffed into your throats, were I not who I am?" "My father said that Alberico would not have us followed," Tomasso stammered furiously"He was absolutely certain of that "And he is likely to have been absolutely rightBut you cannot let your focus be so narrowYour father, I am sorry to have to say it, was alone with his obsession for too longHe was too intent upon AlbericoIt shows in everything you have done these past two daysWhat of the idly curious or the greedy? The petty informer who might decide to follow you just to see what happened here? Just to have a story to tell in the tavern tomorrow? Did you, or your father, give even half a thought to such things? Or to those who might have learned where you planned to come and arranged to be here before you?" There was a hostile silenceA log on the smaller fire settled with a crack and a shower of sparksHerado jumped involuntarily at the sound "Will it interest you to know," vintage chanel jewelry the man called Alessan went on, more gently, "that my people have been guarding the approaches to this cabin since you arrived? Or that I've had someone in here since mid-afternoon keeping an eye on the servants setting up, and who might follow them?" "What?" Taeri exclaimed"In here! In our hunting lodge!" "For your protection and my own," the other man said, finishing his second glass of wineHe glanced upwards to the shadows of the half-loft above, where the extra pallets were stored "I think that should do it, my friend," he called, pitching his voice to carry"You've earned a glass of wine after so long dry-throated among the dustYou may as well come down now, Devin It had actually been very easy Menico, purse jingling with more money than he had ever earned from a single performance in his life, had graciously passed their concert at the wine-merchant's house over to Burnet di CorteBurnet, who needed the work, was pleased; the wine-merchant, angry at first, was quickly mollified upon learning what Menico's hitherto unfinalized tariff would now have been in the aftermath of the sensation they'd caused that morning So, in the event, Devin and the rest of the company had been given chanel logo earrings the rest of the day and evening offMenico counted out for everyone an immediate bonus of five astins and benevolently waved them away to the various delights of the FestivalHe didn't even offer his usual warning lecture Already, just past noon, there were wine-stands on every corner, more than one at the busier squaresEach vineyard in Astibar province, and even some from farther afield in Ferraut or Senzio, had its vintages from previous years available as harbingers of what this year's grapes would offerMerchants looking to buy in quantity were sampling judiciously, early revelers rather less so Fruit vendors were also in abundance, with figs and melons and the enormous grapes of the season displayed beside vast wheels of white cheeses from Tregea or bricks of red ones from northern CertandoOver by the market the din was deafening as the people of the city and its distrada canvassed the offerings of this year's itinerant tradesmenOverhead the banners of the noble houses and of the larger wine estates flapped brightly in the autumn breeze as Devin strode purposefully towards what he'd just been told was the most fashionable khav room in Astibar There were benefits to fameHe was omega aqua terra watch recognized at the doorway, his arrival excitedly announced, and in a matter of moments he found himself at the dark wooden bar of The Paelion nursing a mug of hot khav laced with flambardion, no awkward questions asked about anyone's age, thank you very much It was the work of half an hour to find out what he needed to know about Sandre d'AstibarHis questions seemed entirely natural, coming from the tenor who had just sung the Duke's funeral lamentDevin learned about Sandre's long rule, his feuds, his bitter exile, and his sad decline in the last few years into a blustering, drunken hunter of small game, a wraith compared to what he once had been In that last context, rather more specifically, Devin asked about where the Duke had liked to huntThey told him where his favorite hunting lodge had beenHe changed the subject to wineHe was a hero of the hour and The Paelion liked heroes, for an hourThey let him go eventually: he pleaded an artist's strained sensitivity after the morning's endeavorsWith the benefit of hindsight he now attached a deal more importance than he had at the time to glimpsing Alessan di Tregea at a booth full of painters and poetsThey were laughing about some wager cheap chanel purses concerning certain verses of condolence that had not yet arrived from ChiaraHe and Alessan had saluted each other in an elaborately showy, performers' fashion that delighted the packed room Back at the inn, Devin had fended off the most ardent of the group who had walked him home and went upstairs aloneHe had waited in his room, chafing, for an hour to be sure the last of them had goneHaving changed into a dark-brown tunic and breeches, he put on a cap to hide his hair and a woolen overshirt against the coming chill of eveningThen he made his way unnoticed through the now teeming crowds in the streets over to the eastern gate of the city And out, among several empty wagons, goods all sold, being ridden back to the distrada by sober, prudent farmers who preferred to reload and return in the morning instead of celebrating all night in town spending what they'd just earned Devin hitched a ride on a cart part of the way, commiserating with the driver on the taxes and the poor rates being paid that year for lamb's woolEventually he jumped off, feigning youthful exuberance and ran a mile or so along the road to the east At one point he saw, with a grin of recognition, a temple of Adaon on the ladies omega watches right