"An oath in your mother's name is stronger for me...
"An oath in your mother's name is stronger for me than you could have guessed," he said
"You knew her?"
"We both did," Baerd said quietly"She was ten years older than us, but every adolescent boy in Tigana was a little in love with MicaelaAnd most of the grown men too, I think
Another new name, and all the hurt that came with itDevin's father had never spoken itHis sons had never even known their mother's nameThere were more avenues to sorrow in this night than Devin could have imagined
"We all envied and admired your father more than I can tell you," Alessan added"Though I was pleased that an Avalle man won her in the endI can remember when you were born, DevinMy father sent a gift kelly hermes bags to your naming dayI don't remember what it was
"You admired my father?" Devin said, stunned
Alessan heard that and his voice changed"Do not judge him by what he becameYou only knew him after Brandin smashed a whole generation and their worldEnding their lives or blighting their soulsYour mother was dead, Avalle fallen, Tigana goneHe had fought and survived both battles by the Deisa Above them Catriana made a small sound
"I never knew," Devin protested"He never told us any of that There was a new ache inside him
"Few of the survivors spoke of those days," Baerd said
"Neither of my parents did," said Catriana awkwardly"They took us as far away as they could, to a fishing village here in mulberry leather bag Astibar down the coast from Ardin, and never spoke a word of any of this
"To shield you," Alessan said gentlyHis palm was still touching Devin'sIt was smaller than Baerd's"A great many of the parents who managed to survive fled so that their children might have a chance at a life unmarred by the oppression and the stigma that bore down, that still bear down, upon TiganaOr Lower Corte as we must name it now
"They ran away," said Devin stubbornlyHe felt cheated, deprived, betrayed
Alessan shook his headDon't judge yet: thinkDo you really imagine you learned that tune by chance? Your father chose not to burden you or your brothers with the danger of your heritage, but he set a stamp upon chloe black you, a tune, wordless for safety, and he sent you out into the world with something that would reveal you, unmistakably, to anyone from Tigana, but to no one elseI do not think it was chanceNo more than Catriana's mother giving her daughter a ring that marked her to anyone born where she was bornCatriana held out her hand for him to seeIt was dark, but his eyes had adjusted to that, and he could make out a strange, twining shape upon the ring: a man, half human, half creature of the sea
"Will you tell me of him?" he asked, turning back to Alessan"Of my father?"
Of stolid, dour Garin, grim farmer in a wet grey landWho had, it now appeared, come from bright Avalle of the towers in the mulberry bags southern highlands of Tigana and who had, in his youth, wooed and won a woman beloved of all who saw herWho had fought and lived through two terrible battles by a river and who had, if Alessan was right in his last conjecture, very deliberately sent out into the world his one quick, imaginative child capable of finding what he seemed to have found tonight
Who had also, Devin abruptly realized, almost certainly lied when he said he'd forgotten the words to the cradle songIt was all suddenly very hard
"I will tell you what I know of him, and gladly," Alessan said
"But not tonight, for Catriana is right and we must get ourselves away before dawnRight now I will swear faith with you as Baerd has chanel handbags collection d