The road had been here before,
复件 (92) air max1, but narrow, with only a third as many turnoffs. Before, the town walls had been more to keep the kherhogs and froghens in than any invaders out. Now they were ten feet high, the black stone extending as far as Peregrine could see.... And there had been scarcely any soldiers last time; now they were everywhere. That was not a good change. He felt a sinking in the pit of Scar's stomach; soldiers and fighting were not good. They rode through the city gates and past a market maze that spread across acres. The alleys were only fifty feet wide, narrow where bolts of cloth, furniture displays, and crates of fresh fruit encroached. Smells of fruit and spice and varnish hung in the air. The place was so crowded that the haggling was almost an orgy, and dizzy Peregrine almost blacked out. Then they were on a narrower street that zigzagged through ranks of half-timbered buildings. Beyond the roofs loomed heavy fortifications. Ten minutes later they were in the castle yard. They dismounted and the Lord Chamberlain had the Two-Legs moved to a litter. "Woodcarver, he'll see us now?" said Scriber. The bureaucrat laughed. "She. Woodcarver changed gender more than ten years ago." Peregrine's heads twisted about in surprise. Precisely what would that mean? Most packs change with time,
mbt professional shoes,
复件 (6) 复件 air max2, but he had never heard of Woodcarver being anything but "he". He almost missed what the Lord Chamberlain said next. "Even better. Her whole council must see ... what you've brought. Come inside." He waved the guards away. They walked down a hall almost wide enough for two packs to pass abreast. The chamberlain led, followed by the travelers and the doctor with the alien's litter. The walls were high, padded with silver-crusted quilting. It was far grander than before ... and again, unsettling. There was scarcely any statuary, and what there was dated from centuries before. But there were pictures. He stumbled when he saw the first, and behind him he heard Scriber gasp. Peregrine had seen art all around the world: The mobs of the tropics preferred abstract murals, smudges of psychotic color. The Southseas islanders had never invented perspective; in their watercolors, distant objects simply floated in the upper half of the picture. In the Long Lakes Republic,
复件 (73) air max1, representationism was currently favored, especially multiptychs that gave a whole-pack view. But Peregrine had never seen the likes of these. The pictures were mosaics, each tile a ceramic square about a quarter inch on a side. There was no color, just four shades of gray. From a few feet away, the graininess was lost, and ... they were the most perfect landscapes Peregrine had ever seen. All were views from hilltops around Woodcarvers. Except for the lack of color, they might have been windows. The bottom of each picture was bounded by a rectangular frame,
复件 (90) air max1, but the tops were irregular; the mosaics simply broke off at the horizon. The hall's quilted wall stood where the pictures should have shown sky. "Here now, fellow! I thought you wanted to see Woodcarver." The remark was directed at Scriber. Jaqueramaphan was strung out along the landscapes, one of him sitting in front of a different picture all down the hall. He turned a head to look at the chamberlain. His voice sounded dazed. "Soul's end! It's like being God,
复件 (5) air max1, as if I have one member on each hilltop and can see everything at once." But he scrambled to his feet and trotted to catch up. The hall opened on one of the largest indoor meeting rooms Peregrine had ever seen. "This is as big as anything in the Republic," Scriber said with apparent admiration, looking up at the three levels of balconies.
mbt professional shoes
Linear Mode
