"Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The Bitterbynde 02 - The Lady of the Sorrows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dart-Thornton Cecilia)

Vogue and Vanity




Euphonic fountains splash, by arbor walls
where climbing roses, red and yellow, cling.
Proud peacocks strut on sweeping, verdant lawns
and nightingales in gilded cages sing.
Glass carriages with plumed and matching teams
roll on amidst this royal plenitude,
By ornamental lakes where sleek swans glide,
reflecting on their mirrored pulchritude.


The silk and satin ladies with their fans
incline upon the marble balustrade.
The night will see them dance like butterflies,
 when they attend the Royal Masquerade.
Fair jewels gleam on ev'ry courtly peer:
bright rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and pearls.
The costliest of velvets, plumes, and furs
adorn dukes, viscounts, marquesses, and earls.


Prosperity and luxury abound;
sweet music plays as nobles feast and sport.
The rarest beauty and the greatest wealth
are found within the Empire's Royal Court
тАФFASHIONABLE SONG AT THE COURT OF CAERMELOR


Caermelor Palace had been originally constructed as a castle stronghold and still retained its fortified
outer structure. Machicolated watchtowers, siege engine towers, stair turrets, a mill tower, round mural
towers, square mural towers, and numerous other outjuttings thickened the twelve-foot-deep walls at
varying intervals.
The road into the park-like palace grounds crossed the moat by means of a drawbridge. Beyond
the drawbridge bulked the garrisoned gatehouse and the barbican. The main outer gate was constructed
of solid oak, studded with iron. It could be barred, if necessary, by an iron portcullis that remained raised
in times of peace and was lowered only for the purpose of oiling the chains and maintaining the winches.
When this outer gate was shut, persons on foot might enter by a smaller postern set into it,
whereupon they would find themselves in a long chamber set within thick walls, with a gate at either
endтАФthe gatehouse, a solid edifice specifically dedicated to the purpose of providing a space between
the inner and outer portals. Peepholes in the walls allowed guards in side passages to inspect purportedly
innocent visitors. Those approved visitors might pass through a second gate. It opened onto the outer
bailey, which in recent years had been filled with walled gardens and leafy courtyards. A third gate led to
the inner bailey with its stables, barracks, parade grounds, kennels, pigeon-lofts, coach-mews, and
falconry-mews. It was bordered by the King's Tower winged with fluttering standards, the arsenal tower,
the Great Hall with its pentise, two tall Mooring Masts, the solar, and the keep. The windows of the
internal buildings had been enlarged from cross-slitted arrow-loops and narrow arches to gracious