He produced something from the bag beside him and handed it to Aldine. In her palm lay a wooden carving of a sleeping cat, the edges smoothed and silky.
‘In memory,’ he said, ‘and good when the babe be teething.’
* * *
Ornate folding screens lined the walls of Gani’s red and purple pavilion, creating an embroidered background of fantastical birds. Swathes of coloured silk looped from the ceiling. Elaaron and Gani were seated at one end of the room on gilded chairs. Huge carpeted cushions provided seating for everyone else. The opulence briefly astonished Irenya; evidently Gani had determined they would camp in style on their way to Ilkyrie. The word potentate came to her, though anxiety removed all pleasure from the colours. Aldine had excused herself to rest in her own tent.
potentate
