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On the north it is bordered by the western ranges of the Himalayas, which reach to the Amu Daria; by the wall-like range of the Hindu Kush, some of whose peaks are 19,000 feet high; and by several smaller ridges. Between the Kabul and Kuram rivers rises the snow-capped Sufeid Koh, the principal peak of which, to the south of Jelalabad, attains an altitude of 15,000 feet.
Tarlac cooperated willingly, but his attention was less on what he was doing or the chant Daria had begun than the statuettes on the altar's upper tier. There were eleven of them, images of the Traiti gods three of whom were actually, by his definition, goddesses as exquisitely crafted as a cloudcat-made tapestry.
When he became silent, Daria said softly, "You joined Ch'kara." "I had to. To take the Ordeal." Tarlac was still staring at her hand, and sat frozen where he was as she moved to a place beside him. Ah, the Ordeal, she thought compassionately. Perhaps if he knew this was part of the Ordeal, showing he was able to share in the creation of a new life? Then she decided against telling him.
What he'd called the Empire's fault, to Daria, had been unavoidable. Neither side could be blamed. The news summaries reported that the Empire was winning as steadily as ever. It was the casualty reports that bothered Tarlac.
"Oh, really I am, Uncle Volodia; but those tiresome little yellow balls keep getting in the way." And then the lesson began all over again, until Daria sprang up with a laugh, and shaking out her black frock, declared she had a pain in her neck, and must run about a little! "What a child it is!" cried Volodia admiringly. "If she lives to be a hundred, she'll never learn the multiplication table!"
Don't look so frightened, darling," continued Madame Olsheffsky, taking little Daria in her arms, "it is nothing very dreadful. I am obliged to enter into a lawsuit a troublesome, difficult lawsuit. One of our distant cousins has just found some papers which he thinks will prove that he ought to have had this estate instead of your grandfather, and he is going to try and take it from us.
For what do they commemorate as concerns you and myself? They commemorate, in that respect, nothing. No, they are not memorials; they are merely passports or testimonials conferred upon itself by human stupidity. Under a given cross there may lie a Maria, and under another one a Daria, or an Alexei, or an Evsei, or someone else all 'servants of God, but not otherwise particularised.
Old Volodia with the frame in one hand, Daria on a low stool, her curly golden head bent forward over the balls, as she moved them up and down, with a pucker on her forehead. "Two and one's five, and three's seven, and four's twelve, and six's " "Oh, Daria Andreïevna! You're not thinking about what you're doing!"
"What does it matter if we are all together. I will work and dig in the garden, and Boris can be taught to groom Toulu, and be useful he really can be very sensible if he likes. Then Var-Vara will cook, and Adam and Daria can do the dusting. Oh, we shall manage beautifully!" Madame Olsheffsky smiled through some tears. "You are a dear child, Elena!
"It was the Empire's, but you're the ones paying for it." He had a sudden thought, frowned again. "Fleet-Captain Arjen said the Supreme and First Speaker invited me here. That 'invitation' really came from the Lords, didn't it?" Daria nodded. "Yes; all the Speakers know. But do not let that make you over-confident of their help.
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