28. The Odalisque of Abaia

Severian recognizes the giantess from his dreams.  She explains that she and her kind had been watching Baldanders and so came to track Severian.

Flaunting her immense body, the giant woman expresses her devotion to Severian and invites him to join her beneath the waves. She predicts that Baldanders will one day grow large enough that he must live underwater and that Severian will soon take up a crown.  The woman reveals that she saved Severian from drowning in the River Gyoll when he was an apprentice living in the Matachin Tower. 

Enraptured, Severian considers entering the river.  He hears Dorcas shout and begins to run to her aid.  In a torrent, the giantess lifts herself from the water before departing.