Solcintra
In which some more reunions take place.
Cantra is still planning to go off on her lonesome at the first opportunity, but there are several people not wanting to give her that opportunity.
I’m intrigued by Wellik’s tattoo. What we’ve been told about X Strain tattoos is that they’re large and gaudy, to off-balance the people who have to look at them, and that a tattoo signifying the soldier’s born-to troop goes on the right cheek. Wellik’s tattoo is not large and gaudy, nor is it on the right cheek, so although he’s following the general trend of face tattooing he seems to be avoiding all the specific rules. Presumably he’s making some kind of statement; I wonder what it is.
Is it a bit of a joke that the wine merchant that Tor An is heading for has “bar” in his or her name (Tilthi bar’Onig)?
Tor An treats Scholar tay’Nordif (he doesn’t know it’s Cantra) with respect, though the scholar seemed to me to be less than respectful of him. Why does everyone not treat Tor An with more respect? He is a pilot, after all. But he gets treated like a biddable child.
Tor An was clearly raised to be polite, even under provocation, which may account somewhat for being seen as biddable. As for being a child, well, he may be a pilot, but he’s a very young pilot. More than that, I think he’s an inexperienced pilot: he’s been frequently (and visibly, to the people around him) caught off-guard by things he wasn’t expecting; I suspect he has little experience of matters beyond the concern of his Clan (and even within that scope, his experience is incomplete, remembering that the reason he escaped the fate of the Ringstars because he was away at school).
It could be, too, that he knows all these things about himself, and is unwilling (or to put a more positive spin on it, chooses not) to stand up for whatever extra respect he might be able to demand. At this point, after all, he’s surrounded by people working to save the universe, with himself nothing obvious to offer except a willingness to do what he’s told.
@H in W,
The first time I read this book, I was mildly annoyed with the way people treated Tor An, precisely because he is a pilot, and a ship owner.
Cantra thinks to herself later in this book, when Tor An has become her co-pilot on Quick Passage, “Young and inexperienced he may be, but that’s not the same as foolish” (not a direct quote, but something like that). Surely, many aged pilots have never experienced Uncle, seen a dramliza zap into a room, or befriended a sentient tree.
Jela and Liad always treated Tor An with respect. So did Rool. Cantra, true to her ornery character, took a little longer.
Well, Cantra may have been late for the party, but Wellik seems determined that she stay for at least some of it. No more running away or fading into the background for her, and Wellik is going to enjoy every moment of it.
I find I don’t really have a comment on this chapter, except to observe that it is often the kindness of someone who cares that breaks down one’s attempt to act natural and hold grief at bay.