In which Mr dea’Gauss has news.
Servant to lord? Mr dea’Gauss is being very serious about Daav’s wish that Aelliana be honored as fully as possible. (And not just in the sense that Mr dea’Gauss is serious about everything he does.)
I do hope, if Daav is going to tell people that he hopes Aelliana will be his lifemate, that sooner rather than later one of the people he tells is Aelliana. He’s already had one dramatic lesson about the risks of withholding important information from her because he doesn’t think she can handle it, and it would be a terrible habit to get into if they’re going to be lifemates. (At least he’s only telling people who really need to know; he’s not handling it nearly as badly as, say, Miles Vorkosigan… though “not handling it as badly as Miles Vorkosigan” is so far from a ringing endorsement as to be practically a warning sign in itself. Still, Aelliana definitely falls in the category of people who really need to know.)
…it’s just occurred to me that Daav’s instructions to Mr dea’Gauss were ambiguous enough in their wording that Mr dea’Gauss might have come away with the impression that Aelliana is already aware of the situation. I hope that’s not going to cause trouble.
Samiv gave testimony in confidence, so how did Mr. dea’Gauss find out what it was?
Mr. dea’Gauss states that “we” heard the testimony in confidence, so I take it that he was also present. It would make sense, since the point of the testimony was to provide information to the people tasked with figuring out who owes what to whom, which means Mr. dea’Gauss and whichever of his colleagues is acting for Samiv’s family.
If anything, the question is whether Mr. dea’Gauss ought to be sharing details with Daav that he received in confidence. But I think it’s safe to assume that Mr. dea’Gauss would have asked Samiv for permission to tell Daav what she said, and that she would have given it.