In which Aelliana invents a solar system.
There’s a parallel going on here between the situations of Aelliana and Samiv. Neither of them is getting the care they ought to be able to expect from their own clans. Both of them have an opportunity to appeal to Daav for assistance, and impediments to grasping the opportunity. (It’s a sign probably of Samiv’s desperation as much as anything that she has actually taken that step — especially after her delm expressly forbade her to.)
I wonder… if Aelliana had also decided to turn to Daav, would she have ended up waiting in the same room as Samiv? What would they have talked about? Probably not, though; I expect when you have a house as big as Korval does, the standard routine is for the butler to leave each visitor waiting in a different room, and probably not even let them know there are other visitors unless instructed otherwise. (And anyway, if Aelliana had decided to turn to Daav, she’d have phoned instead of turning up on his doorstep, the location of which is still unknown to her.)
PA: It’s a sign probably of Samiv’s desperation as much as anything that she has actually taken that step — especially after her delm expressly forbade her to.
Actually, I took it as an indication of how effective Daav had been in convincing her that he wanted to be her friend. I believe it was her trust in him—that he would understand where her own delm did not—that broke down the cultural barriers that would have constrained her to obey her delm.
It’s interesting that as I post this, we’ve also been discussing…at chapter 12…Cantra’s nature as an aelantaza. These human creatures were designed to emit certain hormonal cues that would cause attraction, affection, and thus: trust. Perhaps the Tree has ensured that some of this has continued genetically, at least for the yos’Phelium line. It certainly would be convenient for a Scout, would it not, to be able to unconsciously influence his new contacts to trust him/her (think of the Mun and the Sanilithe)?