Shipyear 65
Tripday 139
Third Shift
16.00 hours

In which Kayzin Ne’Zame’s suspicion of Priscilla comes to a head.

They’re nearly at Arsdred, and Priscilla hasn’t yet decided whether she intends to remain with the Passage after that. She was being swayed toward staying before she got the sharp reminder that the first mate doesn’t welcome her, and she doesn’t know yet that the captain has required the first mate to mend her ways.

I like the wrinkliness of Kayzin Ne’Zame’s relationship with Shan. She questions his decisions, but it’s because she feels it’s her duty and responsibility to make sure he’s thought them through properly, and when he puts her in her place, she’s mortified for herself but also proud of him for the demonstration of the quality of his melant’i.

It’s a good thing I wasn’t very attached to the hypothesis of 5-hour shifts, because this chapter’s dateline breaks it, too. I think the model of 6-hour shifts best fits the data so far, with the previously-mentioned fudge for the tenth chapter. On that model, Third Shift would run from Twelfth Hour to Eighteenth Hour, with Priscilla’s dinner date at Seventeenth Hour being accommodated by the policy Shan mentions of allowing an hour off to eat.