In which He Who Watches has an unpleasant day.
This chapter shows very clearly how much Val Con has come to care for Miri, even in the short time they’ve known each other. It also gives some indication how much she’s come to care for him, although she’s more reluctant to bring it out where people can see it, or to trust it (and who can blame her?).
Edger’s relation to Watcher, we learn, is that he is the brother of his mother’s sister. Which tells us something about the Clutch’s kinship system, because that’s a degree more specificity than would be necessary or meaningful among humans.
@Kinship degree
Not necessarily among humans. Among Western Cultures – yes. But just think of some American Indian languages. Some of them have define the relatedness very specifically.
But how does his mother’s sister have a brother who is not his mother’s brother? Or does this indicate a relationship such as Val Con being Edger’s brother? And why wold such kinship systems not recognize blood relationships in some way?
Not all siblings have the same father, do they? Some cultures only count siblinghood through the mother and ignore the father entirely.
So a brother of his mother’s sister may imply that Edger and his sister share one gender of parent while that sister and Watchers mother share the other gender parent. This ignores a declaration of brotherhood or sisterhood through other means like adoption, fostering, blood oath, etc.
It also ignores the possibility of reproduction with more than two genders. We know the Cluch have males and we have seen suppose females like Nurturer and nurse (Broodmother) in To Cut an Edge.
But it is still unclear if there are additional genders or if Clutch reproduction involves just two individuals or more. So depending on Clutch biology this kinship reference may say something we don’t even think of. – Which is a good way for the authors to create the mystery of an alien species which can and does interact with humans.