Ribbon Dance Hill
In which Moonhawk and Lute go in peace.
To be fair to Bentamin, he’s actually pretty competent when the chips are down, it’s just that we’ve mostly seen him when his relatives are putting him off his stride.
There are a couple of ways of reading Bentamin’s statement that he knows of no wrong done to his people by Lute and Moonhawk. One is simple ignorance, that he doesn’t know the part they played in the creation of the vas’dramliz and their consequent share of responsibility in the persecution the vas’dramliz have suffered, but there’s a more interesting possibility, that he does know what Lute’s apologising for, and is saying that he doesn’t think they need to apologise because for the people of the Redlands it all turned out well in the end.
Now that the business on the hill is concluded, I’m not sure what happened in Priscilla’s foreseeing. The thing that seems to match best is that she was seeing an alternative future where she was present, and Padi wasn’t, when Shan had his final conversation with Tarona Rusk — but I’m not sure I can see how that would have come about, let alone how it would qualify as more probable than the future that actually happened. Perhaps if Shan had acceded to Moonhawk’s demand that they go down to the hill immediately… but how probable is it that Shan would have responded any other way than the one he did?
Did Rusk give all her power to Shan, so she has none left? He siphoned it off thru Padi to “they” and out to the ambient, but perhaps he kept a little, or some stuck to him.
I don’t think Shan would have chosen to keep any. He already has more than enough power of his own to keep life interesting, and I got the impression that if he’d accepted some he would have got more with it than just the power (it says that he would have to filter it, and also that in the press of events he really doesn’t have the concentration to filter it properly). Whether some of it stuck to him regardless, I guess we just have to wait and see.
I don’t think Tarona Rusk gave all her power away, keeping none. I’m not sure that would even be possible; we’ve been told enough times in connection to Padi that a dramliz can’t stop being a dramliz. I think she kept enough to be of some use, to do that small good she mentioned, but gave the rest away to remove the temptation — and the possibility of being forced — to do again the kinds of things she did for the Department.
Makes sense. I guess maybe we’ll find out someday.
So! This books tells us that Rool Tiazan and all the others (aleantaza) were originally born in the Ambient. Right? Does this fit well with the context of the opening chapters of CRYSTAL DRAGON, where the shereikas are creating dramliz pairs??
So now Lute and Moonhawk are going back to their origins, their source. Not really dying, but …
I liked Moonhawk’s (earlier chapter) parting blessing to Priscilla, her child, and her endeavors in the Redlands.