Tag Archives: Dia Grittle

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 25

Shipyear 65
Tripday 148
Fourth Shift
20.00 hours

In which even a Mendoza of Sintia must deal with graceless people at parties.

Though Priscilla welcomes the intercession of Mr dea’Gauss and Judge Zahre as divine intervention, she might reasonably be inclined to doubt that that was what it was after it results in Ambassador Grittle’s outburst. And yet, I wonder; we know from the Moonhawk stories that the Goddess is not averse to steering her children through uncomfortable moments on the path to good outcomes, so it’s possible that there was a divine intervention and that the outburst was as much an intended part of it as the intercession. (Indeed, there are times when I suspect that the entire course of Priscilla’s life from that day in Diablo’s has been part of divine plan that we have yet to see the end of. It’s a hard road she’s been walking, but certain people seem to have spent the last few centuries building roadblocks over all the easy ones.)

Speaking of roadblocks, I take it that Shan’s shadowed expression in the last scene of the chapter is due to the reminder that, for all that they’re able to be comfortable and joke together, Priscilla still thinks of him first of all as Captain yos’Galan, with all the limits that implies on how they might interact. If she’d understood that she had the option of replying to her friend Shan instead of to her captain, and if she’d chosen to exercise that option, the conversation might have proceeded very differently.

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 22

Arsdred Port City
Midday Bazaar

In which Mr dea’Gauss arrives on the scene.

I don’t think there was ever a time when I didn’t like Mr dea’Gauss. This was my first introduction to him, and he makes a good impression right out of the gate.

Incidentally, he’s about seventy Standards of age, here. That’s not as old for a Liaden as it would be for one of us, but it’s old enough for a distaste for being flung across the galaxy at high speed to be quite understandable. (Though given his personality I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr dea’Gauss has had a distate for being flung precipitously across the galaxy at every age.)

It’s difficult to estimate just how speedily he’s been flung from Liad to Arsdred, since the chapter heading doesn’t include a date; that will have to wait until Mr dea’Gauss arrives on Dutiful Passage and the chapter heading returns to Shipyears and Tripdays.