In which two women return to face that which they fear.
My reaction to the middle section of this chapter is rather like my reaction to Chapter 27 of Trade Secret (which, if you don’t recall it, consisted largely of the single word “Yes!“). Aelliana has come a very long way since the beginning of the novel.
In which Er Thom yos’Galan comes home.
The first mention by name of Er Thom’s elder brother, Sae Zar yos’Galan. (Who is – was – about the same age as Kareen, apparently. Perhaps they were intended agemates, like Er Thom and Daav. I wonder how well that worked out.)
Unlike “Shan”, which Er Thom has already remarked is not a yos’Galan name, “Er Thom” and “Sae Zar” are both yos’Galan names of long, long standing: Tor An had relatives with those names, back in Clan Alkia before Korval was founded. Thinking about that makes me wonder where yos’Phelium gets its family names, since they appear to have decided against reusing “Cantra” or “Jela”, and neither of those worthies had any families to speak of. Though, come to think of it, we do know where the name of Cantra and Jela’s son came from: if memory serves, she named him “Val Con”, which is a play on the Liaden word for “dragon”. Perhaps after that, when people from Line yos’Phelium married people from other clans they let their spouses suggest baby names, and kept the ones they liked.