Tag Archives: Festival masks

Accepting the Lance – Chapter 35

Blair Road
Boss Conrad’s House

In which Mrs kaz’Ineo has an idea.

The mention of the Gilmour Agency’s human resources manual as a recent acquisition places this chapter not long after the opening scene of “Block Party”, in which Luzeal had just made the discovery, although perhaps not after the entire story, which covers a period of several weeks.
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Phoenix

In which Bell the painter and Cyra the jeweler rise together from the wreckage.

This story is set in Standard Year 1293, a bit over a century since “Sweet Waters”, and nearing two centuries since Trade Secret. Things have moved on since Jethri’s time to the point that there are now Terrans living, and even legally owning property, on Liad, in Solcintra itself, though only in the Low Port and not with any entree into polite society. (And interacting with Liadens in ways other than owning property, by the evidence of the half-Terran Debbie.)

It is also far enough on that we’re beginning to approach the next clump of novels. This story introduces a character we will see again in a novel, as does each of remaining the stories between now and when we hit the beginning of Local Custom.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of Cyra’s Delm and his idea of appropriate punishment. It’s difficult to be certain when there’s only one viewpoint available; there may be mitigating circumstances available. Cyra does say that the clan is not rich, but that may be an attempt to give the benefit of the doubt, since she also comes about as close as a polite young lady might to outright accusing her Delm of being a penny-pincher. And while he clearly has concern about ensuring the continuance of the clan into a new generation of clanmembers, that’s not enough in itself to explain his treatment of Cyra; a clan that needs every child does not, if it’s being rational, wilfully deprive itself of one of the children it already has.

(And here is the kind of thing a person can find himself thinking about when contemplating information that appears in other stories than this: in another century, Liaden medical technology will include a method to easily erase facial scarring. I wonder if that technology already exists at the time of this story, which would offer the possibility that the delm intended Cyra’s disfigurement to last only as long as her exile. But if that was the delm’s thinking, does that actually make it any better?)