In which the worst of coming home is dealing with one’s mail.
The quote at the head of this chapter seems, at first glance, not to have much to do with what follows. There isn’t obviously anybody doing something dangerous in the name of necessity.
Unless it’s the Tree.
I am deeply suspicious of the Tree’s purposes in giving out this set of sweet cedar-smelling seed-pods — the more so since, on this re-read, I’ve noticed the other place in the chapter where the smell of sweet cedar recurs.
In which Aelliana deals with some outstanding business.
If I have the timeframe figured out correctly, Aelliana began teaching the advanced seminar for Scouts about the time Daav was obliged to leave the Scouts and take up the Delm’s Ring. One wonders whether, had Daav been able to remain a Scout, he and Aelliana might have crossed paths much sooner.
Mr dea’Gauss continues in the mode of servant to lord, addressing Aelliana as “my lady”, until she asks that he address her as Pilot or Scholar and not offer her more honor than she has earned; then he follows her into a more equal mode and switches to addressing her as “Pilot”. I notice, though, that by the end of the conversation he’s back to addressing her as “my lady”, apparently having formed his own conclusions about how much honor she has earned from him.
In which Daav and Aelliana take a scenic route out of Solcintra.
Another incident underlining the idea of Mizel’s house as a foreign and dangerous port is Solcintra Port Control welcoming Aelliana home. It makes sense as a greeting, considering that it’s the port she flies out of, and I don’t expect they’re aware that she’s just come from the place that ought to have been home to her, but I reckon she’ll have noticed the irony of it.
Jon’s twitch at the news of Aelliana accepting Korval’s protection is interesting. I suspect it’s because it’s not the offer he’d been expecting Daav to make and Aelliana to accept, after the way they were the last time he saw them together.
In which there is dinner, dancing, distinction, and a difficult decision.
Aelliana’s speculation about Daav’s ringless finger reminds me that this is a parallel to Local Custom, where Er Thom also spent a significant portion going about without his ring of rank. Or perhaps not so much a parallel as a reflection, because in a way the situation here is a reverse: Er Thom’s lack of ring was a punishment, but Daav’s is more in the way of a much-needed vacation.
And when Aelliana asks him what he has around his neck, and he replies, “A chain”, it’s an obvious dodge into literal-mindedness — but it also works as an honest (perhaps more honest than he intended?) description of how he regards the delm’s ring.
I think I was a bit uncharitable toward Olwen sel’Iprith back in Local Custom. If Frad is any indication, all the members of Daav’s former team are very close, just not the kind of close that, say, Er Thom and Anne are. (Or, as we can confidently say after the happenings of this chapter, Daav and Aelliana.)
And here’s a fun thing I noticed for the first time on this re-read: the authors are ingeniously uninformative as regards the genders of Trilla’s and Frad’s chosen table partners. We learn that Frad’s companion is a redheaded Scout, and Trilla’s companions are both described as dancers, but do we get a single gendered pronoun between the three of them? We do not.
In which Daav and Aelliana meet for the first time.
Daav has part of his wish now: someone who knows him only as himself, without any idea of his rank and status.
Which is probably the only way they could have made a connection; if Aelliana had known he was Delm Korval, it would likely have been a disaster, though for the opposite reason from most of the women he’s had to deal with. She’s not the type to play up to him because of his wealth or rank, but she’d have been even more terrified of him than Syntebra el’Kemin was of Er Thom. And as Delm Korval speaking with one not of his clan, he would have limits on his conversation options that would prevent him from soothing her the way he is able to as just-Daav in the place where everyone speaks Comrade.
In which Aelliana takes possession of her ship.
I’ve noticed several people referring to Aelliana’s late opponent as “the chel’Mara”. In some places such a distinction might indicate that he was the head of his family Line, but I don’t think I recall any such usage ever being explicitly noted among Liadens, and it seems unlikely in the case of Vin Sin chel’Mara. More likely it is simply an indication that he’s achieved notoriety in a field where no other chel’Mara is to be found.
Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure there’s at least one point in this novel where Aelliana is referred to as “the Caylon”, and that’s definitely in tribute to her distinction as a mathematician and definitely not because of any exalted position in Line Caylon.
Speaking of Aelliana’s distinction as a mathematician, there’s probably something insightful to be said about that, and about Aelliana’s unease at being accorded distinction of any kind, but apparently I’m not the person to say it. (At least not at this time of night and with this head cold.)
In which Daav and Aelliana each get something to eat and gain some measure of comfort.
Daav’s little self-analysis session is interesting. It speaks well of him that he is able to be honest with himself about his failings and potential failings and about what may be necessary to address them.
It places him in contrast to Ran Eld Caylon, who is driven by jealousy of his power and position within the clan. Daav, as this scene shows, is also strongly beset by jealousy, but he doesn’t let it poison his relationships or steer him into dishonor.
That scene is also interesting in the light of what “Dragon Tide” says about how, back in the day, the Tree’s ancestors would each have a special branch where the dragons would sleep to commune with the tree. I wonder how much influence Tree had on Daav and Er Thom’s choice of location for their sanctuary platform?
In which Aelliana leaves.
Aelliana-the-teacher, confident in her handling of her students, is an interesting contrast to Aelliana the rest of the time.
In the course of the lesson, we get the most detailed description of piloting math I can recall before Trade Secret was published, including our first mention of the ven’Tura Tables.
It’s an interesting detail that it’s possible to go from Liad to Terra in a single Jump, if one should want to. I wonder how often anybody ever does.
(The second part of the chapter, in which Aelliana has that fateful conversation with Ran Eld, is one of those parts of the series which I appreciate a great deal but not in a way that leads to putting many words together.)
In which preparations are made for the gather, and for afterward.
I had wondered, on this re-read, at noticing that Er Thom’s first visit to Master Jeweler Moonel was before he knew Anne would need a party dress and jewels. But here is the answer: two pieces of jewelry, from two visits.
I’m not sure I’m quite clear on how many personages were involved in the drama of Eba yos’Phelium and her thodelm: is Daav yos’Phelium, Sixth Delm Korval, an extra player, or is he himself the thodelm in question? I mean, Petrella spoke of them as different people, but I would have expected that Delm Korval is also Thodelm yos’Phelium (has that ever been explicitly established?). And if they were both the same person, but he was acting in one melant’i at one time and in another melant’i at another time, perhaps a Liaden would refer to them as if they were separate people. (Look at how often, with our current Daav, Delm Korval and Er Thom’s cha’leket are treated as different people.)
In which Er Thom and Anne go shopping.
Things continue to be tense and unhappy.
After a nice bit of happenstance-tweaking by the authors, Er Thom now knows of Fil Tor Kinrae, at least by name, and Anne now knows of Jyl ven’Apon, at least by sight.