Tag Archives: life-price

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 25

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In which Aelliana takes decisive action in response to Mizel’s message.

I said in an earlier entry that one of the things worth noting about Scout’s Progress was the way it wasn’t a story about Aelliana being rescued, but a story about Aelliana rescuing herself. Even though she is now, for the most part, rescued, Mouse and Dragon has continued to be a story in which Aelliana makes the decisive moves in her own life. She was the originator and driving force of the idea of going for courier, and each time her personal relationship with Daav has tightened a notch, it’s been her making the move. (Which is an important thing, for a person whose life was for so long out of her control.) That continues here: the proposal that they cry lifemates comes from her, unbidden, when she’s ready and not before.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 3

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In which Daav and Aelliana are reunited.

It occurs to me that, even had nobody noticed the Jump ring on Ran Eld’s finger during the confrontation, it would have been surrendered to Mizel along with the rest of his finery when he died, so it would not have been necessary to pursue him to Low Port to get it back. I can understand that chain of thought not coming to Aelliana’s mind, though.

It appears that Daav and Aelliana do possess the lifemate bond to some degree, but that it only works at full strength when they’re in close physical proximity, as they are here, or as when they were dancing at the celebration.

This chapter includes the final four sentences of Scout’s Progress, all that was left from last chapter, with a few tweaks to punctuation and word choice but no substantive changes.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 31

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In which everybody is having a bad day.

Has it really been a relumma since Aelliana won her freedom? It doesn’t seem like that long.

Ran Eld’s view of the world is not only self-centred, it’s short-sighted too. “Enough time to notice what’s happening around me when I’m what’s happening” is not the attitude of someone ever likely to be the happening thing. It’s kind of amusing, though, that he’s so blinkered he thinks Anne’s book is boring.

The Tree is definitely against Samiv tel’Izak marrying Daav, and is making its feelings felt quite strongly. (It’s weird how the description of her nightmare doesn’t say it’s her until it’s nearly over; the first few times I read it, I had to do a mental gear-change because I’d started out assuming it was Aelliana.)

On the other hand, the Tree doesn’t seem keen on Aelliana either. I suspect it’s because the Tree is waiting for Daav to commit to action, which he hasn’t yet: he wants Aelliana, but he’s still planning to bow to duty and marry tel’Izak.

(But I do wonder what answer was carried in that seed-pod he threw away.)

Local Custom – Chapter 37

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In which Anne’s troubles are eased, but Er Thom’s may be just beginning.

I don’t recall what I thought the first time I read this and Daav showed up at the end of the chapter. Probably I had a fairly good idea of what the outcome would be, if not how it would be achieved, if only because this is a prequel. One thing I’m pretty sure of is that despite the suggestion offered in the epigraph, I never suspected Daav for a moment of planning to require a balance-price from Anne for depriving the clan of its son Er Thom. (If nothing else, that would be thoroughly unjust, since it was Er Thom’s own decision, with perhaps some assistance from his mother; Anne, as Daav knows full well, never asked or expected any such thing.)

Local Custom – Chapter 29

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In which Anne has two unpleasant conversations.

It’s vitally important that Anne and Er Thom have an opportunity for a clear and sensible conversation, so of course they’re prevented from having one.

I think Fil Tor Kinrae is lying when he says he didn’t realise who Anne was. Of course he knew; who else would she be? I reckon he just has such a low opinion of Terrans that, even faced with a scholar, and one who has a particular interest in the Liaden language, he assumes she can’t speak Liaden.