In which Mil Ton Intassi tells a story, and it has an effect.

“This House” is one of a very few Liaden stories that have no connection with Korval and their doings, and few indications of where it fits relative to the other stories. (Though, speaking of relatives, Mil Ton Intassi has the same surname as someone who has appeared in connection with Korval, a fact which went right past me when I read the story in isolation but hit me straight between the eyes as soon as I started reading it this time.) The only time cue is that it must be set some time after “A Day at the Races”, since skimmer racing was a new thing then and is an established thing in “This House”. At that, it’s probably set further after “A Day at the Races” than I’ve placed it, but since it doesn’t connect with any other story, I decided that grouping the skimmer stories together would be more appropriate than being strict about chronology in this case.

The story was originally written for an anthology in which each story was inspired by a song, and is itself inspired by the song “This House” from Janis Ian’s album Breaking Silence. The lyrics of the song are on Janis Ian’s web site, if you’re interested in comparing them. (But watch out; that link goes to a page that autoplays music.)

Tomorrow: Conflict of Honors, picking up from the second chapter. (The first chapter/prologue, we did already, last week.)