The Tree Court
In which there is a discussion of amends.
The Tree Court is warm and there is no snow on the ground, which is noteworthy because during the storm there was explicit mention of clumps of snow falling from the Tree’s branches and collecting at its base. The Tree has tidied the place up a bit to be hospitable to its guests, and perhaps specifically in response to Toragin telling it earlier that the kittens will need a warm place to sleep.
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Exploring Inner Landscapes
In which Toragin doesn’t believe in adventures but does believe in promises.
There’s something going on with Toragin. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s something to do with her having been taught that she’s Not Supposed To Get Angry. And being “not of the usual type”, in a way that’s “barely socially acceptable” and which “the Healers would not heal”. And believing in social bonds as absolutes. And being “good at research”. Something on the autism spectrum, maybe?
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In the Hall of the Mountain King
Enter Talizea, Miri, Jeeves, Val Con, the Tree, clowders of cats and kindles of kittens
In which the house is unsettled.
“In the Hall of the Mountain King” is the title of a famous piece of music by Edvard Grieg, originally written as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. The relevant bit of the play tells how Peer Gynt visited the court of the Mountain King and formed a connection with one of the King’s daughters, not entirely to the satisfaction of anybody involved. The supernatural and inhuman Mountain King’s most famous moment has him proclaiming a philosophy of supreme selfishness that regards everyone and everything else as inconsequential.
…and I’ve said all this before on the blog, because Crystal Dragon used “In the Hall of the Mountain Kings” as a chapter title when it had a sequence set in the domain of the Great Enemy. To have the same metaphor now applied to Jelaza Kazone is, to say the least, disconcerting.
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