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I want Aia to be somewhat normal and marrying a guy like Saedward will make things worse. Out of those 3 guys Meryt who would you choose?

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Well for right now have your fun with Aia+Llen but later on it will be Aia+Ralf (Alf)

Nobody knows exactly when that's going to start. Obviously one doesn't make war in the winter. (Unless one is Eirik.) So, sometime from spring onward into summer or even late summer.

WHAT ARE YOU PLOTTING NOW???

For months, probably. It's going to take a week or two just for Sigefrith's men to get wherever the fighting is, and then another week or two to get back again. And that's if things go well AND PEOPLE COME BACK AT ALL.

Devin, you can put whomever you like on your own list. You can keep trying, but I still think the Llen / Aia dynamic is pretty cool.

Eadred is already on a list of my own however.

Edit: Now that I actually, oh, STOP TO THINK ABOUT IT, I find that the idea of Aia + Eadred is edging pretty close to the realm of Crack Pairings. Eadred is SOOOO down-to-earth and normal. Saeward + Aia definitely makes a lot more sense.

And Aia is the Queen!

Devin, sometimes I wonder just what you hope to accomplish with your lists. Is there some kind of voodoo going on that I should know about?

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Meryt is Aia the same height as Lady Sela?

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By the time of her murder did she fully understand English? Like if Egelric probably told her that he was becoming a knight did she understand him? I wonder how she felt about Egelric becoming a knight and if she was starting to see signs of Egelric becoming full of himself.

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Meryt when are we going to see Vash again? I wonder how he's going to feel when he learns that Egelric's in jail.

I don't see how I can answer that without giving away the story... so I won't.

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Though I can't imagine them together. And I thought it was Vashiaa (Kraaia + Vash) all the way? Iylaine had her chance.

Sure! See, Devin's on board!

Kraash!
Er, yeah...that's kinda my fault. Sorry Tiffany. I think there's real soulmate potential there.
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I'm romantic, literary, cynical, and a diehard Alred Sebright groupie.

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My foot! She has caused Vash so much pain he deserves someone else which is Kraaia once she becomes older.

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She will make a beatiful Khira.

It certainly wouldn't happen so long as Sorin lived. It doesn't seem much like Vash OR Kraaia either. Can you imagine Kraaia? In dresses so heavy she can hardly walk? Locked up with a lot of ladies for weeks at a time every three months?

*snickers at Tiffany* Kraaia has some growing up to do? Have you ever SEEN Iylaine before?

Iylaine had a hard life and she has daddy/mommy/adoption/elf issues.

Kraaia has issues, but she causes a lot of hers.

Let me have SOME cake if I can't have it all!

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OMG Matilda is due any day now I'm so excited to see her baby boy. I wonder if Imin will have any interest in the child?

That sounds like a cut and dried "certainly not" to me.

Like servants everywhere, it would depend what their mothers did. They would grow up learning to work in the kitchen or wherever. If they were girls that is. If they were boys and were allowed to live, then their lives would be somewhat odd, but I will save that for later chapters.

It's kind of irrelevant though, since they're half-breeds and it seems unlikely they would be allowed to live at all. There are too many "ifs" in your question, Devin.

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How big is Vash's apartments? Would he be able to keep a concubine in secret, living in his apartments if he wanted to?

As for Vash, he has a pretty big apartment on two levels, about twice the size of what Shus and Dara have. He also has a rooftop.

I don't see how he could hide anybody in it though. He certainly doesn't do the housecleaning himself. He does seem like the sort of guy who would occasionally lock his door and tell everyone to leave him alone for weeks at a time (he did when he thought Paul died) but even so, after a while of nobody taking out his laundry or dirty dishes, that would seem suspicious.

Sorin could probably get away with it, just because he's so squirrelly and locked up alone all the time anyway. But that's just one more reason why Vash has to be available.

Oooh a forbidden love for Sorin! (That sound you hear is Devin's matchmaking wheels beginning to turn.)

Sorin doesn't have a sex life any more. He hasn't since his wife died. Have I said otherwise elsewhere? Osh is quite a rebel for doing what he's doing, and Tashnu's habits are considered beyond the pale.

The official word is that elves who were brutally bereaved don't even WANT to have sex any more. How the bereaved elves themselves feel about that is not so clear, but even though Osh definitely feels love and attraction for his new wife, he is still disgusted by Nush and his sleeping around (and sleeping NOT around).

I doubt Vash thinks much about any of that where his father is concerned. Really, his father has enough problems to keep Vash's mind fully occupied.

It is normal, though at least in Sorin's case I wouldn't call them affairs so much. More like one-night stands.

Nearly all of them do it... some with more relish than others. Uncle Mustache for example seems to have made it his life's work. But when presented with an opportunity nearly all of them will do it, whether out of liking to, or the undeniable effects of testosterone, or merely to fit in. But these are supposed to be flings with servants and slaves, nothing more.

Vash, Paul, and Shus really set themselves apart with their little virginity pledge or whatever they cooked up. I guess the idea was that Vash was already married and only wanted his wife, but he couldn't have her. So to keep him company the other guys decided they would abstain. Some of the other younger guys may have made the same decision, but I haven't paid much attention to that yet.

Didn't I answer that a few pages ago? I'm not telling! The sisters are up there just shy of the status of gods.... not exactly MAIN character material.

Ach, define soon! We should see him just at the end of the year. Probably not before.

He has nurses and servants and things... and he is a good daddy. He is probably more cuddly and goofy and affectionate with his kids than Maire ever was. And he never really had a mother himself. (Colin never dreamt of remarrying.) I don't think he will have problems being a single father.

Being a single man might be more difficult for him. He's been carrying around a terrible loneliness for months now. He missed his wife while she was still there, and even if he can't bear to take her back -- which I wouldn't rule out -- he's going to be missing her still.

There's a big hole punched out of poor Aengus right now, and I don't know how he's going to deal with that. He's not going to be able to fix it by taking up with some miscellaneous other woman -- legally or otherwise -- and he's not going to be be able to just ignore it into nonexistence either. If Aengus doesn't come up with another great love, he's going to be walking around with a wounded heart until he dies.

There are plenty of other women available Devin. In fact, if Maire dies, Aengus's biggest risk is probably that someone is going to strong-arm him into another marriage. I can imagine his father doing it, and I can certainly imagine Sigefrith doing it, provided he found someone strategically advantageous who would nevertheless put up with the slight taint of scandal. A penniless yet well-connected widow would do nicely.

I agree it will be tough on the kids though. Especially considering that Maire herself grew up in a family where people were whispering that her mother killed her first husband to be with her father. AND WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT.

Wno said anything about Edris???!!!??!!! Poor Edris!

I was thinking Sigefrith would find someone from outside the valley. I think he is already regretting betrothing Emmie to Baldwin since she could do much better these days.

And if Colin had his druthers he would probably hitch his son to a woman from his dearly beloved late wife's clan. Colin would love a red-headed grandbaby or two.

First you will have to explain to me how and why Sigefrith or Aengus would ask for the hand of the illegitimate discarded mistress of one of Sigefrith's old allies? And how Sigefrith would then explain that to Godwine?

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Meryt how are Llam and Omur? Do you think they are better off living with the rest of the kisor elves or with the men?

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I was speaking hypothetically, if Sela was alive and she found out that her cousins were orphaned and took them in. Would they have been better off living with her with the men or among the kisor? They will one day have to fight the Khirron since they are living with the kisor.

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Wow things are getting so difficult with the elves. I'm very worried about Aia, she can't be protected by the Khirron or the kisor but she could be from the men. This is why I want her to marry someone like Ralf or Eadred they can protect her from the men.

I think

The Moor's skintone was just random. I do have my skintones genetically rated from dark to light, so it's not totally random. He just had two rather swarthy parents and ended up a little darker than either of them. He must have been a throwback to Colin the Black. I was going to change him, and then I thought Nah. Gives him character. And a good nickname.

What's this about Egelric's house what what? You mean his first house in Lothere? It was about the same size as the later cottage by the lake I guess.

I have no idea what shack by the sea you're talking about. Egelric never even saw the sea until he went to Scotland one of those early times... Are we reading the same story?

I have the feeling I have answered this question before... you should read your 7 pages of random questions. If I answered it, it was probably only 3 or 4 Lotherian days ago, so if it was standing then, it is still.

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Meryt for farmers like Oswald in Lothere what are their most valued crop, the crop that earns them the most money.

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I still think Aia and Matilda or even Githa would be great choices for him.

The house is built into the side of a hill, so the top floor is bigger than the bottom. On the ground floor it has the kitchen, which we've seen several times, and some sort of pantry / cellar behind, which is in the side of the hill. On the top floor there's the girl's little room, which we saw, as well as the boy's room, and a bigger room for the parents. Right now it's just Os living there and he's sleeping in the big room now. It's a nice house, but it's smaller than Ethelwyn's, say, or even Ethelmund's.

Eight Mile House is so named because it is located eight miles east of Kingsmarket. It is nothing but a round stone hut that is centuries older than 1085. It might have been used by shepherds or farmers in the past. Right now nobody lives out there, but the house is well-known as a landmark, and also a place to stop and get out of the rain, or spend the night or whatever if you're on your way to or from Raegiming or Thorhold. It really is small... as Egelric said, he can't even stand up straight in it. It's just barely big enough for travelers to build a small fire in the middle and have three or four men sleep around it.

It wasn't me!

Ok I was in shock. Maybe this might turn out to be beneficial for Aia. She could finally have her baby and Egelric might take pity on her. This pregnancy could be a good thing.

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It's Llen's baby. He came back. The first time he went, he actually knew it was a little early -- the point was to get to Aia before it was too late. Afterwards he came back to finish the job. It's anybody's guess how that little tryst went. At some point we will see more Llen / Aia but not just yet.

If it's any consolation, I'm sure Aia's thrilled. Independent of any good or bad feelings she may or may not have surrounding Llen, she just wanted a baby more than anything. And she probably realizes it's for the best that it's his, if only because he threatened to kill it if it were half-human. But she may realize that Llen will prove possessive, which could protect her in the long run.

As for Egelric, he's in Ramsaa and he'll have a hell of a time getting out of that fort and back to Lothere even if he wants to. (Which I doubt he does. He might head for the hills, but they wouldn't be the hills of Lothere.)

And yeah... even if he were there I doubt he would do anything for or to Aia. That chapter of his life is closed. In "Alred makes a monument of a man" he told Alred "I want no more to do with elves forever." And Egelric doesn't "clap his big hands and flick them at the air in a gesture so arcane and so portentous that Alred's scalp prickles" unless he means it.

Let me know if you have any more bubbles left to burst, Devin. My pin is at the ready.

Oh definitely. I don't think Llen brings much out in Aia that we wouldn't have seen anyway, but Aia exposes a whole hidden side of Llen. I'm not sure any other elf alive has seen what she has, now and eight years ago.

And regardless of how their relationship works out, its existence plays a role in my whole master plan for the elves (including Larl in the front lines). So I too am looking forward to this. *rubs hands together*

I never said it wouldn't end badly. Just that it would be interesting.

Don't underestimate Wulf and Gils. When Iylaine was six she went all the way to Raegiming all by herself.