Entry tags:

memory

This is another memory when Tazendra is a young woman in the Phoenix Guard. The four of them -- her and Aerich, Khaavren and Pel -- are hanging around in the house they've rented together in the capital, specifically Aerich's room since he has nice, comfortable chairs.

Khaavren thanks Pel for helping them out with introductions when they first met and asks Pel something about the politics of the court, because Khaavren is from the countryside and this is all so new to him. Tazendra actually seems to be listening to this, so I have to summarize it.

So, state of the Empire. Empress Cherova III recently abdicated and Tortaalik took the throne. Part of why they're all there: Cherova was an Athyra, and the Athyra Guard wouldn't accept people who weren't competent sorcerers. From this, Tazendra can infer that she is still a student at sorcery, since she includes herself in the 'well, we couldn't get a position if it were still the Reign of the Athyra'.

There's a bit of talk of the Cycle. Basically, each house in the Dragaeran Empire holds power in turn, and they are said to be at the top of the Cycle. When the Cycle turns, they are required to step down -- this is usually signified by some dramatic event. (Philosophers can debate over which comes first -- the Cycle turning, causing a House to fall in fortune, leading to an event that cannot be solved by the seated Emperor, or that the event that cannot be solved by the seated Emperor is what causes the Cycle to turn.) Moreover, the Cycle is viewed by Dragaerans as not just a metaphorical construct, but as a thing that exists and affects the world (they're right).

So, basically what happened is the event that Tazendra already remembered the trial for, Kathana e'Marish'Chala, Baroness of Kaluma, killed the Marquis of the Pepperfields because she doesn't take criticism of her paintings at all well. Tazendra comments that she'd do much the same, except she doesn't paint (yet -- actually Kathana was the one who got her to pick up the hobby). Since this wasn't in the formal context of a duel to the death, she's now a wanted murderer.

This lead to Politics, since the House of the Dragon were fighting over who is now the Marquis of Pepperfields, which is on the Eastern border and thus has a strategic value. Between this and something called the Carriage House Uprising, the Empress was all 'I'm a sorceress, not a diplomatist, dammit' and passed the problem off to Tortaalik. Who is supposed to settle things before the Easterners (normal humans) invade.

So, since Tortaalik ordered Kathana's arrest, but more politics let her escape. Khaavren suggests that they can make their name if they happen to find her and arrest her. Which Tazendra thinks is an excellent plan, since it sounds like an adventure. Also, they need to leave the city, though Tazendra doesn't mention why. (Because she killed the Warlord's brother in a not-quite-official duel, but...) Khaavren volunteers to ferret out where Kathana is hiding.

So Khaavren goes out and finds out things and gets into trouble for asking too many questions. And confuses the whole situation, which annoys Tazendra -- darn it, I wanted this to be just a simple 'ride out and arrest the murderer'. Srahi, their housekeeper, comes in and sarcasms at them about being around at all hours of the night and kids these days, and inadvertently gets a lot of details right about Khaavren's activity, so much so that Tazendra jokes about asking her for advice.

Anyway, some lady of the House of the Phoenix who makes Khaavren blush like a schoolboy has asked him to protect Kathana. And he also got beaten up by hired goons who told him to stay out of this. Tazendra, of course, takes the position that if you are threatened by goons, obviously you should do exactly the opposite of what they want you to do, on general principle.

Aerich takes this position to urge caution by telling of his own past. In third person. Basically, Aerich's dad was an adviser on Elde Island for Cherova. Apparently another member of the House of the Lyorn had been the adviser for the previous Jhegaala Emperor, but Aerich's dad was better at it. Here Aerich slips up and nearly switches to first person. He notes that jealousy causes his father's rival to destroy Aerich's father's reputation, steal his land and riches, and leave Aerich as the highly trained noble son with nothing to rule over. Khaavren asks if the name of this other Lyorn was Count Shaltre, and Aerich neither confirms nor denies this; he mentions this to consider what they risk by getting involved in politics.

Eventually Tazendra settles the matter:

But consider that, if we do nothing, we are giving in to fear of the worst sort - the fear of unknown dangers. We may scorn a man who runs from a battle he cannot win; how much more should we scorn a man who runs from a place where he thinks there may be a battle he cannot win?

Pel points out that they don't need to worry about what to do with Kathana once they find her, and that he's arranged for a cover story for them; they're riding out to check the fortifications in the East. Tazendra doesn't know why there's trouble in the East, despite them talking about the Eastern border that morning, but Pel mentions that diamonds have been discovered near the border, so the troops have been diverted to secure that, which opens up holes, especially since someone, you know, murdered one of the lords who is in charge of the border territories. And, well, having an impartial group look things over could be useful, even if the Emperor can ask directly via the Orb. And, handily, Khaavren tells them that Kathana is hiding near there, so it's not even out of the way.

What Tazendra Gets
-- More information on how the Empire works. Good luck getting Honor to explain it in a coherent fashion, but...
-- It is totally appropriate to kill someone for insulting your artwork, but, for legal reasons, it would be best to do it in a duel, rather than cutting off his head and jamming paintbrushes in his eyes.
-- Second mention of normal humans (Easterners). Here there is some sentiment of 'damn barbarians', but it's something Honor can easily file under 'well the Easterners in Sabra are different, since they aren't trying to invade my homeland'.
-- It's better to be decisive than to give into fear of the unknown. Not that Tazendra doesn't already do this. But she'll argue more for doing things than showing caution.
-- You know, Tazendra now knows most of Aerich's backstory, far more than he does.
-- Like I said in chan, she may figure out that El has told her 'we both die, and that's why I regret never acting on my feelings', since he did so in the same way he related his past. Tazendra is occasionally often unobservant enough to fall for language tricks, but she tends to overcompensate for confusion by commenting on things to show she's listening. Especially since Khaavren obviously got more than the surface layer of the story. So either she tuned Aerich out -- which I doubt, since she grasps the point of the story and argues against it -- or she got it.