You know, that's a helluva idea. When the last time was you read a book about a single-mother, ex-assassin-turned-revolutionary socialist gangster friend of the Imperial Heir? Put that way it almost sounds silly, but (assuming there's a plot) it could be a helluva story. And Steve's done Vlad stories from various viewpoints, usually to good end. This would make another. Assuming Vlad's in it, of course. Hmm . . . (Steve is thinking out loud, or rather, typing as he thinks) . . . if by chance there's to be a reconciliation between Vlad and Cawti, I can't see the story working from Vlad's viewpoint. As Steve B has pointed out, Vlad is sometimes and idiot. Vlad doesn't understand Cawti's current viewpoint, and I doubt he'd understand what changed in him or her to cause a reconciliation. But from Cawti's point of view - yeah, there's a helluva character-oriented story there. Speaking of other characters viewpoints, we've had a Keira viewpoint story. I'd like to see a Morrolan viewpoint. Not to mention a Vlad Norathar's point of view, or Morrolans. On the other hand, a Sethra viewpoint story would probably have too damned many spoilers. :-) -- "The faster you go DEAF the more time you have to READ." edu-core heavy-metal band Bloodhag <http://www.bloodhag.com>