Randi128 at aol.com wondered aloud to the group: >I believe that the Jhereg council could fit the bill at this point. Let's >see... they turn up looking for Vlad in the last three books.... and >probably the >next book, or until Vlad settles that score. There's a scene in my head that occurs after the end of Issola. Mild SPOILERS for Issola Vlad's enjoying some quasi-Hungarian dessert pastry at Valabar's. The Demon sits down at his table. (No Jhereg would "work" in Valabar's, of course, but the Council would get tipped off within minutes if Vlad appeared almost anywhere in Adrilankha.) The Demon's polite, of course, doesn't ask direct questions, circles around his topic, but his main point is that Vlad isn't stupid enough to show up at Valabar's when the Jheregs want him bad enough that they might just be willing to ignore the custom and go after him anyway, let alone waiting for him outside and having the whole Left Hand standing ready to block his escape. So the Demon wants to know what Vlad thinks he's got. At the end of the conversation or the fight that follows, there is, one way or another, a truce between Vlad and the Jhereg. This scene, while fun to think about, wouldn't appear in the book, because, of course, the audience already knows what Vlad's got, and that's a false payoff. -- "King Arthur was able to unite the various English tribes and drive off the Vikings via the bold and resourceful maneuver of serving them relentlessly bland food, a tradition that remains in England today despite numerous armed attempts by the French to invade with sauces."--Dave Barry mailto:Dr.Elmo at whiterose.org http://www.whiterose.org/dr.elmo/blog/