Philip Hart wrote: > Another theory - the N seems to be oddly fond of Vlad (v. the last pages > of _Issola_) - perhaps in _Jhereg_ he was trying to pretend he felt > comfortable with her out of (rather rare) courtliness, or just because he > felt he owed it to her. > > Still, most likely the oddness in _J_ is just Vlad having a little joke. > Probably Loiosh fell off his shoulder laughing (or whatever the jhereg > equivalent is - headbobbing?) when V described the encounter in question. > > I got the impression that Vlad was more comfortable with the Necromancer at one point, but then as he came to understand that "living" and "dead" were technical terms to her, matters of looking in a different direction, etc, he became less comfortable around her. Perhaps she seemed polite and non-intrusive before (good characteristics in the eyes of an assassin), but further exposure to her has brought him an understanding that she really /is/ looking right through (the physical) him when they speak. Kisc