SPOILER WARNING. So I just finished LOCB and it occurred to me that something doesn't make sense about Laszlo, the Count of Brimford. Laszlo is an easterner and the empress Zerika's secret lover. He is her secret lover because Laszlo is an easterner and it would be unbecoming for the Dragaeran empress to be consorting with an easterner. LOCB takes place 250 years before Phoenix in which Zerika admits to Vald that she does infact have an eastern lover and his name is Laszlo. 250 years? How could an easterner such as Laszlo manage to live for more then 120 years? I understand that Sandor (Fenarian) managed to extend his life to about 120 years of age using the power of the faerie (the orb, sorcery); but he also admitted that it was as long as he could do and he could no longer keep death at bay and would soon die. I also understand that Zerika, as the Empress and guider of the orb could possibly extend Laszlo's life using the full potential of the orb; but that seems unlikely and unthinkable. As well I also know that Arra managed to extend her life beyond natural generations, but Laszlo is hardly a servant of the Demon Goddess Verra. So who is Laszlo? Perhaps my question will be answered in Sethra Lavode. Another question as I have managed to read the entire Brokedown Palace in a single day. Is there yet any theories to who the daughter of Miklos and Brigitta is? At first I started to think that it could possibly be Cawti as Devera popped up and explained to Miklos that in the future it would be the people who would have to look out and be wary of his daughter. But then I realized that it was Devera who had spoken! It would be improbable that the daughter was Cawti because since Devera is but a small elf child, Cawti would be of middle age or older at the present time of history. At the time that Cawti would be born, the only place you would have been able to find Devera would have been in the Paths of the Dead or in the dreams of those bound to her. The fact that Devera is alive is considerable proof that the story of BP takes place a considerable time after the current Vlad Taltos stories. So then perhaps Miklos' daughter is no one of consequence and anyone who pursues to investigate such bloodlines would be in for a lost cause? Just my two cents.