[Spoilers for ORCA, mostly] On Wed, 9 Jun 2004, Scott Schultz wrote: > >In Jhereg, Vlad is making introductions at the start of the "war >council". He introduces Kiera and Aliera says "We've met" and >Kiera and Aliera smile at each other, which surprises Vlad >momentarily. In other words, they behave like friendly >acquaintances, not strangers or people who know each other purely >by reputation. Innocuous on the face of it, but when you consider >that most Jhereg are afraid to be seen with Kiera, (remember how >shocked the staff was that Vlad would invite her to the office) it >seems even less likely that a dragonlord would be on friendly >terms with her. (Of course, they're friends with Vlad so feel free >to disagree. *heh*) In light of what we know now, I take it as a >hint that Aliera knows the score and is simply sharing the joke >with Kiera. Two possibilities occur to me, both of them being entirely pararectal ideation: Firstly, the joke is not of Aliera knowing Kiera's secret, but rather a meta-level joke that in the Piarra/Dragaera game, Kiera and Aliera were already familiar. Perhaps. Secondly, and more likely, it occurred to me that once Aliera had established herself in the post-Interregnum world, and wished to once again meet up with her Jhereg lover, she might well go to Sethra and ask her "What did you do with Mario? How can I find him again?"; and Sethra might well reply, "Well, I don't know where he might be, but I know of a Jhereg who might be able to find out", and thus Sethra sets up a meeting for Aliera with Kiera, who then investigates, and later puts her in touch with Mario. Perhaps.