Hi, I guess I should have kept quoting. Dragon, Chapter 6, paperback page 102 'She cleared her throat. "Yes, certainly. But you must see, you are the perfect choice. She trusts you, and even has some bizarre affection for you. And you could put it in terms that would make her see the mutual advantages. I don't know what the going rates are for such a service, but I have sufficient means to--where are you going?" "To drink seawater. It'll leave a better taste in my mouth than this conversation. Excuse me."' So the perfect choice meant the perfect choice to arrange the negotiations. bonham15 (andy) wrote on Fri, 26 Nov 2004 12:06:38 -0600 >she have in him mind as a military overlord/placed king of >the easterners? I do not think Sethra the Younger understands Vlad at all. Therefore she could very well think that he would do that. I always thought she wanted to kill all the Easterners, but she does say "Conquer the East" and not exterminate them. And since no Dragon wants to rule, she would need some sort of puppet to rule the East for her. Vlad might just be the only Easterner she is familiar with and she thinks as a Jhereg she could pay him to do it. Scott Schultz wrote on Fri, 26 Nov 2004 10:53:33 -0800 >I think y'all are reading a bit too much into this. I do that a lot with all of Steven Brust's books. This thought was actually based on two words "Spare me" instead of just one word "Heh". It is hard to wait for the books to be written and too easy to read "a bit too much into" things. Sometimes he hides things and wants us to find them. The Sun, The Moon, & the Stars", Chapter Seventeen, page 203 last page. "It would be nice if you were to find what I tried to put there, and even nicer if you discovered in the texture values of which I had inkling." Scott Schultz wrote on Fri, 26 Nov 2004 10:53:33 -0800 >StY's beef isn't with Easterners as a race, necessarily. >She wouldn't find any particular honor or satisfaction in >"defeating" the Easterner ghetto in Adrilankha. She wants >to conquer the East because it's the most convenient >enemy at hand, and nobody's really ever managed it before. I bet she got plenty of honor and satisfaction out of "defeating" the Easterner ghetto in Phoenix. I bet that got her back in the good graces of the Empress after what happened in Yendi. The Book of Taltos, Phoenix, Chapter 14, page 340 '"Yes, continued Morrolan. "Sethra has established order in--" "Sethra! Lavode?" "How did she end up in command?" "The brigadier of the Phoenix Guards resigned yesterday over some dispute with the Empress. I don't know the details." "Maybe he didn't like the idea of slaughtering thousands of helpless Easterners." "Helpless? Vlad, weren't you listening? There were attacks the Imperial Palace. They laid siege to it. They actually threatened the Empress--" "Oh, come now. She could have teleported out anytime she wanted to." "That isn't the point, Vlad. Threatening the sanctity of--" "Can we change the subject?"' "You asked," he said stiffly." "Yeah, sorry." Loiosh flew back to my shoulder and nuzzled my ear. I said, "What about the war?" Bye. Linda G.