I was re-reading ISSOLA last night and a couple of things occurred to me: 1) I got the impression that, if she hadn't died, Teldra might have begun an affair with Vlad. 2) I think that Sethra has been training Vlad to become a Lavode. She mentioned in the story that she and the empress both believe that disbanding that order was a mistake. Sorry if I'm covering familiar ground but I'm new to the list.