Maximilian Wilson wrote: > Look at Morrolan's relationship with Aliera--I don't think either of > them really likes gushy, feel-good relationships. I think they both > value competence, and aside from Vlad having saved their respective > lives a couple of times (yes, they've saved his at least as often, but > they probably discount that), he's their peer as a dangerous man, and > it's nice to have peers. Does it really seem like Aliera gets hung up > on him being an Easterner? Vlad makes a comment at the beginning of > Issola about Morrolan not disliking Easterners as much as you'd > expect, and Aliera not disliking Vlad personally as much as you'd > expect--but I rarely see Aliera herself bringing up the matter of > Vlad's species. (And Vlad's comments about likes and dislikes can > probably be discounted as being part of his narrative voice.) Both Nationalism and racism are Johnnies come lately in comparison to class prejudice in our world. Royals are royal, nobles are noble, gentlemen are gentlemen, and serfs are serfs. Once that is settled, Englishmen are Englishmen and Frenchmen are Frenchmen. People defined themselves by class. It's more complex where you have species and races that tend to fill class roles, but when all races can become royal, and when all species have similar ranks of nobility, one's class counts for more than anything else.