> BTW: Did Sethra say that Kiera never killed people at all? Or > just that > she wouldn't kill people in order to keep her true identity a > secret? I > forget the exact phrasing she used... (Which could be important, > considering the first time Vlad met her (in /Taltos/) she was > participating in an assassination...) > Kiera has never killed and would never kill to preserve the secret. She wasn't participating in the assassination in the Taltos family restaurant. She stood up to interfere when the assassin threatened Vlad, then she gave Vlad some sympathy afterwards. One of those little details that only takes on greater significance in light of the events of Orca. I agree that we really don't have a clue as to why Sethra and Kiera have taken an interest in Vlad and watched over him most of his life. Vlad seems to understand it, though, so maybe I'm just dense. It might be as simple as him being Dolivar reincarnated, though we don't seem to know enough about that circumstance to conclusively say that it's the reason.