I wrote, in reply to speculation on Zerika being Sethra-in-disguise: > This would be disputed by the authorial comment found at: > http://dragaera.info/mailinglists/archive.cgi?1:mss:4341 > > In which Steve wrote: >> Er, what are you talking about? No character in the >> Vlad novels is secretly another character in the Vlad >> novels, at least that I know of. To which Ray Lee replied (echoing other's posts to me offlist): > Er, except we know that's not true. Unless the above is to > be taken with an implicit "From here on out, and I promise > I won't do it again." Yes. The quoted bit from Steve was in Dec 2002, in a discussion about Zerika's name bit in the opening chapters of _Viscount_, well after the publication of _Orca_. It refers to comments made previously by Steve saying something to the effect of "No one _else_ is anyone else" in response to incessant speculation on various characters being secretly Mario. In point of fact at the time he wrote the statement, the formerly secret masquerade had already been revealed. As you say, Ray, every truth has a context. Pardon me for not supplying it in sufficient quantity or quality. Casey