TMOHD Chapter 8: Various Encounters

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TMOHD Chapter 8: Various Encounters

Post by duchess of malfi »

At the beginning of this chapter, Geraden and Terisa are in the dungeons of Orison, viewing some of the mirrors of the Congery. Terisa had somehow changed the focus of one of the mirrors and Geraden had told her she had just done something impossible.
"Why isn't it possible?" She sounded small and weak, and her head was spinning. Exaltation had taken hold of Geraden; he didn't seem to be aware of her distress. "Nobody knows how to change Images. It isn't possible. The Image is part of the glass. Bur you've just done it. You're the augered champion."
Terisa feels as if she has just received proof that she is not real, that she doesn't exist, because the mirror that was used to bring her to Mordant just showed her something that didn't exist. As Geraden tries to figure out what just happened, Master Eremis comes into the room. He immediately accuses Geraden of breaking the Congery's order to share no knowledge with Terisa.
Before she had moved into her own apartment, Terisa had seen a variety of men who were reputed to be powerful, her father's guests; but none of them had projected the commanding confidence that Master Eremis did. Only her father's presence had been comparably effective - and his manner had been considerably less attractive. He had lacked the sparkle of play or passion that would have made her mother's marriag to him comprehensible.
Eremis says that the other masters will not know of Geraden breaking their order from him, and
"Thanks," Geraden muttered ungraciously. The master's sudden appearance seemed to reduce him to the stature of a sullen boy.
The Master presses Geraden for an introduction to Terisa, whom he obviously finds VERY attractive. Geraden just as obviously doesn't want the Master near her, especially when he traces his fingers down her chest. He also argues with the Master, telling him that Terisa has the right to be part of any decisions that the Congery makes about her.
"Master Eremis" Geraden's tone made Terisa look at him. In his face, she saw an inchoate hardness, a capacity for stregnth that hadn't come into focus. "I've been wrong about a lot of things. I make any number of mistakes. But I've never served the Congery wrongly." A secret ferocity mounted behind his words. "Something impossible has happened in this room. The masters need to know what I've learned - what the lady Terisa can tell them. What are they debating?"
Master Eremis tells them that the Congery is indeed debating Terisa, but that their deicion probably won't come until the following day. He then tries to dismiss Geraden.
But he didn't retreat. Terisa noticed particularly that he didn't accept his dismissal and leave the room.
Geraden continues to try to express his distrust of the Master and his motives.
Then he did look up to the taller man. He appeared to be chewing the inside of his cheek to steady himself. His expression was anxious and abashed, bt his gaze didn't falter. "Master Eremis, I believe she's too important to become just another of your women." "You insolent puppy!" spat the Master. For an instant, he seemed to grow taller, as if he were cocking himself to deliver a blow.
They all become distracted when the mirror showing the Fist once again changes its Image to show the crossroads near Orison -- and it shows riders trying to escape from little monsters made up mostly of sharp mouths, who are trying to eat the riders. Geraden identifies one of the riders as the Perdon, the leader of one of the Cares of Mordant. To their relief, they see him escape the nasty little monsters.
Master Eremis then takes Geraden and Terisa with him to find out what is going on. They go to the waiting area for the King's rooms and find that the Perdon is meeting with King Joyse. When Eremis tries to find out what is going on, the guards say that he isn't invited to the meeting and the Castellan barks at him. Eventually, a large and shouting man emerges from the King's chambers, followed by a beautiful blonde woman with violet eyes. The two are arguing.
"I fought at his side for ten years to make Mordant what it is. I will not grovel asking him for what he should volunteer. You tell him this my lady. Every man of mine who falls or dies defending him in his blind inaction, I will send here. Let him look to their wounds, or their bereaved families, and explain why he will not" - he couldn't contain himself - "command it!"
Eremis questions the Perdon and finds out that Cadwal army members posing as bandits have been raiding his Care. They have discovered an army massing near the border. The Care has some 3,000 soldiers and will face around 15,000 -- and the King has refused any aid.
The Perdon and the Master eventually leave, and Geraden introduces the two women. The lovely blonde is Elega, the King's daughter. And she is quite upset with her father.
"And I tell you quite frankly, my lady" - she lowered her voice as if she were imparting a state secret - "Mordant is a man's world. We women are not often given enought to occupy our talents."
and
"My sister and I share rooms a level above the King's. We are told that we must live there so that we will be at least as safe as our father. But I believe," she said cynically, "the true reason is so that anything of importance will reach him before it reaches us - and stop...as I said, Mordant is a man's world"
Terisa learns that Elega and Geraden were once betrothed, but the betrothment was broken because Elega didn't want him.
In silence, Terisa replied, That's your loss.
Elega takes Terisa upstairs and introduces her to her sister, the Princess Myste. It is obvious that Elega doesn't think much of her sister, thinking her something of a silly romantic. Myste is as lovely as Elega, with deeper blonde hair and a more normal eye color. Terisa immediately takes to her.
She laughed in a way that immediately reminded Terisa of King Joyse's smile.
Elega nastily tells her sister about the Perdon and their father, and Myste defends Joyse.
"Elega, he is our father,"Myste demurred. "Of course we do not understand his intent. How can we, when we know so little of what he knows and fears?" Unlike Elega, she didn;t complain of her ignorance: she was simply stating a fact. "But we must not be so quick to judge. High matters are abroad in Mordant. I t appears that war is near..."
Myste tells Terisa of how her parents came to marry, and how their stong willed mother and father made a good marriage. And she tells how their mother and third sister, Torrent, came to leave their father after he became too passive to rule effectively anymore. Elega says
"Whatever action may be possible to save the realm, it will be taken in Orison. I mean to be a part of it, if I can...For her part, my sister remains here because she dreams that the King will one day rise up to defend his kingdom - if only we are willing to trust him long enough."
The two sisters question Terisa about herself. Myste is awed by this girl from another world, but Elega seems to think that Terisa is holding back on them, that she has some sort of power she is not telling them about.
"We are women like yourself, not self-serving men hungry for power. We can be trusted. We are perhaps the only people in Orison whom you may safely trust. This pretense in unnecessary." Myste looked at her sister at once."Elega, Terisa has no reason to lie to us. I am sure that she has not. It is not a pretense." With a savagery that would have done Castellan Lebbick credit, the lady Elega flashed out "It must be."
Last edited by duchess of malfi on Thu May 15, 2003 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Ryzel »

Looks like you might need to edit your quote statements a little bit.
"Und wenn sie mich suchen, ich halte mich in der Nähe des Wahnsinns auf." Bernd das Brot
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Post by duchess of malfi »

I know. I was typing it in at 3Am and had some problems and it didn't turn out so well. When I have some time when I get home from work I'll try to edit it. :(
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Post by Earthblood »

backwards quotes/statements aside, I like this part of the book and I like your intro Duchess. The meeting with Myste & Elega gives Terisa a person she can really relate to, a sister of sorts, who really seems to like her just for who she is, not for what she might be. Elega is as much a schemer (? is that a word?) as anyone, but Myste seems to be more akin to Terisa in temperment. Whether Terisa has some "powers" or talents isnt the most important thing to Myste - maybe that's being a bit gullible, but isn't that what real freinds are supposed to be like?

Eremis shows himself as not one top be messed with and quick to anger, but still, intelligent & ever thought full of his next move on the *hehe* hop-board.

I think both encounters give her a feeling of being worth something at least, even if she's not quite sure of what....even after the mirror scene w/Geraden
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Post by Skyweir »

.. and m'lady I like you!!!! :hnk: .. which ofcourse goes without saying :wink: :wink: .. but I just wanted to thankyou for your great work and enormous effort in presenting the chapter overviews you have!!!

I am so glad this group read is kept alive .. and it is principally because of your wonderful and superlative efforts!

Mordants Need is such a great book .. and it is great we can still use it as critique fodder .. I havent had much time lately .. and I am very sad about that :cry: .. I can only pop in occassionally .. I am swamped till mid-year exams and I hate it!! :x hehe .. lol .. no I really do hate it .. its totally cramping my life style.

I have to wade through mountains of cases and dry boring texts .. when I would far rather be snuggling up with ... umm :wink: ... a Donaldson book .. and enjoying myself .. :(

I know the effort involved in a lengthy post .. and the frustration involved when such a post is lost in the abiss of cyber space .. through an inadvertent click of a wrong button .. or whatever .. The effort is enormous .. and we can see how much work you have invested in this project ..

Many many thanks m'lady for your great work .. we/I hail you for taking care of this worthy project!!


I could literally hug you to bits!! but to be fair I think we all should join in .. |G
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Post by Ryzel »

This chapter is very much an introduction chapter, like the last one perhaps. A lot of people are introduced and we are given a general idea of their place in the scheme of things. Really most of what goes on here seems to set the scene for later developments, but there is nothing really deep going on yet.

One thing though that I would like to mention is the names. Have you read any contemporary fantasy lately? Is is usually populated by people with names like "Arbadurlin" or maybe "Krasnagorian". :) But SRD avoids all that. His names are short, elegant and really the kind of names that you might actually want to use yourself, although they are not quite normal.
"Und wenn sie mich suchen, ich halte mich in der Nähe des Wahnsinns auf." Bernd das Brot
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Post by Cord Hurn »

In [i]The Mirror Of Her Dreams[/i] Chapter 8 was wrote:One flight of stairs took them to the level of the King's suite. Elega passed his high, carved door and took another stairway upward. "I would have been better pleased with one of his brothers," she continued. "All women seem to favor Artagel, and to see Wester is to love him. But both lack ambition. Nyle is more to my taste. Sadly, women are often given little say in these matters."

"What happened to your betrothal?"

"Oh, I flatly declined to marry him. He is quite impossible, Terisa." Elega made no effort now to conceal her scorn. "It is bad enough that he cannot be trusted to walk out of a room safely. But in addition he is such a failure. He has already been serving the Imagers for three years longer than any other Apt since the Congery was founded, and he is no nearer to a Master's chasuble than he was when he began.

"His determination must be respected--and his desire to better himself. But I am the daughter of Mordant's King, and I do not mean to spend my likfe cleaning sheds in the Care of Domne, or sweeping broken glass after Geraden's disasters.

"Do you know?" She giggled suddenly. The first time he was to be formally presented to my father--we had all ridden out to visit the Domne, some twelve or fourteen years ago now--he was so eager that he had no better sense than to attempt a shortcut across a log which spanned a pig wallow. When he reached us, he was carrying more filth on his person than he left in the wallow."

Terisa nearly laughed. She could imagine him as clearly as if she had been a witness, mud caked to his hair, his face, his clothes; water and fruit rinds dripping off him. He was exactly the sort of person to whom something like that would happen.

A second later, however, her emotions turned until she was close to tears. Poor guy, she murmured to herself. He deserves better.

"No, Terisa," Elega concluded, "Apt Geraden will make an honest husband for some dull woman with her mind in her belly, a strong passion for motherhood, and much tolerance for accidents. But I will not have him."

In silence, Terisa replied, That's your loss. She never said such things aloud.
This early in the Mordant's Need story, Terisa already values Geraden enough to empathize with him and think of him as good husband material, though she doesn't consciously dwell on these feelings. Of course, she's used to repressing a lot of emotion because of how passive she had to be around her parents.
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