Nyle

"Reflect" on Stephen Donaldson's other epic fantasy

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None of them asked any questions. They were all happy to wait a while to find out what happened.

On the other hand, after a moment they all found themselves looking at the mirror.

Its focus had to be adjusted before they could see King Joyse. He had ridden so far down the valley, was so heavily engaged among the Cadwals, that he was momentarily out of view. When they located him, however, they saw at once that he might win this battle.

His forces and the High King's still seemed roughly equal in numbers. But the Termigan and his men continued to block the left side of the valley; the soldiers Prince Kragen had left in place sealed the right side. As a result, High King Festten wasn't receiving any reinforcements.

He needed reinforcements. The Cadwals simply weren't fighting as well or as hard as their opponents. King Joyse and the Prince attacked them from two sides, and the Termigan cut at their rear, and the rampart wall and the slug-beast's corpse hemmed them in: they had no room to maneuver, no avenue of escape. And the men of Alend and Mordant fought as if they couldn't be beaten.

At the sight, Artagel's face shone, and Geraden cheered, "Look at him! Didn't I tell you he was worth serving?" He had apparently forgotten that Nyle might have a different reaction. "Didn't I?"

Terisa still needed to weep. At the same time, a fierce exultation rose in her. She had to struggle to make her throat work. "Something I want to do."

Unable to explain, she waved Geraden and Artagel and Nyle back from the mirror. She moved it so that Master Eremis no longer blocked her way. Nearly in tears, nearly crowing, she adjusted the focus of the Image up to the rampart, to the last catapult.

The engine was ready to throw--and both King Joyse and Prince Kragen appeared to be within range.

Striking her only blow of the battle, Terisa translated a strut out of the catapult's frame. The timber was under such pressure that it came through the glass like a shot and slammed against the far wall.

Without the strut, the engine wrenched itself apart.

This time, both Geraden and Artagel cheered. Some of the men in the valley looked like they might be cheering.

That helped; but she still couldn't unknot her grief and joy. If she remained where she was, with Master Eremis like that in front of her, she might begin sobbing wildly.

"Let's go," she said.

Artagel nodded at once and turned to support Nyle. But Geraden looked at the erect Imager, and at the cloak on the floor, as if he were embarrassed by pity.

"Shouldn't we cover him?"

Terisa shook her head. "Leave him alone. He's probably happy that way."

In surprise and relief, Geraden gave a shout of laughter.

Artagel laughed, too, a loud, long hoot of mirth. Even Nyle managed a wan smile.

Suddenly, the knot in Terisa loosened, and she started laughing as well.

Happy that way. Ready and capable and full of himself until he died. Giggling and chuckling, she and the Domne's sons laughed all the way back to the Image-room.

In the center of the damaged ring of mirrors, they found Adept Havelock. He sat on the bare stone as if he had appeared there by translation. His eyes were strangely focused, and his face wore lines of sorrow; he looked like a man who had lost an old friend.

His arms held the arch-Imager.

Vagel had what looked like a tree limb driven through his belly. He was covered in blood, obviously dead.

Havelock was singing to him softly.

"I understand," the mad, old Imager crooned as if he were comforting a child. "I understand everything. Everything."

Terisa felt a renewed desire to weep, but it didn't last long.

The flat glass showed King Joyse surging through the press of Cadwals toward High King Festten. He wasn't using his sword anymore: he didn't seem to need it. His charge alone was enough to make the Cadwals give ground. They were being routed.

The destruction of the last catapult had struck them like an announcement from the stronghold that Master Eremis and Master Gilbur and the arch-Imager Vagel were defeated. And the forces of Mordant and Alend gave the Cadwals no space or time in which to rally. The High King appeared to be screaming furiously, but he couldn't make the wall of men around him hold.

"He's going to do it," Artagel breathed happily. "He's going to beat Festten."

"With Prince Kragen," Terisa said for Nyle's benefit, pointing out the alliance between Mordant and Alend. "They're doing it together."

Nyle stared as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
Seems like now everything is just too good to be true for Nyle. I like Terisa for pointing out to Nyle that his belief in Alend had not been in vain. I feel she is being very compassionate and considerate to Nyle for demonstrating this! :hug:
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shadowbinding shoe wrote:
Cord Hurn wrote:
shadowbinding shoe wrote:By the way, who is oldest and who is youngest among those three? Is it Nyle, then Terisa and finally Geraden?
To the best of my memory, I think Nyle is around 26 or 27 years old, Geraden is 25 years old, and Terisa is 19 years old.
Really?! Terisa is that young? I was sure she was at least 23, more like 25. The way she's stuck in her 'meaningless' life in that skyscraper apartment it felt like years, not months. And her beauty is always described as womanly, not girly, in Mordant. Her cynicism might have added to this feeling but are you sure she's only 19?

I have just begun a re-read of Mordant's Need, shadowbinding shoe, and I see that I must change my mind about Terisa being 19 years old in the story:
In Chapter 1 of [i]The Mirror Of Her Dreams[/i] was wrote:But she didn't. In the dream, a small vexed frown pinched her forehead as she regarded her passivity. It was the story of her life, that mute nothingness--the only quality she could ascribe to her uncertain existence. How could she act? Action was for those who didn't seriously doubt their own presence in the world. During the more than twenty years of her life, her opportunities for action had been so few that she typically hadn't recognized them until they were past. She didn't know how to make her limbs carry her toward the rider.
"More than twenty years" could mean twenty years and several weeks , or mean she's 21, 22, or even 23 years old (but probably not older, if she notes that Geraden appears a few years older than her, and we know that Geraden is 25).
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Post by shadowbinding shoe »

I can accept Terisa as a 22-23 year old. 19 year old Terisa caused a mental dissonance for me. Thank you for all the quote searching, Cord Hurn. Do you have a photographic (or at least reference-book like) memory?
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Yeah, I always though of her as early to mid 20's.

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shadowbinding shoe wrote:I can accept Terisa as a 22-23 year old. 19 year old Terisa caused a mental dissonance for me. Thank you for all the quote searching, Cord Hurn. Do you have a photographic (or at least reference-book like) memory?
You're welcome for the quotes, shadowbinding shoe! Liking SRD's writings like I do, I feel it makes reading a thread more enjoyable to add quotes from his works. I don't think I have a photographic memory, but my memory works fairly well, I like to think. But I've also read MN several times (four or five times, I think).
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Avatar wrote:Yeah, I always though of her as early to mid 20's.

--A
Turns out you were correct. I'm not sure how I incorrectly pictured Terisa as only 19 years old, but perhaps I interpreted the passage saying that Geraden looked "several years older" than Terisa too liberally.
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I thought I had used up all the quotes relating to Nyle, then I found this passage which sheds more light on Nyle's motivations.
In [i]The Mirror Of Her Dreams[/i] Chapter 20 was wrote:Geraden returned to spend the evening with her. They were together when a guard brought a message from Argus and Ribuld.

It was cryptic:

"Got Nyle. See Artagel." So Terisa and Geraden went to see Artagel.

He was half sitting up in bed, with several pillows propped behind his back, and he looked clearer and cooler of eye, less feverish. His smile was distant and a little sad, rather than fierce. "He came to visit me," he explained. "They picked him up when he left."

"I don't understand," muttered Geraden. "He's been hiding out for days. Why did he suddenly decide to visit you?"

Artagel tried to shrug; the movement hurt his torso. "If you don't understand, don't expect me to figure it out." He wasn't being sarcastic. "I don't understand him any better than I understand you."

Geraden ignored that remark. "What did he want to talk with you about? What did he say?"

The memory emphasized Artagel's unaccustomed sadness. In a thin voice, he said, "He didn't look glad to see me. I suppose that's because I'm hurt. But he's seen me hurt before. At least I'm not dead. If he was worried about me, wouldn't he be glad to see I'm getting better?

"Anyway, he asked me if there was any news from Houseldon. But he's been there more recently than I have. He asked me"--Artagel's eyes avoided Geraden's--"when you were going to stop embarrassing the family here and go back home where you belong. I didn't try to answer that."

Geraden held himself still.

"Then he asked me what would happen to Orison in a siege, now that we've got that breach. The last time I saw it, the wall Lebbick is building wasn't very impressive. He asked me if we had any defense left. He asked me how long I thought it would be before King Joyse got us into a war with somebody. But he wasn't listening to the answers.

"Then--" Artagel stared at the ceiling while the lines in his face got deeper, cut by what he remembered. "Then he told me how much he admired me. I was his hero--I was always his hero. The first thing he could remember about his own life was wanting to be like me. But he just didn't have the balance, or the reflexes. And his muscles refused to develop the right kind of strength for a longsword.

"And everybody in the family seemed to be content with him the way he was, when the way he was wasn't what he wanted. Having his parent and his brothers content with him did nothing except make his heart ache. Nobody expected him to be good at anything. They were proud of me. And they were ambitious for you. They wanted you to marry Elega and become a great Imager. But nobody wanted anything from him. Or for him."

Swallowing hard, Artagel stopped.

"Is that it?" asked Geraden quietly. "He didn't say anything else?"

"I told you," Artagel snarled. "Don't expect me to explain it." But his anger wasn't aimed at Geraden. "The best I could think of was to ask him how he managed to admire me, when I didn't even have a home of my own or a woman who could put up with me, not to mention children, and I was lying here with a stupid hole in my ribs after the High KIng's Monomach had already beaten me twice."

Geraden put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. There was nothing you could have said that would have made a difference. He's already committed." His tone was more reassuring than his expression. "He was just trying to apologize."

"Apologize? For what?"

"For choosing the other side." Geraden sounded like he understood perfectly. "If everything he and Elega and Prince Kragen are planning works out--and you and I don't turn our backs on King Joyse--he might end up being responsible for our deaths." A note of grimness came into his voice. "That's why we have to stop him. He'll hardly be able to stand the rest of his life if he has both of us on his conscience. On top of everything else."

Terisa watched the two brothers study each other. Finally, Artagel managed a crooked smile. "Well, I'm not going to be much help. That physician swore he'll have me clubbed if I try to get out of bed too soon. But there probably isn't a guard in Orison who doesn't know Ribuld and Argus are trying to do you a favor for me. You should be able to get all the support you need."

Somehow, Geraden chuckled. "I would rather have you. But I suppose I ought to be satisfied with one or two thousand of Castellan Lebbick's best men." Then he sighed. "I hope he doesn't keep us waiting much longer. I want to know what's going on."

Terisa felt the same way.
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And everybody in the family seemed to be content with him the way he was, when the way he was wasn't what he wanted. Having his parent and his brothers content with him did nothing except make his heart ache. Nobody expected him to be good at anything. They were proud of me. And they were ambitious for you. They wanted you to marry Elega and become a great Imager. But nobody wanted anything from him. Or for him.

This does make it logical for Nyle to work for Margonal in the end, because Margonal expects great things from him, whereas Nyle's family have never been able to expect much from him.
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I thought I'd provide some quotes detailing Nyle's moment of treason.
In [i]A Man Rides Through[/i] Chapter 21 was wrote:"Nyle," the Prince said.

Geraden's brother returned the greeting. "My lord Prince,"

Terisa could hear then perfectly. It was astonishing how well the cold and the ravine wall brought the sound up to her.

"I hope you were not kept waiting long."

"Just long enough to build a fire."

Like his mom, Prince Kragen was wrapped in a white robe, with boots of white fur on his feet and a white fur cap on his head, using the winter itself for concealment. At first glance, Nyle's black-brown garb, his half-cloak and leggings, looked like a bad choice by comparison. But his clothes were indistinguishable from the colors of the driftwood in the ravine, the dark trunks of the trees. If he stood still, no one would see him.

"What news do you have of Orison?"

"What news do you have of Alend, my lord Prince?"

A fringe of black hair showed around the rim of Prince Kragen's cap, hair as black as his eyes. He studied Nyle for a moment, then turned to his men and gave them a gesture that set them in motion. Two of them went in opposite directions to keep watch up and down the ravine. The third began to unpack bundles tied to the back of his saddle.

A bit sadly, Prince Kragen commented, "You still do not really trust me, do you, Nyle?"

"Yes and no, my lord Prince." Nyle's voice emerged from a clenched throat. "I'm committed to you. But we're traditional enemies. That's hard to forget."

At Terisa's side, Geraden picked up a handful of snow and rubbed it across his face to cool a reckless inner fire.

"I understand," replied the Prince evenly. "But I am more at risk here. You can ride back to Orison and resume your life. As soon as we separate, you are innocent. If I am caught, Castellan Lebbick might have me executed before anybody can explain to him that killing foreign princes is rarely wise.

"What news do you have of Orison?"

Argus turned away. Ribuld hissed at him for silence; he ignored the warning and began to pick his way back down the slope. Fortunately, the wall cut off the noise he made.

Grudgingly, Nyle answered, "Elega is in trouble."

Prince Kragen flashed a glance. "What trouble?"

"For some reason--I don't know how--that woman Terisa of Morgan decided you and Elega are plotting against the King. She convinced my brother Geraden. And he convinced the Tor.

"I told you the Tor has set himself up as some kind of chancellor. He issues orders as if he has the King's authority behind him, and no one questions him. It might be true. After all, he is the Tor--the lord who gave King Joyse his start."

"He is also," the Prince put in, "a drunken fool."

"He is. That's probably why he believed Geraden. There aren't many people left who can muster that much optimism."

Geraden heard this with a grimace that reminded Terisa of Artagel's fighting grin.

"And what trouble has this drunken fool caused for the lady Elega?" pursued Prince Kragen.

"He told her he knows what she's doing. Then he went off on a long lecture about the loyalty children owe their parents." Nyle shrugged. "She says it wasn't much. She gave him a piece of her mind and left him looking--she says he looked cowed. And she says he won't be able to interfere with her part of your plan. I'm not so sure. All he has to do is drop a few hints to Lebbick, and she won't be able to take a step without half the guards in Orison watching her."

"I see." Prince Kragen thought for a moment. "I regret she is at hazard. But she has assured me many times that her role is secure--and she is a woman who conveys convictions." In a decisive tone, he concluded, "We must trust that she will do what she has said."

Nyle's voice sounded like he had both fists knotted around it. "I'm still waiting to hear exactly what that is."

The Prince stiffened. With misleading casualness, he said, "My lord Prince."

"My lord Prince."

Prince Kragen's nod advised, Remember it. His mouth commented, "The lady Elega's safety and success depend upon secrecy."

Then maybe you'll tell me the news of Alend. My lord Prince." Nyle's anger was controlled, but unmistakable. "Maybe you'll tell me why we had to meet today. Not sooner. Not later. All I've had so far are assurances and rhetoric. Maybe you'll tell me what's going on."

Geraden bobbed his head in approval. "Good," he breathed. "Make him tell you what's going on."

Ribuld glowered at the Apt for speaking.
It can be seen here that even though Nyle has many self-justifications for what he is doing, he has a bunch of qualms about what he is doing as well: plotting against his King.
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"In a moment." Prince Kragen's composure was equal to the occasion. "I will answer a number of your questions in a moment. First, however, I prefer to tell you what I want you to do."

Nyle still had his back to the eavesdroppers: Terisa couldn't see his face. But his shoulders hunched as though he were strangling things inside himself.

"I asked you to meet me here on this particular day," the Prince said steadily, "and I asked you to be prepared to leave Orison, because I want you to ride to Perdon. I want you to find the Perdon and offer him the kingship of Mordant."

Breathing too loudly, Argus came back up the hill carrying his pouch of brandy. His companions paid no attention to him. At Prince Kragen's announcement, Geraden's whole body twitched. Terisa stared. At least temporarily, even Ribuld was too interested in what he heard to be interrupted by liquor.

Nyle's surprise showed in the way he stood. "Why?"

"Why the Perdon?" Prince Kragen his a trace of amusement under his black mustache. "Why the kingship? Or why you?"

Nyle seemed unable to do anything except nod.

"The Perdon is my only reasonable choice. You see, I profited from my meeting with the lords, although it did not have the outcome I desired. The Fayle is too old--and too loyal. The Tor has become a drunken fool. The Domne would refuse. The Armigite--Prince Kragen snorted. "As for the Termigan, he is too far away. Also he is concerned only for the fate of his own Care.

"The Perdon must be offered the kingship to prove our good faith."

Furiously, Geraden whispered, "Not to mention the fact that the Perdon is the only lord with an army close enough to threaten you, my lord Prince."

"Despite what King Joyse and Castellan Lebbick believe," Prince Kragen continued reasonably, "it has never been the Alend Monarch's intention to conquer Mordant for himself. His first priority--his only overriding commitment--is to fill the vacuum of power in Mordant so that the Congery of Imagers will not fall into the hands of Cadwal. To accomplish that, we will conquer Mordant because we have no alternative. What else can we do? The King insulted my mission. The lords refused the union Master Eremis and I offered them.

"But we will not take Mordant for ourselves if the Perdon can be persuaded to be King. That will be your job. He might not listen to such a proposal from me. We aare traditional enemies, as you have said. But a son of the Domne--a lifelong friend of the lady Elega--may perhaps persuade him. For the food of all who oppose Festten and Cadwal.

"Will you do it, Nyle?"

Nyle was silent for a long time. When he spoke, he sounded both astonished and relieved.

"Yes." In spite of its softness, the word came out with too much steam, as if it were exploding from inside him. "Yes, my lord Prince. I'll do it."

Geraden covered his head with his hands, inadvertently smearing snow into his hair.

"Good." Prince Kragen stepped closer to the fire to warm his hands. "Then you will need to know 'what's going on', in order to convey that information to the Perdon."

Argus put his brandy pouch down in front of Terisa. Noticing it, she realized that she was miserably cold. With a shiver, she loosened the neck of the pouch and raised it to her mouth. Like her cheeks, her lips were too numb to know what they were doing, but her tongue verified that the brandy was going into her mouth rather than down her chin. It tasted like badly perfumed tarnish remover, but it did what it was supposed to do: it raised the temperature of her blood several degrees.

She poassed the pouch to Geraden.

Down in the ravine, Prince Kragen crooked a finger at the bodyguard who had unpacked the bundles. The man came to him and handed him a stylus and a small writing tablet. Standing by the fire, Prince Kragen began to write. His fingers held the stylus as though they knew nothing about swords and had never helped save Terisa's life.

"Is that a message to the Perdon, my lord Prince?" Nyle's tone suggested impatience.

The Prince shook his head. "To my father. The Alend Monarch needs to know that you have agreed to approach the Perdon for us."

"What will he do?"

"What he is already doing." Prince Kragen's mind was on his message. "In the bazaar of Orison during the first morning of the thaw, you brought me the lady Elega's word that she had learned a way to fulfill her part of our plans. You noticed, I think, that I was pleased by this news.

"I was pleased because much hinges on her role. While you and I spoke together--while we chose the day and place for this meeting--my father and his armies were already crossing the Pestil into Armigite."
If Nyle ever had a moment to doubt the wisdom of his decision to betray the King, this was that moment. And he shows his doubt in a manner angry enough to almost get himself killed. More about this in the next quote I'll use...
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I've always been pretty impressed by Kragen's sincerity really.

--A
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Avatar wrote:I've always been pretty impressed by Kragen's sincerity really.

--A
Yes, Avatar, it turns out that Kragen is one of the most straight-ahead-and-openly-honest characters in this story, right up there with Geraden! :thumbsup:
Argus, Ribuld, and Geraden became still: all movement was sucked out of them. They didn't blink or glance around; they didn't appear to breathe. Every part of them--their arms and legs, the angles of their backs, the set of their shoulders concentrated on what they were hearing.

So it was all a lie, thought Terisa. His peaceful mission. His meeting with the lords. A lie. The Alend Monarch had begun marching before he even had time to learn the outcome of his son's mission. He had never intended to do anything except invade Mordant.

Like an echo of her shocked thoughts, Nyle articulated softly, "You never wanted peace. You never meant King Joyse to take your mission seriously. You just came here looking for people to help you betray him." Both arms leaped outward in a gesture full of violence, fiercely truncated. "This is what you call good faith."

Distinct and sibilant in the cold, a sword came out of its sheath. Prince Kragen's bodyguard moved forward, aiming the tip of his blade at Nyle's throat.

Ribuld clutched at his own sword.

But a quick wave of the Prince's hand stopped the bodyguard. The man shrugged stiffly and resheathed his longsword.

"I understand your anger, Nyle." Prince Kragen spoke calmly, almost casually, but his tone warned Nyle not to push him too far. "You misunderstand me, however. The problem is one of communication, is it not? Knowing that I spent nearly thirty days in the worst of this winter making my way from the Alend Monarch's seat in Scarab to Orison, you believe that we have had no time to exchange messages since my arrival here. Therefore you conclude that I have come merely to serve plans which he made before I left him."

Nyle didn't move.

With a faint smile, the Prince continued, "Those unruly barons, the Alend Lieges, are always striving to gain the advantage over each other. At last their petty wrestling has produced something useful." Another gesture to his bodyguard brought the man forward carrying a bundle that appeared to be a swath of cloth wrapped around a rigid frame.

___________________________

Prince Kragen rolled his message tightly and tied it into a tiny packet with a piece of thread. When he was done, his bodyguard unveiled the bundle, revealing a bird in a square cage.

"A carrier pigeon," Terisa breathed in astonishment. "they're using carrier pigeons."

Argus, Ribuld, and Geraden all stared at her for an instant, then snapped their attention back down into the ravine.

The bird was unmistakably a pigeon. It cooed comfortably as the bodyguard removed it from the cage and held it so that Prince Kragen could bind his message to its leg. "One of the Lieges," the Prince explained, "discovered that these birds have the ability to find their way over any distance back to the place they have been trained to recognize as home. This one has learned to identify a combination of tents, standards, and wagonlines that invariably occurs in my father's encampments. It will fly to him when it is released.

"Now do you understand?" Prince Kragen's tone was hard, a threat behind his amicable manner. "I brought a number of these birds from Alend. They bear messages to my father in a day--perhaps less. In this way, I make decisions for him.

"I came to Orison charged with the responsibility of resolving the dilemma of your King's strange weakness. I am the Alend Contender. I wish strongly to earn the throne. For that reason, my mission of peace was sincere, I assure you. But when King Joyse rejected it, I began to think of war. I sent messages accordingly. Then, however, both Master Eremis and the lady Elega offered me hopes that were much preferable to war. Again I sent messages, When the lords of the Cares refused the pact Master Eremis suggested to them--and most especially when I experienced how vulnerable Orison, and therefore the Congery, was to attack from Cadwal--I determined to act on the possibilities the lady Elega and I had discussed.

"The Alend Monarch is doing what I ask of him. And I ask it because I believe it to be the least bloody and most effective answer to an intolerable danger. High King Festten must not gain control of the Congery. The breach of Orison's wall is an opportunity I can not ignore."

Firmly, the Prince concluded, "What is your answer now?"

Nyle looked like he was swallowing hard, trying to adjust his preconceptions to fit new information. At the moment, Geraden appeared to have no opinion about what his brother should do. He seemed to be scrambling to catch up with the implications of what he had just heard. Both Argus and Ribuld watched the encounter below with trouble in their eyes.

"My lord Prince," Nyle began thickly, "I should probably apologize. I didn't know this was possible." His hands moved helplessly at his sides. "Of course I'll go to Perdon. I'll persuade the Perdon somehow."

Prince Kragen studied Nyle for a moment. Then he nodded.

His bodyguard released the pigeon.

It took to the air in a flash of gray, a hint of blue and green. Terisa watched it go, an easy labor of wings against the chill sky--watched it as if it were on its way to bring bloodshed down on Orison. After circling briefly, it turned north.

Ribuld glared at her. "You knew about that bird," he murmured.

"We have them where I come from." Defensively, she added, "We have horses, too, but I've never ridden one before."

Geraden nudged the guard silent.
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Nyle was still struggling to improve his grasp on the situation. "But is there time?" he asked after some thought. "When do you think the Alend Monarch will get to Orison? I don't know where the Perdon is. He might not be in Scarping. He might be anywhere along the Vertigon, fighting Cadwals."

"I have chosen the time with some care," replied Prince Kragen as if this would reassure Nyle. "It is important that you not reach the Perdon too soon. If you do, and he is not persuaded, and so he brings his forces against us, he might be able to block us from Orison. For that reason, we did not meet until today. I calculate that if you find him immediately--and he rejects you and comes against us in furious haste--he will not reach Orison until after we have mastered it."

Geraden shook his head. "It's not that easy," he whispered.

"You think it's going to be that easy?" the idea seemed to incense Nyle. "A siege might take all spring. Even with that breach in the wall. You can't just--"

"Nyle," the Prince cut in. "I am not a child. Do not harangue me about sieges. I have studied them deeply. And I assure you that we will be able to master Orison."

Nyle received this assertion like a man struggling not to let what he heard stun him. "Still, my lord Prince," he said slowly, "it seems to me you're trying to control events too delicately. What if the weather turns against you? We're almost sure to get another storm."

Prince Kragen shrugged. His patience was wearing thin. "Then you and the Perdon will be hindered as much as we are."

"And what about the Armigite?" Nyle seemed unable to keep his anger down. "Is he going to let you march your army--and supply it--straight through his Care without making at least an effort to slow you down?'

At that, Prince Kragen laughed shortly. "I doubt that I need to concern myself with the Armigite." His laugh held a note of scorn that made Terisa feel suddenly colder. "Nevertheless I have done so. He and I have negotiated a pact.

"Sweating fear all the while, he offered me an unhindered passage through his Care for as many armies as I chose to name. And what did he ask in exchange? That we do no violence to his people in their towns and villages? That we leave untouched the cattle pens and storehouses that feed his Care? No. He asked only that he be allowed to remain safe and ignorant--ignorant, Nyle--while the fate of Mordant was decided."

Argus swore under his breath. But Terisa had met the Armigite: she wasn't surprised.

"Personally," the Prince went on with more nonchalance, "I would enjoy damaging his ignorance a little. His Care deserves better of him. But we will respect the pact. And we will do no harm to his people or his cattle or his stores. Our aim is to find an answer to yur King's weakness--and to oppose Cadwal--not to worsen the old enmity between Mordant and Alend.

"Have I satisfied you, Nyle?"

From the back, Nyle didn't look satisfied: there was too much tension in his stance. Terisa would have expected him to be grateful to Prince Kragen for giving him so few causes for mistrust, so many reasons to believe he was doing the right thing. Why was he still angry? Why did he sound almost livid with fury as he replied, "Yes, my lord Prince."

For a moment, Prince Kragen regarded his ally as though he, too, didn't understand Nyle's mood. But apparently what he saw in Nyle's face reassured him. "Good," he said, suddenly brisk. "The Perdon will listen to you. Let us begin."

At once, he signaled to his bodyguards.

The men watching either end of the ravine returned to their horses. Moving stiffly, Nyle readied his own mount. At last, Terisa saw his face. His features were set and implacable, as if nothing--not even his own passion--could dissuade him from the course he had chosen.
Except for his bemused appearance in the story's epilogue, I think this determined mood is the closest we see Nyle come to happiness.
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Again, Nyle is one of those MN characters about whom I feel quite ambivalent. I pity him, but I get annoyed with him, as well.
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Post by IrrationalSanity »

Cord Hurn wrote:Again, Nyle is one of those MN characters about whom I feel quite ambivalent. I pity him, but I get annoyed with him, as well.
Interesting, as that is sorta how he was treated by the King in story. I think the quote was something like "He pitied himself before I could pity him, therefore I had no desire to pity him." That doesn't sound quite right, but I think that was the gist...
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I'm rereading this thread from the beginning.
Cord Hurn wrote:
In Chapter 52 of [i]A Man Rides Through[/i] was wrote:Then Geraden and Artagel and Nyle entered the room.

Despite their obvious exhaustion, they had all come to fight for her. Artagel held his sword poised; Nyle swung his chains; Geraden's face was full of threats. They all came forward to fling themselves at Master Eremis. But when they saw that he wasn't moving, that he couldn't move, and she was unharmed, Geraden gave a shout of joy, Artagel blinked in happy astonishment, and Nyle dropped his chains.

Oh, Geraden. Oh, love. Mute with relief and constricted weeping, she hugged him and hugged him while Artagle thumped her back boisterously and Nyle shed quiet tears of his own.
Everything that happens now is just too good to be true for Nyle; to be rescued and having his brothers safe is more than he could have hoped for in all the time he was a tormented prisoner. That is why he sheds quiet tears in this scene, I think.
I'd say they're also tears of relief that all his tormentors are dead. It must feel like an enormous weight has lifted off him to personally help kill the unstoppable killing machine that abducted him there, find his rapist that made his life hell fallen dead (and help rescue his other brother at that) and finally the devilish puppeteer behind it all. Finally he can put this sorry episode in his life behind him and move on.
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Cord Hurn wrote:Nyle gets to make a positive difference yet another time in the story, helping to save Geraden after Gilbur's defeat.
The wolves would have killed Geraden then. He was too shaken to defend himself, too deeply shocked. Artagel and Nyle arrived in time to save him, however. Artagel was exhausted, of course, hardly able to lift his arms; but he had Gart's sword, and it seemed to give himstrength. And Nyle swung his chains crazily, which made one or two of the wolves hesitate, giving Artagel the opportunity to dispatch them.

The three brothers hugged each other long and hard before they went to look for Terisa.
I think Nyle is willing to do such reckless things like crazily swinging his chains as targets such as Gart's head and the big wolves because he's been given a chance he'd never thought he would ever have again: to fight for the people that he loves.
Maybe he was also so reckless because he doesn't care if he lives or dies. The future beyond this horrid hellhole he'd live so long in isn't real for him yet.
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shadowbinding shoe wrote:
Cord Hurn wrote:Nyle gets to make a positive difference yet another time in the story, helping to save Geraden after Gilbur's defeat.
The wolves would have killed Geraden then. He was too shaken to defend himself, too deeply shocked. Artagel and Nyle arrived in time to save him, however. Artagel was exhausted, of course, hardly able to lift his arms; but he had Gart's sword, and it seemed to give himstrength. And Nyle swung his chains crazily, which made one or two of the wolves hesitate, giving Artagel the opportunity to dispatch them.

The three brothers hugged each other long and hard before they went to look for Terisa.
I think Nyle is willing to do such reckless things like crazily swinging his chains as targets such as Gart's head and the big wolves because he's been given a chance he'd never thought he would ever have again: to fight for the people that he loves.
Maybe he was also so reckless because he doesn't care if he lives or dies. The future beyond this horrid hellhole he'd live so long in isn't real for him yet.
That's probably it, as well.
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IrrationalSanity wrote:
Cord Hurn wrote:Again, Nyle is one of those MN characters about whom I feel quite ambivalent. I pity him, but I get annoyed with him, as well.
Interesting, as that is sorta how he was treated by the King in story. I think the quote was something like "He pitied himself before I could pity him, therefore I had no desire to pity him." That doesn't sound quite right, but I think that was the gist...

I'd say you've got the gist of it, IS! Good recall! :thumbsup: :) 8)
In Chapter 47 of [i]A Man Rides Through[/i] was wrote:And the King did answer. To her astonishment, he retreated visibly, with a crestfallen air, a look of embarrassment; Geraden had touched an old shame. "Yes," he muttered, "all right. You are right. I always did ignore him. There was always a quality in his dumb need which I disliked. He pitied himself before I could pity him--and so I had no desire to pity him. ["]
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Post by Cord Hurn »

shadowbinding shoe wrote:I'm rereading this thread from the beginning.
Cord Hurn wrote:
In Chapter 52 of [i]A Man Rides Through[/i] was wrote:Then Geraden and Artagel and Nyle entered the room.

Despite their obvious exhaustion, they had all come to fight for her. Artagel held his sword poised; Nyle swung his chains; Geraden's face was full of threats. They all came forward to fling themselves at Master Eremis. But when they saw that he wasn't moving, that he couldn't move, and she was unharmed, Geraden gave a shout of joy, Artagel blinked in happy astonishment, and Nyle dropped his chains.

Oh, Geraden. Oh, love. Mute with relief and constricted weeping, she hugged him and hugged him while Artagle thumped her back boisterously and Nyle shed quiet tears of his own.
Everything that happens now is just too good to be true for Nyle; to be rescued and having his brothers safe is more than he could have hoped for in all the time he was a tormented prisoner. That is why he sheds quiet tears in this scene, I think.
I'd say they're also tears of relief that all his tormentors are dead. It must feel like an enormous weight has lifted off him to personally help kill the unstoppable killing machine that abducted him there, find his rapist that made his life hell fallen dead (and help rescue his other brother at that) and finally the devilish puppeteer behind it all. Finally he can put this sorry episode in his life behind him and move on.

No doubt it's all of that, Shoe! Nyle's a character that leaves me deeply ambivalent, but certainly I would have not thought he deserved all that happened to him. It's cool he gets to be the Alend Contender, though, and the texts hints that he will likely succeed Margonal.
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