6 thoughts on “Chapter Nine has been posted

  1. [Still, Annis leaned forward and whispered.

    “Assassination, of course.”]

    Confessing your intent to committ murder to a foreign stranger who you’ve met all of once is pretty dim-witted.

    Of course from what I remember in the Unwilling Warlord, nepotism tends to weigh rather more than merit when it comes to promotion in the Small Kingdoms, which is why they suck so much. I was on the fence about Annis before, but this act of stupidity takes the cake.

    Mind you, I can see why she’s desperate if she bought the “nephew” story. (Obviously Lar didn’t think through the implications of that one.)

  2. I don’t know just how dim-witted it was. The other delegates from the Small Kingdoms obviously have some amount of resources at their disposal, possibly even their own magic – there’s just no telling what they’ve been able to hide thus far. Whether they believe that Vengar is in their employ or not, it is not unreasonable to assume that his complicity might be purchased in their plot. Vengar is obviously no warrior or magician, so should he decide to balk at joining them, they could be able to eliminate him rather easily.

    If he does join them, whether in truth or for pretense (they should be able to determine which), it still works in their favor. They can feed misinformation and make it easier to assassinate Lar, or they might even be able to get Vengar to help eliminate any chance of escape. Depending on just how smart the other delegates are, it’s not necessarily so stupid to clue Vengar in.

    Of course, they could also be a big bunch of yokels with no idea what they are doing and more fear/paranoia about another warlock resuming the amalgamation of the Small Kindoms than sense. I’m eager to find out.

  3. Ok, so it sounds like the “big bunch of yokels” theory is the right one. It will be interesting to see where that paranoia takes them in the course of the book.

  4. An alternate possibility is that she expects Vengar to tell Lar what she has said. She is trying to send a warning or threat to Lar deniably and indirectly. She isn’t really planning to have Lar assassinated. Not yet, anyway.

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