Strangers in a Strange Land--A Pawns & Queens era novella--Chapter One

[Demercia]

If I have correctly caught the clever nod to an actual book in "Woolf's lives of the Deryni martyrs" maybe it is as well that Remy burned it. Alixa had enough to worry about without that impression of her new home.

[Evie]

LOL, too true (and yes, it was a slight nod to Foxe's Book of Martyrs), though I think Alixa would have gladly settled for any book she could get her hands on if it was in Gwyneddan. (And hopefully that edition came with a helpful preface explaining that it was written about Deryni martyrs from the pre-Kelsonian era, just as a bit of assurance that it's not describing conditions to be found in Gwynedd in Alixa's day!)

[DerynifanK]

The sooner that chaperone is out of the picture the better. Does Joux not produce any agreeable or nice people? They seem to be quite scarce.

There are some, of course! They are just pretty scarce among those who are currently in power, given that Renier and Remy would hardly attract the most decent people to their Inner Circle. But in Pawns and Queens, you saw the captive Blocker as well as the Jouvian defectors, at least two of whom seemed to be men of fairly high character. They were willing to risk their lives to go back to Joux and help out with the Blocker's rescue, at least. And there was also the Healer at the Palace of Trebaceaux who covered up for Marthe's attempted murder so that the little princess wouldn't face charges of regicide, because he had enough empathy to understand that she was too young and damaged to understand the consequences of her actions. There are likely many other decent people in Joux, it's just that right now it's not a very safe time for decent people to come to the Crown's notice.

Also, Joux produced Alixa and Cecile, and I think both of those ladies are pretty nice and agreeable.

Agreed. But that chaperone is enough to give you nightmares

[Evie]

The sooner that chaperone is out of the picture the better. Does Joux not produce any agreeable or nice people? They seem to be quite scarce.

There are some, of course! They are just pretty scarce among those who are currently in power, given that Renier and Remy would hardly attract the most decent people to their Inner Circle. But in Pawns and Queens, you saw the captive Blocker as well as the Jouvian defectors, at least two of whom seemed to be men of fairly high character. They were willing to risk their lives to go back to Joux and help out with the Blocker's rescue, at least. And there was also the Healer at the Palace of Trebaceaux who covered up for Marthe's attempted murder so that the little princess wouldn't face charges of regicide, because he had enough empathy to understand that she was too young and damaged to understand the consequences of her actions. There are likely many other decent people in Joux, it's just that right now it's not a very safe time for decent people to come to the Crown's notice.

Also, Joux produced Alixa and Cecile, and I think both of those ladies are pretty nice and agreeable.

Agreed. But that chaperone is enough to give you nightmares

True enough. Madame Dardenay had a miserable youth also, but instead of choosing to rise above it, she has allowed it to embitter her and try to drag others down to her own level of misery. Because, she would reason, why would she allow any other young lady in her charge to have a better and more happy and fulfilled life than she ever had the chance to experience? She was taught her low place in the grand scheme of things from an early age, and now she figures it's her duty to teach Alixa her own inferior station in life. How dare Alixa aspire to think she has any right to be better treated than Madame ever was at her age? Every scrap of authority Madame has ever managed to gain, she has had to fight for the hard way. Her King has hired her to ensure his daughter remains properly obedient and deferential, and that she always remembers her place as a mere woman is squarely beneath his heel, and Madame is not about to lose her position by giving her young charge the freedom to act uppity.