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CAIRHIENIN [SETTING: Ishamael's office as Acting CEO of the Darkfriends, in the absence of the Chairman of the Board, Mister Great Lord of the Dark himself! (His friends call him "Great Lord" for short). Or at least, this is the T'A'R manifestation of that office, since Ishy is still bound in the flesh for the time being.] [The Darkfriend Station Chief for the City of Cairhien suddenly pops into existence in the room in answer to Ishy's mental summons. He is much taller than you would expect a Cairhienin to be, slim and with an arrogrant stride, with long hair, dark but graying in places, showing from under his black mask.] [NOTE: Since Cairhienin, particularly their nobility, take Daes Dae'mar to a ridiculous extent, and a Darkfriend Cairhienin aristocrat is naturally even more subtle and more paranoid than the "normal" aristocrats of Cairhien, I feel it necessary to reveal the thoughts of this one, regarding what he THINKS he is communicating to Ishamael and what he THINKS Ishamael is REALLY saying to him. Whether or not his opinions are anywhere near the "truth" of the matter is for you to determine as you go along. These thoughts, which Ishy does not hear, will be contained between sets of asterisks (like this: *** Thought ***). On the other hand, to make it easier to distinguish at a glance between the Cairhienin's thoughts and Ishy's thoughts (I intend to show you a few), Ishy's will simply look like this: Ishamael [thinking]: Text of his thought.] *** My orders were to report in at exactly three hours after midnight. I was told to swallow a certain potion ten minutes before that time, then lay myself down in bed to sleep, and within ten minutes I would find myself in the world of dreams, at which time a Great Lord's mental summons would automatically convey my soul into his august presence. Of course, I knew that if I simply did EXACTLY as I was told in the note delivered anonymously, I would look like a mindless, simpering fool with no courage to do any real thinking on his own. On the other hand, if I delayed and was not in T'A'R until AFTER three o'clock in the morning, I would look (shudder) REBELLIOUS! Accordingly, I decided to take the potion ten minutes EARLY to show that I retain a bit of independence, but that I use this independence to more quickly and efficiently fulfill my orders, instead of trying to go directly AGAINST the intent of them! THAT should make the right impression upon whomever is about to interview me! *** ISHAMAEL [thinking, as he glances at the clock on the wall]: Hmm . . . he was supposed to be in T'A'R where my mental call would be able to reach him at about three o'clock, and it's only 2:50 AM and he's already here! This can only mean one thing: my pesky clock must be running slow again! That thing never HAS worked right . . . supposed to wake me up from my last nap five YEARS earlier than it actually did! Better not mention the discrepancy to him; he'd perceive it as a sign of weakness that I can't even get my own alarm clock to function properly. CAIRHIENIN: As you have called, Great Lord, so have I come. [He bows.] ISHAMAEL [impatiently] Yes, of course you have. How fares the Great Work in Cairhien? *** Why did he use the word "fares"? Is there a double meaning here? Fair as in pretty, lovely, attractive . . . no, that doesn't make sense. Fair as in blond . . . very few blondes in Cairhien, and I can't think of any who are currently known to me as being part of the Great Work. Fair as in carnival, marketplace, festive gathering? Hmm . . . when IS the next holiday festival, anyway? About two months from now . . . probably not what he means. Fares as in the price of passage on coach or ship . . . is he asking about the hidden costs of carrying out the Great Work? Or perhaps asking how much travelling back and forth I and my trusted agents find it necessary to do, to keep Darkfriends in other parts of the nation all working in perfect harmony? I'm not sure! I thought I was a master of Daes Dae'mar, but he is too ambiguous for me! Best to play stupid and pretend I think he meant exactly what he said, give him a simple answer with no imaginative features in it, and see how he reacts. *** CAIRHIENIN: Why, the work fares as well as may be expected, Great Lord! It is a great benefit to us that EVERY man or woman of stature in our society has an untold number of informers, double agents, hidden plots, secret alliances, and so forth, all of which he or she keeps as confidential as possible (usually), so that the secretive nature of an occasional Darkfriend such as myself raises no eyebrows! And if strange persons of all classes of society seem to come and go from one or another of my houses at odd times of day and night, everyone assumes they are some of my spies and none think to pry much deeper into the matter! ISHAMAEL: Good! After all these centuries of labor on my part to instill the Great Game as a vital part of life in your part of the world, I am relieved to find that the effort has borne fruit. Considering that first I had to convince the Aes Sedai to take the First Oath (which took a hundred years or so of campaigning on the part of the Black Ajah), THEN I had to convince them that if they couldn't lie, the only thing to do was to find ways to turn the truth inside out and paint it over with hypothetical questions and other rhetorical devices, THEN I had to convince them to invent the combination of painstaking attention to subtle details of body language placed together with the suspicion of every least word that comes out of another persons mouth, and call it "Daes Dae'mar", THEN I had to get them to export the idea to other nations . . . but at least it caught on! If I had taken all that effort to design and market a new product, and found it was a big flop with the demographic groups I had targeted, I might actually be in danger of losing my position as acting CEO after the final results were tabulated and the Chairman of the Board was in a position to study them! But as is, I have another trophy to add to my collection (chortle). CAIRHIENIN [waits until it becomes clear that Ishy is done speaking]: Er, yes, Great Lord. What else do you wish to know? ISHAMAEL: How are the morals of the typical Cairhienin? *** Morals? What on earth does he mean by "morals?" My daddy always taught me that "moral" means "don't get caught!" But I'll assume he's referring to what some of the old fuddy-duddies of other nations mean when they talk about "morality" - sexual activities, that sort of thing. *** CAIRHIENIN: Well, premarital and extramarital love affairs are considered quite "normal," but it's in very bad taste to admit this in public conversation. And admittedly, the children of such (ahem) liasons are not permitted to inherit titles and such. My cousin Moiraine Damodred comes to mind as an example of that . . . ISHAMAEL [snickering]: Good, good! If there's one thing the Great Lord of the Dark DESPISES, it's people who take their marital vows (or ANY vows except those sworn to HIM) too seriously! It makes them get lofty ideas about "honor" and "family values" and other nonsense! But if they swear to be faithful husbands and wives and then start committing adultery, it should be much easier to get them to break MORE vows when other temptations are waved before their eyes, and more after that, and so forth, until they have no "conscience" left at all! Meanwhile, the illegitimate children are understandably fed up with a culture that, on the one hand, ENCOURAGES their parents to have affairs, but on the other hand, DOESN'T permit the children full inheritance rights, when the KIDS have done nothing wrong whatsoever! We can build on that resentment - if they're going to be treated like sinners (we say to them), why not ACT like sinners too? CAIRHIENIN: Yes, Great Lord. Did I mention that we treat our hired servants like dirt, and NEVER expect them to initiate a conversation with their betters except when carrying out previous orders to do so, or, and Light help the poor servant who actually INTERRUPTS a conversation to interject some silly idea or question of his own? Corporal punishment (floggings and so forth) would not be unusual when such insolence arose. ISHAMAEL [rubbing his hands together]: Well, it's not QUITE as good as hereditary slavery would be, but it's certainly a start! Who needs "civil rights" and "freedom of speech"anyway? Silly, outmoded ideas . . . oh yes, and what is the Cairhienin attitude toward duelling? *** He must know perfectly well what the rules are about duelling - doesn't he? But of course he isn't just referring to young fools who fight with swords in the street, he must have a deeper meaning in his question. Duels between the great Houses? Or perhaps duel should be heard as "dual," referring to the endless dichotomies of the world, such as - the most classic one - saidar and saidin? And he said that right after "slavery," and the closest thing we have to slavery on this side of the Aiel Waste is the Warderbond used by Aes Sedai on their bodyguards! So that's TWO subtle hints that he really wants to talk about something relating to the One Power and the White Tower! Is he asking how we would feel if an organization of male chanelers arose to counterbalance the White Tower? (Ignoring for the moment the question of the taint on saidin, since if this rival organization was sponsered by the Great Lord of the Dark then its participants would presumably be protected from the taint which he himself created?) But of course I must begin by answering the APPARENT question, and then only gradually sidle over into answering the BURIED one! *** CAIRHIENIN: Young men of good blood (nobles, wealthy merchant families, etc.) frequently duel in the streets on the slightest pretext, claiming their honor has somebeen insulted. This is accepted without argument, most of the time, if there are witnesses that it was a fair duel and not a case of several people conspiring to murder a single victim. On the larger scale, however - ISHAMAEL [raising a hand in surprise]: Larger scale? Who cares about a "larger scale" of duelling? I just wanted to make certain that the occasional dead body in the street wouldn't attract any special notice! Also to make sure the Cairhienin were still glorifying slaughter as I hoped they would, and killing each other off (even if only a small portion of their total population) before the Trollocs finish the job in a few years! Every able-bodied young man who dies NOW is one less to overcome at Tarmon Gai'don! *** He cut me off so quickly . . . he MUST not have wanted me to finish my response by mentioning blood-feuds between houses and the implications of "duality" with regard to the One Power and so forth. Could it be that he's afraid someone is eavesdropping? Hmmm . . . best to play along, and pretend his question about duelling only meant "ordinary" duels, in hopes of fooling the unseen listener. *** CAIRHIENIN: Absolutely, sir! You hit the nail right on the head! By the way, did I mention that Galldrian seems to be more security-conscious than I find expedient, such that normal methods of, er, penetrating his security arrangements are proving sadly ineffectual? But in the interests of placing a sovereign nation under Your direct guidance, perhaps something UNORTHODOX could be . . . [he lets his voice trail off suggestively]. ISHAMAEL [he understands THAT hint, all right!]: I am NOT going to take action to help you wipe out Galldrian Riatin, just so you can (possibly, with luck) have the Sun Throne returned to your family's tender loving care, Barthanes! IF you can seize it yourself by conventional means, WITHOUT compromising any of our ongoing Darkfriend operations, then suit yourself, but I am NOT going to send Myrddraal or Draghkar into the Sun Palace at this time. Too many eyewitnesses, word would leak out! Most people south of the Borderlands don't really believe Shadowspawn even EXIST, or if they know better than that, don't think they will EVER bother anyone except along the border of the Blight, and I have NO intention of tipping my hand by letting the most powerful people of Cairhien become aware that Shadowspawn are a clear and present danger to EVERYONE, anytime I want them to be! It might actually cause the Cairhienin and other southern lands to unite long enough to send a large army north to Shienar as a matter of self-defense, and THAT would ruin my plans for punching right through the Shienars in their stand at Tarwin's Gap two springs from now, with an army of a a size such as has not been seen in the Borderlands since I tried my luck with Artur Hawkwing over a thousand years ago! And got whipped for my trouble too (grumble, grumble). He didn't fight fair, the filthy ta'veren!. *** Hmm. That seems straightforward enough . . . but what is the UNDERLYING meaning? Why does he refer to Artur Hawkwing? Is he suggesting I seize the Sun Throne, then try to conquer the known world as Hawkwing did, then he'll attack with Trollocs and I will let them through instead of stopping them as Hawkwing did, and we'll overrun the world and I'll appointed (gasp) Emperor?! *** CAIRHIENIN [bowing]: I shall not trouble you with my requests on this subject again, Great Lord. You have said QUITE enough to keep my mind well occupied with other plans! ISHAMAEL: Yeah, whatever. [Glances at his clock] Okay, kid, scram! About time for the Domani Station Chief to be falling asleep, if I've calculated the time zone changes correctly (WHY couldn't the Creator have made the world FLAT, so that we all used the same schedule?). *** Hmmm. He SAYS he is going to talk to a Domani next, but of course no sane schemer would reveal any aspect of his plans to me, so it's just a cover story. He doesn't want to admit that he is rushing me out of his office so he can uncover and punish the eavesdropper who (logically) MUST be lurking about somewhere! He can't say that to me with the eavesdropper listening, so he had to say something else! I'll give him a half-wink as I go, and a slight smile, to show I caught the real point of his remarks! *** [Ishy gestures, and the Cairhienin's mind is shoved back into his body, many hundreds of miles south of Shayol Ghul. The Cairhienin seems to be smirking thoughtfully and squinting one eye as he fades out, however]. ISHAMAEL [rubbing his aching forehead]: Is it just me, or is that man downright WEIRD? [NOTE: This post assumes that, as in our world, when a man and woman in Cairhien (or other parts of the WoT) get married, there is mention of sexual fidelity, i.e. both of them are (in theory) swearing to not have sex with other people. It seems a fair assumption. I also worked in a reference to my strong belief that Moiraine is illegitimate. We know she was only Prince Taringail's HALF-sister, and TSR Glossary Entry on Moiraine says "Born in House Damodred, though not in line of succession to the throne, and raised in the Royal Palace in Cairhien." Now, given that Taringail's daughter Elayne is considered a possible claimant for the Sun Throne, it appears that Taringail WAS in line of succession after his uncle, Mad King Laman, died. If his half-sister was apparently not in the "line of succession," I take that to mean "could not inherit the throne, under the laws of Cairhien, under ANY conceivable circumstances, no matter how many of her Damodred relatives died first!" which would mean, in effect, "is not a legitimate heir born to a man and woman who were legally married." I admit this could be wrong, since we don't know any details of her ancestry (such as the exact names of EITHER of her parents).] |