This chapter was kinf of
meh for me. I found the best part to be when Kudorin took Vade up into the clouds because he'd wanted company but everyone else was busy. He's treating Vade like a brother, like a member of the family, and that makes me totally happy. It's even more evidence for Team Selorin/Vade. But I still want the Gold Book first.
Xaile and Rini--totally not surprising. Orgy with a ton of guys that aren't belas? Call me crazy, but I hope it's not described in lengthly detail. I love it when they have a free-for-all with belas, but regular guys? Eh. Though it was funny to see this:
Rini wanted to kiss him. “I’d better go. I hate being late to orgies. Maybe we could hang out tomorrow or someting.”
“I…” Jaross swallowed, but smiled. “That sounds nice.”
I wonder how long it will take for Jaross to cave and let Rini blow him. Knowing Rini, not that long.
This was great, though, and shows yet again that Anikira rocks:
“Xio Voe.” Stopping just inside Anosukinom’s wing of the palace, she turned to face him, looking up at him with a firm expression. “You will not create havoc in Kudorin’s home. You will not mistreat any of our servants. You will treat the streamlining of the palace workers as you would the restructuring of a Jacacean university faculty, and you will treat the hiring and firing of employees with the same respect as you would an admired professor. These people live here, this is their home. I don’t care about the number of people you fire, I care about how well everyone is treated. Send them all away if you’d like, and bring in all new people, I don’t care. Just be kind, be patient, speak to them as if you recognize the same spark of humanity in them that resides in you.”
I love that more than gods and emperors will take Xio Voe to task like this. He needs it more often than he gets it. And it will be fun to see him navigate the emotional minefields that will be created when he starts paring down the palace staff. He needs to have more people bang aganst his shell than just the people he's emotionally close to already.
