The rest of Rose's out of order snippet

Daryl wrote:"Unless, of course, it should happen that something like a gallant death in combat cut short the aforesaid longevity and fertility. Just sayin'."
Don't you dare.

Ah, but if she is presumed dead and her body is not found we could get an Honor Version of "Dawson's Christian."

Though I would not be surprised if there is not already an Edward Saganami version of that song sung in Manticorian Space.

For those interested here are the original lyrics by Duane Elms.

"Jayme Dawson was the Captain of the Christian and her crew,
And he flew and fought the Christian in the War of '82.
Now the Christian was the tightest ship 'tween here and Charlemagne,
And the crew of Jayme Dawson was the same.

On patrol in sector seven, keeping watch on Barber's sun,
They were jumped by three light cruisers though they wern't a match for one.
As they came to general quarters and they sent out the alarm,
Dawson's crew was sure they'd finally bought the farm.

No one living saw that battle though the fleet was quick to leave.
When they reached the site they found a scene no sane man could believe.
Dead in space lay three light cruisers, cut to ribbons all around,
But no sign of Dawson's Christian could be found.


There are stories of the Dutchman, the Celeste and Barnham's Pride,
There are stories of the Horseman and the Lady at his side,
But the tale that chills my spirit, more because I know it's true,
Is the tale of Jayme Dawson and his crew,
Yes, the tale of Dawson's Christian and her crew.

(instrumental interlude)

I was second mate on Hera's Dream, a freighter of the line.
We were shipping precious metals to the colony on Nine.
It was on the second watch of that most uneventful flight,
When the pirate ships appeared out of the night.

Now to me there was no question, for they had us four to one,
And you can't fight dirty pirates when your freighter has no gun.
So we stood by to be boarded by a party yet unseen,
When another ship appeared upon our screen.

First we thought it just a pirate, but the vector was all wrong.
Then we thought it might be rescue, but the signal wasn't strong.
When she didn't answer hailing, we all felt an unknown dread,
For we saw her shields were up and glowing red.

Now the courage of that single ship is shown by very few,
But we never knew a ship could fly the way the stranger flew.
Never fearing guns or numbers, like a tiger to its meat,
The stranger then attacked the pirate fleet.


And the strangers beams burned brighter than all beams I'd seen before.
And the strangers shields were harder than the heart of any whore.
As the battle rent the eather, while we watched and shook our heads,
The pirate ships were cut to bloody shreds.
The pirate ships were cut to bloody shreds.

Just as quickly as it started then the fighting was all done.
For the pirate fleet was shattered and the stranger's ship had won.
Though we tried to call and thank her, not an answer could we draw,
Then she dropped her shields and this is what we saw.

There were thirty holes clear through her and a gash along one side,
And we knew that when it happened, that no crew were left alive.
For the markings all said Christian, deep inside us each one knew,
'Twas the tomb of Jayme Dawson and his crew.

Now instead of flying off, the stranger then began to fade,
First the hull, and then the bulkheads as we cowered there afraid,
For as the Christian disappeared, the last to slip from view,
Were the bones of Jayme Dawson and his crew.
Yes, the bones of Jayme Dawson and his crew.


There are stories of the Dutchman, the Celeste and Barnham's Pride,
There are stories of the Horseman and the Lady at his side,
But the tale that chills my spirit, and I swear to God it's true,
Is the tale of Jayme Dawson and his crew,
Yes, the tale of Dawson's Christian and her crew."

The song is on Youtube in several versions. I like the one by Vixy & Tony as it adds an extra verse after the line "Jayme must have known they'd finally bought the farm"

"Now they say that Jayme Dawson was no man to cut and run
And they say that when he fought he had the fury of a sun
But they say he made his bargain with some power of the night
That he sold his soul to win his final fight "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjxMieuRPe4

runsforcelery wrote:
Nope. Passes to the eldest son of the eldest daughter; her husband holds the title of Steadholder Regent for his son. Of course, that was under the old constitution when women couldn't inherit in their own right. Today, she'd become Steadholder and her husband would be Steadholder Consort, a title pioneered by one Hamish Alexander-Harrington.

Raoul cannot be taken out of the succession on Grayson without an act of the Keys, and it would require a super majority to do the trick. Honor cannot disinherit him under Grayson law, either; he can lose his place in the succession only if attainted for treason or at Honor's request, supported by the aforesaid super majority. Other than that, his place in Harrington Steading cannot be altered. In theory, he doesn't even have the legal right to abdicate, although there's never been a case in which a steadholder attempted to abdicate and was not supported by the Keys. Of course, you could count the number of steadholders who voluntarily abdicated on the fingers of one hand, and the thumb doesn't count.

Katherine would be known as Miss Harrington on Grayson, as (in effect) a princess of the blood, but she would not hold a place in the Harrington succession. That would be: Raoul, Faith, and James (and the Graysons would be very happy if Steadholder Harrington got busy and gave them some additional spare heirs Sometime Real Soon Now).

The only reason Faith and James are still in the succession is because Benjamin got the Keys to pass special legislation recognizing them as Honor's heirs when everyone thought she was dead and no one gave any thought to stipulating that they'd be taken back out of the succession if she turned up alive because they all knew she was dead. No one has a clue (under the present constitution) how they could be taken back out, and everyone will be just as happy to let that sleeping canine go right on snoring, thank you. Raoul displaces Katherine because he is a direct heir of Honor's body and Katherine isn't, but Faith and James will always be in the succession and their spots will descend to their children, although by the time their kids would be thinking about the succession, they'd probably be many, many places from the Harrington Key, given Honor's longevity and expected fertility.

Unless, of course, it should happen that something like a gallant death in combat cut short the aforesaid longevity and fertility. Just sayin'.

Nor can Hamish change the White Haven succession without approval of Parliament, although a simple majority in the Lords would be sufficient supportin Manticore. Raoul can always abdicate his position in the succession, but not until he attains his legal majority. Until that time, he's Hamish's legal heir, followed by Katherine, followed by Willie.

Okay, that makes sense. Were there a fair sprinkling of Brits in the original Manticore expedition? Because they seem to have set up their aristocracy by English/Welsh rules; only the holder can give up a title, and it then settles on the next heir. Only the Crown can decide that the holder/heir is unfit.

Well, either a leavening of Brits or of historians - though with Brits, the two things are often the same.

As to killing Honor - remember the Reichenbach Falls.

runsforcelery wrote:Lot of help that was, Honor thought dryly, and Sun Heart bleeked in soft laughter that was echoed from Nimitz and Samantha.

...
Or, she thought, thinking about that subtle flow of mind-glows, maybe he actually . . . I don’t know . . . experiences whatever it is they get out of eating it. I’ve certainly tasted Mister Gobble Guts’s fondness for it!

Nimitz bleeked a harder laugh.

Is Nimitz no longer mind-blind?

Peregrinator wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:Lot of help that was, Honor thought dryly, and Sun Heart bleeked in soft laughter that was echoed from Nimitz and Samantha.

...
Or, she thought, thinking about that subtle flow of mind-glows, maybe he actually . . . I don’t know . . . experiences whatever it is they get out of eating it. I’ve certainly tasted Mister Gobble Guts’s fondness for it!

Nimitz bleeked a harder laugh.

Is Nimitz no longer mind-blind?

Nimitz wasn't fully mind blind. He could still preceive and broadcast emotions, and he could still hear other treecat's thought, he just wasn't able to broadcast his own thoughts any. It was only his though transmitter that was damaged.
I don't see anything in that snippet that implies he's able to send thoughts again. (Wonderful as that would be)

Jonathan_S wrote:

Peregrinator wrote:Is Nimitz no longer mind-blind?

Nimitz wasn't fully mind blind. He could still preceive and broadcast emotions, and he could still hear other treecat's thought, he just wasn't able to broadcast his own thoughts any. It was only his though transmitter that was damaged.
I don't see anything in that snippet that implies he's able to send thoughts again. (Wonderful as that would be)

No, he still can't. In fact that's a little bit of a problem when he's trying to tell other 'cats about the ****** stance.

runsforcelery wrote:“You do seem to be having a bit of a problem, Honor,” Emily Alexander-Harrington observed.

Her life-support chair was parked beside their daughter Katherine’s highchair while she supervised Katherine’s dinner. Which, Honor observed, seemed to be going somewhat more smoothly than their son’s. Emily couldn’t actually feed Katherine herself, given the fact that she had only limited use of one hand, but she smiled encouragingly at the toddler’s green peas-smeared face and got a huge answering smile in return.

Honor would have preferred to put that down to the fact that Emily had the home-court advantage. It was true that the weeks on end that Honor spent aboard Imperator limited the time she had with their children. There’d been times — more than she could count — when she’d bitterly resented that as Raoul and Katherine raced from babes-in-arms, to self-propelled quadrupeds, to shaky steps, to determined, hyper-velocity toddlers shrieking with laughter as they dodged around the nursery, playing keep away with nannies and treecats. She’d missed so much of that transformation, and she could never get it back again, and she knew it.

You’re not the only parent who’s ever been stuck aboard ship while her kids grew up without her, she reminded herself sternly. And you’re a heck of a lot luckier than most of those other parents were! You’re at least close enough to home that you can get there for visits every couple of weeks. And, she admitted, when you are here, you can actually taste their mind-glows. That’s something no other parent — no other two-leg parent, she corrected, glancing at Samantha and Nimitz — has ever been able to do. Something Emily can’t do. Or, really, something else she can’t do.

Her mood darkened briefly as she watched Sandra Thurston wipe the outer few centimeters of pea paste off Katherine’s chin. While Katherine appeared far more amenable to the evening’s menu, she still plied her own spoon with more enthusiasm than precision, although, to be fair, peas were less spectacular than the results she could achieve with Raoul’s favored “’paghetti.”

There was no trace of self-pity in Emily’s mind-glow as she watched Sandra do what she couldn’t, but that only made Honor more aware of her senior wife’s loss. And she seemed so tired again. It was almost —

She put that th0ught aside and returned her attention to Raoul.

Why do I have a horrible feeling that Emily's dying?

Bluesqueak wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:“You do seem to be having a bit of a problem, Honor,” Emily Alexander-Harrington observed.

Her life-support chair was parked beside their daughter Katherine’s highchair while she supervised Katherine’s dinner. Which, Honor observed, seemed to be going somewhat more smoothly than their son’s. Emily couldn’t actually feed Katherine herself, given the fact that she had only limited use of one hand, but she smiled encouragingly at the toddler’s green peas-smeared face and got a huge answering smile in return.

Honor would have preferred to put that down to the fact that Emily had the home-court advantage. It was true that the weeks on end that Honor spent aboard Imperator limited the time she had with their children. There’d been times — more than she could count — when she’d bitterly resented that as Raoul and Katherine raced from babes-in-arms, to self-propelled quadrupeds, to shaky steps, to determined, hyper-velocity toddlers shrieking with laughter as they dodged around the nursery, playing keep away with nannies and treecats. She’d missed so much of that transformation, and she could never get it back again, and she knew it.

You’re not the only parent who’s ever been stuck aboard ship while her kids grew up without her, she reminded herself sternly. And you’re a heck of a lot luckier than most of those other parents were! You’re at least close enough to home that you can get there for visits every couple of weeks. And, she admitted, when you are here, you can actually taste their mind-glows. That’s something no other parent — no other two-leg parent, she corrected, glancing at Samantha and Nimitz — has ever been able to do. Something Emily can’t do. Or, really, something else she can’t do.

Her mood darkened briefly as she watched Sandra Thurston wipe the outer few centimeters of pea paste off Katherine’s chin. While Katherine appeared far more amenable to the evening’s menu, she still plied her own spoon with more enthusiasm than precision, although, to be fair, peas were less spectacular than the results she could achieve with Raoul’s favored “’paghetti.”

There was no trace of self-pity in Emily’s mind-glow as she watched Sandra do what she couldn’t, but that only made Honor more aware of her senior wife’s loss. And she seemed so tired again. It was almost —

She put that th0ught aside and returned her attention to Raoul.

Why do I have a horrible feeling that Emily's dying?

Huh?

cthia wrote:

Bluesqueak wrote:
Why do I have a horrible feeling that Emily's dying?

Huh?

In the midst of all that lovely, funny, terrible-twos negotiations is a teeny tiny moment where Honor notices that Emily seems so tired. The italics are the author's.

Why is that in there? In fact, why is 'tired' emphasised?

Bluesqueak wrote:


In the midst of all that lovely, funny, terrible-twos negotiations is a teeny tiny moment where Honor notices that Emily seems so tired. The italics are the author's.

Why is that in there? In fact, why is 'tired' emphasised?

[/quote]

Because while Honor is off galivanting around space doing easy stuff like fighting wars Emily is home with two almost-2-year-olds simultaneously? Just suggesting possibilities, you understand.

Of course, if there was something else going on, I'd hardly admit it, would I? Authors are bad that way.

runsforcelery wrote:

Bluesqueak wrote:


In the midst of all that lovely, funny, terrible-twos negotiations is a teeny tiny moment where Honor notices that Emily seems so tired. The italics are the author's.

Why is that in there? In fact, why is 'tired' emphasised?

Because while Honor is off galivanting around space doing easy stuff like fighting wars Emily is home with two almost-2-year-olds simultaneously? Just suggesting possibilities, you understand.

Of course, if there was something else going on, I'd hardly admit it, would I? Authors are bad that way.

Yup, two toddlers (even with both human and treecat nannies) are certainly good reason for Emily to feel really, really tired, especially when she's severely disabled. It just had a Chekhov's Gun feel to it.

Possibly because you have used 'retired on compassionate grounds of spousal death and small children' before...



[And many thanks for replying to a relative newbie]