pappilon wrote:I don't recall any textev that EIII's kids have ever been off Manticore. Not every royal has been adopted, I doubt its a blemish against his character. Mike hasn't ever been adopted either.
Dauntless wrote:true but every one of the last 3 monarchs has bonded with a treecat. before that it was about every other generation since princess adrianne.
but the point about how much off planet time EIII kids have had is a good one. after all manticore has been at war almost constantly for the last 2 decades, with a foe who has shown a willingness to use assassins so I can see palace security being extra paranoid about off world visits even in system.
I mean look at what happened to elizabeth when she visited Yeltsin. now that was another system entirely with outside traditions and security to deal with but only luck stopped that from being much worse.
though arguably with EIII dead but crometry alive and mike's mother as regent the first war would have ended VERY differently.
PeterZ wrote:What stops the treecats sending bonding candidates to the royals? They have a perfectly good reason right now. I see no reason for them to alter their centuries long plan of bonding with the House of Winton.
The fact, that they just did not do it that way? Treecats are known to be very traditional. And stubborn, too. Mainly because of the memory singers, I think. After all, their recorded history is like a ... like a mountain, for god's sake. To overcome (or at least re-evaluate) such a rucksack of tradition (tradition that has proven to be useful for the survival of the species) is anything but easy.
It will go faster, because of the human-treecat-bonds; but don't expect wonders of change in the way treecats regard certain things to be done properly. Like ... oh, bondings with the members of the royal family, or so.