"Now, there's a good question." Warren shrugged a little. "The last time we went to Kaeleer, that trip with the unicorns, I was shunned by the coven for getting in the way of a Queen's duty, while the High Lord used me as an example of how Kaeleeran males should be handling their respective females. So... I guess I'm doing something right, to manage to piss off that many women at once?"
That was a weak grab at levity and Warren knew it.
"There are... some things about Kaeleer that kind of eat at me. The massive difference in the power dynamic between Blood and landen kind of... punched me in the gut the other week. But maybe I'm dwelling too much on that when there's still a Territory to return to its rightful Queen, and all."
Ender shot him a brief glance, but he could read slightly less off Topher's face than he could off Warren's own one - the cues were all different.
"I don't think so," he said. "You hail from a distinctly different culture than Karla does. I think it'd be hard for any of us not to dwell on that at least a little, rightful Queen or no."
"Most of the Blood in Kaeleer just assume I'm some exotic race of foreign Blood, myself. If they knew I was essentially landen, myself, that would be... problematic. I mean, maybe I'll get used to it. But I have landen friends in Kaeleer. Cora was... stunned when I told her I wasn't Blood."
For so many reasons. And it kind of stuck with him.
Ender looked up at the sky. "I told Jaenelle I worried for the landens' future, with all the conflict that seems to be brewing," he said. "She asked me what I meant by that. She was genuinely confused - they really don't factor into the lives of the Blood much."
His eyes tracked back to Warren. "You have to be ready to deal with this, if you go," he said. "No 'maybe I'll get used to it' about it."
Warren nodded a little bit, not quite able to look up.
"I need to talk to Karla about it," he murmured. "The only one with any control over the treatment of landens in a given territory is the Queen. And I'm worried that I'll get the same reaction out of her as you got from Jaenelle. She sees them as a group of people to protect, but that doesn't mean she sees them as people in the same way as she sees us."
He did finally manage another glance in Ender's direction, at least.
"I know I won't get used to it. I don't want to get used to it. Back home, I'm mutant. In Kaeleer I'm landen. But what I can't fix back on Earth, I might be able to begin to change in Glacia."
He was kind of making up his mind as the conversation went on, yes.
Not that he didn't appreciate Warren's willingness to fight for it - god knew they could use someone like that in Kaeleer. But he'd been having a variant of this conversation with Ben for a while now, and he couldn't let it go without some prodding.
"Not just your landen status, but Protocol. Subservience. Relationship dynamics don't quite carry over to Kaeleer the same way."
Warren gave Ender a wry little smile. Talking about Kaeleer was helping to keep his mind off of his body issues, at least.
"I know that well enough," he replied. "I observe Protocol when I don't want to find out that my spleen has been relocated clear across the room by an angry Warlord Prince. But when it comes to dealing with the Queens, when it comes to dealing with Karla, I mostly just... selectively ignore it. When even the High Lord of Hell has conceded that you have a better way of approaching Queens than the majority of males that are part of Kaeleeran courts, that probably says something."
Two years knowing Karla now, and he still had yet to have a wall dropped on him.
"Until I run into the wrong male," Warren agreed with a sigh. "I'm not expecting this to be easy. I mean, I'll be surprised if I don't have to throw down against someone that grossly overpowers me in damn near every respect at least once in the next few years."
It was pessimistic. But it was realistic, too.
"My one saving grace might be that he'll expect me to deal with a conflict like that as a member of the Blood would, with craft as a first and last resort. So I'll be something completely unexpected. At least the first time."
Training with Lucivar had, if nothing else, taught him that being something completely unexpected would probably be the only ace he'd ever have up his sleeve.
Ender smiled vaguely again, if simply because that was a mode of thought he was very much familiar with.
"And then you have to come up with something else that's unexpected the next time," he said. "And the time after that. Unless your first battle is spectacular enough to put them off for good."
"I have a long way to go before I can manage 'spectacular,'" Warren replied, frowning a little. "I guess I'm going to have to make use of some of that inferior Earth landen innovation to come up with something new."
The Blood had craft. And that was all well and good.
But on Earth, they had to invent ways to do all the same things the blood did. And more. And one thing that Earth people seemed to do very well, unfortunately, was kill.
"... Oh?" Intrigued. See how intrigued Warren was. "I mean, their entire underestimation of landens could be seen as one. And the way they rely on craft. But if you've noticed something else..."
Warren would really, really appreciate Ender's insights. He still wasn't military-minded. He didn't spend his days looking at weak points, unless one was talking about philosophies. Then he could go on all day.
"Those two are key, of course," Ender said, "But there's also the reliance on psychic scents. The Jedi are the same, in their way; they're so reliant on feeling out their opponent's emotions that they can be thrown completely off-guard with a fake-out, or by acting contrary to your emotions."
"I'm guessing you mean something a little more in-depth than me just not turning and taking off every time I feel a little intimidated."
Which was often.
"Are you talking about changing how I act, or trying to change the way I feel? Or some combination of the two?"
Kicking his feelings into submission would be difficult, but he couldn't deny that the person who had a grip on that would have a definite advantage when there were angry Blood breathing down their neck.
"Both," Ender said. "But honestly, how you exploit it is up to you - and the situation."
Ender's practical knowledge mainly came from a nigh-insane Ben on a derelict creepy space station, so regaling Warren with parables from his own experience would not be very helpful.
"The larger point is that you're going to have to be on your toes for a very long time if you do this," he said. "Though I figure you've been thinking about that for a while already."
"Now, there's a good question." Warren shrugged a little. "The last time we went to Kaeleer, that trip with the unicorns, I was shunned by the coven for getting in the way of a Queen's duty, while the High Lord used me as an example of how Kaeleeran males should be handling their respective females. So... I guess I'm doing something right, to manage to piss off that many women at once?"
That was a weak grab at levity and Warren knew it.
"There are... some things about Kaeleer that kind of eat at me. The massive difference in the power dynamic between Blood and landen kind of... punched me in the gut the other week. But maybe I'm dwelling too much on that when there's still a Territory to return to its rightful Queen, and all."
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"I don't think so," he said. "You hail from a distinctly different culture than Karla does. I think it'd be hard for any of us not to dwell on that at least a little, rightful Queen or no."
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Warren ducked his head a bit, nodding.
"Most of the Blood in Kaeleer just assume I'm some exotic race of foreign Blood, myself. If they knew I was essentially landen, myself, that would be... problematic. I mean, maybe I'll get used to it. But I have landen friends in Kaeleer. Cora was... stunned when I told her I wasn't Blood."
For so many reasons. And it kind of stuck with him.
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His eyes tracked back to Warren. "You have to be ready to deal with this, if you go," he said. "No 'maybe I'll get used to it' about it."
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Warren nodded a little bit, not quite able to look up.
"I need to talk to Karla about it," he murmured. "The only one with any control over the treatment of landens in a given territory is the Queen. And I'm worried that I'll get the same reaction out of her as you got from Jaenelle. She sees them as a group of people to protect, but that doesn't mean she sees them as people in the same way as she sees us."
He did finally manage another glance in Ender's direction, at least.
"I know I won't get used to it. I don't want to get used to it. Back home, I'm mutant. In Kaeleer I'm landen. But what I can't fix back on Earth, I might be able to begin to change in Glacia."
He was kind of making up his mind as the conversation went on, yes.
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Not that he didn't appreciate Warren's willingness to fight for it - god knew they could use someone like that in Kaeleer. But he'd been having a variant of this conversation with Ben for a while now, and he couldn't let it go without some prodding.
"Not just your landen status, but Protocol. Subservience. Relationship dynamics don't quite carry over to Kaeleer the same way."
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Warren gave Ender a wry little smile. Talking about Kaeleer was helping to keep his mind off of his body issues, at least.
"I know that well enough," he replied. "I observe Protocol when I don't want to find out that my spleen has been relocated clear across the room by an angry Warlord Prince. But when it comes to dealing with the Queens, when it comes to dealing with Karla, I mostly just... selectively ignore it. When even the High Lord of Hell has conceded that you have a better way of approaching Queens than the majority of males that are part of Kaeleeran courts, that probably says something."
Two years knowing Karla now, and he still had yet to have a wall dropped on him.
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Two years of infrequent visits wasn't that representative a sample in any objective sense, but feelings were not generally rooted in objectivity.
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"Until I run into the wrong male," Warren agreed with a sigh. "I'm not expecting this to be easy. I mean, I'll be surprised if I don't have to throw down against someone that grossly overpowers me in damn near every respect at least once in the next few years."
It was pessimistic. But it was realistic, too.
"My one saving grace might be that he'll expect me to deal with a conflict like that as a member of the Blood would, with craft as a first and last resort. So I'll be something completely unexpected. At least the first time."
Training with Lucivar had, if nothing else, taught him that being something completely unexpected would probably be the only ace he'd ever have up his sleeve.
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"And then you have to come up with something else that's unexpected the next time," he said. "And the time after that. Unless your first battle is spectacular enough to put them off for good."
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"I have a long way to go before I can manage 'spectacular,'" Warren replied, frowning a little. "I guess I'm going to have to make use of some of that inferior Earth landen innovation to come up with something new."
The Blood had craft. And that was all well and good.
But on Earth, they had to invent ways to do all the same things the blood did. And more. And one thing that Earth people seemed to do very well, unfortunately, was kill.
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Not that he noticed these things in his spare time or anything.
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"... Oh?" Intrigued. See how intrigued Warren was. "I mean, their entire underestimation of landens could be seen as one. And the way they rely on craft. But if you've noticed something else..."
Warren would really, really appreciate Ender's insights. He still wasn't military-minded. He didn't spend his days looking at weak points, unless one was talking about philosophies. Then he could go on all day.
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Not that he'd ever done that. Ahem.
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"I'm guessing you mean something a little more in-depth than me just not turning and taking off every time I feel a little intimidated."
Which was often.
"Are you talking about changing how I act, or trying to change the way I feel? Or some combination of the two?"
Kicking his feelings into submission would be difficult, but he couldn't deny that the person who had a grip on that would have a definite advantage when there were angry Blood breathing down their neck.
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Ender's practical knowledge mainly came from a nigh-insane Ben on a derelict creepy space station, so regaling Warren with parables from his own experience would not be very helpful.
"The larger point is that you're going to have to be on your toes for a very long time if you do this," he said. "Though I figure you've been thinking about that for a while already."
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