Sweat ran down Herald Vanyel's back, and his ankle hurt a little - he hadn't twisted it, quite, when he'd slipped on the wooden floor of the salle back at the beginning of this bout, but it was still bothering him five exchanges later.
A point of weakness, and one he'd better be aware of, because his opponent was watching for such signs of weakness, sure as the sun rose.
The narrative kicks off with these opening paragraphs. Reading this out of context may immediately put the reader into a position of confusion. Is Herald a name or a title? What is a salle? What are “exchanges” and is five a lot or a little? It is not often that an opening salvo that throws the reader into the story will come equipped with such mysteries, but this is an especially unique situation. Not only is this novel the third in a trilogy, but the trilogy is part of an extended universe in which the main character, Vanyel Ashkevron appears. Thus, those who read this opening within context will likely already be intimately familiar with any of the aspects quoted here that may seem unfamiliar to the uninitiated reader. Such is the vagaries of reading fantasy fiction out of order.
Like many youngsters in adolescence, she'd been a little touchy around him of late. He'd assumed that it was because she felt uncomfortable around him—and in truth, he'd expected it. Jisa knew what he was, that he was shaych, and what that meant, at least insofar as understanding that he preferred men as close companions. Neither he nor her parents had seen any point in trying to hide that from her.
Another interesting thing about Vanyel is that he is first protagonist in one of the author’s works to be openly homosexual. In case it isn’t clear from the context somehow, this is what is be referred to by the term “shaych.” It is a bit of vernacular slang which derives from a term introduced to the reader of the trilogy in the first book: shay'a'chern. This term is first used to describe a character named Tylendel with whom Vanyel falls in love. In fact, he does more than simply fall in love—tragically, as it will turn out—he and Tylendel become lifebonded which is an ambiguously defined relationship that is described as a once-in-a-lifetime psychic connection between two people, usually of opposite gender.
Stef and Uncle Van? No. Not possible; not when Van has already been lifebonded once ... Or is it? Is there a rule somewhere that lifebondings can only happen once in a lifetime, even if you lose your bondmate?
The narration briefly penetrates into the thoughts of Medren here immediately after hearing his friend Stefan passionately describing himself as celibate yet fixated on Vanyel One of the major twists in the direction of the story is that the hero’s infamous lifebonding with Tylendel appears not to have been the only such experience to which he is entitled. Medren’s unspoken thoughts express the full extent of just how unusual this circumstance would be, if it proved true. It is clear here that lifebonding is not this world’s equivalent to marriage; it is a social pairing that goes far deeper than the merely contractual or transactional or even simply romantic. Lifebonding is an essential part of the process of life in this particular universe and like everything that is essential, it comes with the potential to bring great happiness and great tragedy.
