[Dragaera] [Dzur Spoilers] On a criticized conversation

[Philip Hart]

The
water
is
wide,
I
can
not
get
o'er.
Nor
have
I
wings
that
will
carry
me


There has been some criticism of Cawti's dialogue in Dry Red Wine -
"overshadowed by Vlad", "flat", etc.

On a second reading I want to retract my original claim.

It seems to me that Vlad at best makes it very hard for Cawti to talk to
him, at worst he's being petulant.  On pg. 49 for example he's just being
a passive-aggressive jerk, esp. with the "oppressed Easterner" crack.
(His comment in the previous chapter [pg. 25] about Cawti's moral qualms
seems related - I think it's a cheap shot.)  More passive-aggression:
"my permission", "Are you going to claim".

Cawti's "wart" remark, which rubbed me the wrong way the first time, now
strikes me as her asserting herself in the conversation - making Vlad
look at her.

I liked the bit about Cawti's perceptiveness about Vlad's moods.

I think the "I hate that" stuff works very well in drawing the reader
in to the conversation as an interaction.

I think Cawti does a good job with not wanting help but asking for it.

Also:

I think "your friend Kiera" might be a crack.  Possibly this is like
my wife saying to me, "Your son just keeps eating and eating", but
I doubt it.  It's inconsistent with _Orca_ as I understand it.

Related - Cawti has been in Dzur Mountain enough to have her klava
preferences known - she's going to know both Sethra and Kiera too well.