New questions that come from PT and BF

[Snark Knight]

A thought just hit me as I was walking the dogs around the park.  Maybe Mab wants to marry Harry off to Lara so she can feed on him and weaken him.  This way she still has an effective Knight, but his power is kept in check so he is less likely to defy her.

I'm not sure exactly what she's going for. She seemed to imply she wanted the alliance cemented by the conception of a child to unite the bloodlines, but with the low fertility of whampires that can't be relied on any time soon. In Blood Rites, the figure was that humans in a long-term relationship with a whampire usually wear out within a few years even with care taken not to drain them in one shot.

So unless wizard and/or mantle markedly improves Harry's resilience to being fed on, Mab seems to be rolling the dice on whether this marriage idea is going to cost her Winter's starborn asset, maybe even before producing a child.

[Telynn]

My best guess is that Mab most definitely wants payback from Namshiel, but she's made an investment in Marcone.  He's useful to Mab's plans. However, the thing about any investment; whether it's a financial or a business asset, is that eventually it get's used up, fully depreciated, depleted, scrapped or cashed out.  If Marcone insists on holding onto his new partnership with Namshiel, Mab won't protect him from the consequences of his actions.

Plus, Marcone has made the same bet that he will remain in charge of all of his decisions; that Thorned Namshiel will remain the junior partner in their deal, that Nicodemus has claimed he has with Anduriel.  If we see Marcone start to make questionable decisions, I mean decisions that run counter to the Marcone we know, it may be a sign that Marcone is losing his bet and it will be a time when Mab starts to think that Marcone's value to her has been seriously diminished, that maybe it's time to write him off.

Maybe I missed something but even if Mab figured out Marcone has a coin, was there something that would lead her to know it is Namshiel's coin?

[TheCuriousFan]

Maybe I missed something but even if Mab figured out Marcone has a coin, was there something that would lead her to know it is Namshiel's coin?

She was watching during that whole mess (and Small Favour had a lot of unexplained shenanigans, I should really do a post on that, it's nearly as overt as PG) and there aren't many coins available for him to have picked up at the end of that mess.

[KurtinStGeorge]

She was watching during that whole mess (and Small Favour had a lot of unexplained shenanigans, I should really do a post on that, it's nearly as overt as PG) and there aren't many coins available for him to have picked up at the end of that mess.

Agreed.  Plus, Mab can count; by which I mean she can subtract those fallen that wouldn't give the holder of their coin much of a chance of surviving Ethniu's full attention.  Thorned Namshiel's coin would; at the very least, be one of the blackened denarius that Mab would suspect that Marcone had picked up.  If she doesn't know for sure it will probably be a short matter of time before Mab can confirm whose coin Marcone is carrying.

[TheCuriousFan]

Agreed.  Plus, Mab can count; by which I mean she can subtract those fallen that wouldn't give the holder of their coin much of a chance of surviving Ethniu's full attention.  Thorned Namshiel's coin would; at the very least, be one of the blackened denarius that Mab would suspect that Marcone had picked up.  If she doesn't know for sure it will probably be a short matter of time before Mab can confirm whose coin Marcone is carrying.

Especially since it's not like Harry will say no if she walks up and tells him his next mission is to write down which coin Marcone took up.

[KurtinStGeorge]

Especially since it's not like Harry will say no if she walks up and tells him his next mission is to write down which coin Marcone took up.

I wondered if that was something Mab wouldn't directly ask Harry because it might be so valuable as to require Mab to pledge a favor in return.  It all depends on Winter Law.  Maybe Harry is required to answer such a question as part of his normal duties, maybe not.  Mab could have asked Harry the last time they talked but didn't.  Either she already knows or there is another reason Mab didn't ask.

[Arjan]

I wondered if that was something Mab wouldn't directly ask Harry because it might be so valuable as to require Mab to pledge a favor in return.  It all depends on Winter Law.  Maybe Harry is required to answer such a question as part of his normal duties, maybe not.  Mab could have asked Harry the last time they talked but didn't.  Either she already knows or there is another reason Mab didn't ask.

If scales have to be balanced there is enough Mab can tell Harry to do so but I think that stage has passed. They are allowed to tell each other important things.

For example Harry asked Mab how she could handle Balors eye and she not only gives an answer, she even explains it.

[TrueMonk]

Probably not. “Much is explained”

The question is does Mab still want payback from Namshiel.

Here I think the clear answer is that Mab want payback for anything anyone ever did to winter. It is problably a lot deeper than wants. It is a pretty good setup for the eventual Harry/Marcone showdown. The question is how one gets payback on Namshiel, I guess the Island is a good option? But I wonder if the nature of the coins to be in circulation would be a security risk for the entire island?

Regarding whether or not Lara and Harry can make a child and how long it will take. I am sure that the queen of air and darkness can do more than cross her fingers and hope for the best, to the degree that if she things it should happen in the first try (and why not) it will. By the way, the leash that Mab is putting on Harry is not the marriage, it is the child. Mab knows how he is and there is no better way to get him invested in the marriage than a common child. No matter how Lara turns out, could he kill his childs mother/let her get killed (again)?

[Dina]

But I really hope we don't have more children. Harry is protected for now and I am hoping he will weasel his way off the wedding because frankly a married Harry does not sound interesting. And I am always missing non-dad Harry.

[vincentric]

Mab has a very simple option to remove Harry's protection at any time and Harry would be duty bound to acquiesce to it

If she feels it's necessary, she'd do so in a heartbeat.

[Dina]

Yes but that would be like pupeeteering Harry. And he had warned her that if she did that, he would become completely obedient and useless for her. If Mab really tries to do something like that, it will be bad for her. What makes Harry so valuable for her (Starborn apart) is, as she said, the chaos elemental part. I think she knows that trying to leash it would be a mistake.

[Arjan]

Yes but that would be like pupeeteering Harry. And he had warned her that if she did that, he would become completely obedient and useless for her. If Mab really tries to do something like that, it will be bad for her. What makes Harry so valuable for her (Starborn apart) is, as she said, the chaos elemental part. I think she knows that trying to leash it would be a mistake.

Mab wants a Harry that shares her purpose.

[Dina]

Yes, her purpose being whatever is best for Winter. If pressing Harry to do something he really did not want makes him a lesser tool than giving him some freedom, she will give him that freedom. Harry understands that she has the right to marry him, but I believe that forcing him to lost the protection, which is something that keeps him bound to Murphy, will be something that Harry won't take well. Anyway, we will see in some years.

[Arjan]

Yes, her purpose being whatever is best for Winter. If pressing Harry to do something he really did not want makes him a lesser tool than giving him some freedom, she will give him that freedom. Harry understands that she has the right to marry him, but I believe that forcing him to lost the protection, which is something that keeps him bound to Murphy, will be something that Harry won't take well. Anyway, we will see in some years.

Her purpose is stopping the outsiders. It is the whole reason for the existence of winter in the first place.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

Reason of Winter being most powerful force around. But they serve as guardians of Outer Gates for about millenium IIRC and Faerie Courts are definitely older.