Flandry begins subverting the Scothani from the moment he is a prisoner in their spaceship:
he pretends to be slow in learning Frithian so that his captors will continue to speak openly in front of him;
he wins money and clothes by cheating with cards and dice;
in his audience with King Penda, he senses and encourages dissatisfaction among subject species, sets Penda and his son, Cerdic, against each other and initiates what will become an intrigue with Queen Gunli;
he misleads -
They could not have known it in advance but the Scothani would have done better to have left Flandry on Llynathawr.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm not sure how seriously Flandry managed to estrange King Penda and his son Cerdic from each other. Disagreeing on whether or not to install modern heating in the royal castle seems a rather small matter.
And Flandry was mostly in his discussions with Sviffash of Sithafar.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I agree. That can only be a start. But Flandry immediately made some progress on three fronts.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree.
Sean
Capturing Flandry is like sticking a live grenade in your pocket; talking to him is like letting a carnivorous worm crawl into your ear.
The Scothiani would have been well advised to kill him immediately.
But they couldn't know that... 8-). Especially given his brainless wastrel act, doing the "Upper Class Twit of the Year" thing.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I absolutely agree! I recall Cerdic thinking Flandry was just a spoiled relative "going thru the motions to justify getting promoted."
Ad astra! Sean
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