Another late comment, but at least I'll be on time for this week's chapter...
An image of what her daughter might look like came to him: sturdy but fine-boned, dark languid hair chopped low-caste short, a cheek perfectly curved to the cup of a palm. But it was Esmi he actually envisaged. Her as a child.
Confirmation that Akka had never seen Mimara until he met her early in TJE. If I remember correctly, one of them misremembers this at some point.
Also, imagining young Mimara as young Esmenet isn't too far off from the truth. Not that Akka knew this at this point, though.
She had dwindled in the five years since he had last come to Sumna.
Taking note of another timeline reference...there might be an inconsistency here concerning Achamian and Mimara's recollections during TAE (if there is, I'll add that to the inconsistencies/mistakes thread eventually).
"The world has the habit" Achamian said, "of breaking the back of my promises."
I feel like this quote, along with the quote about the past that MSJ mentioned earlier and the "I was meant to suffer" one from chapter 1, beautifully sum up Akka's character and story arc.
Maithanet came from the deep south, Inrau had told him, from Cingulat or Nilnamesh, where the hold of the Thousand Temples was uncertain.
This part of his backstory is presumably true, right? Since I am completely clueless when it comes to geography, could someone confirm this for me?
But before any words could be spoken, hands guided the Prince, still staring, to one side, and Achamian found himself looking into the serene and surprisingly youthful face of Maithanet.
The Shriah's face darkened, but his blue eyes glittered with . . . with . . .
More clues to Maithanet's identity. He's most likely only in his mid-to-late 20s at this point!
Also, those Anasûrimbor/Dûnyain supernaturally dominant genetics really are insane. Maithanet's mother was presumably a dark-skinned, dark-haired, brown-eyed Ketyai woman, and yet he still looks Norsirai. Still, not as ridiculous as in the case of his nephews and nieces, as it's just him in this case.
He can see the Few.
Only the Few could see the Few.
When I first read this, I thought this would turn out to be quite important later on. It seems like it was just another clue to his identity (he's of the Few just like his father and half-brother). Maybe it was also something that helped him uncover some of those plots?
This is one of those examples of the "Mandela effect" for me. I thought Proyas yelled at Achamian here. He didn't, but he was very angry. From the moment his name was even mentioned, I knew that he would be a favorite character for me.
I guess this is why some people read books again. Anyway, when we first meet my baby, he is weeping. Yea, he's meeting the Shriah, but Proyas was never afraid of shedding tears.
The core of Proyas' character is well-established in this early scene, yes. One of the advantages of re-reads, we notice so many new and interesting things.
![Smiley :)](https://www.second-apocalypse.com/Smileys/BBPh/smiley.gif)
How many years had passed since he'd last seen him? Four? Five, even?
Another timeline reference to keep note of, this might be useful to help pinpoint Proyas' birth year later.
The Shriah turned his strong bearded profile to him, and Proyas was struck by the crisp blue of his eyes. "Tell me, Nersei Proyas," Maithanet said with the voice of edict. "Who was that man, that sorcerer, who dared pollute my presence?"
And here Proyas finds himself caught in the web of manipulations of a Dûnyain for the first time. Which will sadly be a constant for the rest of his life, as we know.
Some further remarks: Interesting that we have those mentions that something is "off" about Sarcellus, that absence of
something. Remember how Simas was described by Nautzera as being "devoid of sentiment" in the previous chapter? To me that's further evidence that he was indeed a skin-spy at that point. Nautzera thinks that's just part of Simas' character, but it's very likely that it's something else.