History Literature / Quarters

* HerosFirstRescue: Vree's killing of Edite i'Oceania near the beginning of the book has elements of this[[note]](mainly over her acting wholly on her own initiative and being hailed as a hero for bringing down a feared pirate, rather than being studiously ignored as an anonymous 'Blade of Jiir' as she fulfills military directives)[[/note]]. However a more unamiguous example is her climbing down an unstable seaside cliff to extract a woman from the wreckage of what ''was'' a house on the edge and was at that point not only twenty feet or so down but about to plummet another fifty into the pounding surf, mainly because someone saw her moving minutes ago and she has never actually ''[[ProfessionalKiller left]]'' anyone to die.

** Three thugs in Shkoder harass Vree, who's an Imperial assassin (unbeknownst to them). She easily beats them all up, and they're lucky she spared their lives.
** Bannon, Vree's brother who's an assassin as well, gets into much the same situation with a brutish man and his two sons who pick a fight. He takes down all three in a trice, with them left having broken bones. Bannon was reminded not to kill the men, or else they likely wouldn't have survived.

** Vree is repeatedly described as a short, slim woman, with her skill as an assassin surprising many people because of this. She doesn't fall into WaifFu however, as Vree's shown as in trouble if pinned under a larger opponent at first before wrigling free of them. As an assassin, Vree mostly sneak attacks people. Her small size is thus an asset to moving quickly and getting noticed less (or underestimated) given this.

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Discussed when Vree and Gyhard had a dispute on whether to [[LeaveNoWitnesses eliminate]] the Bard they just pumped for information on the old man who kidnapped the prince Gyhard had been plotting to [[GrandTheftMe body-jack]]. Vree pointed out that A) Bard Karlene could track their target[[note]](or rather she could sense and communicate with Air Kigh who would not go anywhere near the old man, thus would be able to recognize the 'dead zone' within a day's travel or so of him[[/note]], B) Vree could not trust [[ProfessionalKiller her own training/experience in killing]] the living to deal with the old man's [[OurZombiesAreDifferent already dead muscle]], C) a reliable counter to the old man's formidable Bardic powers would be critical given the meat-shields, & D) if anything Karlene wants to get to Prince Otavas at least as badly as Gyhard (admittedly to save him or put him to rest rather than steal his body, but that [[Enemy Mine can be dealt with once]] the {{Necromancer}} is dealt with).

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: No formally trained Bard would consider trapping a Kigh in a corpse even if they had the strength needed, and though it was theoretically possible, nor would a sane one willingly remain near a Kigh as tormented as one trapped in a corpse would be. Kars is a [[AchievementsInIgnorance wholly self-trained]] Bard of great power who cracked completely decades ago.

* BodySurf: Gyhard is capable of moving from one body to another, expelling a person's soul and taking it over. He's done this for over a century, living six lives in different bodies.

* FreakyFridayFlip: The plot is sparked when Gyhard, Bannon and Vree's target, does this to the latter. Bannon finds himself in Aralt's dying body, having to [[SharingABody share Vree's]].

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: No formally trained Bard would consider trapping a Kigh in a corpse even if they had the strength needed and thought it was theoretically possible, nor would a sane one willingly remain near a Kigh as tormented as one trapped in a corpse would be. Kars is a [[AchievementsInIgnorance wholly self-trained]] Bard of great power who cracked completely decades ago.

* MercyKill: Healers in Shkoder swear to euthanizes patients who are beyond all other help so they won't suffer anymore as part of their vows.

* TheyDo: [[spoiler:After she admits her love for him, Vree and Gyhard are very clearly just about to have sex when the book ends.]]

* PottyFailure: Bannon threatens a man who he had just beaten in a fight with ease. The man wets himself as Bannon warns that he'll kill him next time.

* MuggingTheMonster: Three thugs in Shkoder harass Vree, who's an Imperial assassin (unbeknownst to them). She easily beats them all up, and they're lucky she spared their lives.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Vree is repeatedly described as a short, slim woman, with her skill as an assassin surprising many people because of this. She doesn't fall into WaifFu however, as Vree's shown as in trouble if pinned under a larger opponent at first before wrigling free of them. As an assassin, Vree mostly sneak attacks people. Her small size is thus an asset to moving quickly and getting noticed less (or underestimated) given this.