Katharine Kerr hosts a Deverry Q&A discussion

Calonderiel was a frequent visitor to Aberwyn's hall when Rhodry Maelwaedd was gwerbret there. Rhodry's daughter Rhodda, whom Rhodry legitimized upon his return, grew up there. Since she had elven blood and high expectations, she was a real handful to raise, and Rhodry indulged her shamelessly, anyway. She did not want to fit into the role of typical Deverrian noble wife. So when she was about fifteen, at a time when she might have been married off, she basically seduced Cal and got him to take her away with him back to the Westlands. It didn't last. She left the boy with him and came back to Aberwyn when she heard that Lovyan was ill. That's when Lovyan gave her Cannobaen as a holding to support her independently. No Deverrian lord was going to marry her after she'd a bastard son -- which is one reason she wanted to do what she did. :-)

Thank you. That all makes perfect sense. Did you mention this in the books or was it all just something you 'knew'?

I think there's a vague reference to it here and there, but I don't think I spelled it out in the books. There's a lot of backstory that I never had time to fit into the series.

And some "forward story" -- when Rhodda died, she left her holdings and books to the priesthood of Wmm, with the provision that they use these resources to educate young women as priestesses and scholars. This legacy grew into the first women's college in all of Deverry, Lady Rhodda Hall in Aberwyn, by about 1500. I never had the chance to write that far forward in the series.

Katharine wrote: "Calonderiel was a frequent visitor to Aberwyn's hall when Rhodry Maelwaedd was gwerbret there. Rhodry's daughter Rhodda, whom Rhodry legitimized upon his return, grew up there."

Oh, I wondered how it happened that Rhodda ended up in Cannobaen.

Smart girl!

Cool, thanks for that Kit I must admit I was curious myself.