I am Temn yr Astok, and at this late date it does not matter who my parents were, or who sponsored their marriage. I am the Astok great-clan, pure and simple, except for a few rivalrous upstarts.
There are days I envy the Immortal of T-7, who can order assassinations at will. Our ancestors went through a period where that was customary, and then the practice was banned. Now Karis is nominally a republic, though the great-clans are the more important pieces on the board — not as important as they ought to be, but that is another story. That takes us out beyond Karis, where I have now sent my faithful emissary, Iric Desnaray yr Astok. I created him, and he has the wit to know it, and obeys me.
Karis has never been at war with T-7 and its Immortal, nor have we been at peace; our present relationship is diplomacy: we have something they want, and they have something we want.
***
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E. P. Beaumont 
Great character voice, and I love the names. Nice work!
I remembered stealing the family name Astok from somewhere else, back when I was 17 — and lo and behold, thanks to the Internet, I turned it up again. It originates with a minor character in one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars stories.
Intriguing and I like the idea of the relationship being diplomacy. Great 8! I definitely want to keep reading.
Nice! Curiosity totally piqued! Is this released yet, or is it a WIP? I want to read this, E.P. 🙂
Actually, it isn’t a work-in-progress but a completed character interview, the backstory work I do on every major novel. But as I am rereading the interviews, I realize that they have a distinctive voice and definitely a different form from the novels… so yes, I think I will be releasing many of them alongside the novels in their universes. 2014 is my Year of Getting Stuff Out There, so stay tuned!
Well, diplomacy’s better than war. Usually.
I want to know what they want from each other.