Devera[]
According to Steven Brust, in Vlad's time, Aliera e'Kieron has Mario as a lover (presumably again), but at some point in the near future will become intimate with Kieron the Conqueror in the Paths of the Dead, conceiving Devera.
That last may seem... icky to some, but
- It's been 200,000 years (or so) since Aliera's soul belonged to Kieron's sibling.
- There are at least several hundred generations, and possibly a couple thousand (depends on what a Dragaeran generation is), between them genetically.
- Aliera's a half-god on her mother's side, and presumably knows what's what in the genetics department.
Won't it be interesting if this means she enters and leaves the Paths a second time alive?
- See also Speculation:Devera.
Heir genetics[]
As Aliera's mother is the goddess Verra, while the Dragon heir must be a full-blooded Dragon, it is not clear how Aliera qualified for the post. Possibilities include:
- For whatever reason, the Dragon council chose to make an exception, perhaps even believing "God" ancestry was superior to Dragon ancestry.
- Verra's contribution to her genetic makeup appeared, in a standard scan, to be Dragon. Given that Verra is known to have been involved in genetic work with the Jenoine, it is quite possible that she modified Aliera's genes to render her eligible to be Heir, or at least modified whatever Dragon markers would be present in a scan. (As Verra doesn't appear to be of the Dragaeran species, some tampering was probably necessary anyway for her conception.)