Competition to Marry the Daughter

As we know, the competition to be the Empress's Heir is very aggressive. So would the competition to marry the Heiress be any different? Tuon commanded Lyda to 'Fortell' her future. This was described as 'cryptic' and would have the Blood 'chattering behind their hands about her fate' if they heard. Lyda would have described Mat as 'The Fox'. (Mat's Fox Signet Ring, Fox Battle Memories, Fox Medallion, Talmanes Banner is a Black Fox, and even Thom was known as the Grey Fo But the reason Tuon has Lyda beaten was that she said Tuon would have to chase him. This is VERY insulting for a woman as powerful as Tuon. She would have been literally expecting men to grovel at her feet.

Tuon meets Mat, finds him attractive as she grabs his chin and moves his face for a better look. Her voice goes from 'demanding' to 'murmuring' when talking to him. She thinks 'Is this the man Lyda mentioned'. She looks for a sign and checks his neck scarf, embroidary of his cloak, then pauses on his Fox Signet Ring, with 2 Ravens, surrounded by 9 moons. She then trys to buy him. Tylin says he is a free man and Tuon immediately makes friends with her by calling her a sister. This is to get closer to Mat. She then tries to get his interest by constantly glancing at him then walking away.

Mat fails to chase her. She even has a look at Mat & Tylin's bedroom. Finally she makes up a lame excuse to get Tylin away from him. Mat still doesn't chase her. She hears the rumours that Mat is leaving and trys to knock him out. But she never showed aggression on her face. In fact was delighted that Mat could fight so well. She only gets angry when Noal manhandles her, which has probably never happened in her life. She shows 'scorn' when Mat says to 'Leave her in the stables'. But when he decides to take her with her she smiles.

So this is why I think Lyda's Fortelling said she would have to catch him. Not the other way around. This is why Tuon smiled at the end. She realises she has to chase him. But she would eventually win and marry him.

An interesting side-question is Tylin knowing the name DotNM from her letter in ACOS, then saying when Mat was leaving "That's the trouble with having a pet fox. Sooner or later it remember it is a fox".

Raserei says: For some odd reason, I don't remember Tuon mentioning a person named Lyda. Odd...

Anyway...Both Tylin and Tuon had to chase Mat, only Tylin was more aggressive in her hunt for the "fox." Tuon is much more subtle, her actions stirring confusion into Mat. I realy like these two as a couple, but all I have to say is, let's see some HAIR on that woman!