Lady Baisha

Bright red hair, undeniable looks, and a vanity-driven temper. Bullied Little Locke when they were children; reappeared as a guest of the house once Lorist took the title, and tried to push the same dynamic on him. Lorist iced her down with help from Sedekamp.

Bright red hair, a shapely figure and lovely features — undeniably a beauty.

Capricious, vain and domineering. As a child she bullied Little Locke and tried to behave the same way when he returned as head of house — only to be coldly rebuffed.

Yet she is dogged and ambitious in her work: she carries a worn Combat Force manual, trains and promotes women warriors, and looks after her subordinates. She is capable of intrigue — she once foisted a maid on the bondsman Pachiko so he could not buy his freedom in time.

For years she was the woman of the eldest Norton brother, but bore him no children — she only slipped him a maid, who bore the boy. Because of this she is not, strictly speaking, Lorist's sister-in-law, though out of respect for his late brother he tolerates her antics for a time.

By Lorist's return she is the "Eldest Lady Baisha" at Rockcastle, settled into her standing within the family.

At their first meeting (ch 86) she treats Lorist familiarly and condescendingly; he coldly puts her in her place. When it comes out that she was found with another man (Ross), Lorist is actually relieved — it frees him of any duty to honour her as a sister-in-law (ch 174).

In time she finds her calling in soldiering: she commands a company of women warriors. In chs 167-168 a fraught scene plays out around her — mediated by Stewards Spel and Kodan, and involving the boy borne to the late brother by a maid. In ch 182 she furiously drags Knight Lunmod before Lorist: he has impregnated seven of her women soldiers at once, among them squad leaders and her own deputies.