I was recently re-reading the Daine series and I have a concern to ask you about. After you decided to pair up Daine and Numair, did you ever get anyone expressing doubt about it. I mean, about the fact that a 30 year old man was in love with his 16 year old student?
Tammy: Occasionally I do, and my answer hasn’t changed. In some ways, Numair is emotionally far younger than his age (he’s 27, actually), and Daine is much older than her years emotionally. It didn’t feel wrong to me. If their relationship had begun this way, it would have been beyond creepy, but it happened when Daine was no longer his student, but his traveling companion and co-worker. He regards her as his magical equal, and in her field, she is. Also, and this is something I end up saying time after time, this is a medieval period, when it was far more common for young women to marry much older men (who had established themselves in life and could afford to support a wife). I mention as often as I can in the books that 16 is the age to marry among the lower classes, and some marry even younger. I really cheat in some ways by having noblewomen marry at 18, when in our world they might marry at 9 or 10! Very rarely was a woman able to marry someone her own age.
I’m sorry if this still makes you uncomfortable, but the truth is that none of my editors or my agent, who are very careful people, ever mentioned anything. I have promised my fans I won’t have such a large gap between romantic characters again, though! (Can I help it I like older men and always have?!)
Also, what was the reaction of Daine and Numair’s friends to them falling in love? Were they surprised or did they see it coming?
Tammy: Buri turned to Onua and said, “Well! Look who finally woke up!”
Apparently the only ones who were surprised were Daine and Numair. As I say, marriage between an older man and a younger woman is common.
SOURCE: [Random Buzz: Teens at Random]
Words of Tamora Pierce 