Winterfair Gifts recap

As Miles and Ekaterin prepare to marry, the newly appointed armsman Roic is assigned to help Sergeant Taura navigate Barrayaran high-Vor society. A pearl necklace sent as a wedding gift makes Ekaterin acutely ill and distressed. Taura's enhanced vision reveals a suspicious coating on the pearls, and Roic calls in ImpSec. Investigators identify a concealed Jacksonian neurotoxin and trace the attack to a criminal operative using an arrested count's heir as an expendable intermediary against Miles's Auditor inquiry. Ekaterin is expected to recover fully. She wears the decontaminated pearls in defiance and marries Miles in the Vorkosigan garden before they depart for Surleau. Roic and Taura begin a relationship, although she must soon return to the mercenary fleet and lives with an uncertain prognosis.

Previously: Miles Vorkosigan became an Imperial Auditor and now leads the Vorkosigan household. He is engaged to Ekaterin Vorsoisson, Nikki's mother and a niece of Vorthys. Ekaterin's first marriage damaged her confidence about marrying again, making the approaching ceremony emotionally difficult despite her commitment to Miles. Miles has begun an Auditor inquiry involving a count's heir. His household includes longstanding family and associates from Barrayar and off-world, among them his aunt Alys Vorpatril, his cousin Ivan Vorpatril, retired ImpSec chief Simon Illyan, and mercenary Sergeant Taura.

Miles and Ekaterin's wedding gathers associates from Barrayar and off-world. The new Vorkosigan armsman Roic is assigned to accompany Sergeant Taura while Alys Vorpatril prepares the bioengineered mercenary for high-Vor society. Taura and Roic recover from an awkward first encounter and recognize a mutual attraction. Meanwhile, Ekaterin tries on a pearl necklace from Elli Quinn's wedding package and is struck by severe illness and emotional distress. Miles worries that he has pressured her into marriage. During the night, Taura's enhanced sight detects an abnormal coating on the pearls. Roic trusts her judgment and summons ImpSec. The service confirms that heat-sensitive lacquer concealed a Jacksonian designer neurotoxin. Ekaterin's exposure should have no permanent effects. General Allegre traces the weapon through the count's heir arrested during Miles's Auditor inquiry to a criminal operative from Jackson's Hole. The heir was an expendable frontman in an attempt to kill Ekaterin and create disorder around the investigation. Ekaterin chooses to wear the decontaminated pearls rather than yield to the threat. She and Miles marry in the Vorkosigan garden, with Ivan Vorpatril and Taura as their seconds, and leave for Surleau. Roic and Taura become partners, although she expects to return to the mercenary fleet in about ten days and her prognosis remains uncertain.

Taura's enhanced sight exposes the coating on the pearls before the necklace can do further harm. ImpSec identifies a Jacksonian designer neurotoxin and traces the weapon through the arrested heir to a criminal operative from Jackson's Hole. The heir had been used as a disposable intermediary in an effort to kill Ekaterin and disrupt Miles's Auditor inquiry. Ekaterin is expected to recover without lasting damage. She keeps the cleaned necklace and wears it at the ceremony as a deliberate refusal to be intimidated. Miles and Ekaterin marry in the Vorkosigan garden, with Ivan Vorpatril and Taura serving as their seconds, then leave for a honeymoon at Surleau. Roic and Taura also leave the celebration together after acknowledging their attraction. Their relationship begins with little time available: Taura expects to return to the mercenary fleet in about ten days, and her medical outlook remains uncertain. The immediate murder plot has been contained, but Miles's public duties continue to expose those near him to danger.