regshoe

All good points about Keith and Ewen! And yes, I love Broster's omniscient POV that moves between the characters.

I think the two threads are probably either Keith and Ewen themselves, with the different colours being their different allegiances, or the conflicting feelings they both have for each other (admiration and friendship vs enmity—bs pbhefr gur snpg gung Xrvgu obgu nqzverf Rjra naq frrf uvz hanibvqnoyl nf na rarzl vf irel vzcbegnag ng obgu gurve svefg zrrgvat naq gurve ynfg!—but Ewen's feelings in particular do change considerably over time, so I'm not sure)—probably both? I like the 'spun threads that you twist together to get a stronger, single yarn' interpretation, though!