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i_read_what2022-04-30 11:19 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2022-04-30 11:19 pm
Track of the White Wolf - Part 1 - Chapter 9
So last time, Niall washed up on the wrong island and got to meet a lot of fantasy Irish people. They are differentiated from the fantasy Celtic people that make up the rest of the setting by being even more Irish. You get used to it.
So we begin the chapter with Niall waxing poetically about his new captor/hosts.
The Aerie of Erinn, Kilore is called. Apropos, I thought. Surely Shea raises eagles in place of sons and daughters.
Kilore perched atop a chalk-white, rocky headland at one nubby corner of Erinn. It afforded any long-sighted man a glimpse of Atvia, to the north across the channel the Erinnish call the Dragon’s Tail. It was only a shadowed view, distorted by sea spray and distance; distorted also by tears of grief and the bitterness of frustration.
I stood on the windy battlements and glared out at the choppy channel, cursing the dragon whose capriciousness had stolen away my brother. An Erinnish wind blew in my ears, singing a lament I knew too well. Each night it kept me awake. Each night it made me dream; dream of my brother.
Grief dulls the pain of physical wounds and ailments. My ribs knitted, my eye opened, the scrapes and bruises healed. I was whole again because of Erinnish care, but I found I regretted it. It gave me time to think of Ian again.
...damnit. Now I feel guilty for making fun of him. The downside with Roberson FINALLY giving us a decent sibling relationship is that Niall's grief feels real and palpable. I am sad and I don't like it.
Liam pops up to ask if Niall's melancholy is because he's longing for his Atvian bride. Niall shuts that down: it's hard to long for a woman that you've never actually met. Liam actually has more knowledge of her, which he shares:
Like me, Liam pressed his belly against the wall and hooked elbows over the top of the crenel, boundaried on either side by taller merlons. “A striking girl, she is. I saw her once, when she sailed the Dragon’s Tail to get a better look at Shea’s unruly children.” He grinned. “Atvia is so close, she might as well have shouted.”
Niall's not really up for talking to his captor, even if Liam's a nice dude, so he tries to shut down the conversation by accusing Liam of wanting Gisella for himself. For once, Roberson actually seems aware of the non-sequitur, and Niall admits to us that he said it simply to have something to say.
Liam just laughs. He's already married. He warns Niall though not to place too much trust in alliances made in the wedding bed. You'd think the grandson of Carillon and Electra would already know that, but I suppose that whole mess may not be well known outside of Homana's borders. And Donal's an idiot.
But this is interesting. Niall asks what Liam knows of that: a lot actually. Liam's mother is Atvian.
...I'd forgotten that. That actually might be sort of relevant in a later book. Niall is shocked, but I'm not really sure why. It's not like he's never heard of alliance marriages between enemies. Though he may be shocked that this one apparently didn't involve attempted regicide.
It's kind of interesting though:
Liam picked at mortar with a blunt finger. The nail was already blackened; this would peel it back. “Aye, Atvian she was. Shea married her to settle this accursed feud between the realms. For a while, it did. Then I was born, and Shea desired a title for his son. So he took back his claim as Lord of the Idrian Isles.” He glanced at me levelly. “Alaric is my uncle.”
...oh yay. This means that the marriages that I actually thought weren't incestuous in the later books actually are. Second cousins, rather than first cousins, but STILL. Woo. It's a game the whole family can play.
I mean, technically Donal and Aislinn were second cousins too, come to think of it. And while Alix and Duncan weren't related to each other, they both managed to share a half brother.
That's really fucking weird. This is a fucking weird book series.
Anyway, one thing I do like about this is that Shea is the one who went back on his word and renewed hostilities. So far, aside from the whole captivity part, the Erinnish folk are a lot friendlier and more likable than the Atvians. They've never invaded Homana. They're not allied with the Ihlini. They didn't force anyone into marriage and they weren't debatably involved in the ship sinking/Ian's death.
I'm used to McCaffrey's utter lack of nuance, so I'm weirdly refreshed that it's the friendlier people who are the aggressors here.
Anyway, there's some back and forth about the marriage between Niall and Gisella. Liam doesn't really think it's going to happen. Alaric isn't going to agree to Shea's demands, and he can always marry his daughter off somewhere else. In fact, after his initial "calculated outrage", Alaric hasn't sent any word at all.
Niall suggests that Liam send word to Donal then, but Liam's not really interested in seeing Homana's army poke its head into the Erinn-Atvian war. He's pretty sure that Alaric's pride won't let him reach out to Donal himself. So right now, things are at a satisfactory stalemate.
Except...
“How is there no need?” I cried. “My father does not even know his other son is dead!”
Liam released the clasp at once and looked at me in shock. “You had a brother on that ship?”
“Had,” I echoed numbly. Gods, why did it have to be Ian? “Aye. He went down, like all the others, swallowed by the dragon.”
To his credit, Liam is sympathetic. He even tries to be optimistic, but Niall shuts that down. Without Tasha, Ian is dead. Liam doesn't get it.
Liam pushed hair from his eyes. “’Tis hard on a man to lose a woman, but it does not always kill him, Niall. There is still a chance—” He broke off as I stared at him incredulously. “Why are ye gaping at me, lad? ’Tis not foolishness I spout, but truth!”
Slowly I shook my head. “Tasha was not his wife, Liam, nor even his light woman. Tasha was his lir. Without her, he is a dead man.”
“How can you be so certain of that? Was he a sickling, then? A weakling?” The wind tugged at beard and hair. “Looking at you, Niall, I think he must be a tougher man than you think.”
“It has nothing to do with toughness.” And everything to do with it. I reached out and caught his wrist, baring the sinewy underside to the sky. “If I took a knife and cut deeply enough to spill all your blood onto the stone, would you die?”
“Are ye daft, lad? Of course the bleeding would kill me!”
“Because you require the blood to live.” I let go of his wrist. “Think of a lir as that blood. Without Tasha, Ian dies.”
Niall isn't really good at explaining things, is he? And I really really wish Roberson would stop comparing lirs to women/sex partners. It's fucking creepy.
Anyway, this tangents, OF COURSE, into Niall's personal angst. And you know, much as I like Niall more than I like Donal, it IS getting a little old.
But Liam does seem to understand what Niall is saying when he says that this is the price for every warrior, except Niall himself:
Green eyes narrowed as he studied me. “Would ye be wanting it, then? This cost? If ye knew the animal, taken from ye, would result in your death though you be healthy—would ye still be wanting it?”
“Aye,” I said. “If a god came to me and offered a lir in exchange for an eye, I would give him both of them.”
(By the way, the foreshadowing is NOT subtle.)
Liam apologizes to Niall, calling him an honorable man who deserves better treatment than he's getting. But he's still not going to let him send word to Donal. He's got his own duty to his father.
The argument starts getting a little heated, but then they're interrupted:
A quiet voice intruded. But it was not Shea’s familiar growl. “Sometimes I’m wishing someone would break my brother. His arrogance knows no bounds.”
Liam laughs and we see that this person is actually Deirdre. Liam's sister. She gets a substantial description herself:
She was a feminine version of Liam, but lacking all the rough edges. Like him she was tall, but in her his bulk was slenderness. The hair was the same brilliant, brassy gold; unbound, the wind blew it away from her face. She wore green to match her eyes and no jewelry at all. She did not require it.
“Deirdre comes and goes as she pleases,” Liam said casually. “Shea gives her inordinate freedom.”
“For a woman?” she demanded. “He gives as much to you; more, being a man.” Her features were more masculine than feminine, bearing the father’s prominent stamp, but it did not lessen her striking looks. It merely gave them a different quality. “Why should I remain in this drafty pile of bricks and mortar when there is a world to see?”
...I find the emphasis on Deirdre's androgynous features kind of interesting in light of Niall's reaction to Strahan. Is Niall supposed to be bisexual or gay? Or just with a thing for androgyny?
Deirdre and Niall seem to hit it off pretty well actually:
"This war will last forever.” She pulled hair away from her eyes and clasped it, forming a single thick plume. Her nose bore two golden freckles. Her cheekbones were sharply angled—as much as Liam’s, I thought, but his were mostly hidden in his beard—and the wind whipped color into her cream-fair Erinnish skin. She smiled a warm, conspiratorial smile, as if we were boon companions embarked on a reckless childhood scheme. “Can you really break Liam for me?” she asked. “Like a piece of rotten bone?”
“Given the opportunity.” And yet I knew I could not.
Defined brows rose consideringly. “Then I shall be seeing you get it.” She glanced at Liam. “This is the hostage prince?”
Liam winced. “Guest, Deirdre… Niall is our guest.”
She shrugged. “Hostage, guest, captive….” Deirdre looked at me. “You are Niall of Homana. My father told me you were here.”
I like Deirdre. She says it like it is. We also get a funny little side note when the conversation turns to betrothals. Deirdre had once been betrothed herself, to a prince of Ellas. He broke it off though because he was in love with another woman. Evan! Evan, by the way, did turn out to marry Meghan. I spoiled that for you a long time ago, but it still makes me happy.
I suspect Meghan took one look at what happened to Bronwyn, realized that she could also be swept up into this fucked up prophecy-alliance-eugenics scheme and skipped the fuck out of town.
Deirdre doesn't recognize Meghan's name, or Finn's, when Niall explains what he knows of Evan's doings. She suggests that someday Niall can give her a Homanan history lesson. Since Shea isn't likely to allow him to go to Atvia.
There is a counter offer though: Niall could make an alliance with Erinn instead.
I mean, yeah, they really could. Deirdre even has Atvian blood! They'd get a good chunk of the prophecy bloodlines in one stroke! AND it wouldn't be incestuous!
But Homana's stupid laws rear their ugly head:
I sighed. “I am proxy-wed, Liam. In Homanan law, it is the same as being truly married…and we do not end proper marriages. If I did not wed Gisella now, having already been proxy-wed to her representative, it would be justification for Alaric to cry war and sail to Homana with every soldier he can muster.” I shook my head. “I am not a fool, Erinnish.”
Besides, there is the prophecy…if I were not to wed Gisella, what would become of my tahlmorra? Would I forego the afterworld?
MAYBE you guys should try to change Homanan law? It was pretty fucking stupid that Carillon had to stay married to an attempted regicide anyway. But Carillon was also obsessed with her, and I can buy that he didn't fight hard enough to change that.
But the prophecy doesn't explicitly say that Niall has to marry his cousin. It just requires the blood of four warring countries and two magical races. Deirdre's half Atvian. So combined, your kid HAS the necessary non-magical blood. Then you just have to figure out how to fuck an Ihlini and you're gold.
And as we'll see: Tynstar's kids tend to take after him, so you're probably okay there too.
Admittedly, though, the situation with Alaric may be more complicated. Osric managed to cause a fair amount of trouble when he invaded before, but he was helped by civil unrest in Solinde. Will that be a factor now?
Liam points out that Alaric isn't a fool either, and trying to invade Homana while still at war with Erinn would be pretty stupid. But Niall is insistent that he doesn't want to plunge Homana back into war.
Liam takes this with reasonably good grace. Deirdre finally speaks up and is pretty annoyed that her brother is offering her up as a game piece. She's got her own inclinations when it comes to marriage....and the timeline is a little bizarre here:
She smiled, curtsied, gathered up her skirts. “I’ll be leaving you now, my lord, if you’ll be having no objection.”
He sighed. “Go, Deirdre. Take your babble to our father.” She went, green skirts swinging, and Liam shook his head. “Wild, too wild, my father’s lass. But our mother died ten years ago, when Deirdre was only eight. Shea took a second wife—and a good woman, she is, but too timid in the ways of raising children. Even I can make no headway, no matter how hard I try.”
I thought of Isolde, wild in her own way. Ian knew—had known—her better than I, being full-born brother instead of half, yet even he had muttered about her recklessness. But ’Solde, I knew, was harmless. I thought Deirdre was as well.
So...wait a second. If Deirdre is eighteen now, then how the fuck old was she when she was betrothed to Evan??? Also, it means that Evan had already met and fell in love with Meghan before Deirdre was born.
I feel like this would make far more sense if Deirdre were like twenty-five or something. Then her aversion to marriage would be more significant. This would make her five or six when Evan met Meghan. This just feels like Roberson wanted Niall's love interest to be younger than he is and didn't bother figuring out a timeline.
(It reminds me of Mara Jade being younger than Luke Skywalker in Legends, when her entire backstory as the Emperor's Hand would have worked MUCH better if she were older than eighteen when the Death Star was destroyed. But god forbid we have a heroine older than the hero.)
I may not be entirely fair, since there is at least one match up in the next book where the woman is older than both of her competing love interests (one is a year younger, one is three years younger). But I'm still irrationally annoyed.
Anyway, Liam is just happy that his sister is back. He notes that while she's not beautiful, she has a way about her, and Niall's stay will be more comfortable with her around.
...that sounds a little sketchy, dude. And Niall agrees:
“Why?” My tone was equally blunt. “Will she be sharing my bed?”
Fast, so fast, he caught me by both arms and lifted me off my feet, pressing me up and over the crenel. Parting the veil of beard and mustache were taut lips and gritted teeth.
“Say it again,” he invited softly, “and I promise you the rocks below will be your bed.”
I did not have to look. I did not have to speak. I merely nodded to him.
Liam let me go. I slumped back against the crenel, clutching one of the merlons next to it. “You chafe,” he said, “I know. It would drive me mad as well. But do not make my sister the target of your anger.”
Slowly, I rearranged my clothing. I could think of nothing to say.
Liam shook his head. “Do as you wish. If you choose to make an enemy of my sister, you make one of my father. As for myself, I care little for what becomes of Donal’s yapping puppy.”
I mean, you're the one who kind of sounded like a pimp there, dude. But after the mess that was Legacy of the Sword, I'm happy to see a brother defend his sister's honor. And to give him credit, I don't think Niall would mistreat Deirdre just because he's angry at Shea and Liam.
The chapter ends here, with the battle lines regretfully drawn.
So we begin the chapter with Niall waxing poetically about his new captor/hosts.
The Aerie of Erinn, Kilore is called. Apropos, I thought. Surely Shea raises eagles in place of sons and daughters.
Kilore perched atop a chalk-white, rocky headland at one nubby corner of Erinn. It afforded any long-sighted man a glimpse of Atvia, to the north across the channel the Erinnish call the Dragon’s Tail. It was only a shadowed view, distorted by sea spray and distance; distorted also by tears of grief and the bitterness of frustration.
I stood on the windy battlements and glared out at the choppy channel, cursing the dragon whose capriciousness had stolen away my brother. An Erinnish wind blew in my ears, singing a lament I knew too well. Each night it kept me awake. Each night it made me dream; dream of my brother.
Grief dulls the pain of physical wounds and ailments. My ribs knitted, my eye opened, the scrapes and bruises healed. I was whole again because of Erinnish care, but I found I regretted it. It gave me time to think of Ian again.
...damnit. Now I feel guilty for making fun of him. The downside with Roberson FINALLY giving us a decent sibling relationship is that Niall's grief feels real and palpable. I am sad and I don't like it.
Liam pops up to ask if Niall's melancholy is because he's longing for his Atvian bride. Niall shuts that down: it's hard to long for a woman that you've never actually met. Liam actually has more knowledge of her, which he shares:
Like me, Liam pressed his belly against the wall and hooked elbows over the top of the crenel, boundaried on either side by taller merlons. “A striking girl, she is. I saw her once, when she sailed the Dragon’s Tail to get a better look at Shea’s unruly children.” He grinned. “Atvia is so close, she might as well have shouted.”
Niall's not really up for talking to his captor, even if Liam's a nice dude, so he tries to shut down the conversation by accusing Liam of wanting Gisella for himself. For once, Roberson actually seems aware of the non-sequitur, and Niall admits to us that he said it simply to have something to say.
Liam just laughs. He's already married. He warns Niall though not to place too much trust in alliances made in the wedding bed. You'd think the grandson of Carillon and Electra would already know that, but I suppose that whole mess may not be well known outside of Homana's borders. And Donal's an idiot.
But this is interesting. Niall asks what Liam knows of that: a lot actually. Liam's mother is Atvian.
...I'd forgotten that. That actually might be sort of relevant in a later book. Niall is shocked, but I'm not really sure why. It's not like he's never heard of alliance marriages between enemies. Though he may be shocked that this one apparently didn't involve attempted regicide.
It's kind of interesting though:
Liam picked at mortar with a blunt finger. The nail was already blackened; this would peel it back. “Aye, Atvian she was. Shea married her to settle this accursed feud between the realms. For a while, it did. Then I was born, and Shea desired a title for his son. So he took back his claim as Lord of the Idrian Isles.” He glanced at me levelly. “Alaric is my uncle.”
...oh yay. This means that the marriages that I actually thought weren't incestuous in the later books actually are. Second cousins, rather than first cousins, but STILL. Woo. It's a game the whole family can play.
I mean, technically Donal and Aislinn were second cousins too, come to think of it. And while Alix and Duncan weren't related to each other, they both managed to share a half brother.
That's really fucking weird. This is a fucking weird book series.
Anyway, one thing I do like about this is that Shea is the one who went back on his word and renewed hostilities. So far, aside from the whole captivity part, the Erinnish folk are a lot friendlier and more likable than the Atvians. They've never invaded Homana. They're not allied with the Ihlini. They didn't force anyone into marriage and they weren't debatably involved in the ship sinking/Ian's death.
I'm used to McCaffrey's utter lack of nuance, so I'm weirdly refreshed that it's the friendlier people who are the aggressors here.
Anyway, there's some back and forth about the marriage between Niall and Gisella. Liam doesn't really think it's going to happen. Alaric isn't going to agree to Shea's demands, and he can always marry his daughter off somewhere else. In fact, after his initial "calculated outrage", Alaric hasn't sent any word at all.
Niall suggests that Liam send word to Donal then, but Liam's not really interested in seeing Homana's army poke its head into the Erinn-Atvian war. He's pretty sure that Alaric's pride won't let him reach out to Donal himself. So right now, things are at a satisfactory stalemate.
Except...
“How is there no need?” I cried. “My father does not even know his other son is dead!”
Liam released the clasp at once and looked at me in shock. “You had a brother on that ship?”
“Had,” I echoed numbly. Gods, why did it have to be Ian? “Aye. He went down, like all the others, swallowed by the dragon.”
To his credit, Liam is sympathetic. He even tries to be optimistic, but Niall shuts that down. Without Tasha, Ian is dead. Liam doesn't get it.
Liam pushed hair from his eyes. “’Tis hard on a man to lose a woman, but it does not always kill him, Niall. There is still a chance—” He broke off as I stared at him incredulously. “Why are ye gaping at me, lad? ’Tis not foolishness I spout, but truth!”
Slowly I shook my head. “Tasha was not his wife, Liam, nor even his light woman. Tasha was his lir. Without her, he is a dead man.”
“How can you be so certain of that? Was he a sickling, then? A weakling?” The wind tugged at beard and hair. “Looking at you, Niall, I think he must be a tougher man than you think.”
“It has nothing to do with toughness.” And everything to do with it. I reached out and caught his wrist, baring the sinewy underside to the sky. “If I took a knife and cut deeply enough to spill all your blood onto the stone, would you die?”
“Are ye daft, lad? Of course the bleeding would kill me!”
“Because you require the blood to live.” I let go of his wrist. “Think of a lir as that blood. Without Tasha, Ian dies.”
Niall isn't really good at explaining things, is he? And I really really wish Roberson would stop comparing lirs to women/sex partners. It's fucking creepy.
Anyway, this tangents, OF COURSE, into Niall's personal angst. And you know, much as I like Niall more than I like Donal, it IS getting a little old.
But Liam does seem to understand what Niall is saying when he says that this is the price for every warrior, except Niall himself:
Green eyes narrowed as he studied me. “Would ye be wanting it, then? This cost? If ye knew the animal, taken from ye, would result in your death though you be healthy—would ye still be wanting it?”
“Aye,” I said. “If a god came to me and offered a lir in exchange for an eye, I would give him both of them.”
(By the way, the foreshadowing is NOT subtle.)
Liam apologizes to Niall, calling him an honorable man who deserves better treatment than he's getting. But he's still not going to let him send word to Donal. He's got his own duty to his father.
The argument starts getting a little heated, but then they're interrupted:
A quiet voice intruded. But it was not Shea’s familiar growl. “Sometimes I’m wishing someone would break my brother. His arrogance knows no bounds.”
Liam laughs and we see that this person is actually Deirdre. Liam's sister. She gets a substantial description herself:
She was a feminine version of Liam, but lacking all the rough edges. Like him she was tall, but in her his bulk was slenderness. The hair was the same brilliant, brassy gold; unbound, the wind blew it away from her face. She wore green to match her eyes and no jewelry at all. She did not require it.
“Deirdre comes and goes as she pleases,” Liam said casually. “Shea gives her inordinate freedom.”
“For a woman?” she demanded. “He gives as much to you; more, being a man.” Her features were more masculine than feminine, bearing the father’s prominent stamp, but it did not lessen her striking looks. It merely gave them a different quality. “Why should I remain in this drafty pile of bricks and mortar when there is a world to see?”
...I find the emphasis on Deirdre's androgynous features kind of interesting in light of Niall's reaction to Strahan. Is Niall supposed to be bisexual or gay? Or just with a thing for androgyny?
Deirdre and Niall seem to hit it off pretty well actually:
"This war will last forever.” She pulled hair away from her eyes and clasped it, forming a single thick plume. Her nose bore two golden freckles. Her cheekbones were sharply angled—as much as Liam’s, I thought, but his were mostly hidden in his beard—and the wind whipped color into her cream-fair Erinnish skin. She smiled a warm, conspiratorial smile, as if we were boon companions embarked on a reckless childhood scheme. “Can you really break Liam for me?” she asked. “Like a piece of rotten bone?”
“Given the opportunity.” And yet I knew I could not.
Defined brows rose consideringly. “Then I shall be seeing you get it.” She glanced at Liam. “This is the hostage prince?”
Liam winced. “Guest, Deirdre… Niall is our guest.”
She shrugged. “Hostage, guest, captive….” Deirdre looked at me. “You are Niall of Homana. My father told me you were here.”
I like Deirdre. She says it like it is. We also get a funny little side note when the conversation turns to betrothals. Deirdre had once been betrothed herself, to a prince of Ellas. He broke it off though because he was in love with another woman. Evan! Evan, by the way, did turn out to marry Meghan. I spoiled that for you a long time ago, but it still makes me happy.
I suspect Meghan took one look at what happened to Bronwyn, realized that she could also be swept up into this fucked up prophecy-alliance-eugenics scheme and skipped the fuck out of town.
Deirdre doesn't recognize Meghan's name, or Finn's, when Niall explains what he knows of Evan's doings. She suggests that someday Niall can give her a Homanan history lesson. Since Shea isn't likely to allow him to go to Atvia.
There is a counter offer though: Niall could make an alliance with Erinn instead.
I mean, yeah, they really could. Deirdre even has Atvian blood! They'd get a good chunk of the prophecy bloodlines in one stroke! AND it wouldn't be incestuous!
But Homana's stupid laws rear their ugly head:
I sighed. “I am proxy-wed, Liam. In Homanan law, it is the same as being truly married…and we do not end proper marriages. If I did not wed Gisella now, having already been proxy-wed to her representative, it would be justification for Alaric to cry war and sail to Homana with every soldier he can muster.” I shook my head. “I am not a fool, Erinnish.”
Besides, there is the prophecy…if I were not to wed Gisella, what would become of my tahlmorra? Would I forego the afterworld?
MAYBE you guys should try to change Homanan law? It was pretty fucking stupid that Carillon had to stay married to an attempted regicide anyway. But Carillon was also obsessed with her, and I can buy that he didn't fight hard enough to change that.
But the prophecy doesn't explicitly say that Niall has to marry his cousin. It just requires the blood of four warring countries and two magical races. Deirdre's half Atvian. So combined, your kid HAS the necessary non-magical blood. Then you just have to figure out how to fuck an Ihlini and you're gold.
And as we'll see: Tynstar's kids tend to take after him, so you're probably okay there too.
Admittedly, though, the situation with Alaric may be more complicated. Osric managed to cause a fair amount of trouble when he invaded before, but he was helped by civil unrest in Solinde. Will that be a factor now?
Liam points out that Alaric isn't a fool either, and trying to invade Homana while still at war with Erinn would be pretty stupid. But Niall is insistent that he doesn't want to plunge Homana back into war.
Liam takes this with reasonably good grace. Deirdre finally speaks up and is pretty annoyed that her brother is offering her up as a game piece. She's got her own inclinations when it comes to marriage....and the timeline is a little bizarre here:
She smiled, curtsied, gathered up her skirts. “I’ll be leaving you now, my lord, if you’ll be having no objection.”
He sighed. “Go, Deirdre. Take your babble to our father.” She went, green skirts swinging, and Liam shook his head. “Wild, too wild, my father’s lass. But our mother died ten years ago, when Deirdre was only eight. Shea took a second wife—and a good woman, she is, but too timid in the ways of raising children. Even I can make no headway, no matter how hard I try.”
I thought of Isolde, wild in her own way. Ian knew—had known—her better than I, being full-born brother instead of half, yet even he had muttered about her recklessness. But ’Solde, I knew, was harmless. I thought Deirdre was as well.
So...wait a second. If Deirdre is eighteen now, then how the fuck old was she when she was betrothed to Evan??? Also, it means that Evan had already met and fell in love with Meghan before Deirdre was born.
I feel like this would make far more sense if Deirdre were like twenty-five or something. Then her aversion to marriage would be more significant. This would make her five or six when Evan met Meghan. This just feels like Roberson wanted Niall's love interest to be younger than he is and didn't bother figuring out a timeline.
(It reminds me of Mara Jade being younger than Luke Skywalker in Legends, when her entire backstory as the Emperor's Hand would have worked MUCH better if she were older than eighteen when the Death Star was destroyed. But god forbid we have a heroine older than the hero.)
I may not be entirely fair, since there is at least one match up in the next book where the woman is older than both of her competing love interests (one is a year younger, one is three years younger). But I'm still irrationally annoyed.
Anyway, Liam is just happy that his sister is back. He notes that while she's not beautiful, she has a way about her, and Niall's stay will be more comfortable with her around.
...that sounds a little sketchy, dude. And Niall agrees:
“Why?” My tone was equally blunt. “Will she be sharing my bed?”
Fast, so fast, he caught me by both arms and lifted me off my feet, pressing me up and over the crenel. Parting the veil of beard and mustache were taut lips and gritted teeth.
“Say it again,” he invited softly, “and I promise you the rocks below will be your bed.”
I did not have to look. I did not have to speak. I merely nodded to him.
Liam let me go. I slumped back against the crenel, clutching one of the merlons next to it. “You chafe,” he said, “I know. It would drive me mad as well. But do not make my sister the target of your anger.”
Slowly, I rearranged my clothing. I could think of nothing to say.
Liam shook his head. “Do as you wish. If you choose to make an enemy of my sister, you make one of my father. As for myself, I care little for what becomes of Donal’s yapping puppy.”
I mean, you're the one who kind of sounded like a pimp there, dude. But after the mess that was Legacy of the Sword, I'm happy to see a brother defend his sister's honor. And to give him credit, I don't think Niall would mistreat Deirdre just because he's angry at Shea and Liam.
The chapter ends here, with the battle lines regretfully drawn.
I can't believe it, but I respect Roberson
Co-sporked by Finn.
I stood on the windy battlements and glared out at the choppy channel, cursing the dragon whose capriciousness had stolen away my brother. An Erinnish wind blew in my ears, singing a lament I knew too well. Each night it kept me awake. Each night it made me dream; dream of my brother.
Grief dulls the pain of physical wounds and ailments. My ribs knitted, my eye opened, the scrapes and bruises healed. I was whole again because of Erinnish care, but I found I regretted it. It gave me time to think of Ian again.
Finn: Poor guy.
Niall's not really up for talking to his captor, even if Liam's a nice dude, so he tries to shut down the conversation by accusing Liam of wanting Gisella for himself. For once, Roberson actually seems aware of the non-sequitur, and Niall admits to us that he said it simply to have something to say.
Liam just laughs. He's already married. He warns Niall though not to place too much trust in alliances made in the wedding bed. You'd think the grandson of Carillon and Electra would already know that, but I suppose that whole mess may not be well known outside of Homana's borders. And Donal's an idiot.
Pan: How come there are three new male characters who are not deparved?
I mean, technically Donal and Aislinn were second cousins too, come to think of it. And while Alix and Duncan weren't related to each other, they both managed to share a half brother.
Pan: *throws up* Because the three rapes between them were not bad enough already.
She was a feminine version of Liam, but lacking all the rough edges. Like him she was tall, but in her his bulk was slenderness. The hair was the same brilliant, brassy gold; unbound, the wind blew it away from her face. She wore green to match her eyes and no jewelry at all. She did not require it.
“Deirdre comes and goes as she pleases,” Liam said casually. “Shea gives her inordinate freedom.”
“For a woman?” she demanded. “He gives as much to you; more, being a man.” Her features were more masculine than feminine, bearing the father’s prominent stamp, but it did not lessen her striking looks. It merely gave them a different quality. “Why should I remain in this drafty pile of bricks and mortar when there is a world to see?”
Pan: She still is not objectified like Alix was.
...I find the emphasis on Deirdre's androgynous features kind of interesting in light of Niall's reaction to Strahan. Is Niall supposed to be bisexual or gay? Or just with a thing for androgyny?
Finn: At least, unlike the previous male leads, his preferences are nothing fucked up.
I sighed. “I am proxy-wed, Liam. In Homanan law, it is the same as being truly married…and we do not end proper marriages. If I did not wed Gisella now, having already been proxy-wed to her representative, it would be justification for Alaric to cry war and sail to Homana with every soldier he can muster.” I shook my head. “I am not a fool, Erinnish.”
Besides, there is the prophecy…if I were not to wed Gisella, what would become of my tahlmorra? Would I forego the afterworld?
MAYBE you guys should try to change Homanan law? It was pretty fucking stupid that Carillon had to stay married to an attempted regicide anyway. But Carillon was also obsessed with her, and I can buy that he didn't fight hard enough to change that.
Finn: It's something I really should tell Din Djarin Prime if I met him.
Also, Carillon was an idiot.
So...wait a second. If Deirdre is eighteen now, then how the fuck old was she when she was betrothed to Evan??? Also, it means that Evan had already met and fell in love with Meghan before Deirdre was born.
Pan: Roberson might have improved, but it's still Chronicles of the Cheysuli. There is your answer.
“Why?” My tone was equally blunt. “Will she be sharing my bed?”
Fast, so fast, he caught me by both arms and lifted me off my feet, pressing me up and over the crenel. Parting the veil of beard and mustache were taut lips and gritted teeth.
“Say it again,” he invited softly, “and I promise you the rocks below will be your bed.”
I did not have to look. I did not have to speak. I merely nodded to him.
Finn: Badass boast, and I like how he only became cruel when Niall said something he really shouldn't have.
Re: I can't believe it, but I respect Roberson
I joke, but it is a vast improvement. Unfortunately, the incestuous aspects will continue. The timeline part will still be a bit shaky for one character, but that might just be an Ihlini thing. (Strahan's own timeline doesn't completely make sense as he should be older than Bronwyn or Meghan.)