Daughter of the Lion - Chapter Two
Apr. 25th, 2024 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatMy schedule for posting is all askew, isn't it. Oh well, at some point it will settle itself. (Honestly, the only books I ever really need a set day for is the Janny Wurts ones, as those really do need a weekend.)
Last time, we met Keely, the first female lead we've had in this series since Alix. And so far, she's not too bad. She's got obvious strengths and flaws, and they all seem fairly natural and realistic. Her issues are obvious and the self-centered aspects of her personality seem deliberate on the part of the author and will hopefully be explored as we go.
So far, not a bad start. Can Roberson keep this up and actually give us two good books in a row?
We rejoin Keely as she's heading into her chambers for a bath. Unfortunately, for her, that's going to have to wait. Because she's got a sudden visit form a disapproving dad.
Even in this decent book, Roberson can't quite resist the urge to be a little skeevy:
For a moment, only a moment, I seriously considered stripping out of my boots and clothing anyway, just to see his reaction. I decided against it because, by the look in his eye, he would not be put off by anything, not even his daughter's nudity, until he had his say.
Is this because Keely doesn't have a lir? You can't imply bestiality, so you're going with vague incest vibes? Really?
Okay, anyway, Niall's found out that Keely's been learning the sword and he's not really happy about it. He wants her to stop.
I think this is a case where it might have been good to have showed us some female fighter-types in the past. Keely can't possibly be the only woman in the world to want to fight. When the Cheysuli were decimated after the qu'mahlin, or one of the plagues, they never had women take up weapons and hunt?
The reason I bring this up is because I can't really tell if this is out of character for Niall or not. Niall's never seemed particularly sexist, at least not beyond the usual elements of the setting. But we've also never really seen him, or any of the other characters, encounter anyone who didn't abide to strict gender roles.
Keely's defense is pretty standard "action girl feminist":
I pressed fingers against my breastbone, tapping for emphasis. "I am not a fragile, useless female . . . I know how to fight. All my rujholli have taught me knife and bow . .. why should I not learn the sword?"
Ugh. The dark side of these sorts of books emerges. I LIKE tough warrior type female characters. And as someone who wasn't particularly feminine even before I figured a few things out, I'm inclined in spirit to go with the "female arts are boring" mindset.
That said, just because I find something boring doesn't mean I think it's useless. And I don't really believe a woman in this setting would feel that way either. A lot of "women's work" still provided important things for the household: sewing, for example, is a lot bigger deal in a culture that doesn't have mass production and department stores. Keely might not want to sew, but I feel like she'd appreciate having clothes on her back.
Granted, these are royal women and I'm not entirely sure what royal women actually do in this series. Deirdre's got that tapestry?
Anyway, we get a look at how Keely sees her father and their relationship:
He leaned against the door, assuming an attitude of relaxed, quiet authority; he could order me, I knew, and probably would, but if I could give him a logical argument beyond refute, I might yet win. Sometimes I could. Not often. Not nearly often enough.
I looked at my father's face, seeing what others saw: lines of care and concern bracketing eyes and mouth; the silvering of his hair, mingled still with tawny brown; the leather patch stretched over the emptiness that once had been his right eye.
But I saw more than that. I saw kindness and compassion. Strength of spirit and will. Loyalty and love, honesty and pride, and a tremendous dedication to his personal convictions.
Niall has an interesting question: why does she want to learn the sword?
I shrugged. "I do. I want to know them all, all the weapons men use in war . .. not because I desire to go to war, but because I have an interest in weapons." Balancing storklike on one leg, I twisted my knee up and tugged on the toe and heel of my left boot to work if off. "Why do you ask me such things, jehan? You never ask Deirdre why she weaves that tapestry of lions . . . nor Brennan why he enjoys training and racing his horses. You only ask me, because I care for things you and other men think unseemly to a woman," The boot came off; I dropped it and traded feet, feeling the chill of stone on my now-bare sole. "You are such a stalwart champion of fairness and justice, jehan—and yet you are blind to unfairness and injustice under your own roof."
I don't think Keely's entirely truthful here. For one thing, she doesn't mention wanting to learn the pike or lance, or whatever other weapons the guards use. I think she wants to learn the sword because of what it symbolizes: mainly a male power that she wants to access. Which is fair.
Niall's response hits into that problem I articulated in chapter one:
"I hardly think it is unfair to ask my daughter to cease learning the sword," he said flatly. "By the gods, Keely, you have known more freedom than any woman born in the last fifty or sixty years . . . you have the gift of lir-shape, and you speak freely to all the lir. All that, and yet you also insist on tricking my arms-master into teaching you the sword."
It does weaken a feminist message, just a little, when the heroine has all of these things that no other woman in the setting can access. And it's part of the reason that the lack of mention of ANY other martial women is a bit grating.
I don't think Roberson means it, but we end up with the undertone of "do all women deserve this right? Or just Keely?"
I'm not necessarily saying we need to have female guardmen in the palace, or even Cheysuli huntresses at the keep. I'd be happy with some comment like "do you want to be like those wild ax-women of the Steppes?"
Just SOMETHING to indicate that Keely's mindset is not unique to her and her alone. And maybe a hint that even women that don't have cool powers might have their own interesting stories - even if we're not reading them.
Keely defends herself: Hart taught her how to wager. She won fairly. Niall fuels the fire of family resentment here though:
He sighed and rubbed wearily at his brow, automatically resettling the leather strap that held the eyepatch in place. "Hart taught you how to wager, Corin how to rebel ... it would be too much to assume Brennan taught you civility and respect—"
I've said before, Brennan's my favorite of the second half of the series. But he'd be really annoying to have as a sibling.
Keely's response though is a BIT out of line.
I cut him off even as I moved to stand on a rug. "Do you want to know what Brennan has taught me, jehan? He has taught me that a man has no regard for his cheysula, thinking only of himself ... by the gods, jehan, Aidan's birth nearly killed Aileen! And now she must go through it again, with two?" I shook my head. "Teach Brennan restraint, jehan, and then perhaps I will allow him to teach me civility and respect."
It does illustrate her self-centeredness very well though. Because we know, from Aileen herself, that this isn't what happened. Aileen said it very clearly: this conception was not intentional, but the by-product of mutually-enjoyed, consensual sex with her husband. But Keely, as much as she cares about Aileen, doesn't really listen to her or see her. Keely looks at Aileen and sees Keely.
Keely is afraid of marriage and has no interest, right now at least, in sex. And therefore, no matter how much Aileen says otherwise, Aileen can't possibly be an active, consenting party to her own relationship. It's understandable, I suppose, but if I were Aileen, I'd be pretty annoyed. And I can't imagine Brennan is all that happy with his sister constantly insinuating that he's essentially a rapist.
It's funny though, because while this is a very effective character beat and Roberson uses it very well. It's also a character beat that could only work in this generation, because the relationship between Brennan and Aileen is the first time we actually get a completely consensual marriage in this series.
Think about it!
Alix and Duncan were a trainwreck. He tricked her into a relationship, tried to force her to be his mistress, then FINALLY allowed her to be his wife while disapproving of every bit of initiative she's ever shown for herself. Electra was forced into marriage kicking and screaming by a man who was somehow shocked that she betrayed him for her real love. Aislinn was willing, in theory, but she was stuck with a man who believed that the best way to break through her mother's programming was to rape her, and then had no intention of treating her like a real wife because he had a "real family" somewhere else. Even Niall, our first decent protagonist, had some issues. Granted, he was first a victim of Gisella's mind control, but once that was off - well, look, there was no way that woman was compos mentis enough to consent to anything.
I understand now why Roberson waited so long to write her feminist book: in literally any other generation, Keely would be absolutely right.
Niall rightly points out that Brennan and Aileen's relationship is between Brennan and Aileen. Keely's own feelings are well known and they won't get any objectivity from her.
Keely's response...well...
I yanked the knotted thong out of my braid and began unthreading plaited hair violently. "Oh, and I suppose you think making me put down the sword will transform me into an obedient, compliant woman. One like your beloved Maeve, perhaps, giving in to Teirnan when she knows better ... or perhaps even Deirdre, born to be a queen and yet forced to be light woman to a king who will not set aside the cheysula who tried to abduct his children." In my anger I felt sweat-crisped hair tearing. "Do you know what they call her, jehan? Not light woman. Not even meijha, which holds more honor . .. no, jehan. They call her whore. Deirdre of Erinn, whore."
1. It would be a lot easier to like Keely if she wasn't such an ass to Maeve. I get it, Maeve is the boring sister. So much so that the boys all share a book, Keely gets her own, and Maeve gets nothing. Her eventual fate will be revealed in a throwaway in Flight of the Raven. I'll spill it at the end of this book probably, because it is genuinely infuriating. (Don't worry, she's not dead.)
2. I still have never seen ANY evidence that meijhas are more respected than light women. If you want me to believe this, Roberson, show one that isn't absolutely miserable.
3. The issue of Deirdre's treatment is interesting. And worth talking about in terms of a feminist critique. The problem is that it doesn't really GO anywhere. I don't remember Keely making any sort of effort to improve Deirdre's circumstances. Deirdre's circumstances are basically just more ammunition for Keely to grouse about how awful it is to be a woman.
And I mean, yes, I agree. In this series, it IS awful to be a woman. But you know, there are worse things than being a princess and living in a castle surrounded by servants, with ample food and necessities.
4. Roberson does do something interesting here, and I don't know if it's intentional or not. But a lot of Keely's issues are wrapped up in her arranged marriage. Understandably, she's not a fan. But Deirdre ISN'T Niall's arranged bride. She's his love match. She's the partner he chose, rather than the partner he married for duty. And aspects of her life really do suck because of it.
And it's interesting to compare her to Aileen's circumstance. Deirdre's in the love match, Aileen's in the arranged marriage. But with the GIANT caveat of child birth, Aileen doesn't seem unhappy.
5. I don't like the way Keely talks about Deirdre here though. It's not that she's wrong or that she shouldn't call Niall out. But I feel like Roberson forgot, or never really thought about the fact that Keely was an infant when Deirdre came to the palace. For all intents and purposes, Deirdre IS her mother. And Keely never once sees or treats her that way.
Anyway, it hits home.
I faced him squarely, waiting. Knowing he was hurt and shocked and angry, at least as angry as I, if for different reasons. But he said nothing of that, having better control. Having learned to shut his mouth. It was something I had not, and probably never would. Though sometimes I wished I could.
Just now, I wished I had. I hated to see him hurt. Gisella was far beyond the ken or control of either of us; that some Homanans spoke of her as the Queen of Homana and claimed she should be by the Mujhar's side instead of banished to Atvia meant nothing to us other than ignorance. They did not understand. They could not. For even though she was labeled Mad Gisella, she was also the Mujhar's wife in Homanan law, cheysula in Cheysuli, and she had borne three sons for the succession, as well as the prophecy. One and the same, these days; to many, it was all that counted.
And so Deirdre, whom my father loved more than life itself, was made to suffer the insults better ladled onto my mother, who had tried to give her children into Strahan's perverted power.
Her sons, that is. Her daughter, a mere girl, had counted for next to nothing. It was boys the Ihlini wanted.
...really, Keely? You're REALLY going there?
Okay, I get the gender envy thing in general, but being jealous of your brothers for being targeted by the bad guy when infants is a bit fucking much.
Niall brings things back around to Keely's swordplay. He'd prefer she not do it. Keely points out that it's too late: she's half-taught now, which is dangerous. When Niall threatens to order that the Captain stop teaching her, she threatens to go to someone else.
I was moving away as I said the last, intending to go into the antechamber where my bath was waiting, but he reached out and caught my arm, with nothing of gentleness in his grasp, and snapped me back around.
I nearly gasped, so startled was I by his demeanor. He was coldly, deadly serious, no more the father half-amused, half-tired of his rebellious daughter's antics. He was now more than father entirely, being Mujhar as well.
Being also Cheysuli warrior, with fir-gold on his arms and glittering in his hair. Tawny-silver instead of black, blue-eyed in place of yellow, but still he was Cheysuli. Like others, I often forgot it; he seems more Homanan in habits, until he takes care to remind us that in his veins flows gods-blessed blood as hot as it flows in mine.
...I'm not sure what I think about the fact that Niall seems most Cheysuli when he's physically manhandling his daughter, Roberson. But I'm filing it away with how the ONLY explicitly dark skinned Cheysuli women we see in the series are villains. And well, all of Shapechangers.
Niall asks her if she realizes that he might have a good reason for what he decides. And then...oh this is bullshit.
His voice was very quiet. "I will not argue for the Homanans, who expect little more of their women than the obedience and compliance you mentioned, but I will argue for the Cheysuli, who give women more honor and respect." His grasp tightened on my wrist. "Has it never crossed your mind that women do not learn the sword because they lack the strength to use it?"
Okay, first, the idea that Cheysuli give women more honor and respect is fucking BULLSHIT. I've read this series. Hell, last chapter and in the intro, I enumerated all the ways they abso-fucking-lutely do NOT give women more respect. You've had five books to prove otherwise, and every single thing we've seen about the lives of women in Cheysuli society show that it's fucking WORSE.
ALIX ALMOST HAD TO MARRY HER BROTHER!!! SORCHA KILLED HERSELF TO ATTACK HER LOVER'S WIFE. MAEVE HAD TO PETITION TO BE FREED FROM BEING THE MISTRESS OF A TRAITOR.
FUCK THAT BULLSHIT.
Anyway. The other part is an interesting argument though and one that I might give a little credence to. NOT as a blanket universal statement mind you. I've consistently argued against, for example, the practice of giving cis men and cis women different max stats in an RPG, because when you take outliers into account, there's always the possibility of someone of either gender performing incredible physical feats.
It is maybe fair to note though that MOST cis men tend to be physically stronger than cis women. And it's not like Keely's built like Brienne of Tarth either. She COULD plausibly have been, if Roberson wanted. Carillon and Niall are giants after all. But she explicitly made a point of having Corin and Keely be smaller and slighter.
He knew better. I am tall, even for a Cheysuli woman, and have not spent my years in idle pursuits. Tough and hard and strong, like a warrior, though without a warrior's bulk. "Lean and lethal," Corin had often called me. He had not, lately, because now he lived in Atvia, hundreds of leagues away. Closer now to Erinn than to Homana; farther from Aileen, whom he loved, or had; I no longer knew how he felt. He said nothing of her in his letters. I said little in mine to him.
"Weak, no," he conceded, "but strong enough? Perhaps. Perhaps not; you have never been in battle." He reached out again, this time with both hands, and took my wrists in a much gender grasp. "I know, Keely. I have seen men shorter and slighter than you in battle, and they do well enough . . . usually. But matched with a larger, stronger opponent, they die. And even you must admit that most women are considerably smaller and weaker than men, particularly hardened soldiers."
...I might have liked Corin more if we got to see the side of him that called Keely "lean and lethal." The Corin I remember just groaned at the thought of his sister being involved in his adventures and then laughed at her fear of marital rape.
...and here we go again:
"If they were allowed to do things other than mend clothing, make soap, bear babies ..." I let it trail off, shrugging. "Who could say, jehan? And our history tells us Cheysuli women once fought beside their warriors."
"Aye, in lir-shape," he agreed dryly. "There is some difference, I think, between that sort of battle and the ones the unblessed Homanans fight."
And again, we get that issue. Is this a matter of all women should get to be warriors if they want, or just special, magical Keely?
Why AREN'T there female warriors? Even if I'm willing to grant Niall that small men and women have a disadvantage against large men when it comes to the type of sword fighting that they do, the Cheysuli use bows and knives. Dex weapons, to borrow D&D terms.
I also, again, think that the scorn for mending clothing and making soap is anachronistic, and it annoys me in a lot of action girl feminism, because I feel like a woman of this time period (or the medieval europe equivalent) would be fucking grateful for mended clothing and soap, even if she herself wasn't able to make it.
The scorn for such things ONLY makes sense in modern society, when we can go to fucking Walmart and buy mass produced clothing and soap whenever we want.
Keely admits that she doesn't want to go to war. She just wants to learn the sword like her brothers, and is it fair to be denied because of her sex. And...fair enough.
I do think this part is interesting:
Are you so unhappy being a woman?" He had never asked it before, though my brothers had. Even Maeve once, my very feminine older sister, who allows body to rule head. "Do you wish that much to be a man?"
I smiled with infinite patience. "No," I told him gently. "I want only to be me."
Again, NOT a fan of the casual insult to Maeve. Fuck off, Keely.
Niall makes a deal with Keely, telling her to meet Griffon "as he should be met", in battle with wrapped blades. When the match is done, she then decides if it's worth the trouble and the pain.
Hah, well, of course, Keely's on board with that idea.
We segue clumsily into the topic of Keely's marriage. It's an intentional clumsiness, not a Robersonism, as Niall muses about not being able to predict what Sean would say when he meets her.
I mean...you could ask Aileen? She's his sister after all. And while she's not a swordswoman, she's not a wilting flower either. We SAW her basically acting as a temporary regent while both Liam and Sean were away, so Sean's not likely to completely reject the idea of a forthright woman.
Keely just says that if the gods are on her side, he'll say he doesn't want her. Niall just says that they've given Keely a lot of time, but someday soon, the letter will come asking for the marriage. Keely just says, lightly, that they can pray for a storm at sea.
--
We skip ahead a bit. Keely actually doesn't end up getting her bath because even as the servants pour more hot water, she can hear a commotion outside. Deirdre's voice is raised, and it becomes clear that there's a problem with Aileen. She's bleeding.
Deirdre's asking if Niall and Ian can link to heal her. And THIS is fascinating:
My father shook his head but twice. "Not Ian; Tasha has the cubs. Until she is free of them, he is bound by human standards. No lir-shape, no healing ... I will have to do it alone." He frowned. "Brennan should be told. He will want to know—to be with her—"
Wait. Wait-wait-wait. What?
a) If a lir has babies, the warrior can't use powers? WHAT?
b) Also, I'm not sure what I think of Niall using the term "human standards". Internalized racism? Cheysuli ARE human, even with magic.
c) I'm pretty sure we saw Finn heal on his own, before, without a partner to "link" with. I'm not sure why Niall would need one. I'd almost be willing to attribute it to decreased Cheysuli heritage, but they still have enough for Keely to shapeshift so...
Anyway, Brennan's off at Clankeep, "blowing out" one of his colts. That's a problem, because it's too far for Serri to reach Sleeta through lir link. They'll have to do it without him.
OH. Okay, implicitly Niall can do it himself, it just is better with more. Hey, why aren't there more Cheysuli in the palace? The Ihlini pretty much constantly target the royal family after all, and Cheysuli presence is the only thing that helps curtail that.
Also why can't Keely help with healing? Alix did.
But Keely can't do girl stuff. Shapeshifting is the more action-girl power than healing, so she's going to get Brennan. Oh, she's also going to be a bit of a bitch about it though:
I will go." It seemed obvious to me, and not worth the conversation. I left the doorway, scooped up my boots and tugged them on again, also buckling on my belt, knife sheathed. It took but a moment longer to grab a leather hunting cap from a chest, and I was with them once again. "I will send him home at once. Tell Aileen he is on his way already; it may calm her." Briefly I shook my head, putting on my cap and stuffing loose, braid-rippled hair beneath the crimson-tasseled peak rising above the crown of my head. Then tugged pointed ear-flaps into place, joggling red tassels. "Although why it should calm her to know the man who caused such pain is on his way—"
I'll be honest. If I were Brennan, I feel like I would really dislike Keely. I'm just saying. So Keely takes raptor shape and flies off and the chapter ends.
I had a lot more complaints this time around, but that's just how I roll. I actually am enjoying it so far. Keely's a well-written protagonist, though I have to admit, I do find her really irritating sometimes, in the way that I'd find a real person with that personality irritating. But maybe she'll grow out of it. She is at least interesting so far.
Last time, we met Keely, the first female lead we've had in this series since Alix. And so far, she's not too bad. She's got obvious strengths and flaws, and they all seem fairly natural and realistic. Her issues are obvious and the self-centered aspects of her personality seem deliberate on the part of the author and will hopefully be explored as we go.
So far, not a bad start. Can Roberson keep this up and actually give us two good books in a row?
We rejoin Keely as she's heading into her chambers for a bath. Unfortunately, for her, that's going to have to wait. Because she's got a sudden visit form a disapproving dad.
Even in this decent book, Roberson can't quite resist the urge to be a little skeevy:
For a moment, only a moment, I seriously considered stripping out of my boots and clothing anyway, just to see his reaction. I decided against it because, by the look in his eye, he would not be put off by anything, not even his daughter's nudity, until he had his say.
Is this because Keely doesn't have a lir? You can't imply bestiality, so you're going with vague incest vibes? Really?
Okay, anyway, Niall's found out that Keely's been learning the sword and he's not really happy about it. He wants her to stop.
I think this is a case where it might have been good to have showed us some female fighter-types in the past. Keely can't possibly be the only woman in the world to want to fight. When the Cheysuli were decimated after the qu'mahlin, or one of the plagues, they never had women take up weapons and hunt?
The reason I bring this up is because I can't really tell if this is out of character for Niall or not. Niall's never seemed particularly sexist, at least not beyond the usual elements of the setting. But we've also never really seen him, or any of the other characters, encounter anyone who didn't abide to strict gender roles.
Keely's defense is pretty standard "action girl feminist":
I pressed fingers against my breastbone, tapping for emphasis. "I am not a fragile, useless female . . . I know how to fight. All my rujholli have taught me knife and bow . .. why should I not learn the sword?"
Ugh. The dark side of these sorts of books emerges. I LIKE tough warrior type female characters. And as someone who wasn't particularly feminine even before I figured a few things out, I'm inclined in spirit to go with the "female arts are boring" mindset.
That said, just because I find something boring doesn't mean I think it's useless. And I don't really believe a woman in this setting would feel that way either. A lot of "women's work" still provided important things for the household: sewing, for example, is a lot bigger deal in a culture that doesn't have mass production and department stores. Keely might not want to sew, but I feel like she'd appreciate having clothes on her back.
Granted, these are royal women and I'm not entirely sure what royal women actually do in this series. Deirdre's got that tapestry?
Anyway, we get a look at how Keely sees her father and their relationship:
He leaned against the door, assuming an attitude of relaxed, quiet authority; he could order me, I knew, and probably would, but if I could give him a logical argument beyond refute, I might yet win. Sometimes I could. Not often. Not nearly often enough.
I looked at my father's face, seeing what others saw: lines of care and concern bracketing eyes and mouth; the silvering of his hair, mingled still with tawny brown; the leather patch stretched over the emptiness that once had been his right eye.
But I saw more than that. I saw kindness and compassion. Strength of spirit and will. Loyalty and love, honesty and pride, and a tremendous dedication to his personal convictions.
Niall has an interesting question: why does she want to learn the sword?
I shrugged. "I do. I want to know them all, all the weapons men use in war . .. not because I desire to go to war, but because I have an interest in weapons." Balancing storklike on one leg, I twisted my knee up and tugged on the toe and heel of my left boot to work if off. "Why do you ask me such things, jehan? You never ask Deirdre why she weaves that tapestry of lions . . . nor Brennan why he enjoys training and racing his horses. You only ask me, because I care for things you and other men think unseemly to a woman," The boot came off; I dropped it and traded feet, feeling the chill of stone on my now-bare sole. "You are such a stalwart champion of fairness and justice, jehan—and yet you are blind to unfairness and injustice under your own roof."
I don't think Keely's entirely truthful here. For one thing, she doesn't mention wanting to learn the pike or lance, or whatever other weapons the guards use. I think she wants to learn the sword because of what it symbolizes: mainly a male power that she wants to access. Which is fair.
Niall's response hits into that problem I articulated in chapter one:
"I hardly think it is unfair to ask my daughter to cease learning the sword," he said flatly. "By the gods, Keely, you have known more freedom than any woman born in the last fifty or sixty years . . . you have the gift of lir-shape, and you speak freely to all the lir. All that, and yet you also insist on tricking my arms-master into teaching you the sword."
It does weaken a feminist message, just a little, when the heroine has all of these things that no other woman in the setting can access. And it's part of the reason that the lack of mention of ANY other martial women is a bit grating.
I don't think Roberson means it, but we end up with the undertone of "do all women deserve this right? Or just Keely?"
I'm not necessarily saying we need to have female guardmen in the palace, or even Cheysuli huntresses at the keep. I'd be happy with some comment like "do you want to be like those wild ax-women of the Steppes?"
Just SOMETHING to indicate that Keely's mindset is not unique to her and her alone. And maybe a hint that even women that don't have cool powers might have their own interesting stories - even if we're not reading them.
Keely defends herself: Hart taught her how to wager. She won fairly. Niall fuels the fire of family resentment here though:
He sighed and rubbed wearily at his brow, automatically resettling the leather strap that held the eyepatch in place. "Hart taught you how to wager, Corin how to rebel ... it would be too much to assume Brennan taught you civility and respect—"
I've said before, Brennan's my favorite of the second half of the series. But he'd be really annoying to have as a sibling.
Keely's response though is a BIT out of line.
I cut him off even as I moved to stand on a rug. "Do you want to know what Brennan has taught me, jehan? He has taught me that a man has no regard for his cheysula, thinking only of himself ... by the gods, jehan, Aidan's birth nearly killed Aileen! And now she must go through it again, with two?" I shook my head. "Teach Brennan restraint, jehan, and then perhaps I will allow him to teach me civility and respect."
It does illustrate her self-centeredness very well though. Because we know, from Aileen herself, that this isn't what happened. Aileen said it very clearly: this conception was not intentional, but the by-product of mutually-enjoyed, consensual sex with her husband. But Keely, as much as she cares about Aileen, doesn't really listen to her or see her. Keely looks at Aileen and sees Keely.
Keely is afraid of marriage and has no interest, right now at least, in sex. And therefore, no matter how much Aileen says otherwise, Aileen can't possibly be an active, consenting party to her own relationship. It's understandable, I suppose, but if I were Aileen, I'd be pretty annoyed. And I can't imagine Brennan is all that happy with his sister constantly insinuating that he's essentially a rapist.
It's funny though, because while this is a very effective character beat and Roberson uses it very well. It's also a character beat that could only work in this generation, because the relationship between Brennan and Aileen is the first time we actually get a completely consensual marriage in this series.
Think about it!
Alix and Duncan were a trainwreck. He tricked her into a relationship, tried to force her to be his mistress, then FINALLY allowed her to be his wife while disapproving of every bit of initiative she's ever shown for herself. Electra was forced into marriage kicking and screaming by a man who was somehow shocked that she betrayed him for her real love. Aislinn was willing, in theory, but she was stuck with a man who believed that the best way to break through her mother's programming was to rape her, and then had no intention of treating her like a real wife because he had a "real family" somewhere else. Even Niall, our first decent protagonist, had some issues. Granted, he was first a victim of Gisella's mind control, but once that was off - well, look, there was no way that woman was compos mentis enough to consent to anything.
I understand now why Roberson waited so long to write her feminist book: in literally any other generation, Keely would be absolutely right.
Niall rightly points out that Brennan and Aileen's relationship is between Brennan and Aileen. Keely's own feelings are well known and they won't get any objectivity from her.
Keely's response...well...
I yanked the knotted thong out of my braid and began unthreading plaited hair violently. "Oh, and I suppose you think making me put down the sword will transform me into an obedient, compliant woman. One like your beloved Maeve, perhaps, giving in to Teirnan when she knows better ... or perhaps even Deirdre, born to be a queen and yet forced to be light woman to a king who will not set aside the cheysula who tried to abduct his children." In my anger I felt sweat-crisped hair tearing. "Do you know what they call her, jehan? Not light woman. Not even meijha, which holds more honor . .. no, jehan. They call her whore. Deirdre of Erinn, whore."
1. It would be a lot easier to like Keely if she wasn't such an ass to Maeve. I get it, Maeve is the boring sister. So much so that the boys all share a book, Keely gets her own, and Maeve gets nothing. Her eventual fate will be revealed in a throwaway in Flight of the Raven. I'll spill it at the end of this book probably, because it is genuinely infuriating. (Don't worry, she's not dead.)
2. I still have never seen ANY evidence that meijhas are more respected than light women. If you want me to believe this, Roberson, show one that isn't absolutely miserable.
3. The issue of Deirdre's treatment is interesting. And worth talking about in terms of a feminist critique. The problem is that it doesn't really GO anywhere. I don't remember Keely making any sort of effort to improve Deirdre's circumstances. Deirdre's circumstances are basically just more ammunition for Keely to grouse about how awful it is to be a woman.
And I mean, yes, I agree. In this series, it IS awful to be a woman. But you know, there are worse things than being a princess and living in a castle surrounded by servants, with ample food and necessities.
4. Roberson does do something interesting here, and I don't know if it's intentional or not. But a lot of Keely's issues are wrapped up in her arranged marriage. Understandably, she's not a fan. But Deirdre ISN'T Niall's arranged bride. She's his love match. She's the partner he chose, rather than the partner he married for duty. And aspects of her life really do suck because of it.
And it's interesting to compare her to Aileen's circumstance. Deirdre's in the love match, Aileen's in the arranged marriage. But with the GIANT caveat of child birth, Aileen doesn't seem unhappy.
5. I don't like the way Keely talks about Deirdre here though. It's not that she's wrong or that she shouldn't call Niall out. But I feel like Roberson forgot, or never really thought about the fact that Keely was an infant when Deirdre came to the palace. For all intents and purposes, Deirdre IS her mother. And Keely never once sees or treats her that way.
Anyway, it hits home.
I faced him squarely, waiting. Knowing he was hurt and shocked and angry, at least as angry as I, if for different reasons. But he said nothing of that, having better control. Having learned to shut his mouth. It was something I had not, and probably never would. Though sometimes I wished I could.
Just now, I wished I had. I hated to see him hurt. Gisella was far beyond the ken or control of either of us; that some Homanans spoke of her as the Queen of Homana and claimed she should be by the Mujhar's side instead of banished to Atvia meant nothing to us other than ignorance. They did not understand. They could not. For even though she was labeled Mad Gisella, she was also the Mujhar's wife in Homanan law, cheysula in Cheysuli, and she had borne three sons for the succession, as well as the prophecy. One and the same, these days; to many, it was all that counted.
And so Deirdre, whom my father loved more than life itself, was made to suffer the insults better ladled onto my mother, who had tried to give her children into Strahan's perverted power.
Her sons, that is. Her daughter, a mere girl, had counted for next to nothing. It was boys the Ihlini wanted.
...really, Keely? You're REALLY going there?
Okay, I get the gender envy thing in general, but being jealous of your brothers for being targeted by the bad guy when infants is a bit fucking much.
Niall brings things back around to Keely's swordplay. He'd prefer she not do it. Keely points out that it's too late: she's half-taught now, which is dangerous. When Niall threatens to order that the Captain stop teaching her, she threatens to go to someone else.
I was moving away as I said the last, intending to go into the antechamber where my bath was waiting, but he reached out and caught my arm, with nothing of gentleness in his grasp, and snapped me back around.
I nearly gasped, so startled was I by his demeanor. He was coldly, deadly serious, no more the father half-amused, half-tired of his rebellious daughter's antics. He was now more than father entirely, being Mujhar as well.
Being also Cheysuli warrior, with fir-gold on his arms and glittering in his hair. Tawny-silver instead of black, blue-eyed in place of yellow, but still he was Cheysuli. Like others, I often forgot it; he seems more Homanan in habits, until he takes care to remind us that in his veins flows gods-blessed blood as hot as it flows in mine.
...I'm not sure what I think about the fact that Niall seems most Cheysuli when he's physically manhandling his daughter, Roberson. But I'm filing it away with how the ONLY explicitly dark skinned Cheysuli women we see in the series are villains. And well, all of Shapechangers.
Niall asks her if she realizes that he might have a good reason for what he decides. And then...oh this is bullshit.
His voice was very quiet. "I will not argue for the Homanans, who expect little more of their women than the obedience and compliance you mentioned, but I will argue for the Cheysuli, who give women more honor and respect." His grasp tightened on my wrist. "Has it never crossed your mind that women do not learn the sword because they lack the strength to use it?"
Okay, first, the idea that Cheysuli give women more honor and respect is fucking BULLSHIT. I've read this series. Hell, last chapter and in the intro, I enumerated all the ways they abso-fucking-lutely do NOT give women more respect. You've had five books to prove otherwise, and every single thing we've seen about the lives of women in Cheysuli society show that it's fucking WORSE.
ALIX ALMOST HAD TO MARRY HER BROTHER!!! SORCHA KILLED HERSELF TO ATTACK HER LOVER'S WIFE. MAEVE HAD TO PETITION TO BE FREED FROM BEING THE MISTRESS OF A TRAITOR.
FUCK THAT BULLSHIT.
Anyway. The other part is an interesting argument though and one that I might give a little credence to. NOT as a blanket universal statement mind you. I've consistently argued against, for example, the practice of giving cis men and cis women different max stats in an RPG, because when you take outliers into account, there's always the possibility of someone of either gender performing incredible physical feats.
It is maybe fair to note though that MOST cis men tend to be physically stronger than cis women. And it's not like Keely's built like Brienne of Tarth either. She COULD plausibly have been, if Roberson wanted. Carillon and Niall are giants after all. But she explicitly made a point of having Corin and Keely be smaller and slighter.
He knew better. I am tall, even for a Cheysuli woman, and have not spent my years in idle pursuits. Tough and hard and strong, like a warrior, though without a warrior's bulk. "Lean and lethal," Corin had often called me. He had not, lately, because now he lived in Atvia, hundreds of leagues away. Closer now to Erinn than to Homana; farther from Aileen, whom he loved, or had; I no longer knew how he felt. He said nothing of her in his letters. I said little in mine to him.
"Weak, no," he conceded, "but strong enough? Perhaps. Perhaps not; you have never been in battle." He reached out again, this time with both hands, and took my wrists in a much gender grasp. "I know, Keely. I have seen men shorter and slighter than you in battle, and they do well enough . . . usually. But matched with a larger, stronger opponent, they die. And even you must admit that most women are considerably smaller and weaker than men, particularly hardened soldiers."
...I might have liked Corin more if we got to see the side of him that called Keely "lean and lethal." The Corin I remember just groaned at the thought of his sister being involved in his adventures and then laughed at her fear of marital rape.
...and here we go again:
"If they were allowed to do things other than mend clothing, make soap, bear babies ..." I let it trail off, shrugging. "Who could say, jehan? And our history tells us Cheysuli women once fought beside their warriors."
"Aye, in lir-shape," he agreed dryly. "There is some difference, I think, between that sort of battle and the ones the unblessed Homanans fight."
And again, we get that issue. Is this a matter of all women should get to be warriors if they want, or just special, magical Keely?
Why AREN'T there female warriors? Even if I'm willing to grant Niall that small men and women have a disadvantage against large men when it comes to the type of sword fighting that they do, the Cheysuli use bows and knives. Dex weapons, to borrow D&D terms.
I also, again, think that the scorn for mending clothing and making soap is anachronistic, and it annoys me in a lot of action girl feminism, because I feel like a woman of this time period (or the medieval europe equivalent) would be fucking grateful for mended clothing and soap, even if she herself wasn't able to make it.
The scorn for such things ONLY makes sense in modern society, when we can go to fucking Walmart and buy mass produced clothing and soap whenever we want.
Keely admits that she doesn't want to go to war. She just wants to learn the sword like her brothers, and is it fair to be denied because of her sex. And...fair enough.
I do think this part is interesting:
Are you so unhappy being a woman?" He had never asked it before, though my brothers had. Even Maeve once, my very feminine older sister, who allows body to rule head. "Do you wish that much to be a man?"
I smiled with infinite patience. "No," I told him gently. "I want only to be me."
Again, NOT a fan of the casual insult to Maeve. Fuck off, Keely.
Niall makes a deal with Keely, telling her to meet Griffon "as he should be met", in battle with wrapped blades. When the match is done, she then decides if it's worth the trouble and the pain.
Hah, well, of course, Keely's on board with that idea.
We segue clumsily into the topic of Keely's marriage. It's an intentional clumsiness, not a Robersonism, as Niall muses about not being able to predict what Sean would say when he meets her.
I mean...you could ask Aileen? She's his sister after all. And while she's not a swordswoman, she's not a wilting flower either. We SAW her basically acting as a temporary regent while both Liam and Sean were away, so Sean's not likely to completely reject the idea of a forthright woman.
Keely just says that if the gods are on her side, he'll say he doesn't want her. Niall just says that they've given Keely a lot of time, but someday soon, the letter will come asking for the marriage. Keely just says, lightly, that they can pray for a storm at sea.
--
We skip ahead a bit. Keely actually doesn't end up getting her bath because even as the servants pour more hot water, she can hear a commotion outside. Deirdre's voice is raised, and it becomes clear that there's a problem with Aileen. She's bleeding.
Deirdre's asking if Niall and Ian can link to heal her. And THIS is fascinating:
My father shook his head but twice. "Not Ian; Tasha has the cubs. Until she is free of them, he is bound by human standards. No lir-shape, no healing ... I will have to do it alone." He frowned. "Brennan should be told. He will want to know—to be with her—"
Wait. Wait-wait-wait. What?
a) If a lir has babies, the warrior can't use powers? WHAT?
b) Also, I'm not sure what I think of Niall using the term "human standards". Internalized racism? Cheysuli ARE human, even with magic.
c) I'm pretty sure we saw Finn heal on his own, before, without a partner to "link" with. I'm not sure why Niall would need one. I'd almost be willing to attribute it to decreased Cheysuli heritage, but they still have enough for Keely to shapeshift so...
Anyway, Brennan's off at Clankeep, "blowing out" one of his colts. That's a problem, because it's too far for Serri to reach Sleeta through lir link. They'll have to do it without him.
OH. Okay, implicitly Niall can do it himself, it just is better with more. Hey, why aren't there more Cheysuli in the palace? The Ihlini pretty much constantly target the royal family after all, and Cheysuli presence is the only thing that helps curtail that.
Also why can't Keely help with healing? Alix did.
But Keely can't do girl stuff. Shapeshifting is the more action-girl power than healing, so she's going to get Brennan. Oh, she's also going to be a bit of a bitch about it though:
I will go." It seemed obvious to me, and not worth the conversation. I left the doorway, scooped up my boots and tugged them on again, also buckling on my belt, knife sheathed. It took but a moment longer to grab a leather hunting cap from a chest, and I was with them once again. "I will send him home at once. Tell Aileen he is on his way already; it may calm her." Briefly I shook my head, putting on my cap and stuffing loose, braid-rippled hair beneath the crimson-tasseled peak rising above the crown of my head. Then tugged pointed ear-flaps into place, joggling red tassels. "Although why it should calm her to know the man who caused such pain is on his way—"
I'll be honest. If I were Brennan, I feel like I would really dislike Keely. I'm just saying. So Keely takes raptor shape and flies off and the chapter ends.
I had a lot more complaints this time around, but that's just how I roll. I actually am enjoying it so far. Keely's a well-written protagonist, though I have to admit, I do find her really irritating sometimes, in the way that I'd find a real person with that personality irritating. But maybe she'll grow out of it. She is at least interesting so far.