Daughter of the Lion - Chapter Six

[kalinara]

So last time...which was a while ago, yeesh. Sorry. We met a dude with a penchant for manhandling who has claimed to have murdered Keely's fiance. Oops!



So rather understandably, we start with Keely's shocked reaction. Though this new guy (eventually to be named Rory) has an interesting reaction:

Masked again and mute, he stared at me with eyes throwing back the firelight. I saw shame, guilt and an odd vulnerability, as if he wished he could have said otherwise; especially to me.

All I could do was stare, was gape, like that motley-fool at the Summerfair, faced with an unknown thing. I heard again the words he had said, naming himself murderer, and wondered at my emptiness; at the lack of grief or distress. Shock aplenty, aye, but little more than that.

As does Keely. On one hand, a man is dead. On the other:

Thinking yet again: If Sean is dead, I am free.

And then I thought of Aileen, his sister; of Liam, his father, and of the others who loved him more than I was able, knowing nothing at all of the man.

I am still utterly bewildered by Niall's choices here. I get that he himself had no real contact with Gisella prior to their marriage. But well, that's explained by the fact that no one would have wanted to reveal her mental state ahead of time. If anything though that ought to have taught Niall the importance of having his kids be in contact with their betrothed.

For one thing, Liam is a friend! The brother of Niall's partner! We're supposed to believe that Liam and Deirdre never communicated?? I suppose I can believe that Keely would be too rebellious to write to Sean, but why not have Sean write to HER? Especially once her fear/revulsion became readily apparent.

And it can't JUST be Keely. Brennan and Aileen hadn't written either. So what the fuck, Niall?

Good king, good protagonist, TERRIBLE father, I guess.

Keely has a moment of self-awareness too: when she notices "the murderer" exchanging glances with his men, she wonders if they figured out exactly who she is.

She asks what happened and how this guy is still alive. He's a little hedgy actually. He ends up admitting that he doesn't know for sure if he'd killed Sean, and Keely, studying the men (and their somewhat shamefaced reactions) jumps to the conclusion that they're King's men/b>, and this guy was their captain.

She's right of course, and they admit that they WERE. Obviously if their leader did kill Sean, he'll be facing execution and they'll be facing exile.

So what DID happen?

"'Twasn't an easy choice." He stroked into place the heavy mustaches interlacing themselves with beard. So much hair on the man, head and face: bright blond and brilliant red. "Ye see, lass, 'twas only a bit of a thing, this fight between me and Sean . . . hardly enough for dying—" He sighed, looking unexpectedly weary. " 'Twas only over a lass."

Interesting that the dude fought over a lass when engaged, but we've seen a fair bit of that in this series. Keely's reaction is interesting:

Dull anger flared and died. "Only" over a lass; I scowled at him blearily. "It seems to me you have an uncommon familiarity with your lord's name, Erinnish, rather than his title."

I'd like to think that Keely's angry at the way this nameless woman is dismissed as unimportant. But I'm not sure. She's right about the familiarity though. This dude is Sean's half-brother, by Liam.

HM. I'm not sure what I think of that. Liam seemed happily married when Niall was in Erinn. And he was defensive enough over Deirdre - it seems rather hypocritical. Though, I suppose, if Rory's OLDER than Sean, then maybe he slept with the woman before he married Ierne.

Keely namedrops Liam by name, something that this guy doesn't miss. But he confirms: Liam, Lord of Erinn AND the Idrian Isles, is his father.

Oo, nice. Once upon a time, Shea and Alaric fought over that title. But Corin doesn't care. He apparently told Keely that his own title, "Lord of Atvia" was enough. It's good to see that his character growth apparently stuck.

Anyway, Liam had acknowledged his kid at birth and he and Sean were close companions who went drinking together. As he's monologuing, he ends up picking up Keely's dropped knife. This is a problem: her knife is Cheysuli, and if this guy is any kind of student of weaponry, he'll realize that. Worse, the hilt is a lion, with rubies for eyes, which is specifically the device for the House of Homana.

Oops.

Keely distracts him by asking for more details. Basically, they were drinking together and competing over a woman. They apparently have very similar tastes when it comes to women, and they've fought over girls before.

Keely shows us that, unlike Hart, she has at least done SOME homework with regard to the country where she's going to live:

He looked from the knife to me. The blade glinted in his hands, such large, strong hands. "Fools," he echoed, "aye. And now I have paid the price."

Unexpectedly, it stung. "Have you?" I asked. "Have you, then, you and your men, living now in Homana . . . while your murdered prince—and kinsman—is walking the halls of the cileann?"

He's surprised she knows of the oldfolk and Erinnish religion. I'm surprised, and annoyed, to realize we know more about Erinnish religion than we do Homanan. Hmph. Anyway, Keely explains that she's heard "the Princess of Homana" as well as "the Mujhar's meijha" speak of it.

It's a good cover, except for the use of the Cheysuli term. And we get some quick bullshit here:

I cursed myself for the slip. But among those of us who share blood, it is how we referred to Deirdre. It connotes honor, since she holds no Homanan rank.

Yeah, "honor". Per Maeve people keep calling her a whore. Supposedly the Cheysuli treat meijha better, which I suppose is right: in the sense that they seem to oppress meijha AND cheysula equally.

She ends up asking why they came to Homana, rather than Solinde or Atvia. He answers: Atvia's an enemy. Keely points out the change in leadership, but this guy's a bit dismissive of Corin: he's young, unschooled in ruling, and there's an Ihlini witch on his doorstep and "Mad Gisella" in his castle.

I don't think Gisella's really much danger, but fair on the other part. I like this exchange though:

It made me angry that he could so easily discount my brother. "He is the rightful lord of Atvia—"

"Right has nothing to do with it," he snapped. " 'Twill be who is strongest that holds the throne .. . oh, aye, Corin means well, of that I'm having no doubt, but 'tis early yet to predict who will win. Might be Lillith yet, and Strahan with her .. . no, no, Liam makes no judgments, nor Sean—" He broke it off, as if recalling Sean might never again make judgments.

It's interesting to see an outside perspective of events. Keely asks about Solinde. It's closer. The guy finally breaks and admits that he came to Homana to do something that Sean asked him to do if anything befell him: go to "the lady" and beg her forgiveness for leaving her a widow.

Keely points out that "she" can't be a widow if they were never married, but in Erinn, apparently, a betrothal is basically a wedding and just as binding. It's an interesting contrast to Homana apparently:

It did make sense, though in Homana it is different. Kings barter children in exchange for all manner of treaties and accords; without the betrothal holding weight, the same child could be offered again and again, at the king's convenience.

Who are you talking about here, Keely?

I mean, it would be an interesting point of contrast, except that, as we've seen so far, the Homanans do no such thing.

Donal's betrothal to Aislinn, Niall's to Gisella, and Brennan's to Aileen (and Keely's to Sean) are treated as pretty much unbreakable. Hell, Niall is still married to the woman who tried to give his infant children to the Ihlini.

Now, she MIGHT be talking about the earlier, non-Cheysuli monarchs: except that Lindir breaking off her betrothal to Bellam's son caused a fucking war.

So...no, this doesn't mesh with anything we've learned so far.

But Keely admittedly has her own issues:

But I did not like the practice. Widowed before the wedding? Married without the vows? I found the latter most disturbing; it consigned me to the buyer without a trace of courtesy, nor respect for Cheysuli customs.

I mean, technically, Cheysuli don't betroth their children at birth. Duncan made a whole thing about it, remember? The royal family is different because of the prophecy. (And the prophecy is pretty immutable.)

To be fair to Roberson, this might be intentional. As we've seen, Keely is quite willful and may be inclined toward believing what suits her best.

Keely finally says that she thinks that "she" (the third party, hypothetical princess) would give her forgiveness, which leads to this guy proposing that they be hearth friends:

"An Erinnish custom for wayfarers in need of a fire and a place to sleep. Strangers are welcomed in to sup before the hearth, to sleep in the host's own bed." Teeth glinted as he grinned. "No, lass, I promise—the bed is empty of host."

I see you trying to make up for his earlier gaffes, Roberson. I'm willing to go along with that for now. I'd like to like this guy.

She asks if he has a name. He does: Rory, also known as Redbeard. She points out that she has a knife - he knows, it's his knife. And he has hers. You know, the really obviously royal one. Keely decides to shut her mouth and go to the fire.

The chapter ends here.