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i_read_whatSo last time, we learned exactly how much of a hypocrite Teirnan is, and saw the return of an old enemy. This probably isn't good.
So we're back with Keely. She's returned to Homana Mujhar and seems...pretty normal.
They were back, all of them. I could hear the low rumble of male voices, lighter-pitched female ones, laughter, the dry tones of jests once played on one another, now repeated for the entertainment of others. And such a sense of well-being and joy flooded through me that I ran up the last few steps, grateful for leggings instead of cumbersome skirts. The door to Deirdre's solar was ajar; I pushed it two-handed and grinned as it slammed against the wall, serving to silence them all.
I set one shoulder against the door and leaned, folding my arms. "Aye," I observed dryly, "I can tell you were worried. Such long faces, furrowed brows, tears of grief and anguish." I grinned at staring faces trapped in myriad expressions of astonishment. "Aye, well, I am back, and none the worse for wear. You may celebrate; I intend to, myself."
I was going to say that I wasn't really sure what Keely expected, given that everyone was pretty emotional when she returned before and then knew she was going to Clankeep...but then again, given how often these characters get kidnapped when they leave the palace, maybe they SHOULD have bodyguards.
Also, it's not just Deirdre and her ladies, if you missed the part about male voices. The menfolk have returned:
They were scattered about the solar like a handful of prophecy bones: lir here and there, sprawled on rugs-—Rael perched on a chair; Hart with Ilsa beside him, tiny Blythe snugged into his chest; Deirdre with jehan, perched on the arm of his chair; Corin nearest the door, feet propped up on a stool; Brennan by a casement, but looking at me instead; Ian slouching in the sill of another; Maeve sitting with yarn in her hands and Sean holding a cup of wine.
Sean.
Keely and Niall share a moment:
I thrust my arms out from my side, as if a seamstress worked to fit my gown, and displayed myself. "I am well. Well, jehan—I promise. See?" I turned. "No need to fret. He left me both eyes, both hands— no scars to remember him by. He had no interest in harming me." I let my arms flop down. "Instead, I harmed him." I smiled. "He is dead, jehan ... or did Corin already tell you?"
My father's face was stark. "He told me."
"Good. No need for me to repeat it, then . .. old stories bore me." I went to the low table nearest my father, found a cup amidst the jumble of yarns, poured myself what wine remained in the jug. "So, what do you think of Sean, Liam's son? Is he so much like his father? Will he be a fitting prince? A fitting husband for your daughter?"
"Keely," my father said.
I saw his face. Stood very still a moment, then with an awkward rush set down the cup and went into his arms. "Hold me," I whispered. "Hold me."
Aw. I'm glad she gets to have this moment, no matter how much she generally aggravates me.
Niall feels guilty about how often his kids have been kidnapped by Strahan, and while I don't really think it's his fault, it does seem weird that they don't have bodyguards. At the very least, they should have liegemen. Carillon was a warrior in his own right and still had Finn. Niall has Ian. Why don't the royal kids have their own?
Keely, on one hand, reassures Niall. Then, though, she goes more aggressive:
I turned abruptly to face my father, though I swept a glance around the solar. "You are all of you kin, by blood and marriage . . . there is no sense in hiding the truth. We all know why Strahan wanted me, why he took me, and what he did while he had me: Keely, Princess Royal of Homana, is no longer the virgin she was." I clutched the cup in both hands, seeing the withdrawal in their eyes; the pain, the grief, the empathy. "Well, I can live with that, and I will—what choice have I... but what of Sean? Should he be expected to? Should my dishonor be his?" I looked at him briefly, then at the Mujhar. "Should the Prince of Erinn be expected to take a ravished woman to wife? To hear the gibes, the jests, the comments . . . the suggestions that the new-made Princess of Erinn is not a maid at all, but a whore who lay down with an Ihlini? Because they will say so. Just as they call Deirdre whore here in Homana, and Maeve bastard, so they will call me and the first child I bear in Erinn, if it be born any time within a year of my last day with Strahan." I drew in a steadying breath. "Tell me, jehan. Do I become a bride? Or do we give Sean his freedom, you and I, so he may wed a woman worthy of him? Worthy of giving him heirs?"
It's a clever gambit, really. And why not? Keely's never wanted this marriage in the first place.
Sean gets a chance to respond:
"Lass, you're worthy of anyone." Sean drank more wine, then lowered his cup and looked at the Mujhar. "My lord, she and I did speak of this aboard my ship. What she says has merit—there will be questions asked, and comments made—but I'm not a man to be troubled by the maunderings of others. She's a braw, bright lass, and I'd be a fool to look for another." He smiled at me crookedly, brown eyes alight. "But there's someone else to ask, I'm thinking. Someone other than your father."
Keely herself?
Oh, damn, Sean loses a point for this:
"Rory," he said evenly. "Hie yourself to the Redbeard, lass, and hear what he'll be saying."
It took most of my breath away, as well as stunning the others. I felt the stares but managed to ask, weakly, "Why should I? What has he to do with this?"
Sean sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose ruefully. "More than I'd like to admit. No man likes to say the lass he fancies is in love with another man."
I mean, I guess it's the same thing really. Sean wants to give Keely a choice, I suppose, but it reads a bit more like machismo. Sean's still been really good this book, so even having lost a point, I like him a lot.
There's a hilarious bit where Brennan's like "THE HORSE THIEF??" Hart laughs at him for being the last to figure it out, and admittedly, the Brennan we saw in Pride of Princes was a bit more socially observant. But he's had a lot on his mind, I suppose.
There's an interesting dynamic here between Sean and Brennan:
"He is a horse thief" Brennan repeated.
"Well," Sean said lightly, "once he was something more. A bit more, lad, being bastard brother to a prince." He laughed easily, seeing Brennan's reaction. "Have ye none of your own?"
It was a most telling question. Brennan opened his mouth, shut it, looked at me instead. "So," he said, "him. And where does that leave Sean?"
Sean says he's here. He also thinks he knows what Rory will say, since, well, they have the same taste in women. Hence the head injury.
Brennan points out the loophole:
Brennan shook his head. "Sean, you are mad. You must be. My stubborn rujholla has fought against this marriage for as long as she has had the words—and fists—to do it, and now you give her a weapon. You put it into her hands and show her how to use it." He laughed a little, in sheer disbelief. "All she has to do is come back and say Rory will have her in your place, and then when you are gone she will calmly change her mind. And she will get what she wants, as she has so many times, leaving the rest of us to patch together the remains of the prophecy."
I mean, it'd be a fair maneuver, but it's not really Keely's style. Sean's response hits a little below the belt:
Sean's face was oddly serene. "I'll not be taking a lass who loves another man. 'Tis more in your line, I'm thinking; how fares Aileen?"
Okay, THAT loses some points. Aileen made her own choice and they have a good relationship. And maybe I'm weird, but I actually think it's a positive thing that Brennan accepts that Aileen loves/loved Corin. (It's not like Sean was celibate after all, given that his and Rory's fight was over a wine girl!)
To his credit, Corin actually speaks up noting that Aileen isn't the issue.
Niall decides that now is the time to regret the whole betrothal thing to begin with. While Brennan carries the jerk ball a bit here, as the advocate for the prophecy.
"But it was done, and for good reason," Brennan said irritably. "Aidan may die. Aileen is barren. The marriage between Keely and Sean may be the only alternative we have to get the blood for the prophecy."
It does make sense that he'd be the one speaking for it. I have my own issues with the prophecy, but that IS what they've been working for. Sean points out that Rory, being Liam's son, has the same blood.
Which is true. It's interesting that no one points out that Maeve, as Niall's daughter, ALSO has the same blood. Not that I'd want her dragged into this mess, but maybe she'd like marrying a prince.
...this is interesting though. Maybe Brennan's issues aren't entirely about the prophecy:
Brennan's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so eager to be rid of my rujholla? Is it that you are shamed by what Strahan did, and think to cast her off on some byblow of Liam's so you may go home and seek another?"
I had not thought of it. Now I did, as all the others did, and I stared even as they did, as one, and hard, at Sean, who had the grace to color.
"'Tis not that at all, ye skilfin! I'm thinking of the lass. I'm thinking of my brother. And I'm thinking of me." He took a stride forward. "If you like, I'll wed her tomorrow." A hand was thrust toward the door, wrist aglint with copper. "Have the priest called; I'll not shirk the chance. But if you have any decency in you, you'll let her see Rory. She can't be told what to do, or turned this way and that. She'll make up her own mind, my lad, or she'll go to her grave unhappy. D'ye think I want an unwilling wife? D'ye think I'm wanting a cold bed, where she dreams of someone else?"
So there's a lot to unpack here.
a) From the start, Brennan and Keely were always parallels. Both betrothed at birth to the Erinnish royal siblings, with no choice in the matter. Both falling for someone other than their betrothed. And both raped by Ihlini, with the purpose of getting a child.
Maybe it's Brennan's turn to project onto a situation. Turnabout is fair play.
b) I kind of love how Brennan and Sean are both my favorite male characters in this generation, and very similar in a lot of ways, but they immediately clash.
c) Sean is doing the right thing, but it also makes complete sense that Brennan is taking it like an attack. For one thing, he's been getting that from Keely for most of the book. He's making the same mistake that she was. Aileen is not Keely. Keely is not Aileen. Aileen might have been willing to marry Corin, but she has too much pride to go after a man who rejected her for duty and honor, especially since she does share that same sense. Brennan's actions were utterly respectful and appropriate FOR AILEEN.
Keely needs something different though. And Sean's trying to give it to her.
Brennan is upset though, and suggests, quietly, that they should settle it elsewhere. He asks if Sean's good with a sword. Sean says better than him. Deirdre wants to stop this, but Niall figures that they can settle this themselves.
Sean asks the stakes. And this is where Brennan does get dickish, as he suggests if he wins, Keely stays, if Sean wins, Keely goes "to the horse thief".
That really should be up to Keely, boys. Also, it's Keely, if she really wants to go, she could fly out the window right now.
So they go outside to where Brennan and Keely sparred before. They get ready to fight, in front of an audience.
Then Keely steps in, and okay, this is pretty cool:
I grinned at him, then stepped up as if to wish him good fortune. Instead, I took his sword. "First, there is something else to be done." I turned, ignoring his blurt of surprise, and crossed the cobbles to Brennan. "Months ago, you made a promise. Now I hold you to it. Su'fali served as witness; you promised a match to me. I say now."
Brennan protests, but Ian confirms that he witnessed it. As for Niall:
"Did you promise?"
"Aye, but—" Brennan shrugged, frustrated.
He was not happy, our father, but would not allow his heir to renege on a promise, even to his sister, of whom he was not overly fond. "Then fulfill it."
Brennan is annoyed but committed. He and Keely exchange some banter, then...
"Keely!" Brennan ducked aside. "Gods, Keely, take care—do you wish to slice off my nose?"
"It might improve your looks." I smiled sweetly. "Why are you waiting, rujho? Are you afraid to begin?"
"We are still too close," he said curtly, and turned to move away.
I let him go a pace, then ran my blade through his back.
Well. That's a cliffhanger. The chapter ends here.
So we're back with Keely. She's returned to Homana Mujhar and seems...pretty normal.
They were back, all of them. I could hear the low rumble of male voices, lighter-pitched female ones, laughter, the dry tones of jests once played on one another, now repeated for the entertainment of others. And such a sense of well-being and joy flooded through me that I ran up the last few steps, grateful for leggings instead of cumbersome skirts. The door to Deirdre's solar was ajar; I pushed it two-handed and grinned as it slammed against the wall, serving to silence them all.
I set one shoulder against the door and leaned, folding my arms. "Aye," I observed dryly, "I can tell you were worried. Such long faces, furrowed brows, tears of grief and anguish." I grinned at staring faces trapped in myriad expressions of astonishment. "Aye, well, I am back, and none the worse for wear. You may celebrate; I intend to, myself."
I was going to say that I wasn't really sure what Keely expected, given that everyone was pretty emotional when she returned before and then knew she was going to Clankeep...but then again, given how often these characters get kidnapped when they leave the palace, maybe they SHOULD have bodyguards.
Also, it's not just Deirdre and her ladies, if you missed the part about male voices. The menfolk have returned:
They were scattered about the solar like a handful of prophecy bones: lir here and there, sprawled on rugs-—Rael perched on a chair; Hart with Ilsa beside him, tiny Blythe snugged into his chest; Deirdre with jehan, perched on the arm of his chair; Corin nearest the door, feet propped up on a stool; Brennan by a casement, but looking at me instead; Ian slouching in the sill of another; Maeve sitting with yarn in her hands and Sean holding a cup of wine.
Sean.
Keely and Niall share a moment:
I thrust my arms out from my side, as if a seamstress worked to fit my gown, and displayed myself. "I am well. Well, jehan—I promise. See?" I turned. "No need to fret. He left me both eyes, both hands— no scars to remember him by. He had no interest in harming me." I let my arms flop down. "Instead, I harmed him." I smiled. "He is dead, jehan ... or did Corin already tell you?"
My father's face was stark. "He told me."
"Good. No need for me to repeat it, then . .. old stories bore me." I went to the low table nearest my father, found a cup amidst the jumble of yarns, poured myself what wine remained in the jug. "So, what do you think of Sean, Liam's son? Is he so much like his father? Will he be a fitting prince? A fitting husband for your daughter?"
"Keely," my father said.
I saw his face. Stood very still a moment, then with an awkward rush set down the cup and went into his arms. "Hold me," I whispered. "Hold me."
Aw. I'm glad she gets to have this moment, no matter how much she generally aggravates me.
Niall feels guilty about how often his kids have been kidnapped by Strahan, and while I don't really think it's his fault, it does seem weird that they don't have bodyguards. At the very least, they should have liegemen. Carillon was a warrior in his own right and still had Finn. Niall has Ian. Why don't the royal kids have their own?
Keely, on one hand, reassures Niall. Then, though, she goes more aggressive:
I turned abruptly to face my father, though I swept a glance around the solar. "You are all of you kin, by blood and marriage . . . there is no sense in hiding the truth. We all know why Strahan wanted me, why he took me, and what he did while he had me: Keely, Princess Royal of Homana, is no longer the virgin she was." I clutched the cup in both hands, seeing the withdrawal in their eyes; the pain, the grief, the empathy. "Well, I can live with that, and I will—what choice have I... but what of Sean? Should he be expected to? Should my dishonor be his?" I looked at him briefly, then at the Mujhar. "Should the Prince of Erinn be expected to take a ravished woman to wife? To hear the gibes, the jests, the comments . . . the suggestions that the new-made Princess of Erinn is not a maid at all, but a whore who lay down with an Ihlini? Because they will say so. Just as they call Deirdre whore here in Homana, and Maeve bastard, so they will call me and the first child I bear in Erinn, if it be born any time within a year of my last day with Strahan." I drew in a steadying breath. "Tell me, jehan. Do I become a bride? Or do we give Sean his freedom, you and I, so he may wed a woman worthy of him? Worthy of giving him heirs?"
It's a clever gambit, really. And why not? Keely's never wanted this marriage in the first place.
Sean gets a chance to respond:
"Lass, you're worthy of anyone." Sean drank more wine, then lowered his cup and looked at the Mujhar. "My lord, she and I did speak of this aboard my ship. What she says has merit—there will be questions asked, and comments made—but I'm not a man to be troubled by the maunderings of others. She's a braw, bright lass, and I'd be a fool to look for another." He smiled at me crookedly, brown eyes alight. "But there's someone else to ask, I'm thinking. Someone other than your father."
Keely herself?
Oh, damn, Sean loses a point for this:
"Rory," he said evenly. "Hie yourself to the Redbeard, lass, and hear what he'll be saying."
It took most of my breath away, as well as stunning the others. I felt the stares but managed to ask, weakly, "Why should I? What has he to do with this?"
Sean sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose ruefully. "More than I'd like to admit. No man likes to say the lass he fancies is in love with another man."
I mean, I guess it's the same thing really. Sean wants to give Keely a choice, I suppose, but it reads a bit more like machismo. Sean's still been really good this book, so even having lost a point, I like him a lot.
There's a hilarious bit where Brennan's like "THE HORSE THIEF??" Hart laughs at him for being the last to figure it out, and admittedly, the Brennan we saw in Pride of Princes was a bit more socially observant. But he's had a lot on his mind, I suppose.
There's an interesting dynamic here between Sean and Brennan:
"He is a horse thief" Brennan repeated.
"Well," Sean said lightly, "once he was something more. A bit more, lad, being bastard brother to a prince." He laughed easily, seeing Brennan's reaction. "Have ye none of your own?"
It was a most telling question. Brennan opened his mouth, shut it, looked at me instead. "So," he said, "him. And where does that leave Sean?"
Sean says he's here. He also thinks he knows what Rory will say, since, well, they have the same taste in women. Hence the head injury.
Brennan points out the loophole:
Brennan shook his head. "Sean, you are mad. You must be. My stubborn rujholla has fought against this marriage for as long as she has had the words—and fists—to do it, and now you give her a weapon. You put it into her hands and show her how to use it." He laughed a little, in sheer disbelief. "All she has to do is come back and say Rory will have her in your place, and then when you are gone she will calmly change her mind. And she will get what she wants, as she has so many times, leaving the rest of us to patch together the remains of the prophecy."
I mean, it'd be a fair maneuver, but it's not really Keely's style. Sean's response hits a little below the belt:
Sean's face was oddly serene. "I'll not be taking a lass who loves another man. 'Tis more in your line, I'm thinking; how fares Aileen?"
Okay, THAT loses some points. Aileen made her own choice and they have a good relationship. And maybe I'm weird, but I actually think it's a positive thing that Brennan accepts that Aileen loves/loved Corin. (It's not like Sean was celibate after all, given that his and Rory's fight was over a wine girl!)
To his credit, Corin actually speaks up noting that Aileen isn't the issue.
Niall decides that now is the time to regret the whole betrothal thing to begin with. While Brennan carries the jerk ball a bit here, as the advocate for the prophecy.
"But it was done, and for good reason," Brennan said irritably. "Aidan may die. Aileen is barren. The marriage between Keely and Sean may be the only alternative we have to get the blood for the prophecy."
It does make sense that he'd be the one speaking for it. I have my own issues with the prophecy, but that IS what they've been working for. Sean points out that Rory, being Liam's son, has the same blood.
Which is true. It's interesting that no one points out that Maeve, as Niall's daughter, ALSO has the same blood. Not that I'd want her dragged into this mess, but maybe she'd like marrying a prince.
...this is interesting though. Maybe Brennan's issues aren't entirely about the prophecy:
Brennan's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so eager to be rid of my rujholla? Is it that you are shamed by what Strahan did, and think to cast her off on some byblow of Liam's so you may go home and seek another?"
I had not thought of it. Now I did, as all the others did, and I stared even as they did, as one, and hard, at Sean, who had the grace to color.
"'Tis not that at all, ye skilfin! I'm thinking of the lass. I'm thinking of my brother. And I'm thinking of me." He took a stride forward. "If you like, I'll wed her tomorrow." A hand was thrust toward the door, wrist aglint with copper. "Have the priest called; I'll not shirk the chance. But if you have any decency in you, you'll let her see Rory. She can't be told what to do, or turned this way and that. She'll make up her own mind, my lad, or she'll go to her grave unhappy. D'ye think I want an unwilling wife? D'ye think I'm wanting a cold bed, where she dreams of someone else?"
So there's a lot to unpack here.
a) From the start, Brennan and Keely were always parallels. Both betrothed at birth to the Erinnish royal siblings, with no choice in the matter. Both falling for someone other than their betrothed. And both raped by Ihlini, with the purpose of getting a child.
Maybe it's Brennan's turn to project onto a situation. Turnabout is fair play.
b) I kind of love how Brennan and Sean are both my favorite male characters in this generation, and very similar in a lot of ways, but they immediately clash.
c) Sean is doing the right thing, but it also makes complete sense that Brennan is taking it like an attack. For one thing, he's been getting that from Keely for most of the book. He's making the same mistake that she was. Aileen is not Keely. Keely is not Aileen. Aileen might have been willing to marry Corin, but she has too much pride to go after a man who rejected her for duty and honor, especially since she does share that same sense. Brennan's actions were utterly respectful and appropriate FOR AILEEN.
Keely needs something different though. And Sean's trying to give it to her.
Brennan is upset though, and suggests, quietly, that they should settle it elsewhere. He asks if Sean's good with a sword. Sean says better than him. Deirdre wants to stop this, but Niall figures that they can settle this themselves.
Sean asks the stakes. And this is where Brennan does get dickish, as he suggests if he wins, Keely stays, if Sean wins, Keely goes "to the horse thief".
That really should be up to Keely, boys. Also, it's Keely, if she really wants to go, she could fly out the window right now.
So they go outside to where Brennan and Keely sparred before. They get ready to fight, in front of an audience.
Then Keely steps in, and okay, this is pretty cool:
I grinned at him, then stepped up as if to wish him good fortune. Instead, I took his sword. "First, there is something else to be done." I turned, ignoring his blurt of surprise, and crossed the cobbles to Brennan. "Months ago, you made a promise. Now I hold you to it. Su'fali served as witness; you promised a match to me. I say now."
Brennan protests, but Ian confirms that he witnessed it. As for Niall:
"Did you promise?"
"Aye, but—" Brennan shrugged, frustrated.
He was not happy, our father, but would not allow his heir to renege on a promise, even to his sister, of whom he was not overly fond. "Then fulfill it."
Brennan is annoyed but committed. He and Keely exchange some banter, then...
"Keely!" Brennan ducked aside. "Gods, Keely, take care—do you wish to slice off my nose?"
"It might improve your looks." I smiled sweetly. "Why are you waiting, rujho? Are you afraid to begin?"
"We are still too close," he said curtly, and turned to move away.
I let him go a pace, then ran my blade through his back.
Well. That's a cliffhanger. The chapter ends here.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-13 08:34 pm (UTC)Keely's performance was a bit off in how lightly she treated her capture, but it wasn't very noticeable outside of that.
Guards would be common sense by now, because at this rate, they'll be losing the whole next generation!
For the end... that's another demonstration that the Ihlini women are considerably better at achieving their goals. I also wonder if Keely was easier to make do this than most others would have been... Considering her animosity with Brennan, I think she's certainly imagined stabbing him in a spiteful moment.
Brennan will probably survive, considering that she stabbed him in the back, but it won't be a quick recovery.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-13 08:39 pm (UTC)So you are probably right that she's pictured stabbing him out of frustration once or twice, but I don't think she would have ever seriously meant it.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-13 08:46 pm (UTC)Yeah, I highly doubt that she would have. Whether Robinson intended it or not, the thought that the Ihlini could exploit such random frustrated thoughts is something I quite like.