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i_read_what2025-06-06 11:03 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2025-06-06 11:03 pm
A Cast of Corbies - Chapter Six
Sorry for the delay with this part! Things have been a bit hectic for me. But I'm glad to be back.
Well, maybe not so glad when it comes to this book, which seems to really bring out the teenage misogynist in me. I don't WANT to dislike the female lead or the relationship that we're being shown in this book, but it's getting pretty rough.
I don't want to immediately blame the co-writer for this, but there is a distinct difference in style from Lackey's other works in the series. Gwyna, for example, was portrayed as pretty headstrong and occasionally ran a little roughshod over her partner, but I didn't dislike her the way I do Magpie. It does make me think that one of my next books will be a different Lackey-and-Sherman team up (maybe the Bard's Tale tie in, "Castle of Deception" - which could be fun as it also includes a very different style of renegade dark elf) so I can compare the tone and style.
I also feel like the treatment of Roma in this book feels different, and this is where I feel my whiteness as a detriment as a reviewer. To ME, the micro-aggressions and dismissal/obliviousness of the white characters toward Raven and Crow feel possibly more realistic than we've seen so far from previous white characters, but also more frustrating and uncomfortable for me as a reader. It makes me wonder what a reader of color, particularly a Roma reader, would feel about this. Is this better or worse to read? Is harsh realism more preferable to a naive escapism?
I don't know the answer to that one. But if nothing else, I appreciate this book making me think about it, I suppose.
We start the chapter with Raven immediately saying that Magpie has good reason to feel "smugly pleased with herself". The breakfast is amazing, and Jaysen in particular gushes about it.
I guess that's that. The point Raven made last chapter about Magpie running roughshod over the people who actually run the business is negated by her effectiveness, I suppose.
We see some development on the Raven-Magpie front as well:
“I bet he managed to get Linnet alone for a bit,” Raven murmured in Magpie s ear as they left the table, and saw a quick smile flash across her face, interrupting her determined coolness. “I heard your music last night,” he added, and felt her flinch.
“I deserved it.” She turned in surprise to stare at him. “I never thought I’d hear that from you.”
He shrugged. “One thing we need to settle here and now, so we don’t have to spend all our energy yelling at each other, is who is responsible for what. You, my dear, have the business expertise I admit I lack. So,” he added, tapping her on the shoulders with a breadstick swiped from breakfast, “I hereby declare you official Business Manager.”
As she gave a startled little giggle, Raven added softly, “But I shall be our Artistic Manager.”
She lost her smile. “But—”
This is a larger excerpt but I have a few unrelated thoughts.
a) I like the quiet bit of Raven and Magpie being amused by Jaysen's romantic endeavor. It's maybe the first time we've seen these characters interact in a non-hostile way. It's annoying that it takes six chapters, because a bit more of this might make the budding relationship more palatable to me.
b) I THINK the "I deserved it" is supposed to be Raven's line, and I'm annoyed because I didn't think the music was a reprimand first - but also I'm not sure I agree that Raven should be apologizing here. He's RIGHT.
The thing is, Magpie is clearly a person with strong opinions and a forthright ability to get things done. Which is great. But she's doing it in a way that is incredibly obnoxious and unlikable.
I know the Free Bards do not have a hierarchy, so technically speaking, she has the right to lead as much as anyone. But there's no indicator that any of these characters particularly want her to take charge. She's not the most experienced of the group and there certainly hasn't been any kind of election. And I still maintain that while Magpie's improvements have been beneficial to the main characters, Linnet and her mother should have a fucking choice as to how they run their business and shouldn't be pushed aside just because Magpie has a more dominant personality.
c) I feel like we're supposed to see Raven calling her their business manager as a good thing, and an attempt to meet her halfway: acknowledging her ability and his own lack. And okay, I'd go with that, but notice her reaction when he asserts his own authority too.
Admittedly, right at this moment, we don't know for certain that Raven is more qualified to lead them artistically. This is a job that will require composition and arrangement, not just performance. Do any of these characters have those skills?
Raven, so far, has been portrayed as a much more experienced Free Bard than the others though, so it seems more likely that he would have those skills than the others. But I guess we'll see about that.
Okay, thoughts done. We'll move on. Basically, Magpie's full response is cut off with the arrival of the others (I'd be interested to know THEIR opinions of this power struggle actually), and then Raven says they're off to the theater.
So they get there, the manager's at work with the manuscript. He immediately goes to Magpie though, which annoys Raven. And since I'm generally over critical of her, I'll point out that he's a dick about it.
But then he saw the Manager approaching Magpie, and Magpie only, as though the rest of them didn’t exist, and Raven forgot about humor. He shot forward, shouldering Magpie aside to tell the startled Manager, schooling his face to the most scholarly of expressions, “Before we can properly orchestrate or set our music to your play, I really must see the text of the play itself.”
At Magpies look of blank surprise, he allowed just a tiny bit of smugness of his own to show. What’s the matter, Magpie? Didn’t think a [Roma] could be literate? he thought, as she blinked with confusion.
He bowed to the Stage Manager. “If you will be so kind to bring out a complete copy of the play,” he added to the Manager, “we can go over it together. I think that would be the most efficient way of dealing with this, don’t you? Then you can point out to me the types of music you want and precisely where in each act you wish them placed. Precisely, and indicate the volume as well, so that the music forms an appropriate frame for your play and your actors.”
1) I'm not a fan of the shouldering her aside bit, dude.
2) The bit about "didn't think a [Roma] could be literate?" is a good one though. I feel like I'm supposed to think that he's being oversensitive and that came out of nowhere. But considering the way we've seen Magpie and Jaysen's viewpoint narration be pretty fucking racist, and the micro-aggression of this manager immediately assuming Raven should be a villain because he's a Roma with one-eye, it's hard to blame him.
3) This does seem to confirm that Raven, at least, has the skillset the theater job actually needs. Which was an open question, and something Jaysen hadn't really addressed before.
The Manager is pleased and invites him to sit and talk. Of course, Raven sees Magpie out of the corner of his eye looking "both astonished and offended".
And I mean, yeah, he was dickish about it, but I'm not sure how this is any different than her behavior before, so fuck off Magpie. It's not like you can't join the conversation if you have the relevant musical skill?
So there's a fair bit about the play here that I won't excerpt:
The play is "A Twice-Told Tale" and it's a comedy involving a "breeches role" - a female character crossdresses as a boy. (Which also serves as an opportunity to put an attractive actress in tight clothing that shows off her figure even while she's pretending to be male. Heh.)
The Manager is rather defensive of his lead actress, who is NOT just there to be pretty. He is adamant that she has real talent. He and Raven also bond a bit over their dislike of "farce" comedy. (read: slapstick. Apparently Raven's done this kind of work before and disliked it, as no one is interested in the music unless you make funny sounds with the instruments.)
Raven reads the manuscript, and I actually really do like this bit, because we see him thinking about music placement as he reads - gentle plaintive music for a sadder scene, maybe Magpie's flute, bouncy music for the heroine's travels and so on.
The plot seems fairly Shakespearian comedy, with the caveat that I know very little about the theatre - there's a girl (Flora) from a poor family, whose brother can't afford a dowry. There's a lewd knight offering to help her brother with financial responsibilities if she'll be his mistress. She runs away, disguised as a boy, ends up in a Baron's household. Et cetera.
Per Raven, it's a pretty "familiar" sort of situation as theatre goes, but he likes the execution a lot. Apparently the Manager has done a good job balancing the humor and ridiculousness to make it believable.
One bit I particularly like is Raven contemplating the male lead, if he can carry a tune, and whether or not they could give him a plaintive little song to sing, but then reaching the character's soliloquy and thinking a song would be an anticlimax to the "wonderful lines".
(What we see of the lines don't seem that impressive, but that's always a risk with this kind of story, and maybe the context improves them.)
Anyway, it goes on for a while, but it's actually a pretty good passage that does establish very clearly Raven's bona fide chops as Artistic Manager. I do wonder what Jaysen would have done if Raven and Crow had left instead, since it doesn't SEEM like the others have this skillset. But maybe they do.
(By the way, in case you're wondering, Flora and the Baron DO get married after many a hijinx.)
Once done, Raven gushes with genuine praise, which makes the Manager very happy, especially since he could see Raven brainstorming as they read. They start annotating.
So how is Magpie doing? Well...
“All right, I have the rough outlines of what we’re going to perform. Now, we start with the entrance music, like this…” As he filled them in on what he and the Manager had decided, Raven could hardly avoid seeing that Magpie was fuming over not having been at all consulted about it, though she kept her mouth shut.
But I can guess I’m going to get an earful later. That’s the way it goes. They settled into their places below the stage, waiting for the rehearsal to begin; Jaysen looked pleased and not at all nervous, Crow looked rather bored, truth to tell. Only Magpie seemed edgy. But then, she hadn’t been in charge of this aspect of the job. Raven suspected she would look a lot more confident if she had been.
I mean, it does seem like the group is small enough that they could have all taken part in the process. So that's kind of a dick move, maybe. This is where the narrative suffers from Lackey and Sherman not explicitly establishing these characters' skill sets. If Magpie, Crow and Jaysen are composers themselves, then it IS a dick move to exclude them. But if they're not, then it makes perfect sense.
We get to see actors and performers get set up and roam around. There's a skinny, pimply young man who doesn't look like an actor at all, whose presence puzzles Raven until he spots some mist swirling out of the guy's hands. Apparently, he's a very low-grade mage - special effects. Which is a bit of a risky thing to do in these very Church heavy times.
We do finally get to see the leading lady as well. And why the theater exists. Well, we hear about her first.
Last to arrive in the Company was the leading lady herself, appearing amid a swirl of extras. “She’s always late,” someone murmured. “Can you blame her?” someone else answered. “Can’t be easy, trying to serve two masters.”
“Good point. The Duke’s not a jealous man, they say, but he would hardly want his own theater to take first place in her attentions, now, would he?”
“So-o,” Raven murmured. “This has to be Regina Shevron herself. And it would seem she plays another role than merely actress.”
“Duke Arden’s mistress,” Magpie breathed. “That has to be it. Ha, I bet he created the Company and this theater just for her.”
So yeah, Raven's immediate assumption is that the lady probably doesn't have any talent, except a benefactor who'll get her what she wants. But that leaves him puzzled, since the Stage Manager was vehement about her skills and would have no reason to lie.
The lady makes an entrance too:
And why give her all those wonderful lines if she can’t be worthy of them? As she moved towards the stage, a stray beam of sunlight caught her, and Raven drew his breath in sharply, staring openly. Regina Shevron was hardly the sort to be called conventionally beautiful, but she was so wondrously striking he felt suddenly reduced to a gawking boy. Her glossy black hair was coiled up in braids crowning her face with its sharp, high cheekbones and dark, slightly slanted eyes. Her skin was a dusky rose, her mouth was full and sensual, and she moved with a lithe, casual grace that sent little shivers through him. Her simple gown was deep red, and Raven thought, in befuddled and wild confusion, Yes, you should always wear red.
Well now.
I mean, it's definitely over the top, but it's clearly supposed to be. (And honestly, I dislike Magpie enough that I could be on board with this ship before this lady even says a word.)
AND she seems to be genuinely talented, at least from Raven's observation. She also doesn't seem to be a prima donna. When an actor playing a servant keeps accidently blocking her entrance, she raises a hand and "diffidently" suggests the man say his line from a different place on stage where it would look like he rushed in without blocking her.
She definitely comes across as respectful of the manager, concerned for the actor, and doesn't argue when a few of her lines get cut. So yeah, she seems pretty likable. Can we trade female leads? We don't need a romance plot if she's happy with the Duke. I just want a female lead that I don't want to throttle.
We actually get to see the musicians work too, and it does seem more collaborative than initially presented:
“You, musicians,” the Manager said imperiously. “Let us have some music for Florian’s dance. Nothing finished, of course; you haven’t had time for that. But we need a nice, bouncy jig here.”
“So be it,” Raven said. After a brief consultation with the others, they sprang into ‘The Shepherds Joy’, improvising a bit till they’d found the proper mix of fiddle, guitar, flute, and tabor.
(The manager, by the way, likes the recognizable tune, feeling like it will add "an element of reality" to the scene.)
To reinforce the idea that the Mistress-Actress is a good person, there's a point where she misses a step and crashes into another actress and is immediately apologetic and concerned. They call a break for a bit.
Some of the musicians leave for a drink (Raven playing dad and admonishes them not to drink alcohol - and Jaysen blinks "as if he hadn't expected that admonition, particularly not from Raven" and I'm not sure if that's a micro-aggression, an implication that Raven's a lush, or just not expecting him to take a dad role here?)
Raven sticks around though, which gives Regina an opportunity to make his acquaintance. She's very nice and complimentary and diplomatically asks if they can take the tempo of the jig just a little slower so she doesn't crash into her co-star again.
Then, rather abruptly, she asks what he thinks of her, and goes into her backstory.
Staring at this exquisite creature, her face still flushed from exertion, her figure so clearly outlined by those breeches, Raven suddenly couldn’t seem to catch his breath. “I b-beg your pardon? I-uh-I- don’t know what to say.”
Regina grinned-not the expected smile of the temptress, the siren claiming another victim, but a wide flash of white teeth, the gamine grin of a street urchin. “I’m no more a fine lady than you are a lord, [Roma] Raven.” The delicious grin faded, bit by bit. “I grew up on the streets,” she said softly. “I won’t go into that; I’m sure you can understand what that was like. But one day I saw a troupe of wandering players and knew then and there that I’d found my way off the streets. I wormed my way into a company of actors- and it was there, a few years later, that Duke Arden saw me, and made me his mistress.” She said that without awkwardness or gloating, reciting it simply as fact. “I’m sure you’ve already figured out that he created this Company for me.
The bit where she calls him [Roma] Raven is not as out of nowhere as it sounds, since he'd introduced himself that way.
The backstory infodump is very abrupt as mentioned, but there's actually a point to it. Regina clarifies that while life is very good for her right now, she's not going to have much when the Duke gets tired of her. So she's invested in making the Company the best it can be, so that she has something to fall back on when it happens.
It's a pretty clever scene, that builds up some camaraderie between them but also, very gently, underscores that Regina is in a position of authority in the Company. She'd listened as they auditioned and clearly involved with selecting them.
It's so well done that it makes me wonder why their writing for Magpie is so clumsy by comparison. There are ways to write a fairly aggressive, dominant woman without making her a cartoon. Heck, we saw some of that with Gwyna in the last fucking book.
And speaking of Magpie.
She scrambled up. “Breaks over. Here comes everyone.” As Raven got, more slowly, to his feet, he caught Magpie’s glare. Oh, wonderful. She thinks she surprised us in a secret little tête-à-tête. We really are going to have an explosion before the day is over! Magpie waited till they were back in the boarding-house, standing in relative privacy in the narrow hallway between their rooms. “How dare you?” she gasped in fury. “How dare you undermine my authority like that?”
“What authority?” Raven shot back. “You’re no music arranger; I am! You aren’t a composer; I’m that, too! Ha, you’ve never even conducted a group, while I most certainly have!”
Well, FINALLY we get confirmation of skillsets. In a way that makes Magpie look worse.
It'd be one thing if this series presented Magpie as an experienced Free Bard, a long time comrade of Talaysen for example. They're not supposed to be hierarchal, but that would at least give us a basis for why Magpie thinks she has "authority" to begin with.
She's not the elected leader of this group. She's not Jaysen's long time friend. She maybe traveled briefly with Crow but there's no indicator of a strong dynamic there. There was nothing in the behavior of any of the Bards who came to help with the boarding house that indicated that they saw her as a leader either.
Maybe if SHE were Talaysen's handpicked successor, rather than Raven, this would make sense, but we've seen nothing to indicate that at all.
If Magpie was presented as a staple of the Free Bards, like Gwyna (or maybe even Heron), this would make a little more sense. If she were a musical genius like Rune, I could appreciate her frustration more.
Heck, if she were a Roma, I might be more sympathetic, since it's clear that the Roma tend to have a certain special status within the Free Bards since so much of Talaysen's group structure and organization is based on Roma practices and customs.
But there has been nothing to indicate that Magpie is anything more than a relatively newcomer that thinks she can take over a group by sheer force of personality. And honestly, as tragic backstories go, Regina's is better.
But see, that's what this is really about:
She was struggling to find some verbal ammunition for a counterattack. Before she could reply, Raven added in his most superior manner, “I told you this morning that you were our business manager. But in artistic matters, you should come to me, my dear. Business and art seldom mix.”
She was so furious her voice sounded choked. “Don’t take that tone of voice to me! I’m not the one risking all our lives!”
Where did that come from? “What on earth are you talking about—” She actually shook her finger at him, as at an erring child! “What in hell did you think you were doing with Regina?”
So yeah. And I mean, Magpie is not entirely wrong when she points out that the Duke isn't going to react well to someone "poaching" on "his property". (I'd bitch about Magpie's word choice here, but it's clear she's referring to how nobility treat women, not dismissing Regina herself.)
But it doesn't help that I just read Raven and Regina's conversation and, while the narration clearly showed us Raven's attraction to her, it was completely respectful and innocent. They were discussing WORK. Not flirting.
And to be fair to Lackey and Sherman, the narrative does emphasize that this is an unfair attack. It's clearly supposed to be motivated by Magpie's attraction to Raven and her jealousy/feelings of inadequacy.
But here's are the problems with that:
1) This isn't the first time she's been possessive and jealous of him. Remember how she kept watching Raven and Nightingale?
2) While she'd be right, Raven flirting with Regina would be a terrible decision and would put them all at risk, the fact that she's making this assumption seems to be based on the fact that Raven's an attractive man period.
I also suspect racism. She doesn't rant about him being a Rom here, but we've seen it before, and the hypersexual man of colour stereotype is definitely a thing.
3) They're NOT IN A FUCKING RELATIONSHIP. She doesn't even LIKE him.
How am I supposed to be invested in this pairing when there is literally nothing here? Raven has at least expressed some appreciation of Magpie's efficiency I suppose, and he has tried to meet her halfway with the "Business Manager" bullshit, but we've seen NOTHING to indicate that Magpie either appreciates or recognizes Raven's actual talents or abilities, his intelligence, or even likes him as a person.
The ONLY semi-positive thing she's ever said or thought about him is that he's physically attractive. And sorry, maybe it's the ace in me, but that's NOT ENOUGH. Even good rival chemistry requires some kind of reluctant appreciation. And there's none of that here.
Honestly, this chapter ends with me just hoping Raven runs far away from this woman.
Well, maybe not so glad when it comes to this book, which seems to really bring out the teenage misogynist in me. I don't WANT to dislike the female lead or the relationship that we're being shown in this book, but it's getting pretty rough.
I don't want to immediately blame the co-writer for this, but there is a distinct difference in style from Lackey's other works in the series. Gwyna, for example, was portrayed as pretty headstrong and occasionally ran a little roughshod over her partner, but I didn't dislike her the way I do Magpie. It does make me think that one of my next books will be a different Lackey-and-Sherman team up (maybe the Bard's Tale tie in, "Castle of Deception" - which could be fun as it also includes a very different style of renegade dark elf) so I can compare the tone and style.
I also feel like the treatment of Roma in this book feels different, and this is where I feel my whiteness as a detriment as a reviewer. To ME, the micro-aggressions and dismissal/obliviousness of the white characters toward Raven and Crow feel possibly more realistic than we've seen so far from previous white characters, but also more frustrating and uncomfortable for me as a reader. It makes me wonder what a reader of color, particularly a Roma reader, would feel about this. Is this better or worse to read? Is harsh realism more preferable to a naive escapism?
I don't know the answer to that one. But if nothing else, I appreciate this book making me think about it, I suppose.
We start the chapter with Raven immediately saying that Magpie has good reason to feel "smugly pleased with herself". The breakfast is amazing, and Jaysen in particular gushes about it.
I guess that's that. The point Raven made last chapter about Magpie running roughshod over the people who actually run the business is negated by her effectiveness, I suppose.
We see some development on the Raven-Magpie front as well:
“I bet he managed to get Linnet alone for a bit,” Raven murmured in Magpie s ear as they left the table, and saw a quick smile flash across her face, interrupting her determined coolness. “I heard your music last night,” he added, and felt her flinch.
“I deserved it.” She turned in surprise to stare at him. “I never thought I’d hear that from you.”
He shrugged. “One thing we need to settle here and now, so we don’t have to spend all our energy yelling at each other, is who is responsible for what. You, my dear, have the business expertise I admit I lack. So,” he added, tapping her on the shoulders with a breadstick swiped from breakfast, “I hereby declare you official Business Manager.”
As she gave a startled little giggle, Raven added softly, “But I shall be our Artistic Manager.”
She lost her smile. “But—”
This is a larger excerpt but I have a few unrelated thoughts.
a) I like the quiet bit of Raven and Magpie being amused by Jaysen's romantic endeavor. It's maybe the first time we've seen these characters interact in a non-hostile way. It's annoying that it takes six chapters, because a bit more of this might make the budding relationship more palatable to me.
b) I THINK the "I deserved it" is supposed to be Raven's line, and I'm annoyed because I didn't think the music was a reprimand first - but also I'm not sure I agree that Raven should be apologizing here. He's RIGHT.
The thing is, Magpie is clearly a person with strong opinions and a forthright ability to get things done. Which is great. But she's doing it in a way that is incredibly obnoxious and unlikable.
I know the Free Bards do not have a hierarchy, so technically speaking, she has the right to lead as much as anyone. But there's no indicator that any of these characters particularly want her to take charge. She's not the most experienced of the group and there certainly hasn't been any kind of election. And I still maintain that while Magpie's improvements have been beneficial to the main characters, Linnet and her mother should have a fucking choice as to how they run their business and shouldn't be pushed aside just because Magpie has a more dominant personality.
c) I feel like we're supposed to see Raven calling her their business manager as a good thing, and an attempt to meet her halfway: acknowledging her ability and his own lack. And okay, I'd go with that, but notice her reaction when he asserts his own authority too.
Admittedly, right at this moment, we don't know for certain that Raven is more qualified to lead them artistically. This is a job that will require composition and arrangement, not just performance. Do any of these characters have those skills?
Raven, so far, has been portrayed as a much more experienced Free Bard than the others though, so it seems more likely that he would have those skills than the others. But I guess we'll see about that.
Okay, thoughts done. We'll move on. Basically, Magpie's full response is cut off with the arrival of the others (I'd be interested to know THEIR opinions of this power struggle actually), and then Raven says they're off to the theater.
So they get there, the manager's at work with the manuscript. He immediately goes to Magpie though, which annoys Raven. And since I'm generally over critical of her, I'll point out that he's a dick about it.
But then he saw the Manager approaching Magpie, and Magpie only, as though the rest of them didn’t exist, and Raven forgot about humor. He shot forward, shouldering Magpie aside to tell the startled Manager, schooling his face to the most scholarly of expressions, “Before we can properly orchestrate or set our music to your play, I really must see the text of the play itself.”
At Magpies look of blank surprise, he allowed just a tiny bit of smugness of his own to show. What’s the matter, Magpie? Didn’t think a [Roma] could be literate? he thought, as she blinked with confusion.
He bowed to the Stage Manager. “If you will be so kind to bring out a complete copy of the play,” he added to the Manager, “we can go over it together. I think that would be the most efficient way of dealing with this, don’t you? Then you can point out to me the types of music you want and precisely where in each act you wish them placed. Precisely, and indicate the volume as well, so that the music forms an appropriate frame for your play and your actors.”
1) I'm not a fan of the shouldering her aside bit, dude.
2) The bit about "didn't think a [Roma] could be literate?" is a good one though. I feel like I'm supposed to think that he's being oversensitive and that came out of nowhere. But considering the way we've seen Magpie and Jaysen's viewpoint narration be pretty fucking racist, and the micro-aggression of this manager immediately assuming Raven should be a villain because he's a Roma with one-eye, it's hard to blame him.
3) This does seem to confirm that Raven, at least, has the skillset the theater job actually needs. Which was an open question, and something Jaysen hadn't really addressed before.
The Manager is pleased and invites him to sit and talk. Of course, Raven sees Magpie out of the corner of his eye looking "both astonished and offended".
And I mean, yeah, he was dickish about it, but I'm not sure how this is any different than her behavior before, so fuck off Magpie. It's not like you can't join the conversation if you have the relevant musical skill?
So there's a fair bit about the play here that I won't excerpt:
The play is "A Twice-Told Tale" and it's a comedy involving a "breeches role" - a female character crossdresses as a boy. (Which also serves as an opportunity to put an attractive actress in tight clothing that shows off her figure even while she's pretending to be male. Heh.)
The Manager is rather defensive of his lead actress, who is NOT just there to be pretty. He is adamant that she has real talent. He and Raven also bond a bit over their dislike of "farce" comedy. (read: slapstick. Apparently Raven's done this kind of work before and disliked it, as no one is interested in the music unless you make funny sounds with the instruments.)
Raven reads the manuscript, and I actually really do like this bit, because we see him thinking about music placement as he reads - gentle plaintive music for a sadder scene, maybe Magpie's flute, bouncy music for the heroine's travels and so on.
The plot seems fairly Shakespearian comedy, with the caveat that I know very little about the theatre - there's a girl (Flora) from a poor family, whose brother can't afford a dowry. There's a lewd knight offering to help her brother with financial responsibilities if she'll be his mistress. She runs away, disguised as a boy, ends up in a Baron's household. Et cetera.
Per Raven, it's a pretty "familiar" sort of situation as theatre goes, but he likes the execution a lot. Apparently the Manager has done a good job balancing the humor and ridiculousness to make it believable.
One bit I particularly like is Raven contemplating the male lead, if he can carry a tune, and whether or not they could give him a plaintive little song to sing, but then reaching the character's soliloquy and thinking a song would be an anticlimax to the "wonderful lines".
(What we see of the lines don't seem that impressive, but that's always a risk with this kind of story, and maybe the context improves them.)
Anyway, it goes on for a while, but it's actually a pretty good passage that does establish very clearly Raven's bona fide chops as Artistic Manager. I do wonder what Jaysen would have done if Raven and Crow had left instead, since it doesn't SEEM like the others have this skillset. But maybe they do.
(By the way, in case you're wondering, Flora and the Baron DO get married after many a hijinx.)
Once done, Raven gushes with genuine praise, which makes the Manager very happy, especially since he could see Raven brainstorming as they read. They start annotating.
So how is Magpie doing? Well...
“All right, I have the rough outlines of what we’re going to perform. Now, we start with the entrance music, like this…” As he filled them in on what he and the Manager had decided, Raven could hardly avoid seeing that Magpie was fuming over not having been at all consulted about it, though she kept her mouth shut.
But I can guess I’m going to get an earful later. That’s the way it goes. They settled into their places below the stage, waiting for the rehearsal to begin; Jaysen looked pleased and not at all nervous, Crow looked rather bored, truth to tell. Only Magpie seemed edgy. But then, she hadn’t been in charge of this aspect of the job. Raven suspected she would look a lot more confident if she had been.
I mean, it does seem like the group is small enough that they could have all taken part in the process. So that's kind of a dick move, maybe. This is where the narrative suffers from Lackey and Sherman not explicitly establishing these characters' skill sets. If Magpie, Crow and Jaysen are composers themselves, then it IS a dick move to exclude them. But if they're not, then it makes perfect sense.
We get to see actors and performers get set up and roam around. There's a skinny, pimply young man who doesn't look like an actor at all, whose presence puzzles Raven until he spots some mist swirling out of the guy's hands. Apparently, he's a very low-grade mage - special effects. Which is a bit of a risky thing to do in these very Church heavy times.
We do finally get to see the leading lady as well. And why the theater exists. Well, we hear about her first.
Last to arrive in the Company was the leading lady herself, appearing amid a swirl of extras. “She’s always late,” someone murmured. “Can you blame her?” someone else answered. “Can’t be easy, trying to serve two masters.”
“Good point. The Duke’s not a jealous man, they say, but he would hardly want his own theater to take first place in her attentions, now, would he?”
“So-o,” Raven murmured. “This has to be Regina Shevron herself. And it would seem she plays another role than merely actress.”
“Duke Arden’s mistress,” Magpie breathed. “That has to be it. Ha, I bet he created the Company and this theater just for her.”
So yeah, Raven's immediate assumption is that the lady probably doesn't have any talent, except a benefactor who'll get her what she wants. But that leaves him puzzled, since the Stage Manager was vehement about her skills and would have no reason to lie.
The lady makes an entrance too:
And why give her all those wonderful lines if she can’t be worthy of them? As she moved towards the stage, a stray beam of sunlight caught her, and Raven drew his breath in sharply, staring openly. Regina Shevron was hardly the sort to be called conventionally beautiful, but she was so wondrously striking he felt suddenly reduced to a gawking boy. Her glossy black hair was coiled up in braids crowning her face with its sharp, high cheekbones and dark, slightly slanted eyes. Her skin was a dusky rose, her mouth was full and sensual, and she moved with a lithe, casual grace that sent little shivers through him. Her simple gown was deep red, and Raven thought, in befuddled and wild confusion, Yes, you should always wear red.
Well now.
I mean, it's definitely over the top, but it's clearly supposed to be. (And honestly, I dislike Magpie enough that I could be on board with this ship before this lady even says a word.)
AND she seems to be genuinely talented, at least from Raven's observation. She also doesn't seem to be a prima donna. When an actor playing a servant keeps accidently blocking her entrance, she raises a hand and "diffidently" suggests the man say his line from a different place on stage where it would look like he rushed in without blocking her.
She definitely comes across as respectful of the manager, concerned for the actor, and doesn't argue when a few of her lines get cut. So yeah, she seems pretty likable. Can we trade female leads? We don't need a romance plot if she's happy with the Duke. I just want a female lead that I don't want to throttle.
We actually get to see the musicians work too, and it does seem more collaborative than initially presented:
“You, musicians,” the Manager said imperiously. “Let us have some music for Florian’s dance. Nothing finished, of course; you haven’t had time for that. But we need a nice, bouncy jig here.”
“So be it,” Raven said. After a brief consultation with the others, they sprang into ‘The Shepherds Joy’, improvising a bit till they’d found the proper mix of fiddle, guitar, flute, and tabor.
(The manager, by the way, likes the recognizable tune, feeling like it will add "an element of reality" to the scene.)
To reinforce the idea that the Mistress-Actress is a good person, there's a point where she misses a step and crashes into another actress and is immediately apologetic and concerned. They call a break for a bit.
Some of the musicians leave for a drink (Raven playing dad and admonishes them not to drink alcohol - and Jaysen blinks "as if he hadn't expected that admonition, particularly not from Raven" and I'm not sure if that's a micro-aggression, an implication that Raven's a lush, or just not expecting him to take a dad role here?)
Raven sticks around though, which gives Regina an opportunity to make his acquaintance. She's very nice and complimentary and diplomatically asks if they can take the tempo of the jig just a little slower so she doesn't crash into her co-star again.
Then, rather abruptly, she asks what he thinks of her, and goes into her backstory.
Staring at this exquisite creature, her face still flushed from exertion, her figure so clearly outlined by those breeches, Raven suddenly couldn’t seem to catch his breath. “I b-beg your pardon? I-uh-I- don’t know what to say.”
Regina grinned-not the expected smile of the temptress, the siren claiming another victim, but a wide flash of white teeth, the gamine grin of a street urchin. “I’m no more a fine lady than you are a lord, [Roma] Raven.” The delicious grin faded, bit by bit. “I grew up on the streets,” she said softly. “I won’t go into that; I’m sure you can understand what that was like. But one day I saw a troupe of wandering players and knew then and there that I’d found my way off the streets. I wormed my way into a company of actors- and it was there, a few years later, that Duke Arden saw me, and made me his mistress.” She said that without awkwardness or gloating, reciting it simply as fact. “I’m sure you’ve already figured out that he created this Company for me.
The bit where she calls him [Roma] Raven is not as out of nowhere as it sounds, since he'd introduced himself that way.
The backstory infodump is very abrupt as mentioned, but there's actually a point to it. Regina clarifies that while life is very good for her right now, she's not going to have much when the Duke gets tired of her. So she's invested in making the Company the best it can be, so that she has something to fall back on when it happens.
It's a pretty clever scene, that builds up some camaraderie between them but also, very gently, underscores that Regina is in a position of authority in the Company. She'd listened as they auditioned and clearly involved with selecting them.
It's so well done that it makes me wonder why their writing for Magpie is so clumsy by comparison. There are ways to write a fairly aggressive, dominant woman without making her a cartoon. Heck, we saw some of that with Gwyna in the last fucking book.
And speaking of Magpie.
She scrambled up. “Breaks over. Here comes everyone.” As Raven got, more slowly, to his feet, he caught Magpie’s glare. Oh, wonderful. She thinks she surprised us in a secret little tête-à-tête. We really are going to have an explosion before the day is over! Magpie waited till they were back in the boarding-house, standing in relative privacy in the narrow hallway between their rooms. “How dare you?” she gasped in fury. “How dare you undermine my authority like that?”
“What authority?” Raven shot back. “You’re no music arranger; I am! You aren’t a composer; I’m that, too! Ha, you’ve never even conducted a group, while I most certainly have!”
Well, FINALLY we get confirmation of skillsets. In a way that makes Magpie look worse.
It'd be one thing if this series presented Magpie as an experienced Free Bard, a long time comrade of Talaysen for example. They're not supposed to be hierarchal, but that would at least give us a basis for why Magpie thinks she has "authority" to begin with.
She's not the elected leader of this group. She's not Jaysen's long time friend. She maybe traveled briefly with Crow but there's no indicator of a strong dynamic there. There was nothing in the behavior of any of the Bards who came to help with the boarding house that indicated that they saw her as a leader either.
Maybe if SHE were Talaysen's handpicked successor, rather than Raven, this would make sense, but we've seen nothing to indicate that at all.
If Magpie was presented as a staple of the Free Bards, like Gwyna (or maybe even Heron), this would make a little more sense. If she were a musical genius like Rune, I could appreciate her frustration more.
Heck, if she were a Roma, I might be more sympathetic, since it's clear that the Roma tend to have a certain special status within the Free Bards since so much of Talaysen's group structure and organization is based on Roma practices and customs.
But there has been nothing to indicate that Magpie is anything more than a relatively newcomer that thinks she can take over a group by sheer force of personality. And honestly, as tragic backstories go, Regina's is better.
But see, that's what this is really about:
She was struggling to find some verbal ammunition for a counterattack. Before she could reply, Raven added in his most superior manner, “I told you this morning that you were our business manager. But in artistic matters, you should come to me, my dear. Business and art seldom mix.”
She was so furious her voice sounded choked. “Don’t take that tone of voice to me! I’m not the one risking all our lives!”
Where did that come from? “What on earth are you talking about—” She actually shook her finger at him, as at an erring child! “What in hell did you think you were doing with Regina?”
So yeah. And I mean, Magpie is not entirely wrong when she points out that the Duke isn't going to react well to someone "poaching" on "his property". (I'd bitch about Magpie's word choice here, but it's clear she's referring to how nobility treat women, not dismissing Regina herself.)
But it doesn't help that I just read Raven and Regina's conversation and, while the narration clearly showed us Raven's attraction to her, it was completely respectful and innocent. They were discussing WORK. Not flirting.
And to be fair to Lackey and Sherman, the narrative does emphasize that this is an unfair attack. It's clearly supposed to be motivated by Magpie's attraction to Raven and her jealousy/feelings of inadequacy.
But here's are the problems with that:
1) This isn't the first time she's been possessive and jealous of him. Remember how she kept watching Raven and Nightingale?
2) While she'd be right, Raven flirting with Regina would be a terrible decision and would put them all at risk, the fact that she's making this assumption seems to be based on the fact that Raven's an attractive man period.
I also suspect racism. She doesn't rant about him being a Rom here, but we've seen it before, and the hypersexual man of colour stereotype is definitely a thing.
3) They're NOT IN A FUCKING RELATIONSHIP. She doesn't even LIKE him.
How am I supposed to be invested in this pairing when there is literally nothing here? Raven has at least expressed some appreciation of Magpie's efficiency I suppose, and he has tried to meet her halfway with the "Business Manager" bullshit, but we've seen NOTHING to indicate that Magpie either appreciates or recognizes Raven's actual talents or abilities, his intelligence, or even likes him as a person.
The ONLY semi-positive thing she's ever said or thought about him is that he's physically attractive. And sorry, maybe it's the ace in me, but that's NOT ENOUGH. Even good rival chemistry requires some kind of reluctant appreciation. And there's none of that here.
Honestly, this chapter ends with me just hoping Raven runs far away from this woman.