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i_read_whatSorry for the impromptu week off! I needed it. But we're back with more Flight of the Raven.
So this chapter's interesting because it starts off with Aileen as the viewpoint character. It's relatively rare for us to see a point of view from someone who isn't the lead - but then the prologue with baby Aidan was also pretty rare for this series.
Poor Aileen featured a lot in Keely's book so it makes a certain sense that Keely is featured in Aileen's thoughts now:
She knew what Keely would say; had said, often enough, phrased in many different—and explicit—ways. That women had no place in the male-dominated succession lining up for the Lion Throne. But Aileen knew better. Keely would not agree—she seldom agreed with anything concerning the disposition of women—but it was true. Women did have a place in the line of succession. As long as kings needed queens to bear sons for the Lion, women would have a place.
Not the place Keely—or others—might want, but it was something nonetheless. It made women important, if for womb instead of brain.
As annoyed as I am by Keely, she does have a point here. But this is really just the transition to Aileen's own emotional issues, and I am very glad that we're actually getting them from her point of view:
Aileen's womb had given Homana one son. Twin boys, enough to shore up Aidan's tenuous place in the succession, were miscarried; the ordeal had left her barren. She was, therefore, a princess of precarious reknown, and potentially threatened future. Brennan would not, she knew, set her aside willingly—he had made that clear—but there were others to be reckoned with besides the Prince of Homana. He was only a prince; kings bore precedence. And while the Mujhar showed no signs of concern regarding her son's odd habits, she knew very well even Niall was not the sole arbiter. There was also the Homanan Council. She was the daughter of a king, albeit the island was small; nonetheless, she understood the demands of a kingship. The demands of a council.
Only one son for Homana. One son who was—different.
Aw, I enjoy the mention of Brennan here. I think I've mentioned that Aileen and Brennan are by far my favorite couple in the series. Even though they're an arranged marriage, even though both loved, or believed they loved, other people, they've always such a great respect for each other.
And I appreciate the rather nuanced take the book has with Aidan's...peculiarities. We haven't seen anything from the adult Aidan's point of view yet, but I think it's fair to suggest that Aidan is an attempt at least to portray a character who isn't neurotypical.
It's worth keeping in mind that the society in this book is pretty fucked up as we've seen. Particularly for disability and even more so when it comes to mental health. We spent a good chunk of Pride of Princes watching Brennan treat his claustrophobia as a personal weakness while Hart's addiction issues rage untreated. So yeah, these guys are not going to have the best grasp on how to understand this sort of thing.
We're likely going to see these characters say or think some pretty offensive things, so that warning is there. That said, I don't think there's any doubt that Aileen and Brennan love their son. It's just complicated.
Anyway, we get a rough time frame here: Aileen has been Princess of Homana for twenty-four years. If I recall correctly, she's a year or so older than Brennan, so they're about forty-six and forty-five respectively. Niall is still alive, so Brennan hasn't had to ascend to kingship yet. Theoretically that means we'll actually get to see someone ascend the throne when they're actually prepared to do it. Interesting!
Aileen's also been preparing, as we're told that she's spent the last twenty-four years as her aunt's protege.
For the moment though, she's venting a bit:
She folded arms beneath her breasts and hugged herself, hard. "I've tried," she said in despair. "I've tried to understand, to believe 'twould all pass… but there's no hiding from it now. It started in childhood… he thinks we're not knowing… he believes he's fooled us all, but servants know the truth. They always know the truth—d'ye think they'd keep it secret?" Her tone now echoed the rumors. "The heir to Homana rarely spends a whole night in sleep—and he goes to talk to the Lion, to rail against a chair…" She let it trail off, then hugged herself harder. "What are we to do? I think he'll never be—right." Her voice broke on the last word. With it her hardwon composure; tears welled into green eyes. "What are we to do? How can he hold the throne if everyone thinks him mad?"
And here we go. As someone with perhaps more in common with Aidan than Aileen, I do sympathize here, because these are not people in a normal profession. I don't believe being on the spectrum or having some other kind of neurodivergence would make someone a bad ruler at all. But perception is a thing. And a ruler needs to have the trust of his people. We've seen before in this series how difficult it can be if that trust doesn't exist.
I also appreciate the note about servants here. Roberson's been good about that lately, but I still remember the bizarre lack of any kind of serving staff in Legacy of the Sword.
Deirdre, who is now over sixty and thus no longer hot - per the narrative, is very empathetic. She points out that Aidan will have many years before he needs to worry about the throne: Niall's still going strong, and Brennan gets his turn first.
Aileen is somewhat reassured, but notes that even though Aidan's now a grown man (twenty-three, we're told), his dreams are worse than ever. And he's been pretty closed-mouthed with his parents about it. I can't imagine why.
Aileen points out another fear though: apparently there have been comparisons made to Gisella. Deirdre shuts that down, reminding Aileen that Gisella's insanity had a medical cause. She suggests that Aidan might have some Erinnish magic as well as Cheysuli.
This bit is pretty clumsy:
Aileen cut her off. "Oh, aye, I know… but the Cheysuli is so dominant I doubt our magic can show itself."
Deirdre lifted an eyebrow. "That's not so certain, I'm thinking, with your hair on his head."
Aileen grimaced, one hand drifting to brilliant locks. Aidan's was darker, but still red; only the eyes were Cheysuli. "There's nothing about my son that bespeaks Erinnish roots—he's as bad as any of them."
I don't really see how Aidan being a redhead (and god knows how THAT genetically works, but okay) is relevant. Except Deirdre may have a point - one that has some uncomfortable implications, namely that this entire series has basically been about eugenically breeding back the proto-typical Cheysuli ancestor race.
So we've got the character that's closest to being the prophesied savior of the fake Native Americans and he's ethnically more fake Irish than anything else. They haven't had any new Cheysuli genetics since Alix and Duncan. Everything after that was just cousin fucking.
We kind of tangent into some weird racism here:
Deirdre's smile was faint. "By 'them,' you're meaning Cheysuli?"
"Cheysuli," Aileen echoed, forehead creased in absent concern. "One moment they're all so human… the next, they're alien."
Really Roberson? Aileen's been married for TWENTY-FOUR years. Deirdre just notes that they probably say the same about her and Aileen. Which I suppose is fair, they're from different cultures. She thinks it's more of a gender thing: women making the same complaint about men, regardless of culture.
Deirdre asks what Brennan thinks about all this:
"Nothing." Aileen shifted on the sill, cocking one knee against the glazing so that her weight was on the stone. "He feels it as much as I, but d'ye think he'll admit it? Admit he doubts his son?" The line of her mouth flattened. "When Aidan was little, and so sick, Brennan and I shared everything. But Aidan withdrew, and then so did Brennan. There was nothing left between us. Now, when he speaks of it at all, he says merely 'tis Aidan's tahlmorra to hold the Lion Throne."
So maybe things aren't terribly great between Aileen and Brennan right now, which makes me sad.
They segue a little weirdly here from the whole faith in tahlmorra thing to Teirnan, who is still out in the woods somewhere. Deirdre's holding a grudge for how he treated Maeve, which is fair. And we're told that Maeve is happy in Erinn with the real Rory Redbeard.
Meh, you've heard my thoughts on that in the Daughter of the Lion review. On one hand, I'm glad Maeve is happy. And I actually liked the real Rory (disguised as Sean) considerably more than I liked the real Sean in that book. But I dislike how Maeve is constantly an afterthought in that book and here.
Yay, Maeve gets Keely's leavings and gets to go off to Erinn - a place that she never saw during her childhood (if anything, Maeve seemed to have far more cultural connection to the Cheysuli, since she actually lived at the Keep for a time!), with the sister who mistreated her.
And just to dig it in:
"Your son will do well enough." Deirdre bit through a thread. "As you said, Maeve is happy—and who would have thought that possible after what Teirnan did to her?" Deirdre sighed, untangling colors. "I thank the oldfolk of Erinn for hearing a mother's pleas… Rory Redbeard's a good man, and has made her a good husband."
"Since he couldn't be having Keely." Aileen smiled briefly. "He wanted her, you know. For all she was meant for Sean, and the Redbeard came here knowing…" She let it trail off. "Maeve is nothing like Keely. If that was what Rory wanted, he got something other than expected."
Great, thanks Roberson. You couldn't have just left it with Maeve having fallen for the brother that Keely didn't choose, you also have to add in an implication that she was his second choice.
There is at least some defense here:
Deirdre raised a brow. "By the time Keely and Sean sailed for Erinn, only a fool would have thought he yet had a chance. After Teirnan's bastard was born, Rory took Maeve for Maeve's own sake, not as a replacement for Keely."
Aileen laughed aloud. "There is no replacement for Keely."
Ugh. Fucking Keely. She had her book already and she treated Aileen terribly in it, so can we stop mentioning her for a while? (Spoiler, probably not.)
Deirdre turns things back by saying there's no replacement for Aidan too. Aileen asserts though that there's still something not right about him and challenges Deirdre to look in his eyes and ask if her grandson is happy and if her grandson is sane.
Oof.
And with that sentiment, the chapter ends.
So this chapter's interesting because it starts off with Aileen as the viewpoint character. It's relatively rare for us to see a point of view from someone who isn't the lead - but then the prologue with baby Aidan was also pretty rare for this series.
Poor Aileen featured a lot in Keely's book so it makes a certain sense that Keely is featured in Aileen's thoughts now:
She knew what Keely would say; had said, often enough, phrased in many different—and explicit—ways. That women had no place in the male-dominated succession lining up for the Lion Throne. But Aileen knew better. Keely would not agree—she seldom agreed with anything concerning the disposition of women—but it was true. Women did have a place in the line of succession. As long as kings needed queens to bear sons for the Lion, women would have a place.
Not the place Keely—or others—might want, but it was something nonetheless. It made women important, if for womb instead of brain.
As annoyed as I am by Keely, she does have a point here. But this is really just the transition to Aileen's own emotional issues, and I am very glad that we're actually getting them from her point of view:
Aileen's womb had given Homana one son. Twin boys, enough to shore up Aidan's tenuous place in the succession, were miscarried; the ordeal had left her barren. She was, therefore, a princess of precarious reknown, and potentially threatened future. Brennan would not, she knew, set her aside willingly—he had made that clear—but there were others to be reckoned with besides the Prince of Homana. He was only a prince; kings bore precedence. And while the Mujhar showed no signs of concern regarding her son's odd habits, she knew very well even Niall was not the sole arbiter. There was also the Homanan Council. She was the daughter of a king, albeit the island was small; nonetheless, she understood the demands of a kingship. The demands of a council.
Only one son for Homana. One son who was—different.
Aw, I enjoy the mention of Brennan here. I think I've mentioned that Aileen and Brennan are by far my favorite couple in the series. Even though they're an arranged marriage, even though both loved, or believed they loved, other people, they've always such a great respect for each other.
And I appreciate the rather nuanced take the book has with Aidan's...peculiarities. We haven't seen anything from the adult Aidan's point of view yet, but I think it's fair to suggest that Aidan is an attempt at least to portray a character who isn't neurotypical.
It's worth keeping in mind that the society in this book is pretty fucked up as we've seen. Particularly for disability and even more so when it comes to mental health. We spent a good chunk of Pride of Princes watching Brennan treat his claustrophobia as a personal weakness while Hart's addiction issues rage untreated. So yeah, these guys are not going to have the best grasp on how to understand this sort of thing.
We're likely going to see these characters say or think some pretty offensive things, so that warning is there. That said, I don't think there's any doubt that Aileen and Brennan love their son. It's just complicated.
Anyway, we get a rough time frame here: Aileen has been Princess of Homana for twenty-four years. If I recall correctly, she's a year or so older than Brennan, so they're about forty-six and forty-five respectively. Niall is still alive, so Brennan hasn't had to ascend to kingship yet. Theoretically that means we'll actually get to see someone ascend the throne when they're actually prepared to do it. Interesting!
Aileen's also been preparing, as we're told that she's spent the last twenty-four years as her aunt's protege.
For the moment though, she's venting a bit:
She folded arms beneath her breasts and hugged herself, hard. "I've tried," she said in despair. "I've tried to understand, to believe 'twould all pass… but there's no hiding from it now. It started in childhood… he thinks we're not knowing… he believes he's fooled us all, but servants know the truth. They always know the truth—d'ye think they'd keep it secret?" Her tone now echoed the rumors. "The heir to Homana rarely spends a whole night in sleep—and he goes to talk to the Lion, to rail against a chair…" She let it trail off, then hugged herself harder. "What are we to do? I think he'll never be—right." Her voice broke on the last word. With it her hardwon composure; tears welled into green eyes. "What are we to do? How can he hold the throne if everyone thinks him mad?"
And here we go. As someone with perhaps more in common with Aidan than Aileen, I do sympathize here, because these are not people in a normal profession. I don't believe being on the spectrum or having some other kind of neurodivergence would make someone a bad ruler at all. But perception is a thing. And a ruler needs to have the trust of his people. We've seen before in this series how difficult it can be if that trust doesn't exist.
I also appreciate the note about servants here. Roberson's been good about that lately, but I still remember the bizarre lack of any kind of serving staff in Legacy of the Sword.
Deirdre, who is now over sixty and thus no longer hot - per the narrative, is very empathetic. She points out that Aidan will have many years before he needs to worry about the throne: Niall's still going strong, and Brennan gets his turn first.
Aileen is somewhat reassured, but notes that even though Aidan's now a grown man (twenty-three, we're told), his dreams are worse than ever. And he's been pretty closed-mouthed with his parents about it. I can't imagine why.
Aileen points out another fear though: apparently there have been comparisons made to Gisella. Deirdre shuts that down, reminding Aileen that Gisella's insanity had a medical cause. She suggests that Aidan might have some Erinnish magic as well as Cheysuli.
This bit is pretty clumsy:
Aileen cut her off. "Oh, aye, I know… but the Cheysuli is so dominant I doubt our magic can show itself."
Deirdre lifted an eyebrow. "That's not so certain, I'm thinking, with your hair on his head."
Aileen grimaced, one hand drifting to brilliant locks. Aidan's was darker, but still red; only the eyes were Cheysuli. "There's nothing about my son that bespeaks Erinnish roots—he's as bad as any of them."
I don't really see how Aidan being a redhead (and god knows how THAT genetically works, but okay) is relevant. Except Deirdre may have a point - one that has some uncomfortable implications, namely that this entire series has basically been about eugenically breeding back the proto-typical Cheysuli ancestor race.
So we've got the character that's closest to being the prophesied savior of the fake Native Americans and he's ethnically more fake Irish than anything else. They haven't had any new Cheysuli genetics since Alix and Duncan. Everything after that was just cousin fucking.
We kind of tangent into some weird racism here:
Deirdre's smile was faint. "By 'them,' you're meaning Cheysuli?"
"Cheysuli," Aileen echoed, forehead creased in absent concern. "One moment they're all so human… the next, they're alien."
Really Roberson? Aileen's been married for TWENTY-FOUR years. Deirdre just notes that they probably say the same about her and Aileen. Which I suppose is fair, they're from different cultures. She thinks it's more of a gender thing: women making the same complaint about men, regardless of culture.
Deirdre asks what Brennan thinks about all this:
"Nothing." Aileen shifted on the sill, cocking one knee against the glazing so that her weight was on the stone. "He feels it as much as I, but d'ye think he'll admit it? Admit he doubts his son?" The line of her mouth flattened. "When Aidan was little, and so sick, Brennan and I shared everything. But Aidan withdrew, and then so did Brennan. There was nothing left between us. Now, when he speaks of it at all, he says merely 'tis Aidan's tahlmorra to hold the Lion Throne."
So maybe things aren't terribly great between Aileen and Brennan right now, which makes me sad.
They segue a little weirdly here from the whole faith in tahlmorra thing to Teirnan, who is still out in the woods somewhere. Deirdre's holding a grudge for how he treated Maeve, which is fair. And we're told that Maeve is happy in Erinn with the real Rory Redbeard.
Meh, you've heard my thoughts on that in the Daughter of the Lion review. On one hand, I'm glad Maeve is happy. And I actually liked the real Rory (disguised as Sean) considerably more than I liked the real Sean in that book. But I dislike how Maeve is constantly an afterthought in that book and here.
Yay, Maeve gets Keely's leavings and gets to go off to Erinn - a place that she never saw during her childhood (if anything, Maeve seemed to have far more cultural connection to the Cheysuli, since she actually lived at the Keep for a time!), with the sister who mistreated her.
And just to dig it in:
"Your son will do well enough." Deirdre bit through a thread. "As you said, Maeve is happy—and who would have thought that possible after what Teirnan did to her?" Deirdre sighed, untangling colors. "I thank the oldfolk of Erinn for hearing a mother's pleas… Rory Redbeard's a good man, and has made her a good husband."
"Since he couldn't be having Keely." Aileen smiled briefly. "He wanted her, you know. For all she was meant for Sean, and the Redbeard came here knowing…" She let it trail off. "Maeve is nothing like Keely. If that was what Rory wanted, he got something other than expected."
Great, thanks Roberson. You couldn't have just left it with Maeve having fallen for the brother that Keely didn't choose, you also have to add in an implication that she was his second choice.
There is at least some defense here:
Deirdre raised a brow. "By the time Keely and Sean sailed for Erinn, only a fool would have thought he yet had a chance. After Teirnan's bastard was born, Rory took Maeve for Maeve's own sake, not as a replacement for Keely."
Aileen laughed aloud. "There is no replacement for Keely."
Ugh. Fucking Keely. She had her book already and she treated Aileen terribly in it, so can we stop mentioning her for a while? (Spoiler, probably not.)
Deirdre turns things back by saying there's no replacement for Aidan too. Aileen asserts though that there's still something not right about him and challenges Deirdre to look in his eyes and ask if her grandson is happy and if her grandson is sane.
Oof.
And with that sentiment, the chapter ends.