Castle of Deception - Interlude the First
Apr. 8th, 2026 06:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, poor Kevin was a whiny teenager who isn't really having fun. And I don't really blame him. I've mentioned a few times that as a kid, I disliked Kevin (at least early on), but I actually feel pretty fond of the little idiot now.
But this chapter, or rather, this Interlude is not about Kevin. It's about Count Vollmar, who owns the castle that we're in. And Count Vollmar has a really interesting guest:
Count Volmar, tall, lean and graying of brown hair and beard, sat seemingly at ease in his private solar before a blazing fireplace, a wine-filled goblet of precious glass in his hand. He looked across the small room at the woman who sat there, and raised the goblet in appreciation. She nodded at the courtesy, her dark green eyes flickering with cold amusement in the firelight.
Carlotta, princess, half-sister to King Amber himself, could not, Volmar knew, be much younger than his own mid-forties, and yet she could easily have passed for a far younger woman. Not the slightest trace of age marred the pale, flawless skin or the glorious masses of deep red hair turned to bright flame by the firelight.
Sorcery, he thought, and then snickered at his own vapid musings so that he nearly choked on his own wine. Of course it was sorcery! Carlotta was an accomplished sorceress, and about as safe. for all her beauty, as a snake.
So we have a villainous couple here. Carlotta, you may recall, was namedropped way back in chapter one. It was her takeover attempt that Kevin's teacher, Aidan, had thwarted. Apparently she's not as dead or disappeared as we thought.
And actually, it looks like Kevin is NOT just being a whiny teenager who thinks everyone is out to get him:
“The boy is safely ensconced, I take it?” Carlotta’s smile was as chill as her lovely eyes.
“Yes. He has a place among the squires. Who, I might add, have been given to understand that he’s so far beneath them they needn’t bother even to acknowledge his presence that to do so, in fact, would demean their own status. By now, the boy is surely thoroughly disillusioned about nobility and questioning his own worth.”
They really ARE out to get him. Poor kid. I like this touch.
So yeah, they're basically tormenting this kid on purpose because they bear a grudge against Aidan for events of thirty years ago. Carlotta, we're told, had been thirteen at the time and already a prodigy of sorcery. She's illegitimate and her mom is unknown.
But if they'd taken out then-Prince Amber, and the King had "pined away" from grief (or implicitly got murdered), the people would have had to accept his daughter with half "Blood Royal" as queen.
Vollmar's part in this is pretty simple. He figures she wouldn't have tried to rule alone and would have named a consort from her loyal supporters. Vollmar's own role had never been discovered. (His dad was a supporter of the King and Amber).
But sadly for Vollmar, Aidan the Bard and his unnamed allies did the whole grand hero thing and it never happened.
Carlotta and Vollmar have an interesting relationship. She seems to be able to read him like a book. And for all that she's an exile in hiding, Vollmar still does things like stand when she does, because she's a princess and he's only a count.
They don't actually know why Kevin was sent here. Vollmar has apparently convinced Carlotta that the manuscript that Kevin is to copy is a treatise on lute music. He's actually not sure completely which manuscript the kid actually needs, noting that his dad was the scholar, not him.
Carlotta's a little edgy. She's been hiding and scheming for years, something that puzzles Volmar. (She was drained when her attempt to turn her brother to stone failed, but that doesn't explain everyhing.)
She thinks Aidan might have figured out that she's come back via "that ridiculous Bardic Magic". Vollmar suggests they just tell Kevin the manuscript isn't here and send him away. But Carlotta thinks he's been sent for a purpose and wants to know why.
She has a scheme. Apparently, there was an actual point to having all the squires be mean to Kevin, beyond just villains being villains. Now that the kid is miserable, with everyone being mean, and with a dreadful boring assignment, he's likely to be a sitting duck for anyone who'll be a little nice to him.
Vollmar's line of dialogue is a little weird here, and seems to be set up for the reveal of her plan rather than a natural response:
“Just think how delighted he would be if someone was race to him! How eager he would be to confide in that someone!”
“I don’t understand. An adult ”
“No, you idiot! Don’t you remember what it’s like being that young? The boy is only going to confide in someone his own age.”
I'm not sure why "an adult" would be a likely guess here. It does give us a chance to see that maybe this isn't a true love match:
As usual, Volmar forced down his rage at her casual insults. Ah, Carlotta, you superior little witch, if ever I gain the throne beside you, you had better guard your back! As innocuously as he could, he asked, “Who are you suggesting? One of the squires?”
But no. Carlotta's got something else in mind. Something magic. And well:
Where the adult Carlotta had sat was now a cloyingly sweet little blonde girl of, Volmar guessed, the bardling’s own age, though it was difficult to tell age amid all the golden ringlets and alabaster skin and large, shining blue eyes.
I remember being really amused by this next bit, as a kid. Carlotta asks how she looks and Vollmar blurts out honestly that she's sweet enough to rot his teeth.
Carlotta acknowledges the need to tone it down a little:
The sickening coyness faded. The girl remained the same age, but the blonde hair was now less perfectly golden, the big blue eyes a bit less glowing, the pale skin just a touch less smooth. As Volmar grit his teeth, determinedly watching despite a new surge of dizziness, he saw the perfect oval other face broaden ever so slightly at the forehead, narrow at the chin, until she looked just like…
“Charina!” the count gasped.
So Vollmar has a niece. One that's a bit of a nuisance - all lonely and sad because Vollmar's sister and husband "had the bad taste to die". (That's a great villain line of dialogue by the way.)
She's too far from the main line of descent to be married off, either. Which is interesting because Vollmar himself doesn't seem to be married or have children. Maybe he has other siblings though. Anyway, she's "just another useless girl".
The interlude ends with a suitably over the top note of villainy:
“Poor Charina,” Volmar repeated without any warmth at all. “So easily disposed of. She never will be missed.”
Well, one thing I can't say about this book is that it's subtle. We've just our villains and they're suitably evil. I don't think they're ever going to get a huge amount of depth, but it's not really that kind of story.
I like the implication that the only reason this is happening at all is that these two are both bored and paranoid. They genuinely do not know if Kevin is here for a reason. They genuinely do not know what the manuscript actually is. It MIGHT be Aidan fucking with them. Or it might just be as mundane as it looks. But when you're in hiding in the castle of your main supporter, with nothing to do after almost succeeding in taking over a kingdom at thirteen...you probably get restless.
It should be fun to watch these guys get thwarted.
But this chapter, or rather, this Interlude is not about Kevin. It's about Count Vollmar, who owns the castle that we're in. And Count Vollmar has a really interesting guest:
Count Volmar, tall, lean and graying of brown hair and beard, sat seemingly at ease in his private solar before a blazing fireplace, a wine-filled goblet of precious glass in his hand. He looked across the small room at the woman who sat there, and raised the goblet in appreciation. She nodded at the courtesy, her dark green eyes flickering with cold amusement in the firelight.
Carlotta, princess, half-sister to King Amber himself, could not, Volmar knew, be much younger than his own mid-forties, and yet she could easily have passed for a far younger woman. Not the slightest trace of age marred the pale, flawless skin or the glorious masses of deep red hair turned to bright flame by the firelight.
Sorcery, he thought, and then snickered at his own vapid musings so that he nearly choked on his own wine. Of course it was sorcery! Carlotta was an accomplished sorceress, and about as safe. for all her beauty, as a snake.
So we have a villainous couple here. Carlotta, you may recall, was namedropped way back in chapter one. It was her takeover attempt that Kevin's teacher, Aidan, had thwarted. Apparently she's not as dead or disappeared as we thought.
And actually, it looks like Kevin is NOT just being a whiny teenager who thinks everyone is out to get him:
“The boy is safely ensconced, I take it?” Carlotta’s smile was as chill as her lovely eyes.
“Yes. He has a place among the squires. Who, I might add, have been given to understand that he’s so far beneath them they needn’t bother even to acknowledge his presence that to do so, in fact, would demean their own status. By now, the boy is surely thoroughly disillusioned about nobility and questioning his own worth.”
They really ARE out to get him. Poor kid. I like this touch.
So yeah, they're basically tormenting this kid on purpose because they bear a grudge against Aidan for events of thirty years ago. Carlotta, we're told, had been thirteen at the time and already a prodigy of sorcery. She's illegitimate and her mom is unknown.
But if they'd taken out then-Prince Amber, and the King had "pined away" from grief (or implicitly got murdered), the people would have had to accept his daughter with half "Blood Royal" as queen.
Vollmar's part in this is pretty simple. He figures she wouldn't have tried to rule alone and would have named a consort from her loyal supporters. Vollmar's own role had never been discovered. (His dad was a supporter of the King and Amber).
But sadly for Vollmar, Aidan the Bard and his unnamed allies did the whole grand hero thing and it never happened.
Carlotta and Vollmar have an interesting relationship. She seems to be able to read him like a book. And for all that she's an exile in hiding, Vollmar still does things like stand when she does, because she's a princess and he's only a count.
They don't actually know why Kevin was sent here. Vollmar has apparently convinced Carlotta that the manuscript that Kevin is to copy is a treatise on lute music. He's actually not sure completely which manuscript the kid actually needs, noting that his dad was the scholar, not him.
Carlotta's a little edgy. She's been hiding and scheming for years, something that puzzles Volmar. (She was drained when her attempt to turn her brother to stone failed, but that doesn't explain everyhing.)
She thinks Aidan might have figured out that she's come back via "that ridiculous Bardic Magic". Vollmar suggests they just tell Kevin the manuscript isn't here and send him away. But Carlotta thinks he's been sent for a purpose and wants to know why.
She has a scheme. Apparently, there was an actual point to having all the squires be mean to Kevin, beyond just villains being villains. Now that the kid is miserable, with everyone being mean, and with a dreadful boring assignment, he's likely to be a sitting duck for anyone who'll be a little nice to him.
Vollmar's line of dialogue is a little weird here, and seems to be set up for the reveal of her plan rather than a natural response:
“Just think how delighted he would be if someone was race to him! How eager he would be to confide in that someone!”
“I don’t understand. An adult ”
“No, you idiot! Don’t you remember what it’s like being that young? The boy is only going to confide in someone his own age.”
I'm not sure why "an adult" would be a likely guess here. It does give us a chance to see that maybe this isn't a true love match:
As usual, Volmar forced down his rage at her casual insults. Ah, Carlotta, you superior little witch, if ever I gain the throne beside you, you had better guard your back! As innocuously as he could, he asked, “Who are you suggesting? One of the squires?”
But no. Carlotta's got something else in mind. Something magic. And well:
Where the adult Carlotta had sat was now a cloyingly sweet little blonde girl of, Volmar guessed, the bardling’s own age, though it was difficult to tell age amid all the golden ringlets and alabaster skin and large, shining blue eyes.
I remember being really amused by this next bit, as a kid. Carlotta asks how she looks and Vollmar blurts out honestly that she's sweet enough to rot his teeth.
Carlotta acknowledges the need to tone it down a little:
The sickening coyness faded. The girl remained the same age, but the blonde hair was now less perfectly golden, the big blue eyes a bit less glowing, the pale skin just a touch less smooth. As Volmar grit his teeth, determinedly watching despite a new surge of dizziness, he saw the perfect oval other face broaden ever so slightly at the forehead, narrow at the chin, until she looked just like…
“Charina!” the count gasped.
So Vollmar has a niece. One that's a bit of a nuisance - all lonely and sad because Vollmar's sister and husband "had the bad taste to die". (That's a great villain line of dialogue by the way.)
She's too far from the main line of descent to be married off, either. Which is interesting because Vollmar himself doesn't seem to be married or have children. Maybe he has other siblings though. Anyway, she's "just another useless girl".
The interlude ends with a suitably over the top note of villainy:
“Poor Charina,” Volmar repeated without any warmth at all. “So easily disposed of. She never will be missed.”
Well, one thing I can't say about this book is that it's subtle. We've just our villains and they're suitably evil. I don't think they're ever going to get a huge amount of depth, but it's not really that kind of story.
I like the implication that the only reason this is happening at all is that these two are both bored and paranoid. They genuinely do not know if Kevin is here for a reason. They genuinely do not know what the manuscript actually is. It MIGHT be Aidan fucking with them. Or it might just be as mundane as it looks. But when you're in hiding in the castle of your main supporter, with nothing to do after almost succeeding in taking over a kingdom at thirteen...you probably get restless.
It should be fun to watch these guys get thwarted.