Flight of the Raven - Part One, Chapter Seven

[kalinara]

Feels like it's been a minute since I reviewed this book. Sorry about that. As mentioned, end of April/early May is a bit hectic for personal reasons. But that will hopefully calm down soon.

So last time, Aidan made it back to Homana-Mujhar and had a vision of Carillon. He gave a pretty good showing, considering he didn't try to tell anyone to rape his daughter for her own good.



So this chapter starts with a very angry Aileen, who interrupts the midday meal to yell at her husband.

Aileen slammed down her goblet. Cider splashed over the rim. "Not so soon!" she cried, astonishing them all. "I'll not be letting you do it!"

Everyone's pretty astonished by this, but we do get clarification that's a little cumbersome, since everyone in the room would have heard how the argument started:

Brennan, thawing at last, quietly put down his goblet. He did not spill his cider. "I only meant—"

"I know what you meant!" Aileen's green eyes blazed. "D'ye think I'll sit here all mealy-mouthed and listen to such drivel?"

Brennan's face tightened. "What 'drivel' do you mean? I was discussing our son's future."

"Discussing his marriage, ye skilfin!" Aileen flattened her hands on the table and leaned down on braced arms. "I'll not allow it so soon. The boy deserves some time."

"The 'boy,' as you call him, is twenty-three years old." Brennan very carefully did not look in Ian's direction.

Brennan might have a point when we consider the general lives of these characters. Twenty-three is young, but until Niall, we never had a protagonist who survived past forty-five.

We don't really know how Brennan approached the subject, but it seems like no one is completely on board. Everyone's pretty neutral about the subject. Niall just says he married off four of his five children and this is for Brennan to do.

As a shipper, I rather like this bit though:

Inwardly Brennan sighed. He looked again at Aileen. "This can be discussed another time—"

"You brought it up," she charged. "Oh, Brennan, d'ye not know what you're doing? Can ye not see what might happen? D'ye want him to be like us?"

Brennan lost his temper. "By all the gods, I love you! I have never kept it a secret!"

The admission was not precisely what any of them had anticipated, least of all Aileen. She had expected a different issue.

White-faced, she glanced at the tactfully averted faces of the Mujhar, his meijha, his rujholli. Only Brennan looked at her; no, he glared at her, with an angry, defiant expression. It belied the words he had shouted.

Well now.

This might be promising after all. I've said before that I'm ridiculously invested in these two as a couple from the way they got together in Pride of Princes. And Daughter of the Lion had made it clear that even if Aileen didn't love Brennan like she did Corin, there's clearly something there.

Aileen tries to say "not now", and Brennan disagrees. Now IS a good time for this conversation, but not in public. He manages to say it in a way that makes her think he's trying to seduce her, but of course he'd never shame her in that way.

And in true romcom style, THAT statement makes her even madder. They argue back and forth a bit more until Aidan himself appears in the corridor. His reaction is...interesting actually:

"Aidan's future is Aidan's future. Let it remain so, Brennan." Aileen swung to face the doorway. "Give the boy—" She stopped. "Oh," she said weakly. "Have you heard everything?"

Brennan turned abruptly. Their son stood in the corridor.

"Enough," Aidan said calmly, folding hands behind his back.

Brennan frowned. "When did you come home?"

"Last night. Late." Aidan's crooked smile was private. "There was something I had to do… something to be resolved."

"And was it?" Aileen asked.

The smile became a scowl. "Not entirely," he muttered, then flicked dismissive fingers as he altered tone and topic. "Am I to be married, then?"

He doesn't seem opposed to the idea, actually. Though he is a little distracted. And he kind of seems to be responding to his parents inner monologues as well as what they're saying outloud:

There was only the slightest hint of Erinn in the inflection. It made Brennan smile; his son sounded, on occasion, very like his mother. "I want you content, though undoubtedly your jehana will not agree that I would consider your feelings."

" 'Tisn't sounding like it," she muttered.

Brennan cleared his throat. "I want you content, Aidan. I want you settled. I want you less disturbed by whatever it is that disturbs you."

Aidan laughed. "And marriage is the answer? With yours as the example?"

Brennan nearly gaped. The question had been so blatant—and so keenly on the mark. As if he reads my thoughts…

That said, Aidan actually has a setting-realistic reaction to the idea of marriage. He's fine with it.

Aidan scowled briefly, then wiped it away instantly. His tone, usually circumspect and polite, was pitched to cut through them both, as if he knew just where to aim. "I am not you, jehana. I am not and never have been in love with the wrong person. Nor am I my jehan, so badly hurt by an Ihlini witch's meddling." He cast a glance at Brennan, mouth twisted, as if to ask his pardon for speaking of private things. "I am not in love at all, so it really makes no difference."

And I mean, they ARE royalty. Aidan WILL have to get married at some point. Brennan and Aileen have clearly learned the lesson from Niall and there's no betrothal at birth.

And it seems clear that, with the visitations and such, Aidan's got bigger problems. He wants to know if they have a woman in mind.

We tangent into another description of Aidan:

Aileen stared at her son. Dark red hair tumbled into his face, until he flung it out of his eyes like a horse tossing his mane. It was, as usual, badly in need of cutting; he was lazy about such things. Thick lashes screened his eyes, but that did not disturb her. His eyes were like his father's; she could not read his, either. Aidan was a trifle paler than usual, and the bluish bruise was temporarily disfiguring, and he acted as if his ribs hurt; all that aside, he seemed perfectly normal, she thought—except for a sharper, more pronounced detachment that was, even when weighed against Aidan's customary feyness, something out of the ordinary.

Hot but weird is a general consensus, I suppose. Both parents are a bit weirded out by his response. And no, they don't actually have a woman in mind.

This bit makes me laugh and pisses me off at the same time:

Aileen glanced at Brennan. "Hart has four daughters."

"And Keely, one." Brennan pulled at a lobeless ear, reaching for a long-absent earring. "Maeve has a daughter. Maeve has two."

Aileen's tone was odd. "Legitimate, if you please." Brennan scowled; Maeve was his favorite. "Maeve's daughters are legitimate. She and Rory are married."

Aidan's tone was amused. "She wants a princess for me."

Aileen folded her arms. " 'Tis better for a prince."

a) I'm amused that their first response is to think of Aidan's first cousins. They've got so brainwashed by the prophecy that they never consider having another bloodline.

b) I am PISSED OFF that Maeve is an afterthought yet again. Because yep, she marries Keely's cast offs. I actually liked Rory-as-Sean more than Sean-as-Rory, but we see the real deal here. Maeve married Sean's bastard brother, so she doesn't get a title. Nor do her children, who now get to be dismissed as unimportant by everyone but Brennan.

And it's why I'm so pissed that Keely got to have her cake and eat it too. At least if she'd made the choice of Rory or Sean, she'd have to live with the embarrassment of choosing her heart over her duty OR having chosen duty over her heart, even if she still gets what she wanted. But because of the reveal, she never had to make that choice.

Meanwhile, Maeve spent two books being dismissed, humiliated, used, and mocked. And we get this last indignity.

But back to the funny part:

He grinned, laughing in silence. "Very well, five princesses to pick from. Unless you take bids from other kingdoms, such as Ellas and Caledon."

"No," Brennan said thoughtfully. "There is the prophecy to think of. We now know the four realms mentioned… we need add no other blood."

"No," Aidan agreed. "Only the Ihlini."

Brennan looked at him sharply. "No son of mine—"

It's a bit of a shame to see Brennan react like that, when he was the only person to look at the killing of the man he'd thought was Ian's bastard son as kinslaying. It does make some sense though, after everything with Strahan and Rhiannon.

But I'm annoyed that Roberson never considers marrying Aidan off to a Cheysuli. Because this is SUPPOSED to be about breeding up the Cheysuli ancestors for a Cheysuli prophecy, but at this point, Aidan (and Kellin after him) will be more ERINNISH than anything else. Their Cheysuli percentage is pretty fucking small.

Actually, let's do the math. From here:

Brennan is: 3/8 Cheysuli, 1/4 Atvian, 1/8 Solindish, 3/16 Homanan, and 1/16 Erinnish.

Aileen is, if I recall correctly, 3/4 Erinnish, 1/4 Atvian (Because Liam and Deirdre had an Atvian mother as I recall).

So Aidan is: 3/16 Cheysuli, 1/4 Atvian, 1/16 Solindish, 3/32 Homanan, and 13/32 Erinnish.

And I know mixed race politics and identities are complicated. But given the issues this series has had with race all along - the capture fantasy narrative and the depiction of Cheysuli as casual rapists at the beginning, the fact that there is one Cheysuli full blooded woman who gets a speaking line and she was in the first book, the fact that the only women in the family who look Cheysuli are either tragically insane or villains, the fact that Alix's ultra special ancestry came from her white mother and fucking so on and so forth...

I feel like there's a problem when, in your series about fake-Native Americans saving themselves through a prophecy, the last full fake-Native American who marries into the family is Duncan in the first book. The percentage of Cheysuli ancestry is only as high as it is because of the cousin fucking.

This is a curable problem. Aidan's not the last protagonist, just marry him off to a Cheysuli woman. Show us what the modern Cheysuli society that doesn't live in the palace looks like. But no. Instead, another batch of cousin fucking it is.

So Aidan asks if he's to choose sight unseen. Then he decides to give his parents a bit of advice:

"And look at the result." Aidan's smile was so charmingly disarming, neither of them could respond immediately. "You are both of you fools—or skilfins," he continued, ignoring their stricken stares. "The Prince of Homana at least has the courage to admit he loves the Princess… she might do as well. Old wounds do heal—if you give them the time." He looked straight at his mother. "Twenty-four years is a long time. I'm thinking the two of you might be happier if you started all over again."

This bit of insight shocks Aileen who finally puts two and two together. She asks how long Aidan has known how people feel.

So this is something that annoys me about this book. As much as I like Aidan in general. But here's the reveal:

Aileen's face was white. Hands shook as she clasped them tightly in her lap. She tried to smile at Brennan, but it faltered. "Kivarna," she said only. "Your son is Erinnish, too." And with that she went out of the room.

Long and the short is that Kivarna is a traditional Erinnish power that's basically empathy and/or very mild telepathy. Aidan thus is able to tell his father that Aileen really does love him, even if she's never admitted it to herself. She feels guilty about Corin and thinks Brennan deserves better.

Brennan, being one of the smarter protagonists, realizes that this means that every fear and doubt that they've had about Aidan's weirdness and his visions are things that Aidan picked up on.

"How is a child to trust when his parents give him no chance to say what troubles him most?" Brennan shut his eyes. "Gods, I have been a fool… and I have made you this way."

Aidan's tone was tight. "What way, jehan? What 'way' am I?"

"Different." The answer was prompt. "Private. Withdrawn. Guarded. As if you trust none of us." The pain tore at his vitals. "I did that to you."

It's been a long time since I mentioned that Tor reviewer from 2015, who I am constantly, mentally at war with. She called Brennan a terrible father here and I don't think that's fair. He IS admittedly ableist as both a product of his society and as a reaction to his own trauma and issues. He has definitely fucked up with his kid (as has Aileen), and it was to Aidan's detriment. But I don't think that makes him a terrible father. Only human.

And to be fair, while Aidan has suffered and has and is going through a lot of shit, I think we've got a pretty good idea of who he is as a person. And, visions aside, he seems to actually be one of our best-adjusted protagonists. He has a strong sense of self. He's got compassion for others. He's confident and reasonably happy when he's not having visions. He's got healthy relationships.

That's important too.

That said, I fucking hate the concept of kivarna. I hate that we are seven books into an eight book series and we've suddenly got this new magic power to deal with. I hate that this magic power is Erinnish, and despite having major Erinnish characters in the last three books, this has never fucking come up.

The visions were fine. The visions were more than enough. They're special and could theoretically be explained as coming about because we're two generations away from the prophecy's completion. We didn't need random onset Empathy to go with it.

Anyway, Aidan gets his moment here, gently calling out his father for those doubts about his sanity and worthiness. Of course he couldn't confide in him. And that's completely fair. He'd never told them about the ability, but he didn't really know about it and, without meaning to, they created an environment where he couldn't talk to them about it.

I really do enjoy when authors give us family dynamics that are more than just another variation on abusive parents. It's like the Hollanders in Heated Rivalry - even good, well-meaning parents can fuck their kids up.

Anyway, Aidan's still open to the idea of marriage. Brennan lets him change the subject but is inclined to backdown. Actually I really like this:

Again, he changes the subject. And perhaps I should let him. Brennan made a dismissive gesture. His tone was conciliatory. "Perhaps your jehana has the right of it. Perhaps I do move too soon, pushing you this way and that—" He broke off, sighing, to look at his son. "There are times I think too much about what will become of the Lion, when the throne is not even mine. I look back at our history and see how tenuous is our claim—how vulnerable our race. We are still badly outnumbered… if the Homanans ever turned against us again…" But he let it trail off. Aidan was not listening. "Aidan…" He waited. "Aidan, I want to do right by you. If now is not the time—"

It's worth remembering that the current security of the Homanan throne is very recent. Niall faced a potential civil war, remember. Brennan himself has been the victim of Homanan racists (led by a secret Ihlini, but still). And there's a real possibility that the next person in line, who hasn't abdicated in favor of a different throne, is TEIRNAN.

But Aidan thinks that maybe a lifestyle change will do him good. His casualness throws Brennan, but I still think it makes sense. Even without the prophecy, royalty marries for alliances, for wealth and access. They don't marry for love. Or at least not JUST love.

There's a tangent where Aidan loses focus, creeping Brennan out, and I like this bit a lot:

Aidan weighed his words, then sighed in resignation. His crooked smile was, Brennan thought, oddly vulnerable. "More than confused—irritated. There are things in my life I cannot understand, and no answers are forthcoming. No matter who I ask—" He sighed heavily, fingering the bruise. "Have you ever spoken with a god?"

It was an odd tack. "To them; many times."

"One particular god?"

He strived for lightness; to keep his head above water. "No. I generally address my comments—or petitions—to as many as possible, just to improve my chances." Brennan waited for laughter. When he heard no response at all, he dismissed forced levity. His son was revealing more of himself than ever before. This time the jehan would listen. "Why? Do you speak only to one?"

Aidan sighed. "I had never thought it necessary—like you, I spoke to them all. But now—" Abruptly he broke it off and rose, heading toward the door. "If there are five princesses to be considered, perhaps I should go to see them."

I like that Brennan's clearly trying here. He doesn't understand. He's creeped out. But he is trying. That said, it's still a very difficult subject and I can't blame Aidan for pulling back. How do you talk about something like this?

On the plus side, since his parents don't have a particular fiancee in mind, Aidan basically can go meet his female cousins and see if any of them strikes his fancy. And since we're in the part of the series where the protagonists are decent people, we know he'll look for reciprocation, too.

But that's for next time!

Comments

[multi_facets]

The urge to read the series and rewrite the whole damn thing is rising.

But I have my own books to handle. And hopefully they'll be a fuck-ton better than this plonk.

[kalinara]

Yeah, I mean by this point in the series, I do think there's more good stuff than bad, but it's all built on some really fucking shitty foundations. And the racial elements are still uncomfortable. I might be willing to give a different author the benefit of the doubt for a lot of this, as well-meaning but often clueless or accidently offensive white person, I do recognize that trait in others (this does NOT mean I think other people can't or shouldn't be offended, I want to clarify), but I can't here. Shapechangers casts far too long a shadow.

[kalinara]

And I bet your books will be great!

[multi_facets]

Thank you. They had better be, with how I'm suffering for 'em.