Shapechangers - Book Three - Chapter Four
Jan. 5th, 2020 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, we got to see how great a leader Duncan was when he decided to pass up the opportunity to save the dude prophesied to become king and end the genocidal purge because he was jealous.
Oh, and Alix learned how to fly, but that was genuinely cool, so no complaints there.
We rejoin Alix and Duncan, she's riding behind him, "clasping his lean waist and anticipating what they would do when they reached Mujhara". There's just something weird about that sentence to me. Not sure why. Maybe it's the "lean waist" thing. I feel like now is not the best time to leer at Duncan?
Anyway, Alix has decided "not to bother Duncan with entreaties to go instead to Carillon, for he had sent Cai as promised four days before, and his arguments made sense." Do they? I'm still not sure they do. What's the point of saving the kingdom if Shaine's still the dude in charge? And what happens if Shaine AND Carillon die? Who's next in line?
But anyway, Alix thinks that for all that she holds "great esteem and affection" for Carillon, she knows that he'd be more concerned with the city than himself. And okay, fair enough. But I still side eye Duncan here.
Apparently Duncan is also "unusually solicitous" of Alix (how? Can we have an example? I'd enjoy the novelty of seeing Alix treated well), to the point where Finn notices and demands an explanation. Alix is surprised to find out Duncan hasn't revealed her pregnancy. And I'm depressed that Alix is surprised that her husband didn't betray her confidence. God, Alix, you deserve better than this bullshit.
Duncan is even protective of Alix for once, telling Finn not to plague her as he's done in the past. God, why did it take Alix being pregnant to get her love interest to actually bother to protect her from her attempted rapist? But then of course, without waiting for her agreement, Duncan tells Finn that Alix will bear him a son in six months.
How do they know the gender? Maybe it's a lir thing? Still, I feel like that's something worth establishing.
Alix expects Finn to mock her, but he goes quiet and masklike before smiling and expressing that it's a good thing to know the Cheysuli will increase by one. He has a "strange regretful smile" and makes a tahlmorra gesture.
Because of course this is what causes Finn to finally admit defeat. Not the fact that they're related. Not the fact that Alix has never once expressed any romantic or sexual interest in him. Not the fact that he would have had to rape her. Nope. Finn admits defeat when he finds out his brother knocked Alix up.
And he still calls her meijha, by the way. I think we're supposed to see that as affectionate teasing. But again, he is a) her half brother and b) her attempted rapist.
On the plus side, the scene is quickly interrupted by Duncan having some sort of fit. Oh good! Maybe he'll die! When Finn and Alix stop to help him (Finn gently pushing Alix away despite her protests, fuck you dude), his face is blank and his eyes are dilated and confused. He says Cai's name.
Finn gets him on the ground and asks if Cai is dead, and admittedly, he sounds really upset. Alix is horrified. They finally get Duncan to respond: Cai isn't dead, but he's injured and their connection is weak. Alix reaches out but can't feel Cai either.
I have to admit, I like this bit a lot. We've heard about the lir bond before, and we know about Borrs, who died because he lost one. But we didn't actually SEE it. But the description of Duncan is pretty effective here: Duncan raised his head and stared at them. His eyes were strange, dangerously feral in a hollowed face. Tautness moved through his body like a serpent, knotting sinews into rigidity.
Finn takes charge, his face "suddenly old and weary" and he orders that they make camp. He tries to soothe Alix by telling her that Cai is alive, and Duncan will recover. But Alix is still upset to see Duncan's spirit "so diminished". She realizes that she's seeing the downside to the lir bond.
They get Duncan lying down, and he recovers enough to complain about Finn's handling of things. He thinks they should press on, but Finn's been through this before: apparently Storr had almost died from an arrow wound once. Duncan's never had the experience. He tells Duncan to keep quiet until he's better.
Duncan points out that Finn's never led men, and how does he know Finn won't get them into trouble. And on one hand, I'd agree that Finn is an asshole and a rapist and seems to have the sense God gave a turnip. But on the other hand, it's not like Duncan's track record is great. If anything, I think Finn's had better suggestions than Duncan had (he didn't want to just set Carillon free for example). So...why not?
Finn points out that Duncan will just have to find out, and it might be that he's better suited to lead men than Duncan is. He can hardly be worse. Duncan scowls and goes to sleep, and if I didn't hate both characters, I'd probably enjoy the brotherly interaction.
Alix and Finn discuss Duncan. Finn explains that when a lir is injured, its bondmate gets all of the pain in the first moments. Duncan just needs to rest. Which he does, for one night, before pushing them onward to Mujhara. Finn grumbles about his brother's foolishness but agrees. Alix makes sure to cling to Duncan more tightly as they ride together. Not really sure what that's going to accomplish if he does keel over again, but okay.
Eventually Cai joins them, he's happy to see Duncan, and sounds healthy. So...all that drama was pointless then? He apologizes for troubling Duncan and brings an update about the war: it's going badly. Shaine's armies are scattered. The men who haven't fled are taken prisoner by Keough of Atvia.
While Cai gives his update, Finn is watching Duncan and waiting. Alix realizes that he can't hear Cai, and has a new appreciation for how special her ability is. The others have to wait for Duncan to relay the message.
I remember wondering before if the lir can talk directly to each other, like dragons in the Pern novels, or the Companions of Valdemar could. This implies that they can't. That's inconvenient.
The Atvian hunters had shot at Cai for sport, but barely touched his wing, and he's strong again. Which doesn't actually clarify what kind of injury would have caused Duncan that much pain.
Anyway, we get more specifics: Shaine had sent a few thousand troops and now only hundreds are left. He's got specific updates about Carillon: he's in a tumbril, chained to the point where he can't move. Fun.
Finn decides that it's been too long since he's been a dick:
Finn smiled grimly. “So, the princeling learns what it is to be a man.”
Alix jerked her head up and glared at him. “How can you say that? Carrilon is a warrior, a prince! He was a man before ever you took me captive!”
Finn lifted a placating hand, grinning at her vehemence. “Meijha, I speak no ill of him. I mean only he has not fought for his realm before, and it is a hard thing to learn when one is taken prisoner.”
Pretty sure you took him prisoner at THE BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK, you fucking cocknoodle. And given that Finn's qualifications for being a man seem to involve abduction and sexual harassment, I'm pretty sure he should shut his fucking mouth.
Then there's a disagreement about what to do next:
Duncan sighed. “Nothing has changed, cheysula. Mujhara is taken. Shaine waits within the palace. It is there we must go.”
“But he is a prisoner!”
“You knew that days ago,” he said shortly. “And you agreed I had the right of it.”
“I did not know he was chained! He deserves our help.”
Finn snorted. “He wanted nothing to do with us before, meijha. Why should I believe differently now?”
“By the gods!” Alix swore. “You would have me believe you desire his death!”
“No,” Finn said, unsmiling. “It would not serve the prophecy.”
That silenced her. Finn never spoke of the tahlmorra contained within the prophecy of the Firstborn, and to hear his serious tone made her realize he was not always the disruptive warrior. Alix scowled at him, disliking the unfamiliarity of his new attitude.
Ugh. Duncan's not wrong that Alix knew this shit before. But Alix giving in before was clearly authorial fiat. Because Duncan and Finn are being idiots here.
If they want to serve the prophecy, which they know EXPLICITLY DISCUSSES CARILLON, then MAYBE they should be SAVING HIM. If Carillon is supposed to end the purge, and start bringing back Cheysuli rule, it seems ONLY LOGICAL that they might be able to WIN HIM OVER BY SAVING HIM.
And Duncan decides that Finn isn't the only one who can resume being a dick:
Duncan kneed his horse forward. “We go on to Mujhara.”
“Duncan!”
“Be silent, Alix. You are here because I have allowed it.”
She gritted her teeth and spoke through them. “If it were you, Duncan, and Carillon could come to your aid, would you be content to let him go elsewhere?”
Duncan laughed. “The prince does not even know we move to aid the Homanans. He can hardly miss us.”
“It is not fair,” she muttered.
“War rarely is,” Duncan agreed, and led the warriors on.
I hate him. I hate him so fucking much. And guys, have you considered that if Carillon did survive and realized that you abandoned him to be tortured, MAYBE he'd hold a grudge?
I'm all for people having a prophecy, but it seems like Duncan and Finn are only interested in serving the prophecy when they can use it to justify doing what they already wanted to do: like get laid. When it comes to getting up off their asses to do something useful...meh.
(For the record, my non-canon Cheysuli character Keighvin agrees with me. This is short-sighted bullshit.)
Fortunately, Alix has grown something of a backbone during this time. She has a scheme, figuring that if she goes to save Carillon herself, they'll have to come after her. Duncan won't let her be alone in an enemy camp for too long, especially not when she's carrying a child with the Old Blood.
I'm actually a little amused that Alix is able to manipulate Duncan's chauvinism like that, and annoyed that she has to. Storr warns her that she shouldn't go, but also doesn't act to stop her. He does say Duncan will not approve. Alix says that he can beat her when he comes to find her. Storr says Duncan would never beat her. I think Storr needs to shut his wolf mouth, considering he's already raped her, manipulated her, and forcibly cut her hair.
So anyway, the chapter ends here. Thank god.
Oh, and Alix learned how to fly, but that was genuinely cool, so no complaints there.
We rejoin Alix and Duncan, she's riding behind him, "clasping his lean waist and anticipating what they would do when they reached Mujhara". There's just something weird about that sentence to me. Not sure why. Maybe it's the "lean waist" thing. I feel like now is not the best time to leer at Duncan?
Anyway, Alix has decided "not to bother Duncan with entreaties to go instead to Carillon, for he had sent Cai as promised four days before, and his arguments made sense." Do they? I'm still not sure they do. What's the point of saving the kingdom if Shaine's still the dude in charge? And what happens if Shaine AND Carillon die? Who's next in line?
But anyway, Alix thinks that for all that she holds "great esteem and affection" for Carillon, she knows that he'd be more concerned with the city than himself. And okay, fair enough. But I still side eye Duncan here.
Apparently Duncan is also "unusually solicitous" of Alix (how? Can we have an example? I'd enjoy the novelty of seeing Alix treated well), to the point where Finn notices and demands an explanation. Alix is surprised to find out Duncan hasn't revealed her pregnancy. And I'm depressed that Alix is surprised that her husband didn't betray her confidence. God, Alix, you deserve better than this bullshit.
Duncan is even protective of Alix for once, telling Finn not to plague her as he's done in the past. God, why did it take Alix being pregnant to get her love interest to actually bother to protect her from her attempted rapist? But then of course, without waiting for her agreement, Duncan tells Finn that Alix will bear him a son in six months.
How do they know the gender? Maybe it's a lir thing? Still, I feel like that's something worth establishing.
Alix expects Finn to mock her, but he goes quiet and masklike before smiling and expressing that it's a good thing to know the Cheysuli will increase by one. He has a "strange regretful smile" and makes a tahlmorra gesture.
Because of course this is what causes Finn to finally admit defeat. Not the fact that they're related. Not the fact that Alix has never once expressed any romantic or sexual interest in him. Not the fact that he would have had to rape her. Nope. Finn admits defeat when he finds out his brother knocked Alix up.
And he still calls her meijha, by the way. I think we're supposed to see that as affectionate teasing. But again, he is a) her half brother and b) her attempted rapist.
On the plus side, the scene is quickly interrupted by Duncan having some sort of fit. Oh good! Maybe he'll die! When Finn and Alix stop to help him (Finn gently pushing Alix away despite her protests, fuck you dude), his face is blank and his eyes are dilated and confused. He says Cai's name.
Finn gets him on the ground and asks if Cai is dead, and admittedly, he sounds really upset. Alix is horrified. They finally get Duncan to respond: Cai isn't dead, but he's injured and their connection is weak. Alix reaches out but can't feel Cai either.
I have to admit, I like this bit a lot. We've heard about the lir bond before, and we know about Borrs, who died because he lost one. But we didn't actually SEE it. But the description of Duncan is pretty effective here: Duncan raised his head and stared at them. His eyes were strange, dangerously feral in a hollowed face. Tautness moved through his body like a serpent, knotting sinews into rigidity.
Finn takes charge, his face "suddenly old and weary" and he orders that they make camp. He tries to soothe Alix by telling her that Cai is alive, and Duncan will recover. But Alix is still upset to see Duncan's spirit "so diminished". She realizes that she's seeing the downside to the lir bond.
They get Duncan lying down, and he recovers enough to complain about Finn's handling of things. He thinks they should press on, but Finn's been through this before: apparently Storr had almost died from an arrow wound once. Duncan's never had the experience. He tells Duncan to keep quiet until he's better.
Duncan points out that Finn's never led men, and how does he know Finn won't get them into trouble. And on one hand, I'd agree that Finn is an asshole and a rapist and seems to have the sense God gave a turnip. But on the other hand, it's not like Duncan's track record is great. If anything, I think Finn's had better suggestions than Duncan had (he didn't want to just set Carillon free for example). So...why not?
Finn points out that Duncan will just have to find out, and it might be that he's better suited to lead men than Duncan is. He can hardly be worse. Duncan scowls and goes to sleep, and if I didn't hate both characters, I'd probably enjoy the brotherly interaction.
Alix and Finn discuss Duncan. Finn explains that when a lir is injured, its bondmate gets all of the pain in the first moments. Duncan just needs to rest. Which he does, for one night, before pushing them onward to Mujhara. Finn grumbles about his brother's foolishness but agrees. Alix makes sure to cling to Duncan more tightly as they ride together. Not really sure what that's going to accomplish if he does keel over again, but okay.
Eventually Cai joins them, he's happy to see Duncan, and sounds healthy. So...all that drama was pointless then? He apologizes for troubling Duncan and brings an update about the war: it's going badly. Shaine's armies are scattered. The men who haven't fled are taken prisoner by Keough of Atvia.
While Cai gives his update, Finn is watching Duncan and waiting. Alix realizes that he can't hear Cai, and has a new appreciation for how special her ability is. The others have to wait for Duncan to relay the message.
I remember wondering before if the lir can talk directly to each other, like dragons in the Pern novels, or the Companions of Valdemar could. This implies that they can't. That's inconvenient.
The Atvian hunters had shot at Cai for sport, but barely touched his wing, and he's strong again. Which doesn't actually clarify what kind of injury would have caused Duncan that much pain.
Anyway, we get more specifics: Shaine had sent a few thousand troops and now only hundreds are left. He's got specific updates about Carillon: he's in a tumbril, chained to the point where he can't move. Fun.
Finn decides that it's been too long since he's been a dick:
Finn smiled grimly. “So, the princeling learns what it is to be a man.”
Alix jerked her head up and glared at him. “How can you say that? Carrilon is a warrior, a prince! He was a man before ever you took me captive!”
Finn lifted a placating hand, grinning at her vehemence. “Meijha, I speak no ill of him. I mean only he has not fought for his realm before, and it is a hard thing to learn when one is taken prisoner.”
Pretty sure you took him prisoner at THE BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK, you fucking cocknoodle. And given that Finn's qualifications for being a man seem to involve abduction and sexual harassment, I'm pretty sure he should shut his fucking mouth.
Then there's a disagreement about what to do next:
Duncan sighed. “Nothing has changed, cheysula. Mujhara is taken. Shaine waits within the palace. It is there we must go.”
“But he is a prisoner!”
“You knew that days ago,” he said shortly. “And you agreed I had the right of it.”
“I did not know he was chained! He deserves our help.”
Finn snorted. “He wanted nothing to do with us before, meijha. Why should I believe differently now?”
“By the gods!” Alix swore. “You would have me believe you desire his death!”
“No,” Finn said, unsmiling. “It would not serve the prophecy.”
That silenced her. Finn never spoke of the tahlmorra contained within the prophecy of the Firstborn, and to hear his serious tone made her realize he was not always the disruptive warrior. Alix scowled at him, disliking the unfamiliarity of his new attitude.
Ugh. Duncan's not wrong that Alix knew this shit before. But Alix giving in before was clearly authorial fiat. Because Duncan and Finn are being idiots here.
If they want to serve the prophecy, which they know EXPLICITLY DISCUSSES CARILLON, then MAYBE they should be SAVING HIM. If Carillon is supposed to end the purge, and start bringing back Cheysuli rule, it seems ONLY LOGICAL that they might be able to WIN HIM OVER BY SAVING HIM.
And Duncan decides that Finn isn't the only one who can resume being a dick:
Duncan kneed his horse forward. “We go on to Mujhara.”
“Duncan!”
“Be silent, Alix. You are here because I have allowed it.”
She gritted her teeth and spoke through them. “If it were you, Duncan, and Carillon could come to your aid, would you be content to let him go elsewhere?”
Duncan laughed. “The prince does not even know we move to aid the Homanans. He can hardly miss us.”
“It is not fair,” she muttered.
“War rarely is,” Duncan agreed, and led the warriors on.
I hate him. I hate him so fucking much. And guys, have you considered that if Carillon did survive and realized that you abandoned him to be tortured, MAYBE he'd hold a grudge?
I'm all for people having a prophecy, but it seems like Duncan and Finn are only interested in serving the prophecy when they can use it to justify doing what they already wanted to do: like get laid. When it comes to getting up off their asses to do something useful...meh.
(For the record, my non-canon Cheysuli character Keighvin agrees with me. This is short-sighted bullshit.)
Fortunately, Alix has grown something of a backbone during this time. She has a scheme, figuring that if she goes to save Carillon herself, they'll have to come after her. Duncan won't let her be alone in an enemy camp for too long, especially not when she's carrying a child with the Old Blood.
I'm actually a little amused that Alix is able to manipulate Duncan's chauvinism like that, and annoyed that she has to. Storr warns her that she shouldn't go, but also doesn't act to stop her. He does say Duncan will not approve. Alix says that he can beat her when he comes to find her. Storr says Duncan would never beat her. I think Storr needs to shut his wolf mouth, considering he's already raped her, manipulated her, and forcibly cut her hair.
So anyway, the chapter ends here. Thank god.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-07 04:12 am (UTC)Also this is stupid.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-07 03:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-08-30 09:33 am (UTC)Velriset: At the least, Finn does back off finally?
They finally get Duncan to respond: Cai isn't dead, but he's injured and their connection is weak. Alix reaches out but can't feel Cai either.
Could she even find any lir at such a great distance?
Eventually Cai joins them, he's happy to see Duncan, and sounds healthy. So...all that drama was pointless then?
Apparently so.
The Atvian hunters had shot at Cai for sport, but barely touched his wing, and he's strong again. Which doesn't actually clarify what kind of injury would have caused Duncan that much pain.
Why would they not have shot at him because they thought he was a lir? Why for sport? That does not make much sense. And yes, if they barely touched him, why was this such a big deal?
...Why are we stuck outside of the action?
“No,” Finn said, unsmiling. “It would not serve the prophecy.”
Then you should still save him, because you cannot be sure he will not be killed now!
Well, good on Alix for coming up with something.