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i_read_whatLast time, Duncan proved himself to be even more short-sighted than I thought. There was also a distressing tease of a moment when he keeled over, giving me hopes that he might die. Sadly it didn't happen.
But this chapter bodes well, because Alix is actually ditching his ass to get shit done.
So we start with Alix sneaking out of camp. Duncan somehow manages not to notice this, but Cai does. Cai tries to talk her out of it, pointing out that she's pregnant. Alix states that she'll keep the child safe, and Cai says he can't gainsay her.
Alix asks if he'll tell Duncan. Um. Yes? Psychic bond and all. She's lucky that he's not waking Duncan up now. Though really, dude, you're a warrior on a mission, shouldn't you be sleeping lighter?
So Alix flies off as a falcon. It's a long journey, and she's tiring but she keeps going until she sees the Atvian host. She circles over the army, trying to get a good look at the state of affairs. She notes a lot of strange bearded men wearing keyhold helmets, archers, broadsword carriers, and Solindish troops in chainmail.
She watches the archers to make sure they won't shoot her, but fortunately they're more concerned with eating. I wonder why they shot Cai, but maybe Cai is as stupid as Duncan is. Alix worries a bit that her exhaustion will make her unable to keep her lir shape, so she tries to rest atop a ridgepole. Clever.
Honestly, annoyingly, I'm actually enjoying this chapter. Alix is doing much better this time than her last self-propelled mission. And the stakes are reasonably high.
After some rest, she finds some Homanan prisoners and Alix has to "close[] her mind to the cries and moans of the wounded, for if she listened their pain would become hers, and she would fail."
She finds a boy lashed to a post, his back flogged, and she can't tell if he's alive or dead. Finally, she finds Carillon, slumped in a tumbril. He's barely conscious, and his face is bruised and smeared with blood. Alix is understandably enraged, but she keeps herself quiet. Carillon sees her, but naturally doesn't recognize her. She is happy to notice life in his eyes and "burning resentment"
He definitely is in bad condition: gaunt, seeping sores beneath shackles. He wins my affection by starting to monologue at what he thinks is just a normal bird: accusing her of seeking his flesh like carrion crows. He figures it's only a matter of time before Keough cuts his head off, or gives him to Bellam. His smile "was that of a man who sees his own death."
Damnit, why is this chapter so good? Why is this chapter not in a better book? Alix is acting intelligently, reacting with understandable emotion but also keeping herself controlled. I am invested in the outcome. And best of all, no Finn or Duncan to ruin it.
Alix waits until nightfall and then takes human form. She wakes him up and urges him to be quiet. Carillon takes it pretty well, wondering if he's gone insane. He also wants to know how she made it in. Alix explains the whole lir blood thing. A bit too much actually:
She glanced around anxiously, hushing him with a quick gesture. “Carillon, there is something in me that allows me to assume any animal form I wish. The shar tahl says it is the Old Blood in me, gotten from Lindir.” She saw the scowl begin on his face and slid into the tumbril, covering his mouth with her hand. “Lindir, Carillon. She had Cheysuli blood in her, from her mother, though it was little enough. Yet it gave me the magic of the Firstborn.”
“I do not believe it.”
“Shaine’s great-great grandsire took a Cheysuli meijha, who bore him a daughter. Perhaps you also have a drop or two of Cheysuli blood in your veins.”
Is it really a good time for this, Alix?
I mean, yes, this sort of thing is probably going to help Carillon not be a racist asshole anymore. But I feel like you could have this conversation once you get him out. Carillon doesn't quite believe her, until she brings up the bird earlier. Then she asks if he wants to discuss her abilities all night or escape.
Carillon grabs her and kisses her. And it's probably hypocritical but I like this moment a lot more than when Duncan did it before. Probably because of this:
She pulled away from him, one hand to her mouth. Carillon’s face, though shadowed, was not at all repentant. His eyes, looking so deeply into hers, saw the answer she could not speak, and he accepted it.
You could be a little repentant, dude. But that said, the fact that he actually accepts that she's not into him anymore has pretty much made him the best male protagonist in the book. (And it's still racist ass bullshit that the white guy is the only one who cares about consent).
Carillon points out that he can't leave while chained. Alix promises she'll free him. Carillon gets a little chauvinistic here:
“I would not ask you to risk yourself, Alix. I have given you my thanks for what you have done—if you wish an explanation—but I could not ask such a dangerous thing of you.”
“I offer. You do not ask.” She smiled. “If I unlock your chains, could you take a horse from here?”
He stared hard at the tumbril floor and at the muscles that quivered in his thighs. His voice, when it came, sounded old and worn thin. “I have been chained as you see me for weeks. I doubt I could stand without aid, let alone ride.” His eyes shifted to her face.
“Alix, I would be willing to try, but I will not let you do this. I will not risk your life.”
“You sound like Duncan!” she accused. “He will not credit my willingness to do this either.”
He does have a point about his inability to move. And Finn and Duncan better hope he never realizes that they could have rescued him before he was chained for weeks. Carillon could have been permanently disabled, which would make his own quest considerably more difficult.
So this segues into Alix telling Carillon she's married to Duncan. And Carillon once more proves that he's the better man by simply saying that she could have stayed with him once he'd soothed Shaine's temper. However, he refuses to tell her where the key to the chain is. Because he's macho and dumb.
Alix rants at him a bit, pointing out that she's defied her husband (quoting him saying Homana-Mujhar is more important than Homana's prince) and that she's risking her child's life. She notes that she shapeshifted with the child, not knowing what the magic would do to it.
Um, Alix, that's not really Carillon's fault here. Also, possibly something to have considered earlier. She also tells him that the Cheysuli are on their way. Carillon notes that he understands Lindir a bit better, since Alix is more stubborn than any woman he's ever known. Alix takes advantage of the situation to press the Cheysuli case, namely that they're not demons and beasts, and that what he's seen from them is from battle. (Well, that and they kidnapped you and him, Alix. But okay.)
Carillon admits that if the Cheysuli come, then he won't be able to say anything against them, since they'll have proven their service to the Mujhar's heir. He still doubts they came. Alix points out that she came.
He's quiet and conflicted, and Alix has a weird thought:
"It is not easily done, she reflected. And he is no kind of man at all if he accedes so swiftly to words he has been taught not to hear.
...???
I have no idea what that means but I think I'm offended on behalf of men.
Alix asks if there's something else she can do for him if she can't free him, and Carillon tells her about a boy named Rowan, who's twelve years old, and been forced to serve Keough's son. He'd spilled wine and got flogged for it, even though Carillon begged them to flog him instead. So this was the kid Alix saw earlier. She agrees and the chapter ends.
Since this chapter was pretty short, I decided to move onto the next one and finish up the rescue.
So Alix flies over to the boy, who's still breathing. He's unconscious, but she gets him free. Rowan wakes up and asks about Carillon. She tells him that Carillon knows how well he served, but the boy confesses that he'd run during battle and got captured.
Alix tells him that Carillon was also captured, having fought but been beaten. There's a weird moment where she flinches at undermining Carillon's prowess. Which doesn't make a lot of sense because Carillon IS captured right now. But I like that she's comforting Rowan, she tells him that Carillon saw the honor in him and sent her to free him.
It starts to work, but then the light hits his face clearly and she realizes that the boy has yellow eyes. However when she calls him Cheysuli, he immediately recoils and denies it. Seriously, Alix? There's a PURGE going on. What do you expect? Anyway, she tries to tell him he's not a demon, but they're interrupted by someone who mistakes her for a boy.
We're given a fairly detailed description of this dude which indicates that he's important. He's about Duncan's age, hot but mean looking. He realizes quickly that she's not a boy, while she realizes that this is Thorne, Keough's heir.
He wants to know why she is rescuing a "worthless child", and then brings her in to Keough, who also gets a really nice evocative description:
He was huge. His massive body dwarfed the chair he sat in, which had been bound with iron to lend it strength. His bared forearms rested on the table. She saw freckles and red hairs bleached golden by the sun. A white ridge of scar tissue snaked across the flesh and up his left arm. His hair also was red, threaded with white, and his beard was bushy. His deep-set eyes watched her in calm deliberation.
Interestingly, we get the series's first mention of homosexuality. Keough notes that she's not a camp follower, since they wear skirts, and asks if she's a woman who prefers her own sex.
Which is a really weird question to ask, given that Alix just broke into camp and was freeing a prisoner. Also, did they just leave Rowan out there half unchained?
Anyway, Keough asks if she's here to fight, and notes that she's too late: the generals and Prince Fergus are dead, and Carillon is a prisoner. Alix is about to shapeshift to attack, but Thorne notices something happening and twists her arm painfully.
An intelligent villain. I'm actually impressed. But a sadly unsubtle one, since he asks if Keough will use her or if Thorne can take her for himself.
Keough tells him to leave her there. And Alix notes she's helpless, but really, I don't know why. Thorne just left, meaning there's nothing stopping her from shapeshifting. But of course we see why Alix has suddenly lost her competency: so Duncan can appear in the pavilion to rescue her.
Anyway, Duncan doesn't intend to kill Keough here (...um, why?), he's here to rescue Carillon. Good timing, dude.
Finn enters after that, grinning at Alix, and noting that she'll do for herself what she can't convince them to do. And I hate that Finn is having a better reaction to this than Duncan, who just stared at her expressionlessly during his entrance. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if I don't think that Finn is the better choice of the two. I mean, they're both rapists who deserve castration and death, but at least Finn seems to enjoy Alix being Alix.
Thorne chooses this moment to enter, and Finn quickly has him disarmed. Duncan basically trades him for Carillon, forcing Keough to give up the keys.
Duncan still manages to be an ass:
Alix followed Duncan’s silent order and left the pavilion. Duncan followed her out, leaving Finn and Storr to keep the Atvian rulers contained.
“Where is he?” Duncan asked.
“By the horses. Duncan—”
“We will speak of it another time.”
Alix winced. “What else could I do?”
“We will speak of it another time.”
I mean, granted, now really isn't a great time for a heart to heart, Alix. Not that that stopped her before. But I feel like Duncan could at least toss her a bone here. Given how he's dicked her around.
We also learn a new Cheysuli ability, the "third gift of the gods". They've basically "taken the minds" from the captains for a time, so that they're obeying and keeping their soldiers in line. The captives have been freed.
Duncan blames her of course:
“It is a thing we rarely do. It takes the spirit from a man, and that is a thing no Cheysuli would do if there were another way.” His eyes were reproving. “You have brought this about, cheysula.”
Yes, I'm very impressed by how focused the Cheysuli are on consent and autonomy you grotesque hypocrite.
God, I really liked the one chapter we got without this asshole.
Anyway, Alix remembers Rowan. She hadn't thought he had the strength to leave, but then realizes that if he is Cheysuli, he might have been able to after all. Farewell for now, Rowan, by default, you're the best male character in this book.
So they go rescue Carillon. He and Duncan bond a little bit via sexism:
Carillon blinked in surprise as he saw the Cheysuli warrior. Then a wariness came into his face. “What have you come for, shapechanger?”
Duncan regarded Carillon solemnly. “I lost something, my lord. I came to recover it.” He spread his hands. “But while I am here, I may as well see to your welfare. My foolish cheysula has forced me to do her bidding.”
Carillon nearly smiled. Alix saw the struggle in his face as he tried to keep his emotional distance from the Cheysuli. But his relief and good nature won out.
“She is a foolish woman. I told her so when first she appeared, but she would have none of it.” He shrugged. “Women are willful creatures.”
Duncan lost his solemnity and grinned. “Aye, especially this one. I think it is the royalty in her.”
Carillon laughed. Alix, disgruntled by the amusement in them both at her expense, glared at Duncan.
Men.
Anyway, Alix orders Duncan to release Carillon, and is horrified by the wounds on his wrists. Duncan offers to take the pain away once they're free. Carillon agrees, realizing that it's time that he started listening to Alix.
Duncan says that if Alix caused Carillon to rethink the Homanan prejudice then her foolishness has some merit.
Gosh, it's almost like Alix's actions helped bring about the part of the prophecy where Carillon decides to help you assholes. Imagine that. There's some sexism-laden banter back and forth, and an uncomfortable moment when Carillon asks what happened to Alix's hair. (Duncan's explanation: "She required a lesson" makes me want her to turn into a falcon and bite his dick off.)
Carillon is more focused on getting out of the tumbril, and almost collapses in pain. Carillon asks for a sword, but the Cheysuli don't carry them, and Duncan decides to use this to point out that Carillon had the last sword the Cheysuli made and lost it for them.
Um. Maybe that would have been a reason to rescue him sooner?
Anyway, Carillon defends himself and vows to kill Thorne, who abused him, killed his men in front of him, and especially mistreated Rowan. Alix asks if Rowan is Cheysuli, and Carillon thinks so, though the boy denied it. Carillon figures he's a bastard, since he claimed to be raised Homanan. He asks Duncan for a knife, calling him Shapechanger. And he and Carillon have a mini confrontation that I might have enjoyed there had been any follow up between the first part of the book and now. Still, it probably is something that Carillon needed to hear, since the Cheysuli DID come to help him after all. (Even if just because of Alix).
Alix defuses the confrontation by reminding them that she's pregnant and they should get her out of there. And just in case I didn't hate Duncan enough, as he helps Carillon away from the tumbril, he grabs Alix's wrist and drags her after him. Alix however is just happy she achieved her goals.
And I'm sad that she had to use manipulation to do it.
Still these chapters were really good until Duncan and Finn arrived. And their arrival was only necessary because apparently Alix can't transform with a twisted arm.
But the parts with Alix, Carillon and Rowan were pretty good. I wish Roberson hadn't written Rowan out so quickly because I would have liked to see Alix explore her changing feelings about her heritage. It's pretty clear that Rowan has internalized the same fear and hostility that Alix had, though unlike her, he may actually be aware of his heritage. (Certainly, he seems to have the features.)
I'm glad we'll get to see Rowan again in Song of Homana, but since the protagonist of Song is Carillon rather than Alix, the moment will be lost.
In early chapters, the dynamic between Carillon and Duncan was by far the most interesting thread, and we're finally getting a follow up of that now. Carillon is the one male protagonist in this book that actually shows some capacity for growth. And he's still the only male character (except the twelve year old) that actually gives a damn about consent.
Duncan continues to be terrible. I wasn't completely joking when I said that Finn was starting to look like a better choice. And that's really fucking depressing. Go home with Carillon, Alix. No one would blame you.
But this chapter bodes well, because Alix is actually ditching his ass to get shit done.
So we start with Alix sneaking out of camp. Duncan somehow manages not to notice this, but Cai does. Cai tries to talk her out of it, pointing out that she's pregnant. Alix states that she'll keep the child safe, and Cai says he can't gainsay her.
Alix asks if he'll tell Duncan. Um. Yes? Psychic bond and all. She's lucky that he's not waking Duncan up now. Though really, dude, you're a warrior on a mission, shouldn't you be sleeping lighter?
So Alix flies off as a falcon. It's a long journey, and she's tiring but she keeps going until she sees the Atvian host. She circles over the army, trying to get a good look at the state of affairs. She notes a lot of strange bearded men wearing keyhold helmets, archers, broadsword carriers, and Solindish troops in chainmail.
She watches the archers to make sure they won't shoot her, but fortunately they're more concerned with eating. I wonder why they shot Cai, but maybe Cai is as stupid as Duncan is. Alix worries a bit that her exhaustion will make her unable to keep her lir shape, so she tries to rest atop a ridgepole. Clever.
Honestly, annoyingly, I'm actually enjoying this chapter. Alix is doing much better this time than her last self-propelled mission. And the stakes are reasonably high.
After some rest, she finds some Homanan prisoners and Alix has to "close[] her mind to the cries and moans of the wounded, for if she listened their pain would become hers, and she would fail."
She finds a boy lashed to a post, his back flogged, and she can't tell if he's alive or dead. Finally, she finds Carillon, slumped in a tumbril. He's barely conscious, and his face is bruised and smeared with blood. Alix is understandably enraged, but she keeps herself quiet. Carillon sees her, but naturally doesn't recognize her. She is happy to notice life in his eyes and "burning resentment"
He definitely is in bad condition: gaunt, seeping sores beneath shackles. He wins my affection by starting to monologue at what he thinks is just a normal bird: accusing her of seeking his flesh like carrion crows. He figures it's only a matter of time before Keough cuts his head off, or gives him to Bellam. His smile "was that of a man who sees his own death."
Damnit, why is this chapter so good? Why is this chapter not in a better book? Alix is acting intelligently, reacting with understandable emotion but also keeping herself controlled. I am invested in the outcome. And best of all, no Finn or Duncan to ruin it.
Alix waits until nightfall and then takes human form. She wakes him up and urges him to be quiet. Carillon takes it pretty well, wondering if he's gone insane. He also wants to know how she made it in. Alix explains the whole lir blood thing. A bit too much actually:
She glanced around anxiously, hushing him with a quick gesture. “Carillon, there is something in me that allows me to assume any animal form I wish. The shar tahl says it is the Old Blood in me, gotten from Lindir.” She saw the scowl begin on his face and slid into the tumbril, covering his mouth with her hand. “Lindir, Carillon. She had Cheysuli blood in her, from her mother, though it was little enough. Yet it gave me the magic of the Firstborn.”
“I do not believe it.”
“Shaine’s great-great grandsire took a Cheysuli meijha, who bore him a daughter. Perhaps you also have a drop or two of Cheysuli blood in your veins.”
Is it really a good time for this, Alix?
I mean, yes, this sort of thing is probably going to help Carillon not be a racist asshole anymore. But I feel like you could have this conversation once you get him out. Carillon doesn't quite believe her, until she brings up the bird earlier. Then she asks if he wants to discuss her abilities all night or escape.
Carillon grabs her and kisses her. And it's probably hypocritical but I like this moment a lot more than when Duncan did it before. Probably because of this:
She pulled away from him, one hand to her mouth. Carillon’s face, though shadowed, was not at all repentant. His eyes, looking so deeply into hers, saw the answer she could not speak, and he accepted it.
You could be a little repentant, dude. But that said, the fact that he actually accepts that she's not into him anymore has pretty much made him the best male protagonist in the book. (And it's still racist ass bullshit that the white guy is the only one who cares about consent).
Carillon points out that he can't leave while chained. Alix promises she'll free him. Carillon gets a little chauvinistic here:
“I would not ask you to risk yourself, Alix. I have given you my thanks for what you have done—if you wish an explanation—but I could not ask such a dangerous thing of you.”
“I offer. You do not ask.” She smiled. “If I unlock your chains, could you take a horse from here?”
He stared hard at the tumbril floor and at the muscles that quivered in his thighs. His voice, when it came, sounded old and worn thin. “I have been chained as you see me for weeks. I doubt I could stand without aid, let alone ride.” His eyes shifted to her face.
“Alix, I would be willing to try, but I will not let you do this. I will not risk your life.”
“You sound like Duncan!” she accused. “He will not credit my willingness to do this either.”
He does have a point about his inability to move. And Finn and Duncan better hope he never realizes that they could have rescued him before he was chained for weeks. Carillon could have been permanently disabled, which would make his own quest considerably more difficult.
So this segues into Alix telling Carillon she's married to Duncan. And Carillon once more proves that he's the better man by simply saying that she could have stayed with him once he'd soothed Shaine's temper. However, he refuses to tell her where the key to the chain is. Because he's macho and dumb.
Alix rants at him a bit, pointing out that she's defied her husband (quoting him saying Homana-Mujhar is more important than Homana's prince) and that she's risking her child's life. She notes that she shapeshifted with the child, not knowing what the magic would do to it.
Um, Alix, that's not really Carillon's fault here. Also, possibly something to have considered earlier. She also tells him that the Cheysuli are on their way. Carillon notes that he understands Lindir a bit better, since Alix is more stubborn than any woman he's ever known. Alix takes advantage of the situation to press the Cheysuli case, namely that they're not demons and beasts, and that what he's seen from them is from battle. (Well, that and they kidnapped you and him, Alix. But okay.)
Carillon admits that if the Cheysuli come, then he won't be able to say anything against them, since they'll have proven their service to the Mujhar's heir. He still doubts they came. Alix points out that she came.
He's quiet and conflicted, and Alix has a weird thought:
"It is not easily done, she reflected. And he is no kind of man at all if he accedes so swiftly to words he has been taught not to hear.
...???
I have no idea what that means but I think I'm offended on behalf of men.
Alix asks if there's something else she can do for him if she can't free him, and Carillon tells her about a boy named Rowan, who's twelve years old, and been forced to serve Keough's son. He'd spilled wine and got flogged for it, even though Carillon begged them to flog him instead. So this was the kid Alix saw earlier. She agrees and the chapter ends.
Since this chapter was pretty short, I decided to move onto the next one and finish up the rescue.
So Alix flies over to the boy, who's still breathing. He's unconscious, but she gets him free. Rowan wakes up and asks about Carillon. She tells him that Carillon knows how well he served, but the boy confesses that he'd run during battle and got captured.
Alix tells him that Carillon was also captured, having fought but been beaten. There's a weird moment where she flinches at undermining Carillon's prowess. Which doesn't make a lot of sense because Carillon IS captured right now. But I like that she's comforting Rowan, she tells him that Carillon saw the honor in him and sent her to free him.
It starts to work, but then the light hits his face clearly and she realizes that the boy has yellow eyes. However when she calls him Cheysuli, he immediately recoils and denies it. Seriously, Alix? There's a PURGE going on. What do you expect? Anyway, she tries to tell him he's not a demon, but they're interrupted by someone who mistakes her for a boy.
We're given a fairly detailed description of this dude which indicates that he's important. He's about Duncan's age, hot but mean looking. He realizes quickly that she's not a boy, while she realizes that this is Thorne, Keough's heir.
He wants to know why she is rescuing a "worthless child", and then brings her in to Keough, who also gets a really nice evocative description:
He was huge. His massive body dwarfed the chair he sat in, which had been bound with iron to lend it strength. His bared forearms rested on the table. She saw freckles and red hairs bleached golden by the sun. A white ridge of scar tissue snaked across the flesh and up his left arm. His hair also was red, threaded with white, and his beard was bushy. His deep-set eyes watched her in calm deliberation.
Interestingly, we get the series's first mention of homosexuality. Keough notes that she's not a camp follower, since they wear skirts, and asks if she's a woman who prefers her own sex.
Which is a really weird question to ask, given that Alix just broke into camp and was freeing a prisoner. Also, did they just leave Rowan out there half unchained?
Anyway, Keough asks if she's here to fight, and notes that she's too late: the generals and Prince Fergus are dead, and Carillon is a prisoner. Alix is about to shapeshift to attack, but Thorne notices something happening and twists her arm painfully.
An intelligent villain. I'm actually impressed. But a sadly unsubtle one, since he asks if Keough will use her or if Thorne can take her for himself.
Keough tells him to leave her there. And Alix notes she's helpless, but really, I don't know why. Thorne just left, meaning there's nothing stopping her from shapeshifting. But of course we see why Alix has suddenly lost her competency: so Duncan can appear in the pavilion to rescue her.
Anyway, Duncan doesn't intend to kill Keough here (...um, why?), he's here to rescue Carillon. Good timing, dude.
Finn enters after that, grinning at Alix, and noting that she'll do for herself what she can't convince them to do. And I hate that Finn is having a better reaction to this than Duncan, who just stared at her expressionlessly during his entrance. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if I don't think that Finn is the better choice of the two. I mean, they're both rapists who deserve castration and death, but at least Finn seems to enjoy Alix being Alix.
Thorne chooses this moment to enter, and Finn quickly has him disarmed. Duncan basically trades him for Carillon, forcing Keough to give up the keys.
Duncan still manages to be an ass:
Alix followed Duncan’s silent order and left the pavilion. Duncan followed her out, leaving Finn and Storr to keep the Atvian rulers contained.
“Where is he?” Duncan asked.
“By the horses. Duncan—”
“We will speak of it another time.”
Alix winced. “What else could I do?”
“We will speak of it another time.”
I mean, granted, now really isn't a great time for a heart to heart, Alix. Not that that stopped her before. But I feel like Duncan could at least toss her a bone here. Given how he's dicked her around.
We also learn a new Cheysuli ability, the "third gift of the gods". They've basically "taken the minds" from the captains for a time, so that they're obeying and keeping their soldiers in line. The captives have been freed.
Duncan blames her of course:
“It is a thing we rarely do. It takes the spirit from a man, and that is a thing no Cheysuli would do if there were another way.” His eyes were reproving. “You have brought this about, cheysula.”
Yes, I'm very impressed by how focused the Cheysuli are on consent and autonomy you grotesque hypocrite.
God, I really liked the one chapter we got without this asshole.
Anyway, Alix remembers Rowan. She hadn't thought he had the strength to leave, but then realizes that if he is Cheysuli, he might have been able to after all. Farewell for now, Rowan, by default, you're the best male character in this book.
So they go rescue Carillon. He and Duncan bond a little bit via sexism:
Carillon blinked in surprise as he saw the Cheysuli warrior. Then a wariness came into his face. “What have you come for, shapechanger?”
Duncan regarded Carillon solemnly. “I lost something, my lord. I came to recover it.” He spread his hands. “But while I am here, I may as well see to your welfare. My foolish cheysula has forced me to do her bidding.”
Carillon nearly smiled. Alix saw the struggle in his face as he tried to keep his emotional distance from the Cheysuli. But his relief and good nature won out.
“She is a foolish woman. I told her so when first she appeared, but she would have none of it.” He shrugged. “Women are willful creatures.”
Duncan lost his solemnity and grinned. “Aye, especially this one. I think it is the royalty in her.”
Carillon laughed. Alix, disgruntled by the amusement in them both at her expense, glared at Duncan.
Men.
Anyway, Alix orders Duncan to release Carillon, and is horrified by the wounds on his wrists. Duncan offers to take the pain away once they're free. Carillon agrees, realizing that it's time that he started listening to Alix.
Duncan says that if Alix caused Carillon to rethink the Homanan prejudice then her foolishness has some merit.
Gosh, it's almost like Alix's actions helped bring about the part of the prophecy where Carillon decides to help you assholes. Imagine that. There's some sexism-laden banter back and forth, and an uncomfortable moment when Carillon asks what happened to Alix's hair. (Duncan's explanation: "She required a lesson" makes me want her to turn into a falcon and bite his dick off.)
Carillon is more focused on getting out of the tumbril, and almost collapses in pain. Carillon asks for a sword, but the Cheysuli don't carry them, and Duncan decides to use this to point out that Carillon had the last sword the Cheysuli made and lost it for them.
Um. Maybe that would have been a reason to rescue him sooner?
Anyway, Carillon defends himself and vows to kill Thorne, who abused him, killed his men in front of him, and especially mistreated Rowan. Alix asks if Rowan is Cheysuli, and Carillon thinks so, though the boy denied it. Carillon figures he's a bastard, since he claimed to be raised Homanan. He asks Duncan for a knife, calling him Shapechanger. And he and Carillon have a mini confrontation that I might have enjoyed there had been any follow up between the first part of the book and now. Still, it probably is something that Carillon needed to hear, since the Cheysuli DID come to help him after all. (Even if just because of Alix).
Alix defuses the confrontation by reminding them that she's pregnant and they should get her out of there. And just in case I didn't hate Duncan enough, as he helps Carillon away from the tumbril, he grabs Alix's wrist and drags her after him. Alix however is just happy she achieved her goals.
And I'm sad that she had to use manipulation to do it.
Still these chapters were really good until Duncan and Finn arrived. And their arrival was only necessary because apparently Alix can't transform with a twisted arm.
But the parts with Alix, Carillon and Rowan were pretty good. I wish Roberson hadn't written Rowan out so quickly because I would have liked to see Alix explore her changing feelings about her heritage. It's pretty clear that Rowan has internalized the same fear and hostility that Alix had, though unlike her, he may actually be aware of his heritage. (Certainly, he seems to have the features.)
I'm glad we'll get to see Rowan again in Song of Homana, but since the protagonist of Song is Carillon rather than Alix, the moment will be lost.
In early chapters, the dynamic between Carillon and Duncan was by far the most interesting thread, and we're finally getting a follow up of that now. Carillon is the one male protagonist in this book that actually shows some capacity for growth. And he's still the only male character (except the twelve year old) that actually gives a damn about consent.
Duncan continues to be terrible. I wasn't completely joking when I said that Finn was starting to look like a better choice. And that's really fucking depressing. Go home with Carillon, Alix. No one would blame you.
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Date: 2020-01-21 11:09 pm (UTC)Also this book conveys the passing of time really badly, and is very weirdly paced. The first bit was a lot of detail about three days, and now we're just jumping months at a time?
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Date: 2020-01-22 01:32 am (UTC)But the idea that Carillon's been chained up for weeks while Alix only just found out seems off. Also wouldn't WEEKS lead to permanent damage. (It would actually be interesting to follow a prince/war leader who was also disabled, but I kind of doubt Roberson's ability to write that sensitively)