Song of Homana - Part One - Chapter Two

[kalinara]

So last time, I started Song of Homana, and learned that the sequel to Shapechangers, so far, seems to be a much better book. Though, that's a really low bar. But, at least right now, I don't hate Carillon, I might not even hate Finn (since he's had his personality transplant), and I feel like there's decently high stakes that I'm interested to see what happens next.



So we rejoin Carillon and Finn in the common room of the roadhouse that Storr found last chapter. It's crowded, poorly lit, and kind of stinky from the candles, but it's very warm. Carillon can deal with the smell. He can also deal with almost bashing his head against the door frame too.

Carillon was eighteen at the end of Shapechangers. Now, at twenty-three, he's grown even taller, and bulked up to almost twice his prior weight. It's actually a little inconvenient for him, though I feel like there probably were doorframes in Caledon too, but he is happy for the anonymity that his size and beard provide him.

Both Finn and Carillon get comfortable and observe the room. They notice Ellasians, Homanans, and Falians, but no Caledonese. This is convenient, because they can speak Ellasian with Caledonese accents and no one should pick them out unless they know how to recognize a Cheysuli.

Carillon shares with us the stereotype of Ellasians as gregarious, open, blunt-speaking folk, with little of subterfuge. This is told to us so blatantly, that I'm pretty sure the first Ellasian who gets a major speaking role is going to be lying his ass off. Ms. Roberson's second endeavor is a marked improvement on her first, but her sense of subtlety isn't.

Anyway, there are Ellasians who recognize a Cheysuli when they see one, but fortunately, the ones who look twice at Finn don't seem very concerned. The Cheysuli aren't hunted in Ellas. Though Carillon does remember that Homanans still come INTO Ellas to hunt them.

We also learn, when the tavern-master comes over, that the Ellasian accent is throaty and blurred, "all husky and full of phlegm". I kind of like that. Carillon fakes being Caledonese and asks for usca, which is apparently a Steppes drink. It's not available though, since the Steppes plainsmen have stopped trading with Ellas, since they allied with Caledon in the last war.

Finn, of course, is not mistaken for Caledonese. And he makes sure of it by asking for Homanan honey brew. The tavern-keeper is disgusted, but happily more because of circumstances (there's no trade with Homana, only the Solindish conquerers) not racism. Finn acknowledges that he hasn't been to Homana since the war was lost which leads the tavern-keeper to fill them in: things are not happy under Bellam or "his Ihlini sorcerer". He tells them about heavy taxes and over-harsh justice, noting that this isn't something that's a problem in Ellas. They're quite happy with his High King.

Ooo, interesting: apparently Bellam is offering an alliance to King Rhodri of Ellas. He wants to betroth his daughter, Electra, to the High Prince, Cuinn. But Rhodri doesn't trust Bellam, and he doesn't need that kind of alliance anyway, since he has six sons.

I'm happy about this. If you recall, in my verdict post, I complained about how we had no idea how other nations felt about any of these goings-on.

Finn wonders out loud if Homana would be free now, if their house had been more fertile. That's an interesting thought. The lack of male heir was part of the justification for the qumahlin, and if there was no qumahlin, then the Cheysuli would have had the numbers to neutralize Ihlini power. But Shaine was also a power hungry monster, and he still might have gone haywire if thwarted in another way.

Carillon is disgruntled by the speculation, since it's part of why he's left cleaning up Shaine's mess. I am happy to see that among the things Carillon knows he has to do, he lists ending the purge.

There's also a pretty hilarious moment when Carillon notices a serving boy staring at Finn. Carillon thinks that Finn is probably the boy's first Cheysuli. And worth a second look.

Jesus, Carillon. Get a room.

So Finn and Carillon eat contentedly, when they notice the atmosphere change. A harper appears, and he gets a pretty substantial description, so he might be important:

The harper came down the ladder with his instrument clasped under one long arm. He wore a blue robe belted at the waist with linked silver, and a silver circlet held back the thick dark hair that curled on his shoulders. A wealthy harper, as harpers often are, being hosted by kings and gifted with gold and gems. This one had fared well- He was tall, wide-shouldered, and his wrists—showing at the edges of his blue sleeves—were corded with muscle. A powerful man, for all his calling was the harp instead of the sword. He was blue-eyed, and when he smiled it was a professional smile, warm and welcoming.

Carillon also observes that the man's harp is VERY expensive and the harper is VERY good. However, first, he has a message to deliver:

He unfolded it, smoothed it. and began to read. He did not color his tone with any emotion, he merely read. But the words were quite enough.

"Know ye all men that Bellam the Mujhar, King of Solinde and Mujhar of Homana; Lord of the cities Mujhara and Lestra;

Sets forth the sum of five hundred gold pieces to any man bringing sound word of Carillon, styling himself Prince of Homana, and wrongful claimant to the Lion Throne.

"Know ye all men that Bellam the Mujhar desires even more the presence of the pretender, offering one thousand gold pieces to any man bringing Carllon—or his body into Homana-Mujhar."

Eek.

Carillon notes the harper's shrewd eyes, and considers the others in the tavern. He observes the Ellasian men, first reacting to the temptation of the bounty, and then drawing back with the realization that Bellam had already swallowed one land and could go after theirs. He thinks the Ellasians won't take the offer, but others in the tavern might.

I looked at Finn. His face was a mask, as ever; a blank, sun-bronzed mask, with eyes that spoke of magic and myth and made them both quite real.

Get a room.

So the harper starts singing:

He sang of boys who died on bloodied fields and captains who fell beneath Solindish and Atvian swords. He sang of a king who hid himself in safety behind the rose-red walls of Homana-Mujhar, half-mad from a crazed obsession. He sang of the king's slain brother, whose son was trapped in despair and Atvian iron. He sang of the same boy, now a man and free again, who lived his life in exile, fleeing Ihlini retribution. He sang my life, did this stranger, and brought the memories alive

This is something I thought about a lot when reading Dragonsinger. It had struck me then that for someone as private as Brekke, having her pain performed like this would feel like a violation. Sadly, we never saw that addressed at all.

Carillon, on the other hand, gets to react here. He's not offended, but the experience is intense, bringing forth vivid memories. (And there's a point where Carillon feels Finn's eyes on him, but Finn says nothing at all. Jesus, you two. Get a room.)

The chapter ends, somewhat abruptly, here.

Comments

[kalinara]

I think Ellas is sympathetic to the Cheysuli and the occupied people of Homana, but they're not ready or willing to commit to military action. The only folks we see hunting Cheysuli in Ellas are bounty-hunter types who don't seem interested in attacking any Ellasian citizens. It's bad but not enough to provoke a war.

[teres]

Ah yes, that makes sense, especially since they want to avoid a war with Bellam (and I can see him using an attack on those hunters as pretext for that).

[kalinara]

That and I think they just don't really have any way to detect when border crossings happen unless it's a large enough group.

[teres]

Ellas indeed doesn't seem nearly big enough of a country for that.