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i_read_whatSo last time, we saw Duncan fuck over Alix one last time. Also someone tried to kill Donal, but to be honest, that feels like something of an afterthought right now.
I do feel a little guilty for being mean to Donal right now though, because the poor kid did just see both parents die. And when we rejoin him, he's sitting in his mother's pavilion, surrounding by her belongings. And as much as I hate Duncan, he's a part of this too. Donal remembers the pavilion being the home of all three of them, and now it's just sitting empty.
I wonder how much of Donal's animosity to Bronwyn is less about her being Ihlini and more about her representing the loss of that innocent time.
Speaking of Bronwyn, I find it awfully interesting that Donal doesn't even think about her at all. They were heading home because she was missing after all. But then Alix is the only one who really thinks she's innocent.
Donal spent the night with Sorcha, and I'd probably be more sympathetic if he wasn't so creepy about it:
He had spent the long night with Sorcha, trying to ease his grief in her words and her womanhood. She had soothed him as only she could, and yet he had found himself longing for another woman entirely. The one Sorcha could not be.
...um. EW.
Apparently they talked a lot about Duncan, but the old, asshole rapist version, not what Tynstar turned him into. I mean, look, I can intellectually appreciate that Duncan's been living through Hell over the past fifteen years. But he was also a terrible human being.
So anyway, Donal isn't alone for long:
A slim hand slid inside the doorflap and pulled it aside. Donal heard the sibilant scrape of fabric against fabric. He watched in silence, waiting, as Bronwyn slipped into the pavilion. Her black hair was mussed, pulled loose from its single braid. Some hung into her face, veiling much of it from Donal. She was smiling a little, as if she knew a secret. Her amber eyes were alight with inner knowledge. But she was different. Very different. Aside from the fact she wore the leathers of a warrior in place of traditional skirts, he thought she looked more alive than he had ever seen her.
Oh no.
And Donal is such a fucking asshole:
“Are you healed?” she asked. “Your arm?”
“Healed,” Donal said. “Bronwyn. Where have you been?”
She looked away from him, staring at the pelted floor. Color came and went in her face. And then she seemed to make up her mind to face him down. She lifted her head again. “I wanted to see if I could do it. And I can. I have the Old Blood, too.”
He stared at her blankly. He was full of his mother’s death and the ruination of his father; he could not comprehend anything Bronwyn said. “Old Blood?” He thought only of Tynstar’s blood.
For fuck's sake, dude. Bronwyn has TWO parents. And seriously, at this point, if Bronwyn decided to go full on Ihlini, I'd probably support her! She's done nothing wrong.
But anyway, that's where Bronwyn disappeared to: she wanted to see if she inherited Alix's gift. And of course, Donal is a total fucking dick about it:
“Aye,” she said firmly. “Jehana said perhaps someday I might be able to learn as she had learned. And so I made up my mind to do it.”
“Do what?” His response was sluggish. The aftereffects of Alix’s throwing him out of the trap-link had not entirely dissipated. He still felt weak. Disoriented.
“Take lir-shape,” Bronwyn answered “I went away to try.”
Awareness returned at once. “Lir-shape! You?”
Color surged into Bronwyn’s face. “Aye! Do you think I am not worthy because I am a woman?”
Donal thrust himself to his feet. “Do not mouth such foolishness when our jehana is dead!”
He had not meant it to come out so badly; so cruelly. But all he could think of was his mother dying to save them all while Bronwyn played her games.
You fucking asshole. You FUCKING ASSHOLE.
1) It is NOT BRONWYN's FAULT that Alix died. Bronwyn has every right to go out in the woods to "play her games". She's not a fucking prisoner, even if you're determined to treat her like one.
2) It is NOT BRONWYN's FAULT that she's a child of rape, or that she may or may not be Ihlini. You don't even KNOW if Ihlini are inherently evil! You don't know anything about them! But you're so awful to Bronwyn that if Tynstar came to her tomorrow and was like "Hi, I won't be an asshole to you", she might be willing to hear him out!
3) THIS is how you tell your SISTER that her mother is dead?! And you don't even feel bad about it! You feel like it's okay, because Bronwyn "played her games". Bronwyn is a CHILD, you fuckwad. And I don't buy this sudden bullshit of trap-link after effects. You were fine until you decided to be a dick to a fourteen year old.
4) And so starts this utterly horrible trend of Bronwyn having a reason to celebrate only to have it yanked out from under her. She SHOULD be proud and happy that she discovered this ability. But instead, she's suffered a terrible loss instead. This part isn't Donal's fault, but I still hate him.
I think I'm incapable of judging Donal rationally right now, because this infuriates me:
But perhaps they were not games. Not if she could shapechange. And he could not discount the possibility; Alix had claimed the gift. If her daughter did as well, perhaps the Old Blood might yet counteract the Ihlini in her.
IF? IF? She SAID she did it. You have two fucking lir yourself. And you've yet to prove that the "Ihlini" in her is anything at all!
So Bronwyn gets a disjointed version of the story. Mostly because Donal is a dick:
Bronwyn flinched visibly. “Ihlini! But—how?”
He could not tell her how. That meant he must also tell her of his father; he could not do it. It was too private. Too personal. The pain was his alone.
Hey, asshole. As far as she knows, Duncan was her father too.
Actually, you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to spoil this. Because it's FUCKED UP. And because this is one thing that Roberson does very well: tragic irony. And it's easier to appreciate it when you know.
Here's the spoiler, the big twist about Bronwyn: as it turns out, she's NOT Tynstar's daughter. She was conceived BEFORE the abduction. She's been Duncan's daughter all along.
Isn't that hilarious?! For fourteen years, everyone around her watches her like a hawk, and attributes everything from wardrobe choice (god forbid she wear purple!), skin tone, and fucking drawings in the dirt to her "Ihlini nature".
This poor kid has grown up with everyone treating her like she's evil incarnate to the point where SEF noticed. And of course Sef is afraid of her, he's responding to DONAL, who he trusts explicitly. Donal and Sorcha (who shouldn't know about this at all but somehow does) won't even leave her alone with the children. She's one of the first suspects whenever anything goes wrong.
And it's all for fucking nothing. Fuck you, Donal. Fuck you.
Alix's daughter deserves better than this bullshit.
But yeah, that's another fun aspect of Donal not sharing the information about Duncan: Bronwyn gets deprived of the truth about her father. And while I'd appreciate that if Donal had meant it as a mercy, that's not how it's presented. Donal just doesn't want to share.
And Donal STILL can't be a normal brother to her:
“Dead,” she whispered. “Dead? But—I wanted to tell her about it. I wanted to say what I did. I wanted her to know how her blood is in me, too. The Old Blood…as much as in her son.” Bronwyn pressed her face against his shoulder. “I wanted to have importance…I wanted to be someone who counted…I wanted to be different…”
Oh Bronwyn, he mourned, you are more different than you can know.
For god's sake, you fucking asshole. Even if you HAD BEEN right about her heritage, can you not just be a fucking human being to her. She's a CHILD. She is GRIEVING. Let her be her mother's daughter, you fuckhead.
Bronwyn asks what will happen to her now. And that's an interesting question, because what DOES happen to Cheysuli orphans. I'd imagine they'd have quite a lot of them, given everything:
One last time he pushed a lock of hair out of her face. “You may stay here, if it suits. The Keep is your home. Finn and Meghan are here; so is Sorcha and the children, and all your clan-mates. But—if you prefer—you may come to Homana-Mujhar. Aislinn could use the company. There is a wedding she must prepare for—in less time than I care to acknowledge.” He felt the twist of reluctance in his belly. Fifteen days. But he knew better than to ask Carillon for a delay, even in light of the circumstances. Homana was at stake.
“Wedding,” Bronwyn echoed. “I do not feel much like a wedding. Even a royal one. Not without my jehana—” But she shut her mouth on anything more, as if she could not dare to say what she felt.
Donal doesn't have the luxury for prolonged grief though. He has to go back. He has responsibilities. (But he did not explain them to her. In her grief, she would never understand. You patronizing twit.) He reminds Bronwyn that Finn is grieving too, and she might find comfort in shared grief.
Bronwyn, for her part, asks him to tell Aislinn that she'll come. But she can't bear it just yet. Fair enough.
Poor little girl.
Spoiler: if there is one character that is screwed over more by this narrative than Alix, it's poor Bronwyn. And fucking hell!
He bent and kissed her forehead, hoping to offer solace. But what he found was doubt. Oh gods…what if I am wrong? What if the Old Blood in her is tainted by the other?
And yet he knew he might be doing his sister a grave injustice. He had no proof it had been Bronwyn in the Womb. None at all. The possibility seemed remote, now that he knew where Bronwyn had been.
You're such a fucking dick, Donal. I wish Bronwyn really had been Ihlini, so she could fucking murder you. I love how he thinks he gets to judge her, Ihlini blood or no.
--
The next scene, bizarrely skips ahead to the wedding! Because god forbid we tell Carillon that Alix is dead, I guess? Or Aislinn? Or we investigate the fact that Donal doesn't know where Aislinn was when he was attacked?
No?
Okay, fine then.
(I mean, if there was even an ounce of realism here, Aislinn would be so surrounded by staff and attendants that her absence would be really easy to prove or disprove with a simple conversation. But sure, let's not even try.)
The guests had gathered. The vows had been said. The acclamation was made. In the space of an hour Donal went from unnamed Prince of Homana to the actual thing itself; there was an instantaneous change. He could feel it in the air. A tension. A vibrating urgency. No more was it a someday thing; Homana would have a Cheysuli Mujhar.
That's the first paragraph of the scene by the way. It's literally that abrupt. Is there a reason it's not a separate chapter?
That said, Donal's finding his new status a little off-putting:
When the feasting was done and the hall was prepared for celebratory dancing, Donal discovered he was now the prey of many courtiers. In his years as informal heir, the men who inhabited Carillon’s court had mostly tried to ignore him. No doubt they had thought—or, more likely, hoped—the Mujhar might elevate a bastard son to legitimacy and send Donal back to the Keep. But the Mujhar had not; Donal was not certain there were any bastard sons, though there had been rumors of one or two. And so now the circle was halfway complete; the shapechanger was Prince of Homana.
They oppressed him, the noblemen of Homana. They stifled him with their insincere sudden change of regard, expressing condolences for his mother’s death as an opening gambit. He stood his ground for as long as he could, using the Homanan courtesy traditions Alix had taught him as well as what diplomacy he had learned in his years within the palace walls. But courtesy and diplomacy ran out; he retreated. And at last, tiring of his evasiveness, they left him alone.
They do not know me, though all have known me for years. They realize they must deal with me one day, and would rather gain sway with me now, so they may lay the groundwork to make me a puppet-prince, and a Mujhar—when it comes to that—in their pockets.
Okay, so this is angst I can get behind more than most of Donal's other nonsense.
At the same time, I wonder, if Carillon can just elevate a bastard than why does it matter whether or not he divorces Electra?! I suppose a simple explanation might be that Carillon was rendered sterile by Tynstar's magic, but that's not an explanation in the book itself.
It's so annoying. It's more frustrating than Shapechangers in some ways, because it would be so easy to rework the ideas here into a good story. It would be so easy to create plausible explanations for this nonsense, beyond the idea that Carillon and company are just fucking morons. But Roberson didn't DO that. So we're stuck with this!
Okay, so anyway, Donal has a nifty golden circlet now. It was placed on his head as part of the ceremony: It represented his princely status; it represented the future of Homana. A simple circlet of plain, unworked gold, lacking significant weight. But it was enough to bind him eternally to his tahlmorra.
I love how we've been talking about wedding for a page and a half now, and we haven't even mentioned the fucking BRIDE.
Oh, but we do know what Donal's wearing:
As a concession to Homana, he wore the royal colors. His jerkin was crimson suede, his leggings were black; black boots were stitched in scarlet. A belt of filigreed gold set with rubies the size of his thumbnail clasped his waist. But for that and his lir-gold and newly gained circlet, he was a conservative Cheysuli. Other warriors were not so subdued.
Okay, maybe this is sexist of me, but who goes to a wedding to look at the groom?!
FINALLY, Donal deigns to tell us that Aislinn has left "her women" (none of whom apparently existed before the wedding, which is still bullshit) to dance flirtatiously with some young Homanan noblemen. Donal doesn't seem bothered by it, so it seems like that's just a Homanan wedding custom.
...is this the first time we've ever seen an explicitly Homanan custom? For a country that's been featured in three books, Homana itself is very ill-defined.
Anyway:
She moved with a grace almost foreign to her. Aislinn had, growing up, been a coltish girl, even when attempting regal dignity. Since her sojourn on the Crystal Isle with Electra, she had learned a new and supple grace that was almost sheer seductiveness. There was nothing coltish about her now.
The bright, rich hair swung at her hips as she moved. Unbound, as was proper for a maiden, it flowed loosely over her shoulders, cloaking the pale blue gown. At ears and throat and waist glowed sapphires set in silver.
Apparently she's wearing Electra's wedding jewels. And this is kind of rich actually:
Electra’s wedding jewels from Carillon long ago. It is no wonder he nearly made Aislinn take them off. But even a Mujhar cannot take back what is given freely, and so she has a legacy from her jehana.
Hey, Carillon, remember how Finn practically begged you not to give the jewels made by his father to your obviously Ihlini-aligned wife? I'm GLAD Aislinn got to wear them. I bet Finn is happier about that than Electra.
I don't even blame Aislinn for wearing her mother's jewels. Sure, her mother is evil and fucked with her mind, but she's surrounded by ASSHOLES.
Anyway, we're told that in the weeks since his arm healed, Aislinn had been too busy with wedding preparations to talk to him. I mean...you suspect her of attacking you, right? I feel like I'd have made time to talk to her. Suddenly, he thinks of Electra:
What is mine is also Tynstar’s.
He heard the words clearly, as if spoken into his ears. He snapped upright, free of the wall, and sought Electra in the throng.
But all he saw was Aislinn spinning slowly in the dance.
He stared. Her hair, a rich red-gold, seemed to fade before his eyes. He saw how it blurred, running into a duller color, until the red was replaced with silver-gray. And then the silver turned to white.
But not the white of age. The pure white-blond of youth; Electra’s ensorceled youth.
So this wedding is boding well.
Finn and Bronwyn show up to interrupt these thoughts. Bronwyn kisses him on the cheek for luck. Apparently every woman who wants a husband must kiss the recent bridegroom.
...is this a Cheysuli or Homanan custom? Bronwyn tells him Meghan will be next, and I think Roberson has confused her timeline:
Every woman—?” He recoiled in exaggerated horror.
“Every single one.” She twisted her head to seek someone in the crowd. “There—Meghan will undoubtedly be next.”
“Meghan! Meghan is too young to think of marriage—and so, for that matter, are you.”
Bronwyn laughed. “I am only a year younger than Aislinn. Perhaps by the time I am sixteen, I will have found a cheysul.” Her amber eyes glinted. “After all, I am dancing with men, not boys. I have danced with Gryffth, and Rowan himself has already asked me twice.”
“Rowan is being polite.” Donal unthreaded his arm from hers. “Then go dance, rujholla. Do not keep your partners waiting.”
1. There's a moment earlier where Donal looks at Bronwyn and sees that she has none of the dark coloring of the Cheysuli (...why DO all your Cheysuli heroines look white, Roberson?), showing the Homanan instead. Or the Ihlini.
My god. I get that the Ihlini have done a lot, but are you literally incapable of looking at your sister without constantly focusing on that part of her heritage?!
2. That said, this exchange is actually very cute. And the shipper in me is happy that Gryffth and Rowan are mentioned in the same breath.
3. But the timeline is not quite right. Let's count the ways:
Aislinn should be closer to two years older than Bronwyn. If you recall, Electra had been a few months pregnant with her second child when she and Tynstar attacked Carillon. She'd lost the baby on the way to the Crystal Isle.
Now if you remember Song of Homana, Finn encountered Tynstar's trap when he attempted to "help" Electra during her labor with Aislinn. He spent eight weeks at the Keep before he came back, found Tynstar and Electra and had his divorce with Carillon. Torry was pregnant when she left with him, and Meghan was four months old when they returned. So assuming Meghan was full term, Aislinn should be a year and a half old.
Alix believes she conceived Bronwyn while in Valgaard. It's actually right before. They traveled six weeks to the Keep. It's not clear how long she was captive before that. But we can assume that Bronwyn was conceived somewhere between two and four months before Carillon and Alix's return to the keep. So we give it another five-six months after that for Bronwyn's birth.
So if Aislinn's sixteen than Bronwyn should be fourteen, not fifteen. It's a minor difference, probably, but someone should have caught that.
Interestingly, Finn seems to have taken up Alix's position on Bronwyn, now that she's gone.
“She is nearly grown,” Finn said quietly. “She has the right of it—by next year she may be wed.”
A twinge of unease unsettled Donal’s belly. “It may be best we do not let her wed. We—do not know what powers she might claim in the coming years.”
Finn looked at him squarely. “If you stifle her, Donal—if you seek to keep her leashed, no matter how light the chain—you will surely twist her spirit. Right now, there is nothing of Tynstar in her.”
“And when there is?”
“If there is…we will deal with it then.”
Bronwyn has done NOTHING wrong. The worst things Donal has observed about her is a certain moodiness, and hi, teenager! And one time drawing shapes in the dirt that sorta looked like runes.
Donal does have news for Finn though. Finn hadn't been aware that Bronwyn took lir shape. We're told that Bronwyn's been keeping apart since Alix's death. She's interacted with Meghan and Storr a fair bit, but not Finn himself, and he hasn't pushed the issue due to his own grief. He figures Storr is how Bronwyn learned lir shape.
Storr said nothing, but Storr also said nothing about Alix. And this is kind of interesting:
Finn’s tone was wry, but Donal saw the trace of remembered pain in his uncle’s eyes. “The lir protect those with the Old Blood. More so, I sometimes think, than they protect those without.”
Donal frowned. “Then could they protect her against herself?”
“If she began to show signs of Ihlini powers?” Finn shrugged a little. “Who can say? All we know is the lir are constrained against attacking the Ihlini, no matter what the odds.”
1. I still think it'd make more sense if Alix's blood came from her father. But I also find the idea that the non-old blood characters might resent the lir's favoritism really interesting.
2. The remembered pain line works fine here, but is aggravating when I remember Shapechangers.
3. The relationship between the Cheysuli and Ihlini is an interesting question that will come up more and more in the second half of the series.
Of course Donal has to be a dick again:
“Gods,” Donal said, “what my poor rujholla faces—”
“We do not know,” Finn said deliberately. “She may be free of the evil, even with the blood.”
Donal swirled wine within the confines of the goblet. “Aye, but—” He broke it off. A stranger approached, and he had no wish to share Bronwyn’s parentage with anyone but Finn.
THANK YOU, Finn. For fuck's sake, even if she were Ihlini, that doesn't mean she's evil. Have you guys even tried to find out if there are non-evil Ihlini?! I mean, sure, Tynstar's terrible. But the Ihlini are a people, not one guy.
But this stranger is important too. I was waiting for this.
“May I join you?” the stranger asked.
Finn turned to face him, then fell back a step. For a moment there was blatant shock in his eyes. “Carillon did not tell me you were coming.”
“I was not certain I could.” The man—tall, very blond, with a silver circlet banding his head—smiled at Donal. “I think your nephew does not recall who I am. But why should he?—it was nearly sixteen years ago when last he saw me, and he was only a boy.”
Donal released a breath of laughter. “I remember you, Lachlan! How could I not? It was your Song of Homana so many of us sang the summer when you had gone.” He shook his head. “No more the humble harper, are you, with all your fine clothes and jewels.” An eloquent flip of his hand indicated the blue velvets and flashing diamonds. “No more hiding your identity, but the High Prince of Ellas in all your power and grace.”
LACHLAN!!!
HI LACHLAN!!!
Lachlan exchanges some gentle jibes with Finn, expresses sympathy for Alix's death, stating he'd admired and respected her greatly (and I'm annoyed to realize we never saw them interact. Also, considering that Lachlan's the same age as Carillon and thus a year older than Alix, then if she'd taken my advice and fled to Ellas in Shapechangers, she might have married HIM!)
He's horrified by Carillon. As mentioned, they're the same age, but aside from some lines at his eyes and mouth, Lachlan hasn't aged much at all. He asks if Finn's tried to reverse what Tynstar has done, but it can't be accomplished. Cheysuli and Ihlini powers are "in opposition". Lachlan suggests that he try his own brand of magic, but Finn shoots that down too.
It's interesting, actually, to see Finn and Lachlan talk shop about religious magic. I'm reminded of how similar and different they are.
...and well, there is an elephant in the room:
“I?” Lachlan’s handsome face smoothed into a hospitable blankness, while diplomacy ruled his tongue. “I have mastered happiness, Finn…and you?” The tone altered a little. “How is it with you—now that Tourmaline is dead?”
Donal saw the taut muscles of Finn’s jaw relax just a little. It was shock, he knew; Finn, with most things, was imperturbable. But then no one mentioned his dead cheysula to his face.
Finn’s face remained expressionless, but only the habitual solemnity of a Cheysuli gave him the control. Donal saw through it quite easily.
But then the control was released. Donal saw his uncle’s eyes naked for the first time in his life, and the intensity of the pain stunned him.
Finn looked directly at Lachlan. “Had I to do it over again, I would give her up to you.”
The High Prince of Ellas was clearly shocked. “Lodhi—why? Torry wanted you. She went with you willingly.”
The tone of Finn’s voice was hollowed. “You could have kept her alive.”
It's a repeat conversation. Finn said almost the same thing to Carillon at the end of Song. But this is more of a meaningful echo than the usual repetition. Finn's probably been dwelling on this idea every day for fifteen years.
Lachlan protests, saying that Carillon had made it very clear that Torry wanted Finn. And Lachlan, being one of the few decent men in this series, accepted her wishes. He respects that she made her choice, even if the end result is unhappy.
Finn wraps it all up in Alix and Duncan. He says that he was selfish and proud. Since Duncan had won Alix, he wasn't going to let Torry go to someone else when he wanted her. I personally think it was less about Alix, than about someone else. But it also makes sense that he's thinking about this. He just saw his brother and his sister (...and that's still fucking weird) die in front of him.
Lachlan is a good dude though:
“I am sorry,” Lachlan said finally. “I had no right to bring it up. This is not the time for recriminations—I banished those long ago.” Briefly, he smiled. “And I am wed now myself—a lovely woman. She loves me well, and I am content with her.”
Finn smiled ironically. “Where would you find such a fool as that?”
Lachlan grinned back, unoffended. “In Caledon, of course, since our realms have made a peace at last. We have two sons.”
The Ellasian royal line is ridiculously fertile. Lachlan has five brothers and five sisters. And, in fact, he introduces them to another son of King Rhodri. Though this one isn't a death harpist. Sadly.
Lachlan turned and gestured. A young man approached: blue-eyed, dark-haired, well-dressed in quiet brown with little jewelry. He moved with Lachlan’s fluid grace. He was not as tall and did not claim the same purity of features, as if they had blurred in him somehow, but he was handsome enough and his mouth was expressively mobile.
This dude is Evan, Lachlan's youngest brother. There's a twenty year age difference, but per Lachlan, they're most alike in temperament. He came because he wanted to meet the Cheysuli and see if the stories are true. He immediately gets along well with Donal:
Evan executed a graceful bow before a startled Donal. “I must admit I expected something other than civilized behavior from you, my lord. I thought Cheysuli were spawned with tails and fangs.”
For a moment, Donal thought he meant it. Then he heard the ironic humor in Evan’s tone. He smiled. “Beware your back—when the moon is whole we seek the souls of such men as you.”
Evan is the answer to an issue that Copperfyre and I discussed a few chapters back, namely how weird it is that Donal doesn't seem to have ANY friends. Not here, not at the Keep. He has to share a toast to his baby daughter with his thirteen year old manservant. Aislinn's isolation is ridiculous as well, but even she has more friends (Bronwyn and Meghan) than Donal does.
Evan's here to make up for that. He steals Lachlan's wine and cheerfully insults Donal to his face. He's clever and witty and has no drama at all to steal attention away from Donal's issues. He's Ellasian, so there isn't the racial baggage. And he's completely unimpressed by Donal's rank. At the same time, he's nowhere near the Ellasian throne, so he's not any kind of social challenge.
He's perfect comic relief best friend material.
There is maybe a hint of a layer when he talks about his family:
“As Lachlan said—I am somewhat a rebel son. Being insignificant leaves me the freedom to be whom I wish and to do what I wish. Within the bounds of reason. Of course, there are times my father forgets the order of my birth—was it fourth? No? Fifth?—but all in all I like it better this way.” His sleepy blue eyes were shrewd behind dark lashes. “Lachlan is the heir—you have only to look at him to see what the title means. He far preferred being a priest of Lodhi the All-Father and a simple wandering harper, but he was firstborn, and therefore High Prince of Ellas. Those years he spent with Carillon were his freedom. Now he must be a proper son to our father.”
And a very notable question from Donal here, in the context of this entire book so far:
Donal looked at Lachlan still in conversation with Finn. “And does he resent it?”
Evan laughed and quaffed more wine. “Lachlan resents nothing. He has not the darkness in him for that. None of us do.” He grinned and arched an eyebrow. “That is Ellas for you, Donal: a land of laughter and happy people.” His eyes followed the pattern of the dance. “Your wife enjoys herself with countless Homanan nobles. Is it not time you partnered her?”
No, Donal, Lachlan doesn't "resent it". Not everyone is a whiny little git. And Lachlan's given up a vocation and a priesthood to boot.
Donal explains that it's a Homanan custom for the bride to dance with all the men before she dances with her husband. He notes that dancing is a Homanan custom, and he learned because he "had to".
Evan makes a sexist comment:
Evan watched as Aislinn slipped through the pattern. “But she should not have so much freedom just after you have wed. She will think to seek it much too often.”
Donal regarded him in amusement. “What do you know of women, Evan? You are younger than I.”
“Twenty,” he said, unoffended. “I know more than you think. Now there is a lady I would care to know better than I do at the moment.”
I'm inclined to forgive Evan sexism that I'd yell at Donal for because I actually like Evan. Also karma just hit him, the lady he's checking out is Meghan. Evan notes that he has "frequent experiences with fathers" in Ellas, and things usually work themselves out when they know who he is. Donal dryly notes that Finn would probably not be so impressed.
Evan puts two and two together and realizes that Meghan is not only the daughter of "The Cheysuli" but also Carillon's niece and figures he might be stepping a bit high there. Another girl catches his eye, only to get a resounding no from Donal since it's Bronwyn this time.
Evan amusingly wonders if there are NO women here that are not related to royalty. Honestly, while Lachlan is the harpist in the family, I've started imagining Evan as a younger Jaskier from the Witcher. For his part, Donal decides to go dance with his wife before Evan starts looking to her.
The chapter ends here.
So...this chapter is odd because it's basically two chapters in one. The part with Bronwyn honestly should have been its own chapter. It'd be on the short side, but possibly it could have been fleshed out with more scenes with Alix's loved ones. The wedding should be its own chapter entirely, as otherwise, the mood whiplash is pretty extreme.
I feel like we should have seen more of the wedding itself. The vows, for example. Donal is a man with a whole other family. He has a lady that he clearly sees as his wife in truth. Two children. He's marrying Aislinn as part of a duty that he doesn't want and feels chained by. What does he feel as he swears to marry a girl that he doesn't love?
But Lachlan's return is wonderful. I liked seeing that Tourmaline is not forgotten. But I also love that Lachlan is a fucking adult. He's loved and lost and moved on. Lachlan deserves his happy ending.
And Evan is one of those characters that settle in so well that it feels like they've been around forever. I was surprised actually, when reading this book again, that it took fourteen chapters for him to appear. I remember him arriving earlier. I'm glad he's sticking around. He has a wonderful humanizing effect on Donal, who somehow managed to not aggravate me at all during their conversation.
Now if Donal could actually bother to treat his sister like a human being, we'll be gold.
I do feel a little guilty for being mean to Donal right now though, because the poor kid did just see both parents die. And when we rejoin him, he's sitting in his mother's pavilion, surrounding by her belongings. And as much as I hate Duncan, he's a part of this too. Donal remembers the pavilion being the home of all three of them, and now it's just sitting empty.
I wonder how much of Donal's animosity to Bronwyn is less about her being Ihlini and more about her representing the loss of that innocent time.
Speaking of Bronwyn, I find it awfully interesting that Donal doesn't even think about her at all. They were heading home because she was missing after all. But then Alix is the only one who really thinks she's innocent.
Donal spent the night with Sorcha, and I'd probably be more sympathetic if he wasn't so creepy about it:
He had spent the long night with Sorcha, trying to ease his grief in her words and her womanhood. She had soothed him as only she could, and yet he had found himself longing for another woman entirely. The one Sorcha could not be.
...um. EW.
Apparently they talked a lot about Duncan, but the old, asshole rapist version, not what Tynstar turned him into. I mean, look, I can intellectually appreciate that Duncan's been living through Hell over the past fifteen years. But he was also a terrible human being.
So anyway, Donal isn't alone for long:
A slim hand slid inside the doorflap and pulled it aside. Donal heard the sibilant scrape of fabric against fabric. He watched in silence, waiting, as Bronwyn slipped into the pavilion. Her black hair was mussed, pulled loose from its single braid. Some hung into her face, veiling much of it from Donal. She was smiling a little, as if she knew a secret. Her amber eyes were alight with inner knowledge. But she was different. Very different. Aside from the fact she wore the leathers of a warrior in place of traditional skirts, he thought she looked more alive than he had ever seen her.
Oh no.
And Donal is such a fucking asshole:
“Are you healed?” she asked. “Your arm?”
“Healed,” Donal said. “Bronwyn. Where have you been?”
She looked away from him, staring at the pelted floor. Color came and went in her face. And then she seemed to make up her mind to face him down. She lifted her head again. “I wanted to see if I could do it. And I can. I have the Old Blood, too.”
He stared at her blankly. He was full of his mother’s death and the ruination of his father; he could not comprehend anything Bronwyn said. “Old Blood?” He thought only of Tynstar’s blood.
For fuck's sake, dude. Bronwyn has TWO parents. And seriously, at this point, if Bronwyn decided to go full on Ihlini, I'd probably support her! She's done nothing wrong.
But anyway, that's where Bronwyn disappeared to: she wanted to see if she inherited Alix's gift. And of course, Donal is a total fucking dick about it:
“Aye,” she said firmly. “Jehana said perhaps someday I might be able to learn as she had learned. And so I made up my mind to do it.”
“Do what?” His response was sluggish. The aftereffects of Alix’s throwing him out of the trap-link had not entirely dissipated. He still felt weak. Disoriented.
“Take lir-shape,” Bronwyn answered “I went away to try.”
Awareness returned at once. “Lir-shape! You?”
Color surged into Bronwyn’s face. “Aye! Do you think I am not worthy because I am a woman?”
Donal thrust himself to his feet. “Do not mouth such foolishness when our jehana is dead!”
He had not meant it to come out so badly; so cruelly. But all he could think of was his mother dying to save them all while Bronwyn played her games.
You fucking asshole. You FUCKING ASSHOLE.
1) It is NOT BRONWYN's FAULT that Alix died. Bronwyn has every right to go out in the woods to "play her games". She's not a fucking prisoner, even if you're determined to treat her like one.
2) It is NOT BRONWYN's FAULT that she's a child of rape, or that she may or may not be Ihlini. You don't even KNOW if Ihlini are inherently evil! You don't know anything about them! But you're so awful to Bronwyn that if Tynstar came to her tomorrow and was like "Hi, I won't be an asshole to you", she might be willing to hear him out!
3) THIS is how you tell your SISTER that her mother is dead?! And you don't even feel bad about it! You feel like it's okay, because Bronwyn "played her games". Bronwyn is a CHILD, you fuckwad. And I don't buy this sudden bullshit of trap-link after effects. You were fine until you decided to be a dick to a fourteen year old.
4) And so starts this utterly horrible trend of Bronwyn having a reason to celebrate only to have it yanked out from under her. She SHOULD be proud and happy that she discovered this ability. But instead, she's suffered a terrible loss instead. This part isn't Donal's fault, but I still hate him.
I think I'm incapable of judging Donal rationally right now, because this infuriates me:
But perhaps they were not games. Not if she could shapechange. And he could not discount the possibility; Alix had claimed the gift. If her daughter did as well, perhaps the Old Blood might yet counteract the Ihlini in her.
IF? IF? She SAID she did it. You have two fucking lir yourself. And you've yet to prove that the "Ihlini" in her is anything at all!
So Bronwyn gets a disjointed version of the story. Mostly because Donal is a dick:
Bronwyn flinched visibly. “Ihlini! But—how?”
He could not tell her how. That meant he must also tell her of his father; he could not do it. It was too private. Too personal. The pain was his alone.
Hey, asshole. As far as she knows, Duncan was her father too.
Actually, you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to spoil this. Because it's FUCKED UP. And because this is one thing that Roberson does very well: tragic irony. And it's easier to appreciate it when you know.
Here's the spoiler, the big twist about Bronwyn: as it turns out, she's NOT Tynstar's daughter. She was conceived BEFORE the abduction. She's been Duncan's daughter all along.
Isn't that hilarious?! For fourteen years, everyone around her watches her like a hawk, and attributes everything from wardrobe choice (god forbid she wear purple!), skin tone, and fucking drawings in the dirt to her "Ihlini nature".
This poor kid has grown up with everyone treating her like she's evil incarnate to the point where SEF noticed. And of course Sef is afraid of her, he's responding to DONAL, who he trusts explicitly. Donal and Sorcha (who shouldn't know about this at all but somehow does) won't even leave her alone with the children. She's one of the first suspects whenever anything goes wrong.
And it's all for fucking nothing. Fuck you, Donal. Fuck you.
Alix's daughter deserves better than this bullshit.
But yeah, that's another fun aspect of Donal not sharing the information about Duncan: Bronwyn gets deprived of the truth about her father. And while I'd appreciate that if Donal had meant it as a mercy, that's not how it's presented. Donal just doesn't want to share.
And Donal STILL can't be a normal brother to her:
“Dead,” she whispered. “Dead? But—I wanted to tell her about it. I wanted to say what I did. I wanted her to know how her blood is in me, too. The Old Blood…as much as in her son.” Bronwyn pressed her face against his shoulder. “I wanted to have importance…I wanted to be someone who counted…I wanted to be different…”
Oh Bronwyn, he mourned, you are more different than you can know.
For god's sake, you fucking asshole. Even if you HAD BEEN right about her heritage, can you not just be a fucking human being to her. She's a CHILD. She is GRIEVING. Let her be her mother's daughter, you fuckhead.
Bronwyn asks what will happen to her now. And that's an interesting question, because what DOES happen to Cheysuli orphans. I'd imagine they'd have quite a lot of them, given everything:
One last time he pushed a lock of hair out of her face. “You may stay here, if it suits. The Keep is your home. Finn and Meghan are here; so is Sorcha and the children, and all your clan-mates. But—if you prefer—you may come to Homana-Mujhar. Aislinn could use the company. There is a wedding she must prepare for—in less time than I care to acknowledge.” He felt the twist of reluctance in his belly. Fifteen days. But he knew better than to ask Carillon for a delay, even in light of the circumstances. Homana was at stake.
“Wedding,” Bronwyn echoed. “I do not feel much like a wedding. Even a royal one. Not without my jehana—” But she shut her mouth on anything more, as if she could not dare to say what she felt.
Donal doesn't have the luxury for prolonged grief though. He has to go back. He has responsibilities. (But he did not explain them to her. In her grief, she would never understand. You patronizing twit.) He reminds Bronwyn that Finn is grieving too, and she might find comfort in shared grief.
Bronwyn, for her part, asks him to tell Aislinn that she'll come. But she can't bear it just yet. Fair enough.
Poor little girl.
Spoiler: if there is one character that is screwed over more by this narrative than Alix, it's poor Bronwyn. And fucking hell!
He bent and kissed her forehead, hoping to offer solace. But what he found was doubt. Oh gods…what if I am wrong? What if the Old Blood in her is tainted by the other?
And yet he knew he might be doing his sister a grave injustice. He had no proof it had been Bronwyn in the Womb. None at all. The possibility seemed remote, now that he knew where Bronwyn had been.
You're such a fucking dick, Donal. I wish Bronwyn really had been Ihlini, so she could fucking murder you. I love how he thinks he gets to judge her, Ihlini blood or no.
--
The next scene, bizarrely skips ahead to the wedding! Because god forbid we tell Carillon that Alix is dead, I guess? Or Aislinn? Or we investigate the fact that Donal doesn't know where Aislinn was when he was attacked?
No?
Okay, fine then.
(I mean, if there was even an ounce of realism here, Aislinn would be so surrounded by staff and attendants that her absence would be really easy to prove or disprove with a simple conversation. But sure, let's not even try.)
The guests had gathered. The vows had been said. The acclamation was made. In the space of an hour Donal went from unnamed Prince of Homana to the actual thing itself; there was an instantaneous change. He could feel it in the air. A tension. A vibrating urgency. No more was it a someday thing; Homana would have a Cheysuli Mujhar.
That's the first paragraph of the scene by the way. It's literally that abrupt. Is there a reason it's not a separate chapter?
That said, Donal's finding his new status a little off-putting:
When the feasting was done and the hall was prepared for celebratory dancing, Donal discovered he was now the prey of many courtiers. In his years as informal heir, the men who inhabited Carillon’s court had mostly tried to ignore him. No doubt they had thought—or, more likely, hoped—the Mujhar might elevate a bastard son to legitimacy and send Donal back to the Keep. But the Mujhar had not; Donal was not certain there were any bastard sons, though there had been rumors of one or two. And so now the circle was halfway complete; the shapechanger was Prince of Homana.
They oppressed him, the noblemen of Homana. They stifled him with their insincere sudden change of regard, expressing condolences for his mother’s death as an opening gambit. He stood his ground for as long as he could, using the Homanan courtesy traditions Alix had taught him as well as what diplomacy he had learned in his years within the palace walls. But courtesy and diplomacy ran out; he retreated. And at last, tiring of his evasiveness, they left him alone.
They do not know me, though all have known me for years. They realize they must deal with me one day, and would rather gain sway with me now, so they may lay the groundwork to make me a puppet-prince, and a Mujhar—when it comes to that—in their pockets.
Okay, so this is angst I can get behind more than most of Donal's other nonsense.
At the same time, I wonder, if Carillon can just elevate a bastard than why does it matter whether or not he divorces Electra?! I suppose a simple explanation might be that Carillon was rendered sterile by Tynstar's magic, but that's not an explanation in the book itself.
It's so annoying. It's more frustrating than Shapechangers in some ways, because it would be so easy to rework the ideas here into a good story. It would be so easy to create plausible explanations for this nonsense, beyond the idea that Carillon and company are just fucking morons. But Roberson didn't DO that. So we're stuck with this!
Okay, so anyway, Donal has a nifty golden circlet now. It was placed on his head as part of the ceremony: It represented his princely status; it represented the future of Homana. A simple circlet of plain, unworked gold, lacking significant weight. But it was enough to bind him eternally to his tahlmorra.
I love how we've been talking about wedding for a page and a half now, and we haven't even mentioned the fucking BRIDE.
Oh, but we do know what Donal's wearing:
As a concession to Homana, he wore the royal colors. His jerkin was crimson suede, his leggings were black; black boots were stitched in scarlet. A belt of filigreed gold set with rubies the size of his thumbnail clasped his waist. But for that and his lir-gold and newly gained circlet, he was a conservative Cheysuli. Other warriors were not so subdued.
Okay, maybe this is sexist of me, but who goes to a wedding to look at the groom?!
FINALLY, Donal deigns to tell us that Aislinn has left "her women" (none of whom apparently existed before the wedding, which is still bullshit) to dance flirtatiously with some young Homanan noblemen. Donal doesn't seem bothered by it, so it seems like that's just a Homanan wedding custom.
...is this the first time we've ever seen an explicitly Homanan custom? For a country that's been featured in three books, Homana itself is very ill-defined.
Anyway:
She moved with a grace almost foreign to her. Aislinn had, growing up, been a coltish girl, even when attempting regal dignity. Since her sojourn on the Crystal Isle with Electra, she had learned a new and supple grace that was almost sheer seductiveness. There was nothing coltish about her now.
The bright, rich hair swung at her hips as she moved. Unbound, as was proper for a maiden, it flowed loosely over her shoulders, cloaking the pale blue gown. At ears and throat and waist glowed sapphires set in silver.
Apparently she's wearing Electra's wedding jewels. And this is kind of rich actually:
Electra’s wedding jewels from Carillon long ago. It is no wonder he nearly made Aislinn take them off. But even a Mujhar cannot take back what is given freely, and so she has a legacy from her jehana.
Hey, Carillon, remember how Finn practically begged you not to give the jewels made by his father to your obviously Ihlini-aligned wife? I'm GLAD Aislinn got to wear them. I bet Finn is happier about that than Electra.
I don't even blame Aislinn for wearing her mother's jewels. Sure, her mother is evil and fucked with her mind, but she's surrounded by ASSHOLES.
Anyway, we're told that in the weeks since his arm healed, Aislinn had been too busy with wedding preparations to talk to him. I mean...you suspect her of attacking you, right? I feel like I'd have made time to talk to her. Suddenly, he thinks of Electra:
What is mine is also Tynstar’s.
He heard the words clearly, as if spoken into his ears. He snapped upright, free of the wall, and sought Electra in the throng.
But all he saw was Aislinn spinning slowly in the dance.
He stared. Her hair, a rich red-gold, seemed to fade before his eyes. He saw how it blurred, running into a duller color, until the red was replaced with silver-gray. And then the silver turned to white.
But not the white of age. The pure white-blond of youth; Electra’s ensorceled youth.
So this wedding is boding well.
Finn and Bronwyn show up to interrupt these thoughts. Bronwyn kisses him on the cheek for luck. Apparently every woman who wants a husband must kiss the recent bridegroom.
...is this a Cheysuli or Homanan custom? Bronwyn tells him Meghan will be next, and I think Roberson has confused her timeline:
Every woman—?” He recoiled in exaggerated horror.
“Every single one.” She twisted her head to seek someone in the crowd. “There—Meghan will undoubtedly be next.”
“Meghan! Meghan is too young to think of marriage—and so, for that matter, are you.”
Bronwyn laughed. “I am only a year younger than Aislinn. Perhaps by the time I am sixteen, I will have found a cheysul.” Her amber eyes glinted. “After all, I am dancing with men, not boys. I have danced with Gryffth, and Rowan himself has already asked me twice.”
“Rowan is being polite.” Donal unthreaded his arm from hers. “Then go dance, rujholla. Do not keep your partners waiting.”
1. There's a moment earlier where Donal looks at Bronwyn and sees that she has none of the dark coloring of the Cheysuli (...why DO all your Cheysuli heroines look white, Roberson?), showing the Homanan instead. Or the Ihlini.
My god. I get that the Ihlini have done a lot, but are you literally incapable of looking at your sister without constantly focusing on that part of her heritage?!
2. That said, this exchange is actually very cute. And the shipper in me is happy that Gryffth and Rowan are mentioned in the same breath.
3. But the timeline is not quite right. Let's count the ways:
Aislinn should be closer to two years older than Bronwyn. If you recall, Electra had been a few months pregnant with her second child when she and Tynstar attacked Carillon. She'd lost the baby on the way to the Crystal Isle.
Now if you remember Song of Homana, Finn encountered Tynstar's trap when he attempted to "help" Electra during her labor with Aislinn. He spent eight weeks at the Keep before he came back, found Tynstar and Electra and had his divorce with Carillon. Torry was pregnant when she left with him, and Meghan was four months old when they returned. So assuming Meghan was full term, Aislinn should be a year and a half old.
Alix believes she conceived Bronwyn while in Valgaard. It's actually right before. They traveled six weeks to the Keep. It's not clear how long she was captive before that. But we can assume that Bronwyn was conceived somewhere between two and four months before Carillon and Alix's return to the keep. So we give it another five-six months after that for Bronwyn's birth.
So if Aislinn's sixteen than Bronwyn should be fourteen, not fifteen. It's a minor difference, probably, but someone should have caught that.
Interestingly, Finn seems to have taken up Alix's position on Bronwyn, now that she's gone.
“She is nearly grown,” Finn said quietly. “She has the right of it—by next year she may be wed.”
A twinge of unease unsettled Donal’s belly. “It may be best we do not let her wed. We—do not know what powers she might claim in the coming years.”
Finn looked at him squarely. “If you stifle her, Donal—if you seek to keep her leashed, no matter how light the chain—you will surely twist her spirit. Right now, there is nothing of Tynstar in her.”
“And when there is?”
“If there is…we will deal with it then.”
Bronwyn has done NOTHING wrong. The worst things Donal has observed about her is a certain moodiness, and hi, teenager! And one time drawing shapes in the dirt that sorta looked like runes.
Donal does have news for Finn though. Finn hadn't been aware that Bronwyn took lir shape. We're told that Bronwyn's been keeping apart since Alix's death. She's interacted with Meghan and Storr a fair bit, but not Finn himself, and he hasn't pushed the issue due to his own grief. He figures Storr is how Bronwyn learned lir shape.
Storr said nothing, but Storr also said nothing about Alix. And this is kind of interesting:
Finn’s tone was wry, but Donal saw the trace of remembered pain in his uncle’s eyes. “The lir protect those with the Old Blood. More so, I sometimes think, than they protect those without.”
Donal frowned. “Then could they protect her against herself?”
“If she began to show signs of Ihlini powers?” Finn shrugged a little. “Who can say? All we know is the lir are constrained against attacking the Ihlini, no matter what the odds.”
1. I still think it'd make more sense if Alix's blood came from her father. But I also find the idea that the non-old blood characters might resent the lir's favoritism really interesting.
2. The remembered pain line works fine here, but is aggravating when I remember Shapechangers.
3. The relationship between the Cheysuli and Ihlini is an interesting question that will come up more and more in the second half of the series.
Of course Donal has to be a dick again:
“Gods,” Donal said, “what my poor rujholla faces—”
“We do not know,” Finn said deliberately. “She may be free of the evil, even with the blood.”
Donal swirled wine within the confines of the goblet. “Aye, but—” He broke it off. A stranger approached, and he had no wish to share Bronwyn’s parentage with anyone but Finn.
THANK YOU, Finn. For fuck's sake, even if she were Ihlini, that doesn't mean she's evil. Have you guys even tried to find out if there are non-evil Ihlini?! I mean, sure, Tynstar's terrible. But the Ihlini are a people, not one guy.
But this stranger is important too. I was waiting for this.
“May I join you?” the stranger asked.
Finn turned to face him, then fell back a step. For a moment there was blatant shock in his eyes. “Carillon did not tell me you were coming.”
“I was not certain I could.” The man—tall, very blond, with a silver circlet banding his head—smiled at Donal. “I think your nephew does not recall who I am. But why should he?—it was nearly sixteen years ago when last he saw me, and he was only a boy.”
Donal released a breath of laughter. “I remember you, Lachlan! How could I not? It was your Song of Homana so many of us sang the summer when you had gone.” He shook his head. “No more the humble harper, are you, with all your fine clothes and jewels.” An eloquent flip of his hand indicated the blue velvets and flashing diamonds. “No more hiding your identity, but the High Prince of Ellas in all your power and grace.”
LACHLAN!!!
HI LACHLAN!!!
Lachlan exchanges some gentle jibes with Finn, expresses sympathy for Alix's death, stating he'd admired and respected her greatly (and I'm annoyed to realize we never saw them interact. Also, considering that Lachlan's the same age as Carillon and thus a year older than Alix, then if she'd taken my advice and fled to Ellas in Shapechangers, she might have married HIM!)
He's horrified by Carillon. As mentioned, they're the same age, but aside from some lines at his eyes and mouth, Lachlan hasn't aged much at all. He asks if Finn's tried to reverse what Tynstar has done, but it can't be accomplished. Cheysuli and Ihlini powers are "in opposition". Lachlan suggests that he try his own brand of magic, but Finn shoots that down too.
It's interesting, actually, to see Finn and Lachlan talk shop about religious magic. I'm reminded of how similar and different they are.
...and well, there is an elephant in the room:
“I?” Lachlan’s handsome face smoothed into a hospitable blankness, while diplomacy ruled his tongue. “I have mastered happiness, Finn…and you?” The tone altered a little. “How is it with you—now that Tourmaline is dead?”
Donal saw the taut muscles of Finn’s jaw relax just a little. It was shock, he knew; Finn, with most things, was imperturbable. But then no one mentioned his dead cheysula to his face.
Finn’s face remained expressionless, but only the habitual solemnity of a Cheysuli gave him the control. Donal saw through it quite easily.
But then the control was released. Donal saw his uncle’s eyes naked for the first time in his life, and the intensity of the pain stunned him.
Finn looked directly at Lachlan. “Had I to do it over again, I would give her up to you.”
The High Prince of Ellas was clearly shocked. “Lodhi—why? Torry wanted you. She went with you willingly.”
The tone of Finn’s voice was hollowed. “You could have kept her alive.”
It's a repeat conversation. Finn said almost the same thing to Carillon at the end of Song. But this is more of a meaningful echo than the usual repetition. Finn's probably been dwelling on this idea every day for fifteen years.
Lachlan protests, saying that Carillon had made it very clear that Torry wanted Finn. And Lachlan, being one of the few decent men in this series, accepted her wishes. He respects that she made her choice, even if the end result is unhappy.
Finn wraps it all up in Alix and Duncan. He says that he was selfish and proud. Since Duncan had won Alix, he wasn't going to let Torry go to someone else when he wanted her. I personally think it was less about Alix, than about someone else. But it also makes sense that he's thinking about this. He just saw his brother and his sister (...and that's still fucking weird) die in front of him.
Lachlan is a good dude though:
“I am sorry,” Lachlan said finally. “I had no right to bring it up. This is not the time for recriminations—I banished those long ago.” Briefly, he smiled. “And I am wed now myself—a lovely woman. She loves me well, and I am content with her.”
Finn smiled ironically. “Where would you find such a fool as that?”
Lachlan grinned back, unoffended. “In Caledon, of course, since our realms have made a peace at last. We have two sons.”
The Ellasian royal line is ridiculously fertile. Lachlan has five brothers and five sisters. And, in fact, he introduces them to another son of King Rhodri. Though this one isn't a death harpist. Sadly.
Lachlan turned and gestured. A young man approached: blue-eyed, dark-haired, well-dressed in quiet brown with little jewelry. He moved with Lachlan’s fluid grace. He was not as tall and did not claim the same purity of features, as if they had blurred in him somehow, but he was handsome enough and his mouth was expressively mobile.
This dude is Evan, Lachlan's youngest brother. There's a twenty year age difference, but per Lachlan, they're most alike in temperament. He came because he wanted to meet the Cheysuli and see if the stories are true. He immediately gets along well with Donal:
Evan executed a graceful bow before a startled Donal. “I must admit I expected something other than civilized behavior from you, my lord. I thought Cheysuli were spawned with tails and fangs.”
For a moment, Donal thought he meant it. Then he heard the ironic humor in Evan’s tone. He smiled. “Beware your back—when the moon is whole we seek the souls of such men as you.”
Evan is the answer to an issue that Copperfyre and I discussed a few chapters back, namely how weird it is that Donal doesn't seem to have ANY friends. Not here, not at the Keep. He has to share a toast to his baby daughter with his thirteen year old manservant. Aislinn's isolation is ridiculous as well, but even she has more friends (Bronwyn and Meghan) than Donal does.
Evan's here to make up for that. He steals Lachlan's wine and cheerfully insults Donal to his face. He's clever and witty and has no drama at all to steal attention away from Donal's issues. He's Ellasian, so there isn't the racial baggage. And he's completely unimpressed by Donal's rank. At the same time, he's nowhere near the Ellasian throne, so he's not any kind of social challenge.
He's perfect comic relief best friend material.
There is maybe a hint of a layer when he talks about his family:
“As Lachlan said—I am somewhat a rebel son. Being insignificant leaves me the freedom to be whom I wish and to do what I wish. Within the bounds of reason. Of course, there are times my father forgets the order of my birth—was it fourth? No? Fifth?—but all in all I like it better this way.” His sleepy blue eyes were shrewd behind dark lashes. “Lachlan is the heir—you have only to look at him to see what the title means. He far preferred being a priest of Lodhi the All-Father and a simple wandering harper, but he was firstborn, and therefore High Prince of Ellas. Those years he spent with Carillon were his freedom. Now he must be a proper son to our father.”
And a very notable question from Donal here, in the context of this entire book so far:
Donal looked at Lachlan still in conversation with Finn. “And does he resent it?”
Evan laughed and quaffed more wine. “Lachlan resents nothing. He has not the darkness in him for that. None of us do.” He grinned and arched an eyebrow. “That is Ellas for you, Donal: a land of laughter and happy people.” His eyes followed the pattern of the dance. “Your wife enjoys herself with countless Homanan nobles. Is it not time you partnered her?”
No, Donal, Lachlan doesn't "resent it". Not everyone is a whiny little git. And Lachlan's given up a vocation and a priesthood to boot.
Donal explains that it's a Homanan custom for the bride to dance with all the men before she dances with her husband. He notes that dancing is a Homanan custom, and he learned because he "had to".
Evan makes a sexist comment:
Evan watched as Aislinn slipped through the pattern. “But she should not have so much freedom just after you have wed. She will think to seek it much too often.”
Donal regarded him in amusement. “What do you know of women, Evan? You are younger than I.”
“Twenty,” he said, unoffended. “I know more than you think. Now there is a lady I would care to know better than I do at the moment.”
I'm inclined to forgive Evan sexism that I'd yell at Donal for because I actually like Evan. Also karma just hit him, the lady he's checking out is Meghan. Evan notes that he has "frequent experiences with fathers" in Ellas, and things usually work themselves out when they know who he is. Donal dryly notes that Finn would probably not be so impressed.
Evan puts two and two together and realizes that Meghan is not only the daughter of "The Cheysuli" but also Carillon's niece and figures he might be stepping a bit high there. Another girl catches his eye, only to get a resounding no from Donal since it's Bronwyn this time.
Evan amusingly wonders if there are NO women here that are not related to royalty. Honestly, while Lachlan is the harpist in the family, I've started imagining Evan as a younger Jaskier from the Witcher. For his part, Donal decides to go dance with his wife before Evan starts looking to her.
The chapter ends here.
So...this chapter is odd because it's basically two chapters in one. The part with Bronwyn honestly should have been its own chapter. It'd be on the short side, but possibly it could have been fleshed out with more scenes with Alix's loved ones. The wedding should be its own chapter entirely, as otherwise, the mood whiplash is pretty extreme.
I feel like we should have seen more of the wedding itself. The vows, for example. Donal is a man with a whole other family. He has a lady that he clearly sees as his wife in truth. Two children. He's marrying Aislinn as part of a duty that he doesn't want and feels chained by. What does he feel as he swears to marry a girl that he doesn't love?
But Lachlan's return is wonderful. I liked seeing that Tourmaline is not forgotten. But I also love that Lachlan is a fucking adult. He's loved and lost and moved on. Lachlan deserves his happy ending.
And Evan is one of those characters that settle in so well that it feels like they've been around forever. I was surprised actually, when reading this book again, that it took fourteen chapters for him to appear. I remember him arriving earlier. I'm glad he's sticking around. He has a wonderful humanizing effect on Donal, who somehow managed to not aggravate me at all during their conversation.
Now if Donal could actually bother to treat his sister like a human being, we'll be gold.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-07 08:37 am (UTC)1) It is NOT BRONWYN's FAULT that Alix died. Bronwyn has every right to go out in the woods to "play her games". She's not a fucking prisoner, even if you're determined to treat her like one.
2) It is NOT BRONWYN's FAULT that she's a child of rape, or that she may or may not be Ihlini. You don't even KNOW if Ihlini are inherently evil! You don't know anything about them! But you're so awful to Bronwyn that if Tynstar came to her tomorrow and was like "Hi, I won't be an asshole to you", she might be willing to hear him out!
3) THIS is how you tell your SISTER that her mother is dead?! And you don't even feel bad about it! You feel like it's okay, because Bronwyn "played her games". Bronwyn is a CHILD, you fuckwad. And I don't buy this sudden bullshit of trap-link after effects. You were fine until you decided to be a dick to a fourteen year old.
4) And so starts this utterly horrible trend of Bronwyn having a reason to celebrate only to have it yanked out from under her. She SHOULD be proud and happy that she discovered this ability. But instead, she's suffered a terrible loss instead. This part isn't Donal's fault, but I still hate him.
This is exactly what happened with Leah in Twilight. Poor Bronwyn. Except Leah also isn't a child by rape. For that, the only one to blame is Tynstar and only him. Also, for what said bad guy did to Duncan, it's hard to feel bad.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-07 12:16 pm (UTC)And yeah, Duncan's kind of an interesting moral dilemma. On one hand, he possibly has the worst death in the series, objectively, or at least among the worst deaths. But on the other, he's just so awful as a person that it's hard to care that much.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-10 07:34 pm (UTC)But yay for Evan!
no subject
Date: 2021-07-11 04:29 pm (UTC)