I Read What?!

So last time, a love triangle got resolved in the least satisfying way possible, a history lesson was given that didn't completely make sense, and Alix's importance is yet again reduced to her breeding potential.



So we join Alix as she's trying to construct knee-high boots from a pelt of a mountain cat that Duncan brought her. It's difficult for her, and we're told that she's "slowly learning her place within the clan and her responsibilities as a clan-leader's cheysula" but she lacks experience. Apparently Duncan had made her own boots, and she wishes he would make the rest. But he has more important things to worry about such as hunting or conversing with the Council about the war with Solinde. Alix then feels ashamed for complaining, but I don't think she's being unreasonable here. It's not like she's refusing to work, after all. And this kind of work wasn't really in the sales brochure when Duncan convinced her to come with him.

Anyway, there's some news: the Solindish forces, allied with Keough, the lord of Atvia (another kingdom) are making inroads into Homana. Both Alix and Duncan are worried that Homana will lose this war. Duncan thinks that Shaine isn't really commiting to the war, and is overconfident, recalling prior victories but forgetting that he had the Cheysuli to help him then.

I'm not really sure why they care about Shaine and Homana so much, given that they're literally trying to murder every single Cheysuli. Obviously we have no reason to believe life under the Solindish will be any better for them, but it's hard to see how it could be worse.

And now I'm very confused. Duncan believes that Shaine's obsession with the Cheysuli has made him mad, and he's now having his brother, Fergus, command his troops. Fergus is, of course, Carillon's father, but I hadn't realized he was still alive. Why would Carillon be Shaine's heir instead of Fergus himself?

They discuss Shaine's potential motives for a bit, and then Alix notes that Shaine has sent his heir in to fight. She's afraid for him, but she's trying to hide it from Duncan. I, in turn, am really sad that Alix feels like she has to hide her worry for a long time friend from her husband, but we know how awful he is.

Duncan notes that Carillon has to learn to lead men, and that Shaine has neglected his education. He thinks Carillon could make a good Mujhar, but he hasn't been given a chance to learn the responsibilities. I mean, that might be a fair point, but this is also coming from Duncan. And honestly, while we're supposed to see Duncan as this great leader of men, I can't really see it myself.

I mean, let's look at it from the point of view of a random Cheysuli. I've invented one just for this exercise. We'll call him Keighvin, which is not a real name, but I feel like its bastardized pseudo-Irishness fits with the craptastic world building we have so far. Let's pretend that Keighvin was on the original raiding party when Finn captured Carillon and Alix. Now let's think about his reaction: Finn has actually managed to capture the heir to the throne! Now, it is apparently common knowledge that Shaine's fertility issues are part of his justification for the qu'mahlin. His daughter died bearing a girl. Neither wife has conceived of another child. His brother has one son. And we don't know anything about any extended cousins.

There are so many possibilities here! Ransom him back! Use him as a trap for Shaine somehow! Just fucking murder his ass and leave Shaine without any kind of recourse. If Carillon's role in the prophecy is well known enough, then try to actually make friends with him. Show him what kind of people the Cheysuli are! Keighvin thinks there are so many possibilities here!

Next thing you know, Duncan's decided to send Carillon back for no advantage at all. Instead, he and Finn are obsessed with Carillon's girlfriend, who probably does have Cheysuli ancestry but doesn't fucking want to be there. (I'd like to think there are Cheysuli who don't agree with kidnapping and raping women on general principle. And at the very least, sees the logical pitfalls of forcing unhappy women to bear your children.) So they take Carillon back, without even bothering to blindfold the guy, keeping his girlfriend, while the prince outright TELLS them he's coming back with men. Then he does come back with men, and two men die! For the record, Keighvin is PISSED.

And this is just the first couple of chapters. From what we understand, the Cheysuli are at extinction numbers. While I'm cheating and using knowledge from book 2, there ARE actually other hidden enclaves, but Duncan's clan seems to be making no effort to actually seek them out. Their sole attempt to salvage their numbers has to do with abducting Homanan women. Which basically means there's a group of very angry women in the camp who may well have the opportunity to exert their wrath against their rapists, or possibly teach their kids that hey, daddy is keeping mommy as a sex slave, maybe daddy isn't a good person. It also manages to lend credence to Shaine's accusations. And considering that they're now hiding in Ellas, that brings more problems: if they're kidnapping Ellasian women, they're risking their own sanctuary in a neutral nation. If they're kidnapping Homanan women, they're risking causing a war between Homana and Ellas which again could risk their sanctuary.

Hell, this chapter is the first we've actually heard of Duncan doing any kind of real leading, as opposed to taking part in raiding parties and getting in love triangles with women. So far, I'm not terribly impressed. (Keighvin thinks this is all bullshit. I'd like to think he gets together with Malina later to bitch about how Duncan's incompetence got Borrs killed.)

So anyway, Duncan says that it's "no wonder [Carillon] took to speaking soft words to innocent croft-girls in the valley, to while away his time" He's teasing Alix, but I don't find it particularly funny. Thank you for reminding me that there is one person who cares about Alix enough to "speak soft words" and get her damn consent, and it's NOT the main love interest.

Alix thinks it's funny though and comments that she's no longer so innocent, and Duncan had seen to that. Yeah, because he manipulated you with false pretenses. Damnit, Alix, please be angry at least. And just in case I was being lulled by this scene into thinking they're actually cute together:

He shrugged, purposefully solemn. “Better a clan-leader, I think, than a mere warrior.”
“Warrior…what warrior?”

“Finn.”

“You beast!” she cried, striking him a glancing blow on the shoulder. “Why must you remind me of him? Even now he calls me meijha and torments me by suggesting I be his light woman.”

Duncan arched his brows. “He seeks only to irritate you, cheysula. Even Finn knows better than to seek a clan-leader’s woman, when she is unwilling.” His brows lowered, “I think.”

“Finn would dare anything,” Alix said darkly.

He smiled. “But if he did not, small one, he would be a tedious rujholli indeed.”

“I would prefer him tedious.”

“You, I think, would prefer him slain.”

What. The. Fuck.

1) Alix has repeatedly indicated that she not only dislikes Finn, but is actually terrified of him! Duncan USED that as a weapon against her. Now he has the fucking AUDACITY to make a joke of this?!

2) Finn has repeatedly committed sexual harassment and sexual assault directly on Alix, and Duncan SMILES and thinks that if he didn't pull this shit, Finn would be "tedious".

3) I THINK? I THINK?!?!

4) And okay, let's assume Finn knows better than to seek a clan-leader's woman, that implies that he would possibly have gone after Alix if Alix had gotten with a Cheysuli warrior who wasn't Duncan. Because Alix's own consent doesn't mean jack shit.

5) Alix has every fucking right to want him dead, and Duncan needs to shut the fuck up.

Alix insists that she doesn't wish death on anyone, even Shaine. Duncan caresses her hair, which has grown a little but is still only shoulder length. Fuck you, Duncan. He says that he was only teasing. Because that's totally an appropriate teasing topic. He does note that if the Cheysuli join the war, there will be many deaths.

...why are you joining the war again? And your numbers are already extinction level! Alix points out that the Mujhar won't have the Cheysuli in his armies, but Duncan thinks he may have to eventually.

So Alix thinks about Carillon. Her crush is basically gone, (Duncan having replaced Carillon in her dreams, ugh), but she's still likes him a lot. She remembers him as the first person she loved, and that while it had been "childish, immature, and unfulfilled" it had been true. Fuck. Alix, I'd take that in a heartbeat before the monstrosity going on now.

Alix thinks about how Duncan showed her what it was to be a woman (ick), a Cheysuli, and have a tahlmorra. But her adjustment hasn't been easy: she misses Torrin and the croft, and wakes up sometimes in the night disoriented and frightened by the strange man at her side. It dissipates when she wakes up fully, but how fucking sad is that. Someone help Alix, please.

I actually rather like this bit. It's quiet, but it's nice seeing Alix able to process everything that happened. I'll give Roberson credit for allowing Alix to acknowledge her feelings for Carillon as being perfectly valid.

Sadly, this bit is interrupted by Finn. But he's not there to be horrible for once. Well, this once. We're told that he basically makes a habit of taunting Duncan with the fact that Alix loved Carillon first, and gives her news of Carillon to tease Duncan. (Duncan himself is "unusually reticent" when speaking of Carillon with her.) I still hate both men. (And so does Keighvin, damnit.)

But this time, Finn isn't there to be a dickhead. He's come to inform her that the Ihlini have breached Mujhara (the capitol city) and that it's time for the Cheysuli to defy the qu'mahlin to fight them. Duncan had sent him for Alix, because the Council is calling everyone into the clan pavilion.

a) Really Duncan, of every person in the fucking clan you could send to get your wife, you're sending the sexual harasser that she fears?

b) It annoys me that, even if his motives are bad, Finn is actually showing more respect for Alix than Duncan, by actually telling her about someone that she cares about.

c) But when you think about it, how the fuck does this mesh with what we've been told about Cheysuli culture. Duncan and Finn have made a big fuss over the freedom that Cheysuli have to choose partners. Why does it matter to either man that she was in love before?

d) How the fuck small is this clan, or large is this pavilion that they can ALL fit into one tent? I've said it before but if we take the numbers given to us in Shapechangers, the Cheysuli aren't a dying race. They're dead.

Anyway, we actually get to see the Council pavilion (I'm a little annoyed that after all that build up, Alix doesn't even get a wedding, or the Cheysuli equivalent), it's a huge black tent painted with every lir symbol imaginable. Duncan is inside, sitting on a spotted pelt in front of the fire cairn. Alix sits to his right. Finn sits next to Alix.

Now THIS is interesting, apparently the clan had a spy in Mujhara: a man named Vychan, who had sent his lir to report that the Ihlini took the city. We're also told that the western borders fell months ago, Keough of Atvia fights for Bellam And only Homana-Mujhar hasn't fallen.

Okay, I think I was mistaken: Mujhara is a larger region and Homana-Mujhar is the palace/city. I'm not going to knock Roberson for this, because she may have explained this and I forgot. It is interesting though. I'd love to know more about this spy. How does he hide among the Homanans? Is he mixed race himself, or does he disguise somehow? How does he hide his lir? (It might make sense if his lir is something small, but a hawk or wolf would be unmistakable.) I'm not nitpicking the spy, I'm thinking about this because I'm genuinely interested.

I wonder if the spy thinks Duncan is full of shit too. I'd like to think he does.

Anyway, Duncan says that if Homana-Muhhar falls, the kingdom does. As the descendants of the people who built it, he feels they can't allow that to happen. Duncan, they tried to massacre you. I think you're fine here.

Much to my irritation, Finn is actually sensible, pointing out that Duncan is actually sending the Cheysuli to fight two enemies: the Solindish invaders and Shaine's own men. I hate agreeing with that douche. Duncan states that he doesn't forget Shaine, but he's setting their personal conflicts aside to save Homana.

"Personal conflicts"??? This is a fucking genocide!

This gets into something very aggravating about Roberson's writing. She has this habit of trivializing really grotesque shit: like the genocide, like Finn's behavior, as though it's something much more mild than it is. Duncan makes it sound like he and Shaine are having a personal grudge, maybe even a border dispute, but Shaine is actively trying to hunt them down to a man! He had his guards trample Raissa's tent when Duncan was five years old with the children inside!!! We heard that story!

Finn points out, rightly, that Shaine will NOT put their conflict aside, but Duncan doesn't intend to give him a choice. How exactly do you think that will work?! Somewhere in this pavilion, my fanfic character Keighvin again thinks this is total fucking bullshit.

Anyway, Duncan notes that they can't all go. He needs warriors to defend the Keep and others willing to go in the city. He wants to send the best and the strongest, and some will be lost.

There's a moment here that would be good if I didn't utterly despise both characters: he looks at Finn when he says that, and Finn smiles crookedly and says he'll go, of course. It makes me think longingly of what this book could have been if Roberson hadn't decided to bring in serious subjects that she clearly doesn't intend to treat with the severity the subject deserves.

I get the impression that the interplay between Duncan and Finn here is actually structural in some way, and it occurs to me that it could be an interesting cultural practice: having the clan-leader's closest follower also act publicly as a devil's advocate, challenging his commands. It adds an interesting perspective as to the character Finn is clearly supposed to be: roguish, independent, free of constraints and avoiding the shackles of more formal arrangements or power. But both brothers are rapists and abusers, so I don't give a fuck.

So anyway, others join in. Alix is, understandably, frightened and worried. She knows Duncan will lead the attack, and she knows better than to ask him to stay safe with her. She notes that he might be less aggressive than Finn, but his pride runs as deep. We're told that Alix sees her pavilion as her security, and she thinks about the tapestry in particular, which she loves now that Duncan has taken the time to explain it to her.

Duncan comes in, and there's an annoying bit where she asks him when he leaves for Mujhara, and he feels the need to go get his bow and arrows, and start examining them before he answers her question. This is the sort of thing that works in a tv show, but would be utterly ridiculous in real life. He's leaving in the morning. Good, I hope he dies.

Anyway, Alix wants to come too. Duncan says no, saying it's no place for her and calling her "small one" which still sets my teeth on end. She doesn't want to stay behind and wait for him, she points out that she can take lir shape and could avoid being any trouble. Duncan tells her that she is ever trouble, which strikes me as decidedly unfair. Every single bit of trouble she's been in, except for yelling at Shaine, has been because of Finn or Duncan. He still says no.

This is actually pretty well done here. I tend to be annoyed when in these kind of books, someone who is a non-combatant insists on coming along into danger where they're inevitably going to end up being a load and getting in trouble. But Alix isn't completely helpless. She's not a warrior and isn't pretending to be, but she does have the ability to shapeshift. It's plausible that she could find a way to come along and remain out of danger. I don't think she should go, but it doesn't piss me off that she's asking.

She points out that its her family that they're going to help. Duncan says he knows her determination, but he won't have her risking herself, "especially for the man who cast you out at birth and then again so many years later."

Ugh, I don't think Duncan's wrong here, but I hate the way he's saying it. "I will not have you" fuck off dude.

Anyway, Alix gives in and asks him to be very careful. Then she drops a bombshell: she tells him that she doesn't want his first son born without a father. Oh good, just in case I was starting to not hate Duncan, he does this:

But Duncan reached out and grabbed her shoulders, jerking her upright onto her knees. He glared at her wrathfully.

“And you would risk that by coming to an embattled city?”

“Duncan—”

“You are a fool, Alix!” He released her abruptly.

She stared at him open-mouthed as he rose stiffly and stalked from her, halting at the open doorflap to stare out.

“I thought you would be pleased,” she told his rigid back.

He turned on her “Pleased? You beg to go to war and then tell me you have conceived? Do you wish to lose this child?”

“No!”

He glared at her. “Then remain here as I have said, and conduct yourself as a clan-leader’s cheysula.”

Alix, driven into speechlessness by the intensity of his anger, said nothing at all as he turned away from her and left the pavilion.

After this bit of charming verbal and physical abuse, Duncan's pregnant, seventeen-year-old wife starts to cry.

What a way to say goodbye before a battle. Fuck you, dude. I hope you die.