I Read What?!

So last time, Carillon and Finn once again re-affirmed their status as the true romantic relationship of this book when we learned that Finn's last ritualized marriage proposal had the possibility of killing them both (because why live without each other?), and Carillon totally supports his boyfriend's need to exorcise his daddy issues.

Which means that, of course, we're careening rapidly toward the tragedy of the book. Brace yourself.



So we join Carillon as he's receiving the Solindish delegation. Oh no. We're told that Carillon is finally dressed befitting his rank. No more cracked and stained ringmail and leather armor. Carillon's wearing velvet and satins, with his hair and beard trimmed and smoothed with scented oil. For the first time, he feels like a king.

He has some satisfaction in the reactions of the noblemen, because he's changed a lot in the seven years since Bellam had taken the country. (So by this, we know that the first part of this book covered two years. Carillon should be twenty-five now and Finn, thirty two.) Carillon remembers how he'd been imprisoned by the Atvians, and his rescue. Now he's smiling.

We're told that Carillon didn't come alone. He brought an honor guard of Cheysuli: Finn, Duncan, and six others. Rowan, acting as escort, names each one of the Solindish delegation. Carillon notes that he does it very well: "with the proper note of neutrality in a tone also touched with condescension"

A dick move, but also fair. Carillon is the victor here.

The highest ranking man is Essien. He's wearing indigo blue "of course", (for his part, Carillon is wearing russet and amber). The crest on his tunic was removed, but Carillon can see the darker outline of Bellam's rising sun emblem. Carillon takes it as a subtle insult, but given that he felt he had to remove the sun, maybe that's a different signal?

Also, why would Bellam's emblem be the rising sun when Solinde is the Western most nation on the continent. Japan's rising sun emblem makes sense when we consider that for most of its history, its most influential contact was China, which sits to its west. But unless you're trying to tell me that Erinn and Atvia are suddenly really important, it makes less sense here. Unless the sun rises in the west.

It's possible I'm overthinking this.

Anyway, Essian has come to acknowledge Carillon's sovereignty. He is aware of the terms, which have been discussed. They're not going to contest his claim to Solinde's crown. In fact, they're "humbly requesting" him to fill it.

Okay, cool. So now you don't have to force a woman into marriage, dude.

Carillon, for form's sake, asks if Bellam had any heirs. Ellic has been dead a long time, but surely he had bastards. That's true, says Essian, but they're not able to rally support. And there'd be too much contention.

Carillon makes note of Essian's speech, which is "spiced" "with pauses and nuances" that Carillon, having grown up in court, easily understands. They move onto Carillon's other "request".

Essien’s face congested. “Aye, my lord Mujhar. The question of proper primogeniture.” He took a deep breath that moved the indigo tunic. “As a token of Solinde’s complete compliance with your newly won overlordship of our land, we offer the hand of the Princess Electra, Bellam’s only daughter. Bellam’s only surviving legitimate child.” His nostrils pinched in tightly. “A son born of Solinde and Homana would be fit to hold the throne.”

I'm pretty sure we're supposed to read Essian's reaction here as a bad thing, as him being a snob or secretly opposed to the Homanans. But given that Electra has made her wishes clear, over and over again. I'm kind of with him.

You've WON. Carillon. You've ended the qu'mahlin. You've defeated the invaders. And whether they rebel or not isn't going to be based on Electra. So fucking let her go!

But instead:

“Proper primogeniture,” I said reflectively. “Well enough, we will take the lady to wife. You may tell her, for Carillon the Mujhar, that she has one month in which to gather the proper clothing and household attendants. If she does not come in that allotted time, we will send the Cheysuli for her.”

Oh, Carillon. And there's something dark about specifically using the Cheysuli as part of this threat. If we take Shapechangers out of the equation, then Carillon is basically asking them to be party to his rape of this woman. Finn is absolutely not on board, and there's been nothing to indicate that Duncan and the others feel any different. Furthermore, they've only JUST survived the qu'mahlin and you want to force them to piss off a whole other country, with just as much capacity for genocide?!

Carillon has one more question: Where's Tynstar.

This gets an interesting reaction:

Essien’s head snapped up. He put one hand to his hair and smoothed it, a habitual, nervous gesture. His throat moved in a swallow, then again. He glanced quickly to the others, but they offered nothing. Essien had the rank.

“I do not know,” he said finally, excessively distinct. “No man can say where the Ihlini goes; no man, my lord. He merely goes.” He offered a thin smile that contained subtle triumph as well as humor…at my expense. “No doubt he plans to thwart you how he can, and he will, but I can offer you nothing of what he intends. Tynstar is—Tynstar.”

Carillon reads this guy's reaction as mocking, but honestly, I read it as fear. He might be satisfied to think that Tynstar will get revenge on this king who is now ruling Essian's home, and I can't really blame him for that, but the overwhelming impression I get is that this guy and the others are terrified of Tynstar.

There's some back and forth about the Ihlini and Cheysuli, and which race might prevail. Meanwhile, Carillon watches Essian closely to see any sign that he knows where Tynstar might be. He doesn't see any triumph in the man's eyes though, only contemplation.

Carillon orders that a Homanan regency be built in Lestra, the capitol of Solinde. A man named Royce, who Carillon describes as "trusted, incorruptible" will be the regent in Carillon's name until there's a son to put on the throne. He's also sending some Cheysuli with him. Essian doesn't seem to like that thought.

Finn, Duncan and Carillon exchange some banter:

Duncan’s smile was slow. “Finn has taught you well.”

“And with great difficulty.” The grin, crooked as usual, creased the scar on Finn’s dark face. “But I think the time spent was well worth it, judging by what I have seen.”

I got up from the throne and stretched, cracking the joints in my back. “Electra will not be pleased to hear what I have said.”

“Electra will not be pleased by anything you have to say or do,” Finn retorted. “But then, did you want a quiet marriage I doubt not you could have asked for someone else.”

I laughed at him, stripping my brow of the golden circlet. It had been Shaine’s once, crusted with diamonds and emeralds. And now it was mine. “A tedious marriage is no marriage at all, I have heard.” I glanced at Duncan. “But you would know better than I.”

For a moment he resembled Finn with the same ironic grin. Then he shrugged. “Alix has never been tedious.”

I really wish Alix had been allowed to weigh in on all of this. I think her opinion might be very valuable.

We can see here how Carillon still defines Duncan by his resemblance to Finn, but at the same time is very quick to laugh and dismiss Finn's own concern. For better or worse, Electra is now his primary focus.

I could read this story as a warning against sublimating your feelings, honestly.

So Carillon is now thinking gross stuff:

I tapped the circlet against my hand, thinking about the woman. “She will come,” I muttered, frowning. “She will come, and I will have to be ready for her. It is not as if I took some quiet little virgin to tremble in my bed…this is Electra.."

Carillon muses that Duncan and Finn believe he's taking "a viper to [his] bed". Carillon thinks it might be worth risking his life for one night in her bed.

We get another exchange, and this one is much more ominous:

I looked again at Finn. “It brings peace to Homana.”

He did not smile. “Whom do you seek to convince?”

I scowled and went down the dais steps. “Rowan, come with me. I will give you the task of fetching my lady mother from Joyenne as soon as she can travel. And there is Torry to fetch, as well…though no doubt Lachlan would be willing to do it.” I sighed and turned back. “Finn. Will you see to it Torry has escort here?”

He nodded, saying nothing; I thought him still disapproving of my decision to wed Electra. But it did not matter. I was not marrying Finn.

It's passages like this that makes me think that Jennifer Roberson is writing this homoerotic subtext on purpose. Because REALLY dude, you should be.

We skip ahead to night time, where another Cheysuli warrior is waking Carillon from a sound sleep for a bizarre ritual. It's Duncan this time, so it's probably going to be considerably less gay.

Duncan bids him come, and interestingly, Carillon is a bit distrustful. It's not that he thinks Duncan will kill him, but he acknowledges that he doesn't know his motives.

Remember Carillon's fixation on the idea that Duncan may be descended from the original Cheysuli Mujhar? This chapter is where it comes to a head, because, as Duncan says, he's here to make Carillon a king.

Eerily to Carillon, Duncan knows this place well. There's a rare bit of continuity with Shapechangers, when Carillon notes that Duncan had been to the palace as a child, but he'd been too young to remember any of the hallways and chambers. Or he should have been, Carillon has to admit that right now, it's almost like he wasborn here.

Duncan leads Carillon to the Great Hall. He fetches some torches. Where they're going is dark. He goes to the firepit and starts to pull aside the logs. He reaches down and catches a ring of iron that Carillon had never seen. Duncan pulls it open, revealing a hole and stairs leading down.

(Suddenly I sympathize a whole lot more with future lead character Brennan's claustrophobia. This sounds horrifying.)

They descend. There's air: stale and musty. The torches continue to burn. And we get a description of the staircase itself:

The staircase was quite narrow, the steps shallow. I had to duck to keep from scraping my head. Duncan, nearly as tall, did as well, but I thought Finn would fit. And then I wished, with the familiar frisson of unease, that he was with me as well. But no. I had sent him to my sister, and left myself to his brother’s intentions.

...Finn is not relevant to this part of the story.

And you are marrying the wrong person.

They descend farther into a shallow stone closet. Duncan does something with the runes and a portion of it falls inward: inside is a vault or crypt. Duncan gestures at him to continue inward:

“Choose,” Duncan said. “Go in a prince and come out a Mujhar…or leave now, and forever know yourself lacking.”

This, understandably, freaks Carillon out a bit, but Duncan notes that his brother would never serve a coward or a fool. Carillon has a great line where he says he's willing to name himself both as long as he survives. He can just leave and he'll still be a Mujhar. He adds: "You are not Finn, you see, and for all I know I should trust you—we have never been easy with each other.”

For FUCK's SAKE.

He points out that Duncan didn't bring Cai. Duncan says that here, he'd be a "superfluous lir. Somehow this leads Carillon to trust him after all. He goes inside.

It's a memorial. Or maybe a chapel. The walls are made of lir upon lir, carved into pale cream marble:

Torchlight ran over the walls like water, tracking the veining of gold. From out of the smooth, supple stone burst an eagle, beak agape and talons striking. A bear, hump-backed and upright, one paw reaching out to buffet. A fox, quick and brush-tailed, head turned over its shoulder. And the boar, tusks agleam, with a malevolent, tiny eye.

More. So many more. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I turned in a single slow circle, staring at all the walls. Such wealth, such skill, such incomparable beauty, and buried so deeply within the ground.

A hawk, touching wingtips with a falcon. A mountain cat, so lovely, leaping in the stone. And the wolf; of course, the wolf, Storr-like with gold in its eyes. Every inch, from ceiling to floor, was covered with the lir.

I do love this description.

Duncan says those same words that Finn had said during the star magic ritual: "Ja'hai, cheysu, Mujhar.

Carillon demands to know what they mean. Finn had said them, when he talked to the gods, and Duncan had said he shouldn't have. Duncan notes that that was Finn. DUNCAN is the clan-leader, and "a man who might have been Mujhar". He reminds Carillon that he doesn't want it. Instead, he brought Carillon here, "within the Jehana's (Mother's) Womb" to be reborn.

Duncan translates the phrase: it's a prayer or petition to the gods: "Accept this man; this Mujhar."

Carillon notes that it doesn't sound like a prayer. Duncan says that it is: but it's one that requires a specific response: the gods will answer with life...or death.

You fucking hypocrite, Duncan. Moreover, Duncan says: "And this time, you will face that risk alone".

Carillon asks how Duncan knew about this place. Did Hale tell him? Duncan confirms that Hale had told him what it was, but all Cheysuli know about it: it's "the Womb of the Earth". Carillon realizes that it's an oubliette. And a man could die in one of those.

Basically, Carillon has to jump in. Duncan offers some vaguely encouraging words:

“Sooner in, sooner out.” He did not smile, but I saw the glint of amusement in his eyes. “The earth is like most jehanas, Carillon: she is harsh and quick to anger and sometimes impatient, but she ever gives of her heart. She gives her child life. In this case, it is a Mujhar we seek to bring into the world.”

Duncan also says that they'll finish this. If he has to, he'll make Carillon. He notes that Carillon is not Cheysuli, can't ever be, but he can be made to better understand what it is to think and feel like one.

There's some back and forth, then Carillon notes that Mujhar and Homana are Cheysuli words, aren't they?

They are. Mujhar means king. And Homana is a phrase, which means "of all blood".

Ultimately, Carillon does as he's bid. He strips naked (and there's a weird note about Carillon knowing that Duncan will see the shrinking of his genitals), and jumps in, and the chapter ends.

So...that's interesting. And it reinforces the idea that all the gay subtext I've been laughing at all along was intentional rather than accidental. Because this whole Womb of the Earth scene has a lot of parallels to Finn and Carillon's Star Magic Wedding: both times, a Cheysuli warrior wakes Carillon in the middle of the night to take part in absurd ritual that's just the two of them. Both of them involve petitioning the gods. Both of them could result in death, but the Cheysuli involved has faith.

But this one doesn't feel like a wedding. And it's funny, but in a strange way, it feels a lot less...consensual? Than the Star Magic ritual did. And that's not entirely fair. Because Finn definitely did not disclose the true risks to Carillon in that ceremony.

But Carillon had understood that something profound was happening. He trusted Finn implicitly. And if he had balked, the ritual would never have begun. When he learned of the risk later, he reaffirmed that he'd have done it again. Because he trusts Finn.

Duncan on the other hand did disclose the risks upfront, but he's also making it clear that he's not accepting no for an answer. Carillon will be forced into that oubliette if he doesn't go willingly.

I think part of the difference is the risk involved. Finn didn't disclose the risk to Carillon, but at the same time, it was a risk equally shared. Finn would have died with Carillon if it had gone badly. And maybe somehow that mitigates it a little for me? And Finn is there, an active part of the ritual, every step of the way. They're together.

Duncan on the other hand makes it clear that this is a trial for Carillon alone. Carillon is the only one risking death. He's the only one jumping naked into a deep hole in the ground.

And I think maybe one of the things that makes it feel different to me is that the brothers have very different motives.

Finn's motives were personal. Selfish, admittedly, but primarily personal. This was about Finn, about Carillon, and about Finn's legacy as Hale's son.

Duncan's are not. He's not acting as "Duncan", Carillon's ally. He's not even really acting as the clan-chief of the Cheysuli. He's acting as the man who would have been Mujhar. Carillon's reflective shadow fate. The man who won Alix. The man who refuses a kingdom that should have been his by an older lineage than Carillon's own.

I feel like this parallel would work better if Carillon and Duncan had been the same age. Instead of a thirty year old warring with an eighteen year old. It would have emphasized the mirror aspect more.

Duncan is acting on behalf of the fates and the gods, not to bring Carillon victory, but to make him Cheysuli...or as close to it as possible. It's deep and profound and fascinating.

But it's not very romantic. Carillon's only got one true love in this novel.