I Read What?!

Last time in Legacy of the Sword, we learned that Donal apparently went to pick up his fiancee with no plan or arrangements. HE HADN'T EVEN BROUGHT HER A HORSE. Sorry, I can't get over that one. Also, they ended up accosted by ruffians, leading Donal to do something drastic.



So anyway, Donal's using his power. And I admit, the language here is pretty good:

He knew what the Homanans saw. What Aislinn saw. A blurring voice. A coalescing nothingness. Where once had stood a man, albeit a Cheysuli man, now there was an absence of anything.

It was enough, Carillon had said once, to make a man vomit. The Mujhar had seen such happen before, when Finn had taken lir-shape. Apparently it was true, for one of the men cried out and soiled himself even as Donal changed.

It was so easy. He reached out from within, seeking the familiar power. He sank every sense down into the earth. Almost at once he was engulfed by taste, touch, scent, sound and all the bright colors of the magic. He was no longer Donal, no longer human, no longer anything identifiable. He was a facet of the earth, small and humble and incredibly unimportant—until one looked at what he had done and would do, and the effect it would have on others. No Cheysuli, fully cognizant of his place within the tapestry of the gods, could possibly deny the need for loyal service. Donal, closer to the tapestry than most, did not even think of it.

The description continues for a while longer and it's definitely worth reading. Anyway, Donal is now a silver wolf. He attacks and bloodthirst rises:

I could take his throat—tear it out—watch the blood spill out to soak into the cobbles. What harm would it do? He sought to slay me. Why not slay him instead?

Wolf-shaped, Donal stood over the man, head lowered, teeth bared, almost slavering. A mist of anger and bloodthirst rose before his eyes. Everything he looked at had a fuzzy rim around it, as if it bled over into another form. Black-teeth’s gurgling moan of horror was lost as Donal gave in to the wolfish growl rising in his throat. And the other men, their terror-inspired paralysis vanishing, tore away.

Donal could smell Black-teeth’s fear. It clogged up his nose until he was immersed in the rankness of the stench. Tongue lolling, he could taste the terror. It flowed out of the man like a miasma. And for a moment, a long moment, Donal teetered on the brink. He was angry, too angry; he was losing himself fast. In a flicker of lucid disbelief he saw himself clearly: wolf, not man; beast, not animal.

Gods, is this what they meant when they told me never to resort to lir-shape when I was angry?

I really do like this. In Song of Homana, Carillon's fears about Finn's ability to keep control seemed like they came out of nowhere, because we never once see Finn in that kind of situation. (Even when he does lose control later, it's in human form and not like this.)

We never see anything like this from Alix, and while the Doylistic explanation (Shapechangers is a terrible book and Roberson had no interest in giving Alix this kind of moment) is likely more accurate, I do think the Watsonian explanation may be that Alix, having grown up comfortably in Torrin's household, may not have the same level of rage as a survivor of the qu'mahlin or a boy who saw his mother abducted and his grandfather murdered.

Anyway, Donal gets control of himself, reflecting that a warrior who gets so angry that he loses himself in lir shape would lose his mind and become a wolf entirely. He goes back to human form, and it's quite difficult.

And made more so, when Aislinn tries to stab him in the back.

In the bloodied light of sundown he saw the flash of the blade as she brought it up from her side. Not overhand, not slashing downward, as novices usually did. From underneath, jabbing upward, as if she knew precisely what she did.

She does…by the gods—she does—

For a moment, for one fatal moment, he hesitated. But she did not. She thrust upward with the knife even as he sought to jerk out of her way, and the blade sliced across the knuckles of one hand. He cursed, jumping back, and then he saw Sef hurl himself at Aislinn.

Sef interferes, protecting Donal, and points out her eyes which are swollen black with fear and senselessness. She doesn't say anything. He realizes this is Electra's work.

Before we continue, I do want to rant a little. Because it makes me feel better. But okay, it's probably pretty obvious here that the first act challenge in the story is going to be Aislinn herself. Not necessarily because she wants to be, but because, obviously, Electra's done something to her.

And of course, Electra was only able to do something to Aislinn because Carillon felt the need to send his fourteen year old daughter to her for TWO YEARS. Even granting that Carillon probably believed, and Donal indicated, that Electra can't do much by way of magic with Cheysuli guards, that's still insane.

Electra is a manipulator. And how far exactly does this Cheysuli guarding thing work? Tynstar stole twenty years of Carillon's life when there were plenty of Cheysuli in the castle. It wasn't until Rowan physically entered the room that he was stopped. You're telling me that Electra never once had the opportunity to sneak Aislinn to some other room? Where were the Cheysuli guards when she spoke to Donal?

I understand that Roberson wants to make Aislinn Donal's first challenge. But there are ways this could have been done plausibly:

1) Tynstar could have abducted Aislinn and brought her to Electra. It took Donal and Carillon time to track her down, which gives Electra time to work on her daughter, and Donal is here to rescue her.

2) Carillon sent Aislinn down to see her mother for a much shorter stint, WITH an appropriate chaperone who was suborned and killed without Carillon realizing it. Also, maybe there was some kind of insurrection or invasion staged by Tynstar to keep Carillon occupied and unable to send anyone to bring back his daughter until now.

3) Aislinn, being a teenager, got it in her head that her mom was mistreated and ran away to find her. We could make parallels to Lindir running off with Hale or something. And then Electra gets her hooks in her then, before the others can rescue her.

ANY of these scenarios would work to set up this conflict without Carillon WILLINGLY SENDING HIS VERY VULNERABLE CHILD TO THE WOMAN WHO TRIED TO MURDER HIM FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS.

Sorry. I feel better now.

Anyway, Donal is horrified but aggravatingly selfish about it:

Was all of this planned? Donal wondered suddenly. This attack, knowing how Hondarth feels about Cheysuli, and then, having failed, an attack from Aislinn herself?

It made him ill. He felt the slow roiling of his belly and the hollowness of his chest.

He looked at Aislinn again. Did Electra tell the truth? Has she made Aislinn into a weapon against her father—or even against me?

Aislinn was still his prisoner. She had fallen into silence, staring blankly at the ground. The hood had slipped from her head to bare the rose-gold hair. It glowed brightly in the sunset.

I'm not really being fair here. She DID just try to kill Donal. But I wish he'd show a little more concern for the sixteen year old child being mind controlled here.

Especially here:

“My lord?” It was Sef. “What do we do now?”

Donal looked again at Aislinn. One of the stones had struck her, bloodying her brow. He lifted his wounded hand to wipe it away, then did not. The hand dropped back to his side. She gets no tenderness from me, until I know what she plans.

Dude, she's not PLANNING anything. I'm not saying you should let her go or anything, of course. Being cautious is appropriate. But you could be KIND.

Anyway, he asks Sef to show them to the inn and explains what's going on. He gives Aislinn's knife to him and warns him not to give it to Aislinn.

So they get to the inn, and it's a very good one: good food, better wine, spacious rooms. Donal takes one for himself and Sef and leads Aislinn to another one.

Is it wise to leave Aislinn alone? Then again, to be fair, it's probably not wise for Donal to sleep in the same room with her. Or a kid like Sef. So this is probably the best of bad options. And to be fair to Donal again, now he takes care of her, gently cleaning the dirt and blood off her face.

He asks her if she understands what she did. Aislinn responds, but is confused and unfocused. She doesn't remember anything. He thinks about how her eyes look like Electra's and then asks if he can touch her mind.

Aye,” he said roughly, “it is all right. I would never harm you. But—I think someone has. I think someone has meddled with your mind.” He leaned closer to her. “Aislinn—there is a thing I must do. But I will not do it with you unknowing…or unwilling. You say you trust me—let me prove the worthiness of that trust.”

Her eyes were almost vacant. “What would you have me do?”

He wet his lips before he spoke. “Allow me to touch your mind.”

She put up her hand. Her fingers touched his own. But she did not still their gentle movement across her brow. “You mean to use your magic.”

“Aye,” he admitted. “I must. I must see what Electra has done.”

Her very disorientation seemed to lend credence to his suspicions. Aislinn merely shrugged.

...I'm not sure this really counts as consent. But there isn't really much by way of good option here. Donal is nervous, if Tynstar or Electra set up something called a "trap-link" in her mind, they could incapacitate him and capture him.

...so maybe wait? Take her to the Keep? Or at least the Palace where you'll have guards around to protect you?

He felt the slow consummation of his bonding with the earth. He tapped the source of Cheysuli magic, drawing it up through an invisible conduit, until it filled him with power and strength. He sliced through Aislinn’s young barriers painlessly and slipped into her mind. And he faced, for the first time in his life, the full knowledge of his power and abilities. He had only to twist here, touch there, and Aislinn’s will would be replaced with his own.

But the thought was anathema to him. He was Cheysuli, not Ihlini.

It is interesting that this is our first look at Cheysuli abilities from the point of view of someone who knows and understands them. Alix was powerful but had no training or knowledge, and sadly Roberson hadn't been interested in having Duncan or Finn teach these things to her. Carillon is Homanan. Donal's the first protagonist who can tell us exactly what they can do.

It's a little scary.

He realizes that someone HAD been there before him and escapes from her mind at once. Poor Aislinn is both acquitted and dangerous. She probably didn't attack him of her own free will, but there's no telling what else has been put in her mind.

Sef is amazed. He asks if this was a spell. Donal says they don't cast spells, they borrow power from the Earth. He explains that there was sorcery and then decides it's probably time for bed.

But now, I think it is time we all got some rest. The princess particularly.” He glanced back at her. She seemed almost to sag into the bed, though she continued to sit; Donal set a hand onto her shoulder. “Aislinn, I know you were merely the gamepiece. But no matter how small the piece, it can overtake even the highest.”

...then we get more stupidity, as Donal's lost in thought about what he'll tell Carillon about what Electra had done to his daughter (...which Carillon LET HAPPEN) and turns to leave. And of course:

And then, as he turned to go, he felt a wave of heat wash up to engulf his body. And he fell.

...gosh, who would have thought that turning your back on the girl you JUST DISCOVERED HAS HAD HER BRAIN FUCKED WITH would be a bad idea.

The chapter ends here.

This book is frustrating. It's far better written than Shapechangers, I'll give it that. I like the characters. I like Donal, though I'm rough on him in these reviews. I like his dynamic with Sef at least. I like Aislinn! I like Sef! I'm looking forward to seeing the familiar faces from Song!

But so much relies on stupidity. Carillon's for sending Aislinn here to begin with, sure. But also, as I complained last chapter and in the intro to this one: apparently Donal came to get Aislinn but assumed they'd stay overnight in Electra's prison? He never made any plans for accommodations at the inn? He never made a plan to send Aislinn's belongings back (because what Princess travels light?)? He never even got her a horse?

It'd be one thing if we were supposed to think Donal is a self-absorbed idiot. But I don't get that sense. Donal seems intelligent and rational in his viewpoint narration. He seems like the kind of guy who would make appropriate preparations. The only really he didn't is because Ms. Roberson wanted him and Aislinn to get accosted while lost in Hondarth.

Granted, a good portion of Song required Carillon to be an idiot about Electra, but at least that didn't start in Chapter One! We had time to appreciate Carillon's other qualities before he lost his brain to his...other brain.

But we'll see, maybe once we're past this hurdle, things will look up.