In the tenth part of Mastiff, Beka and Farmer make come across two discouraging and distressing problems. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Mastiff.Â
Trigger Warning: For discussion of death/gore.
Well, the group’s roadblock this time is very physical.
This development is yet another sign of arrogance with which these kidnappers utilize violence on the people around them. I’d argue that the burning of the bridge is an act of violence to the small village that uses it to get across the marsh. Yes, their primary goal is to slow down anyone tracking them. I won’t deny that. But the carelessness with which they destroy that bridge demonstrates that they think very poorly of anyone else who might use it. I mean, I don’t think the mages were openly cackling while saying, “DAMN THOSE POOR MARSH FOLK, MUAHAHAHAH.” But I’d be willing to be that they held such people in contempt anyway, so much so that it was almost like killing two birds with one stone.
I suppose that it’s impossible for me to think about these mages and nobles with anything but contempt at this point, so that’s why it’s so easy for me to interpret them within the framework of the privilege they have. These people are enacting this terrifying revenge plot for something that hasn’t even happened yet. It’s not like they’ve spent a year paying taxes or dealing with mage regulation. Just the mere possibility of having to be accountable to something else has sent them into a rage, enough that they’ve hired the most powerful mages imaginable to carry out a relentlessly brutal plan to torture the royal family. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already had someone in mind to replace King Roger! (Where’s Prince Baird? I’d say that it sounds like he’s the exact kind of noble that they’d want, since he’ll cater to their needs at the expense of the working and lower class.)
Anyway, while the bridge is certainly a terrible crisis they’ll have to deal with, they now have proof that these mages have no reluctance in killing a Dog. They come across the decaying/eaten body of Palisa Vintor, who ostensibly was the Dog the local Deputy Provost sent to follow the slavers who came through Arenaver. It’s a haunting thing for Beka in particular, since she is a four year Dog like Palisa was. But she has to bury her own fears and how unsettled she feels because she’s got a job to do. I was, once again, totally surprised by the magic Farmer used to investigate and then preserve Palisa’s body so that her kennel could retrieve her without her suffering more damage to her corpse.
Still, the whole thing is such a huge downer. A dead body, a downed bridge, and no sign of any way to get across the thing. Actually, there’s no sign of the other side of the marsh, which is disturbing enough even if the bridge hadn’t been burned away. Hey, I love the beach and I love water and I love swimming but I am terribly unsettled by large bodies of water. There are things in them! That I cannot see! WHO KNOWS WHAT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THEM. What if there’s some sort of swamp creature, one of the immortals no one ever found and it’s been quietly living in the marsh and it escaped being sent to the Immortal Realm and it’s probably possible.
Shush, I will entertain this thought.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when Tunstall and Lady Sabine caught up with their friends! Of course, I should have known that Sabine would have the best horses possible. Still, it’s not like their appearance here makes anything easier for the group. I was sure that Beka felt better about having them with her, but there was an unexpected side affect, too. Like the reader, Beka hadn’t thought of her dead lover in ages, but watching Sabine’s gentle and subtle adoration for Tunstall triggered thoughts of sadness and guilt in her. Seriously, I keep forgetting how recent it was that he died, but that’s intentional in terms of how the narrative is framed. We’re so caught up in this Hunt that the reader and Beka don’t have time or energy to reflect on the past. Still, Pounce offers up an incredible bit of advice that I enjoyed a lot.
He butted my thigh with his head. Stop hating yourself because of him, he ordered me. Holborn wasn’t good enough. you didn’t even like him, not at first, not by the end. You just loved him for a short while.
That is such a vital distinction to make, and I’m so happy that Pierce puts this in the text. It wasn’t hard for me to think about my first relationship and how it paralleled this very phenomenon. I loved that guy fiercely for a few months, but in hindsight, I never really liked him. I didn’t enjoy his company, I hated his cruelty, I hated the way he treated me and the few friends he ever met, and I hated the contempt he held for me because I wasn’t his ideal man. And still, despite all that, I couldn’t control the fact that I fell for him. The truth is, like Holborn, that guy was not good enough for me. That is such a hard thing to learn! It’s so much easier to assume that you’re a terrible person or unworthy in a situation like that, and so I hope that this passage helped some of you out. Because I surely could have used it years ago.
Moving on! As if this situation weren’t cursed enough as it was, Beka’s BEAUTIFUL SOUL-LIFTING map shows her that the marsh is FORTY MILES LONG. FORTY. Oh, and it’s also anywhere from six to eight miles across. THAT’S PLEASANT. That’s not at all inconvenient! Lord, it’s so frustrating, isn’t it? I hated worrying that these people were going to get away with their crime. Even if Beka and her team find them, there’s still the possibility that Gareth and his parents will die before they reach them. It was smart, then, that Pounce urged them all to get rest before they continued towards the village to the north. That break was necessary for them to refresh their minds and their bodies.
And off they go the next morning! There are a few adorable interactions between the moment they wake and when they reach the village. Like Beka returning Farmer’s shawl, or Farmer passing on the anti-bug rune and possibly expressing interest in Kora, or the reveal that Beka’s riding horse is named SAUCEBOX. Of course, the best part is Pounce’s bit of storytime, where he shares with the party how the marsh was formed three thousand years earlier: BY A FIGHT BETWEEN DRAGONS AND AN IMMORTAL RACE NAMED THE YSANDIR. HOLY SHIT, SO GREAT. SO GREAT. Add dragons to any story and you’ve got GOLD.
This section closes out with the team finally arriving at the small village marked on Beka’s map. Y’all, there’s so much cool shit here. I love that Pierce writes the marsh folk as having an entirely different lifestyle than most people Beka’s come across. It makes sense that folks isolated from larger cities would live like these do, as well as possess the hostility and suspicion they have for city folk. There’s a reason people live so far from big cities, and I didn’t find Beldeal all that irritating or disagreeable. She was looking out for her people, and she had every right to be suspicious of anyone coming through her village. I’m with Tunstall here. I appreciated the adventure itself and the chance to meet people in Tortall who aren’t often featured in these stories.
It’s through this that we get hints towards the next chapter in these characters’ journey. Beldeal suggests they go see Ormer, a guide who is apparently very strange, who will guide them across the marsh. Unsurprisingly, there are no ferries across the marsh because what need do these people have for one? I’m actually slightly scared but mostly excited for this:
“There’s only one way to reach the eastern end of what the likes of you call the Rivers Road. You’ll be taking the ways through the marsh. Merscart of the Green grants us solid pieces of land out there, but sometimes he takes a few of them back. He’s not inclined to tell us which, or when.”
OH SHIT, THIS SHOULD BE A BEAUTIFUL DISASTER. I CAN’T WAIT.
The original text contains use of the words “crazy” and “mad.”
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