In the fourteenth part of Mastiff, I am done. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Mastiff.Â
Trigger Warning: For discussion of cults/religions and misogyny, slavery, kidnapping, violence against women and slaves.
Well, this is a game, isn’t it??? “How can we ruin Mark repeatedly over an extended length of time? GET HIM TO READÂ MASTIFF.”
Let’s first deal with the stunning mistake I made in reading comprehension. Despite reading this:
“One of the drovers came for him and told the cooks to give me his work,” she replied. “Then he just scooped No-Skin up under his arm and carried him off.”
My brain basically went, “Oh, they moved him to another part of the castle.” Not, “OH, HE’S NOT AT QUEENSGRACE ANYMORE.” I didn’t even realize that Pierce had made things worse. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW.
Given that I figured that out while reading this section, I came to appreciate just how awful this predicament is for our hunters. It wasn’t an immediate realization, though. First, I had to deal with the ladies of the Gentle Mother, which is just… holy shit, I know that Pierce has been hinting at them over the course of this book, but without any real big examples of this religion, I didn’t feel like I could say that much. And while I will refrain from categorizing misogyny or anything like, it’s clear that the cult of the Gentle Mother are EXTREMELY MESSED UP. In quick procession, we meet Lady Wyttabyrd and Lady Baylisa, who follow the Gentle Mother’s teaching to a T, which means that we’re treated one appalling thing after another. LIKE:
A stately blond who had not moved from her chair during the fuss said, “Lady Wyttabyrd, the Gentle Mother adjures us to show grace to those beneath us in rank.”
Obviously, this is ridiculously offensive, but here’s the best part: At no point in the remainder of this section does Baylisa show a shred of grace to Beka. It’s one of many blatant hypocrisies wrapped up into the patriarchal roles that the religion requires of these women. Because is Baylisa’s rudeness and outright classism graceful?
“The Gentle Mother could relieve you of the pain and struggle you face in that uniform, Guardswoman Cooper,” Baylisa went on. “There are men to perform such brute work. Your spirit cries out for the touch of a child’s hands, the peace of the spindle, and the completion of a family.”
I’m fairly certain that Beka’s soul is crying out to pitch you into a snarling, dying sun. I’M FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT’S ACTUALLY WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE.
Goddess all bless Lady Sabine, though. As soon as she enters the room, she quietly offers her support to Beka throughout this nightmare, defending Beka’s job, her skills, her dog, her EVERYTHING. And throughout this, Baylisa is relentlessly awful to Beka, so much so that Pounce finally can’t even keep his fury to himself.
If her rump were any stiffer, she’d break it every time she rides, I thought to Pounce.
If she fell on the steps, they would never be able to put her together again, he replied.
POUNCE IS SO GREAT DURING ALL OF THIS, SERIOUSLY. But let’s get back to Lady Sabine, who does all these subtle things to indicate to Beka that she’s got Beka’s back. When Lady Baylisa insists that Beka violate her code and change out of her uniform, Lady Sabine does not shy away from the fact that she’s not in charge and that Beka is telling the truth. And when Baylisa becomes inconsolable over Beka’s refusal, we get this:
I glanced at Sabine. It seemed Master Nicchols had not told his countess why we were here. My lady gave me a little nod to say she was ready to help.
HELL YEAH, BEKA, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SAY?
“My lady countess, I have every reason to wear my uniform here,” I told her quietly. “We search for a noble kidnapped child. My hound found the child’s scent in this very room when we entered it. We are working in this castle.”
WOW
WOW
I DID NOT EXPECT HER TO LAY THIS OUT SO PLAINLY. But that was the risk Beka took upon seeing that Lady Sabine was going to support her. Note that this is also how Beka informs Sabine of what’s happened since they separated, and Sabine doesn’t even bat an eye at it. Seriously, there’s so much restraint demonstrated by all four hunters in this section, and it’s inspiring. The problem – as I would soon learn – is in the culture that these nobles live by. There’s procedure. There are rules. There is propriety. And it’s not long after this reveal that they all find out that they are STUCK INSIDE THE CASTLE OVERNIGHT.
It’s one of a BILLION frustrating things that they’ve been dealt. Lady Baylisa reacts poorly to the reveal that they are there on official Provost business, and nearly offends Sabine while doing so! HER OWN COUSIN. And if testing the authenticity of Gershom’s documents wasn’t enough, then this was:
“I meant no disrespect to any oaths you have sworn, my dear. But this is an accusation of great weight, come from one common born.”
I’m pretty sure they’re very aware of the accusation being made, regardless of class status. Oh my god, it’s that whole attitude I see all the time where privileged folk think that others “below” them don’t understand what they’re doing if they call someone on their shit. NO, WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING, SHUT UP.
The countess glared at me yet again. “Do you see what happens, Cousin?” she asked, her voice crisp. “They grub after these evil creatures so long they begin to look and sound like them.”
Please appreciate that absolutely infuriating double standard at work here, since not once is this ever leveled at men. Nope, only women are ruined by fighting crime!
This was suspenseful enough for me, but Tamora Pierce – knowing that I would read this, clearly – decided to up the stakes. BECAUSE IN WALKS PRINCE BAIRD AND COUNT DEWIN AND THIS IS JUST ENDLESSLY THE WORST THING AND I WAS TERRIFIED AND NERVOUS AND SOMEHOW I’M ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK. If I thought everything with Lady Baylisa was terrible, than OH BOY, it’s a fucking disaster with Count Dewin and Prince Baird. Of course, since we’re seeing this through Beka’s eyes, we know that Prince Baird has to be lying. But by how much? I really can’t believe that Prince Gareth would spend so much time in his room without Baird ever being there. Plus, the group openly talks about the search for a missing noble’s son, and if Baird saw his nephew, then he had to have put this shit together and realized how close they were to catching him. Was this why they were compelled to remain in the castle? Were they delayed on purpose?
LOOK ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE AT THIS POINT. I suppose that also means that Dewin and Baird might be completely ignorant of what just happened in their castle. I don’t want to believe that, but hey, I have to prepare myself for every outcome, don’t I? Still, I couldn’t shake the suspicion. Was this one of the reasons Count Dewin was so upset with Beka when she admitted that she’d searched the castle using Achoo? Major high fives to Beka for coming up with such a believable lie as to how that happened, for the record, and extra credit goes to all the improvising the rest of the team does, too! At the very least, they’ve managed to track Gareth down to within a day or two of where they are, and they’re in a castle full of witnesses. After a very brief magical huddle where they all share what they’ve learned, I’m left sitting in a wealth of information that points pretty squarely at Prince Baird as one of the suspects. AND THIS IS GREAT. THEY’RE GETTING CLOSE. Prince Baird has been acting suspicious! His guards know it! And Master Farmer suspects that Elyot of Aspen Vale and his brother, the baron Graeme, are likely suspects for the other mage and the financier of this crime, respectively.
But they’re not in the clear yet. The last big sequence in this section follows Beka while she is bathed by a group of slaves prior to the dinner. It’s a complicated scene because Beka has to find a way to compel these women to talk about No-Skin without risking their well-being. Unfortunately, that’s the terrible reality of their lives. Even if Beka has good intentions here, these slaves have to live in Queensgrace Castle, so any difficulty that Beka makes will inevitably be taken out on them:
I also stole a glimpse at their ankles. All wore an iron fetter. I did not doubt that they would be punished, just like the ladies, if I resisted the countess’s will any further.
How could such a harsh mistress follow any goddess of womanly kindness?
Because this isn’t about kindness or gentleness or anything like that. It’s subjugation, and the men subjugate their noble women, who in turn subjugate their servants and their daughters and especially their slaves. Again, it’s a blatant hypocrisy, but just because these nobles are religious doesn’t mean that excuses or erases the vicious classist system that they already lived in. It makes Beka bitter and furious, understandably so! She can’t save these people, she can’t expect them to like her, and she can’t dismantle this system that so brutally ruins people. Thankfully, Pounce is here at the end to remind her that there is a battle she can win: finding Prince Gareth and rescuing him. She’ll have to put her own pride aside for the moment if she’s going to make it through the night in Queensgrace Castle.
BUT YO, THIS DINNER IS GOING TO BE SO AWKWARD. I ALREADY KNOW IT.
The videos contain use of the words “mad” and “crazy.”
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
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