In the fifth part of Mastiff, Beka discovers an amusing scene in the kitchen, and then goes to explore the two shipwrecks. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Mastiff.Â
Trigger Warning: For talk of drowning and slavery.
I cannot believe how this hunt has managed to get progressively more disturbing with every new section. IT GOT WORSE. I’m so messed up, THIS IS SO MESSED UP.
Royalty
Hey, Beka, no pressure at all! You’re just working to help the king and queen of your own country, and they’re expecting you to find their missing son, and no pressure at all.
Poor Beka, holy shit. This whole thing is uncomfortable enough as it is, I have no problem admitting that. It’s the most hellish case they’ve ever dealt with. But the first big scene in this section is set in Their Majesties’ chambers, and it doesn’t make this easier at all. Queen Jessamine dramatically clutches Beka while Beka tries to explain why she believes Prince Gareth is alive. Beka is struck by the thought that maybe the queen hasn’t had anyone she can be emotional with since her son was kidnapped, and it’s… shit, it’s a lonely thought. But it’s also a sign of how the king and queen have no placed all their trust and hope in these people, which is frightening. King Roger offers the same trust to Lord Gershom, and Beka worries about it:
I looked at my lord, suddenly frightened. It sounded like an honor to have a king place all his confidence in him, but kings, especially this one, are fickle. I remembered Lady Sabine, exiled to the hill country for offending King Roger. Others who had offended him had not escaped with their lives. What if one of my lord’s enemies convinced His Majest that Lord Gershom was in on the kidnapping, or that he could not find Prince Gareth?
But no pressure! ahaha laughing to keep from crying.
Port Caynn???
WHY THE FUCK IS BEKA’S JOURNAL ENTRY FOR SUNDAY, THE TENTH OF JUNE LISTED AS BEING WRITTEN IN PORT CAYNN. Port Caynn??? Oh my god, did they track where the ships went? STOP TEASING ME.
Cooking Fast and Fresh with Tunstall and Farmer
As hilarious it was to have Beka walk in on Farmer and Tunstall helping the remaining staff in the kitchen, I actually loved that scene more for the fact that it’s so realistic. After so many servants and staff were killed by the raid, it makes sense that those who survived where the type who weren’t left behind at the palace. None of them have cooking experience because they’ve never had to cook for themselves. So, bless these two for taking it upon themselves to not only cook, but teach others. I admire that a lot. There’s a dynamic to this whole scene that’s also fulfilling to me, though. We’ve got a mage and an Eastern hillman, both who are often looked down upon for a number of reasons. Their status, their class, their education, their skin color, you name it. And here they are, teaching a bunch of royal servants who probably wouldn’t otherwise talk to them.
I JUST LOVE THIS SCENE A WHOLE LOT.
Shipwrecks
The remainder of this section details the incredibly fucked up discovery that Beka makes when she wanders down to the beach to investigate the ships lifted out of the sea. Hahah, “wanders.” What I mean to say is that Beka takes a nasty spill down the steep rocks and basically finds her own natural waterslide just seconds after Achoo does. Is it a biological imperative that dogs with white fur must find anything to turn their coat to filth within ten minutes of being outside? I feel like every white coat dog I’ve ever had was like this. Anyway, let’s talk about all the horrifying things Beka finds here:
- The flat canvas top on all the ships, which acted to “trap” the dead bodies and many of the other signs that would have indicated to people on shore that a ship had sank recently.
- The worst thing in any book ever: THE SHIP’S WOOD HAD GROWN OVER THE DEAD BODIES. It’s a particularly nightmarish form of magic, and I imagine that this was done to prevent anyone from escaping their fate. Unless it was done after everyone drowned? No, that doesn’t make too much sense. (I say that as if this whole thing has made a ton of sense. IT HASN’T.) And Beka’s later theory states that the ship “grew up around them on deck,” so I’m going with that.
- All the bodies and cargo are covered in protection spells that shock anyone who touches them. Did Ironwood do that? Or did the original mages do it?
- One of the ships was a slave ship, and child slaves were chained to their bunks and drowned there. JESUS.
So, someone who was rich enough to eat the cost of sinking those ships send them to the bottom of the ocean, took the prince up the beach, climbed up, met another party, rode to the Summer Palace’s wall, blew a giant hole in it, and then met another ship on the Ware River. It’s… a weird plan. IT’S REALLY WEIRD. I don’t fully understand it??? Why go to such lengths??? I think my theory that the overkill was to send a message to King Roger might be right, but… lord, this is so messed up.
YOU DID THIS TO ME.
Video 1
Video 2
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