Mark Reads “On Ordeal: Roshaun” – Chapter 3, Part IV / Epilogue

In the fourth and final part of chapter three of “On Ordeal: Roshaun,” Roshaun goes home. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards. 

I really, really loved this, y’all. It’s perfectly paced; each of the insights given to the reader about Roshaun’s time before he was granted the art of wizardry tie into other plots, and the ending is just so beautiful and haunting. As I’ve said before, most readers probably went into this short story knowing how it ended. (I would be genuinely surprised if someone read this and had not ever read any other part of the Young Wizards series. That would be… a strange experience, I guess?) Yet even with a giant spoiler in the audience’s mind—we all knew that Roshaun had to make the right choice!—Duane still manages to excite and enthrall me. IT’S SO MAGICAL. 

And in the final moments of this story, she gives us a glimpse of this family that adds context to what I had already read. Seriously, I imagine re-reading all of Roshaun’s scenes throughout Young Wizards would be immensely entertaining now that I know how his Ordeal went down. But before I get to the loving family dynamics on display, let’s talk about this gut-wrenchingly happy moment:

“Finally,” he said in the Speech, “finally, good morning cousin!”

—and the whole upper atmosphere shivered in anticipation of how, in six minutes or so, it would be crackling with auroral discharge, the token of the star’s sudden delight.

Finally, Thahit said, or seemed to say: cousin, good day!

Y’all. Y’ALL. Roshaun has spent years being unable to say a single thing to Thahit. He used other devices, he had things translated or ferried to him, and after all this time, THE FIRST THING HE DOES ONCE HE GETS HOME IS SAY HELLO TO THE SUN. It’s!!! So!!! Pure!!! As is the response Thahit gives him! Y’all, I just feel so good, you know??? Duane built up the importance of this because of that earlier scene on Rirhait (right before Avseh introduced herself), and then the other shoe drops here, and it’s MAGNIFICENT. 

Of course, I could not even attempt a proper review of this chapter if I didn’t talk about Roshaun’s princely dramatics. Now I can see why he was so endlessly dramatic with Dairine; it’s his second nature. Instead of just telling his father where he had been for days, he just pulls out his goddamn Aethyr, one of the best power moves I have ever seen in this whole series. IT IS INCREDIBLE, and it is so very Roshaun. Like, of course he had to be completely showy in his reveal that Nelaid and Miril’s son was a wizard.

But I also adore how much love there is in practically every word of these scenes. Once Roshaun’s parents know the truth, notice just how supportive they become of their son. They speak to him with both reverence—clearly they’re very excited and proud!—and respect. They don’t ignore the fact that this is going to complicate matters further. BUT:

“You’ve had too long a day. Son, we will manage this for the best. What our political allies and enemies will make of it, we’ve long had our suspicions. Plans that have long lain prepared will simply need a little adjustment to suit present conditions.”

In short? Everything will be fine, and Roshaun’s parents will do everything they can to make sure that happens. Nelaid is just so excited, y’all!!! He MIGHT PLAN A PARADE FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT, which is just so deeply, deeply adorable. Roshaun’s mother, though, has a much more subtle reaction. Still supportive, yes, but note that she is the one to pick up on the fact that Rho left out a particularly upsetting detail of his Challenge. Perhaps Nelaid noticed it, too, but she’s the one who waits until she is alone with her son before she asks about it. She doesn’t mince her words, either, but rather, she speaks the truth: the Aethyrs will take those three sunrounds, and Roshaun cannot try to get out of that. Now, regarding her point that the Aethyr’s didn’t specify that they would take three sunrounds off Roshaun’s life, but that they would ask for that time to do their work… I’m sticking with my theory. It makes a lot of sense that Roshaun’s time holding that elemental’s place in the sun was the Powers’ claiming Rho’s promise. RIGHT??!?!?! I mean, there are already other moments in this novella that tie in to the series at large, you know?

YES, I AM REFERRING TO ROSHAUN ACTUALLY SEEING KIT AND NITA DURING THAT MASSIVE DISTURBANCE AT THE CROSSINGS. Oh my god??? Help???

As cool as that was, the one moment in the final section that hit me the hardest was also one of the saddest. In the epilogue, as Duane quietly gives us a sense of how Roshaun adapted to being a wizard (which includes the aloofness we’ll later see in the series), there’s this passage:

And if there was a day when the Prince met his royal mother and father for breakfast and said, softly and in pain, “There is just one of me again,” they never spoke of it in any other being’s hearing.

Ouch, y’all. It means this happened before he met Dairine for the first time, but I still got the sense that Clone Roshaun continued on his tragic journey for quite some time. This wasn’t a few weeks; it had to be long enough for that “strange legend” of the exiled Wellakhit noble to make its way back home. Clone Roshaun did his best, right up until he couldn’t do it anymore. That’s haunting, y’all, especially since we know that the clone’s memories/experiences returned to Roshaun after his death. That’s some heavy shit to live with! But this whole experience provides us with much-needed context, and Roshaun has never felt like a more complete character than now. Which makes me very excited to see what Mamvish’s Ordeal will reveal to me!!!

https://youtu.be/G79_R0WuIKw

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