In the seventh chapter of\u00c2\u00a0Briar<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Book<\/i>, this won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever be okay. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Circle of Magic<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For talk of disease, death, abuse, and death of a child.<\/b><\/p>\n
Christ.<\/p>\n
Daja<\/b><\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so much hurt in this chapter, and what happens between Daja and Briar occurs BEFORE THE WORST PART. So it was already painful before it got TRULY PAINFUL. Exhaustion definitely plays a large part in that. Daja, finally done with her marathon box-making session with Frostpine and Kirel, learns what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been missing out on the entire time: the blue pox has spread throughout the city. These kids are at a point where they are undeniably emotionally attached to one another, so much so that Daja immediately needs confirmation that Briar is okay. Unfortunately, the timing of her call to Briar comes right as he finds out he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still stuck in Urda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House, and he lashes out at her:<\/p>\n
I<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fine. Go away,<\/i> Briar replied firmly. Daja was cut off as crisply as if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d slammed a door in her face.<\/p>\n
Within a few minutes (and after he puts on a mask\/glove set that Lark\/Sandry made), Briar realizes what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done to his friend. And I appreciate that Briar is aware of this so quickly after he does something that hurt Daja. That wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t his intention, but it still stung. So he reaches out to her to apologize, and both of them know that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been worked ragged, that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re tired and scared. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a really cool moment between these two friends, even if it is short, because it demonstrates the kind of bond that they have.<\/p>\n
Flick<\/b><\/p>\n
It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even matter that I tried to steel myself for Flick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fever coming back. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Her death here is upsetting because prior to it, Rosethorn most likely had to argue that she deserved medical attention regardless of her social status. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upsetting because she was Briar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sense of hope. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upsetting because even after she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already passed, Briar still believes she is alive. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in her final moments of life that, through her hallucinations, Briar learns more about the mother that abused her. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no closure or justice for her at all, and that may be the most brutal part about this. She dies with no family by her side. It was just Briar, who sat there, holding her hand,\u00c2\u00a0getting her to drink when no one else would, coaching her breathing until her chest stops rising and falling.<\/p>\n
Look, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Briar has lived a life without death surrounding him. He grew up in the slums and in crime.\u00c2\u00a0He fought the pirates when they attached Winding Circle. Death is not unfamiliar to Briar Moss. And yet, why does this feel so particularly heartbreaking? Why does it seem so tragic, so much more so than anything else? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that Briar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever lost someone who was close. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to say that Briar and Flick were super close, either; he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know about her childhood or upbringing. But this death was extremely personal for Briar. He believed in Flick, as if merely believing in a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s capacity for resilience means that this will save them from a disease, particularly one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as brutal as the blue pox.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel compelled to quote any of the parts surrounding Flick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too hard to read again.<\/p>\n
Reunion<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Like the end of the last chapter, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t allow myself to get too excited because I AM STEELING MYSELF FOR THE INEVITABLE. But I think I can still sit here and enjoy the purity of happiness that comes from the reunion. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to because Briar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ride back to Winding Circle is so terribly disturbing. He gets to see the effects that blue pox has had in Summersea, from the dead left in the street, to the buildings on fire, to the nervous populace who shut their doors and shutters whenever another wagon passes by. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a grim portrait of a terrible time, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to get better for a long time. But I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll echo Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sentiment here. As Little Bear made a racket, overjoyed at Rosethorn and Briar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s return, I felt like a little piece of this world had been repaired. These people belonged together.<\/p>\n
CAN WE ALSO TALK ABOUT THIS:<\/p>\n
Rosethorn had dismounted. Now she stood ankle deep in mud, arms wrapped tight around Lark, her face buried in Lark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shoulder as the other woman held her. She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to be crying; she just hung onto her friend for all she was worth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY 100% TOO MUCH TO HANDLE, OH MY GOD. Look, can I someday get a book about these two??? How did they meet? How did they become friends??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll turn to fanfiction for the rest, but seriously, what an incredible moment, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to expect from the rest of this book. I have no problem admitting that. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even halfway through it, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already stressing me out. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good that Dedicate Crane came up with detection oil to determine who has the blue pox or not, but what about a cure? My hope is that now that Rosethorn is out of Urda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House, she can begin her work with crane to devise some sort of solution to this epidemic. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spreading rapidly, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried that one of the Discipline characters might catch it.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll deal with that when we get it. Lord, what a chapter. Halfway through this book, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m already destroyed.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/youtu.be\/jGOunWIQAWM?a<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
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