In the fourteenth chapter of The Will of the Empress<\/i>, the group adjust to Daja\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revelation, and Sandry deals with a nightmare. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Will of the Empress<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For kidnapping, nonconsensual drugging, misogyny, fear of the dark<\/b><\/p>\n
Holy shit<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Tris and Briar<\/b><\/p>\n
What brings these two foster siblings closer together? A common realization: that the entire culture surrounding these nobles is garbage. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a game with constantly shifting rules and a misguided sense of importance. After the horrifying experience that Briar just went through in Gyonxe, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten harder and harder for him to ignore the massive juxtaposition between the two worls. In his frustration, he leaves the palace, using his magic to silently invite Tris with him to the greenhouses. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here that they share a moment of understanding with one another over the culture in the Dancruan palace. What I love about this is that it feels so natural<\/i>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ceremony to them opening up their connections; they just speak to one another as if they always had done so.<\/p>\n
Daja and Rizu<\/b><\/p>\n
While I understand Briar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concerns \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Berenene\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s court is obligated to do as she wants over everything else \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I am mostly just ecstatic that Daja is ridiculously in love. Of course, because the events of chapter thirteen weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough, we get this:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Daja, why didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you say you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a nisamohi<\/i>?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asked, using the Tradertalk word for a woman who loved other woman. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What with Lark and Rosethorn, did you think we cared?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Did<\/p>\n
did you just<\/p>\n
DOES THAT MEAN<\/p>\n
OH MY GOD WHAT. <\/i>SO!!!! Lark is also<\/i> not straight??? OH MY GOD, SHE LIVED WITH ROSETHORN AND THEY WERE VERY CLOSE AND WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, that explains more than it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Briar remarked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I AM YOU, BRIAR MOSS. I AM YOU. Look, I need to know so much more. I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m probably not going to get it for a while, but I need to know their story. WHERE IS IT. WHAT DID I MISS. Do I need to re-read all the Circle<\/i> books now??? HOW MANY CLUES JUST PASSED ME BY???<\/p>\n
Anyway, LOVE. I am so enamored that the first major romance in the Emelan books is between two women, and one of them is my favorite character. I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DO THIS. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also interesting to me that Daja\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s romance is what causes the other three characters to finally open up about the fact that all<\/i> of them are being courted by Berenene in some way. Sandry had realized that somewhat, but when they openly talk about it? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s uncomfortable. Sandry had been so deadset on going home that she hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t considered that Berenene would target her friends in order to get her to stay. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a distressing thought! Which is why this moment was so wonderful:<\/p>\n
Suddenly she felt the touch of Tris within her magic. Calm down<\/i>, she said. Sandry could feel that Briar heard Tris as well, though his bond to Sandry herself was still closed. We four will always be one, whether we live together in Emelan or not, <\/i>Tris told them both. You ought to have more faith<\/i>.<\/p>\n
AHHHHHH, IT CONTINUES TO GET BETTER.<\/i><\/p>\n
Theft<\/b><\/p>\n
Except now I know why<\/i> it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s progressed to that point. After visiting with Zhegorz and learning how his training has gone, Sandry readies herself and then heads out with Fin to the Lairanese ambassador\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s party. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that moment during her conversation with Zhegorz where he mentions that he saw sailors preparing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153for a midnight getaway,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and I actually called. Hell, early on, I figured that someone would try to kidnap Sandry for a marriage contact once those assholes tried it.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this entire sequence any less effective or terrifying. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awful<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d completely forgotten about Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fear of the dark, and it was agonizing to read about her trapped in\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a chest? A box? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trapped in, except that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s large enough for her to move about inside of it and to kick out within it. Her stitch power is severely limited \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if not entirely blocked \u00e2\u20ac\u201c by the signs and sigils cast within the box, and the entire thing leaves her in pitch darkness.<\/p>\n
It was frightening how quickly my own mind leapt back to Sandry<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Book<\/i> and that opening scene of hers. I knew instantly that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have a panic attack. But what gets her out of it? How does she find strength while living out her worst nightmare? Initially, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purely through rage, especially when Fin openly toys with her about what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done and what he plans to do with her. After drugging her and securing her in a mage-proof box, he plans to take her to a safe house that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also<\/i> spelled to block her magic and force her to sign a contract. All so she can be his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153obedient\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wife. The man is dripping with misogyny, and he knows that he can get away with it, too. I mean, he also underestimates Sandry, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to that in a second. What I mean by this is that the culture within Namorn \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and possibly the Empress\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans \u00e2\u20ac\u201c accepts what he does here. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got the support of the law, and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter how inhumane and violent he is. As long as he gets Sandry to sign that contract, she is his property.<\/p>\n
But Fin only remains nearby for a few minutes before he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s off to fool everyone into thinking he had nothing to do with Sandry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disappearance. So how does Sandry persevere? She thinks of her foster family. She thinks of all the horrible things that Rosethorn and Briar and Evvy have gone through and survived<\/i>. She thinks of what Daja did to save other people and survived<\/i>. She reminds herself that Gudruny \u00e2\u20ac\u0153held on for ten years\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Zhegorz survived for fifty.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She uses this to calm herself, bring out the thread circle she had not used in years, and reach out to her siblings. After two failures \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Daja is closed off because of Rizu, and Tris is literally playing with lightning \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she reaches Briar for the first time in ages<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The circle is getting closer and closer to being reforged. Granted, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through UTTER TERROR, but Briar and Tris both use their mind-speech to communicate here. All we know is that Sandry is somewhere in the palace, so she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not far. It appears Briar may have found the exact room she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. CLIFFHANGER. UNFAIR. Oh god, I have to go read more RIGHT NOW.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uboxIKQxjMI<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>.
\n– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S. this summer and fall Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the fourteenth chapter of The Will of the Empress, the group adjust to Daja\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revelation, and Sandry deals with a nightmare. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Will of the Empress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[477,502,503],"tags":[482,250],"class_list":["post-3557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emelan","category-the-circle-reforged","category-will-of-the-empress","tag-mark-reads-emelan","tag-tamora-pierce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}