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teresChapter Twenty-Five | Table of Contents | Chapter Twenty-Six (Part II)
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, Faraday and co. spent a day at the Renkins and that was about it. For the reader post:
On part II of the Peek at the Glossary, Maegwin notes that “Treachery Island” (for the island between Desertia and Principalis on this map) is a bit on the nose if it is meant to be a place for pirates. Given that this seems like the most logical place for the “summer raiders” to come from, I have to agree.
A Better Commando Name: 35
On the previous chapter, Epistler notes that there is no reason the Renkins need a “huge fire”. Indeed, it seems to me it would only take up unnecessary space.
PPP: 165
She further points out that there is quite some furniture in the Renkins’ house, no matter that we are told there is not.
PPP: 166
Wolfgoddess notes that the description of the farmhouse as having a single room seems “incredibly inconvenient”, and given how relatively rich the Renkins are, they probably could have fixed that.
She further notes that, while there is mention of hams and cheese, there is no mention of cows or any milk-producing animals.
PPP: 167
She also points out that Faraday not having a reaction to being called beautiful is not out of place per se, since she might just be used to it.
Further, she notes that Faraday’s description of Jack’s disguise comes across as sarcastic, which it does indeed. I doubt that Douglass meant it that way, so I will give this for the “mental fog” comment, but still.
All the Isms: 12
Finally, she notes that the way Douglass notes how awkward Thedithe is around Faraday makes it come across like she is meant to seem “unworthy”.
All the Isms: 13
Well, let me go on with the next chapter, then!
Chapter Twenty-Six: “Belle My Wife!”
Yes, that is exactly how it is written, with the quotation marks and the exclamation mark. As I recall, this will play a big role in the chapter, so it is apposite for once.
The chapter opens with… summary! Thank you, Douglass! Well, Axis led the Axe-Wielders “hard and fast” toward Arcen from the Ancient Barrows. There, they “reprovisioned” and Axis explained to the family of Earl Burdel that Merlion and Faraday were dead. It was apparently not easy, and he left the Burdel “townhouse” feeling “embarrassed and inadequate”. I guess “townhouse” means “town hall” here? It also might have been nice to see this, then. (I genuinely thought that the townhouse felt like that at first.)
He keeps the Axe-Wielders in Arcen for “a day and two nights”. During that time, he writes reports about the attack at the Barrows to Jayme, Isend and Borneheld, to supplement those he sent from the Barrows. Poor Isend! He must be devastated to hear his wife and daughter died! And poor Borneheld, thinking that Faraday is dead! Axis, who is “still grieving”, dreads having to explain this to Borneheld personally. As he well might.
Also, Axis is “still grieving” now, while Faraday does not do so any more. I presume it goes to show who the favoured character is.
Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 36
It is a relief, he says, to finally leave Arcen and to ride north to “the narrow passes in the Bracken Ranges”. (It is to me, too, because we are getting somewhere!!) From there, it will be “a straight run north-east to Smyrton”. Um, let me show a cutout of the map (with new labels added by me!):
The yellow arrow points north-east and soon cuts into a bay of the Widowmaker Sea. Smyrton lies north-north-west of their current position! Can you look at your map, Douglass?!
PPP: 167
How hard would this have been to remedy? Either way, on the first night from Arcen, Axis stops his command “a league south” of the first pass. They have covered “good ground” on that day, and he does not want to risk crossing at night. He has some sense, it seems!
Let me also calculate some things… A quite rough calculation tells me that they have, once again, travelled 30 miles in a day. Further, this chapter says that it has been a week since the Ancient Barrows, so this is the 11th of October, which means that we are quite a bit ahead of Faraday’s plotline. They must have stayed in Arcen during the 10th, so they got there on the 9th… which means that they spent five days getting to Arcen. Some further calculation shows that the distance is nearly exactly 30 leagues, or 135 miles, so they travelled with 27 miles per day!
Armies simply cannot move this fast, Douglass! There is not way the Axe-Wielders have consistently moved at 30 miles a day all the way from Arcen to the Bracken Ranges!
It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 25 (+2)
Let me check… Ah, the distance from where they are now to Smyrton is about 210 miles, and they will cover it in 21 days, for a much more reasonable speed of 10 miles a day. Oh, but I see that Axis planned to cover it in 15 days, for a speed of 14 miles a day, which is still possible. So the army will halve its speed after now, for no discernable reason.
But I should complain about it then. Since they left the Barrows, Axis did not take risks. He has the Axe-Wielders ride with “mailshirts under their cloaks” to give them “the best chance” against further ice-spears. (Which is of course why Gorgrael would not use it again, if he is smart about it.)
They also sleep “fully clothed”, with their weapons at hand, and there are “double sentries” to watch for Gorgrael. Ogden and Veremund might hope that Gorgrael weakened himself with his attack, but Axis does not want to risk it. My, is he sensible now?
Axis now sits before the campfire, in a “reasonable mood”. Belial and some cohort commanders are joking away about a “tavern brawl” they saw in Arcen. Ogden and Veremund sit apart. Axis exposits that he has “virtually ignored them” since leaving the Barrows, as everything went wrong after he read the Prophecy. And, though the Brothers promised they would answer Axis’s questions, they gave “such indistinct answers or such disturbing ones” that he sometimes thinks he should leave them behind.
Is Axis allowed to question them now? I do like where this might go, then…
Still, during the “past week”, the Brothers were “surprisingly pleasant company” around the campfire. They respected Axis’s “wish to be left alone”, and have such a “repertoire of bawdy ballads” that even Axis sometimes joins in “embarrassed laughter” at them. But, we are told, they are more than they appear. Yes, we already know that. Do we need to see Axis find this out, too?
Axis leans back and narrows his eyes as he looks at them. Maybe they speak the truth when they say they do not know his father, he says, but he gets the “distinct feeling” that they do not tell him all they know. And how did Ogden know the melody of the ward? How indeed, Axis? He keeps going:
- They faltered over the Service of the Dead at the Barrows, and he doubts that 39 years is long enough to forget it, and still remember “ancient enchantments”.
- He found it “embarrassing and disrespectful” to the dead and he fought to restrain his anger at them. My, he restrained his anger, and at those who do deserve the full load of it, too!
- While the Axe-Wielders went to and through Arcen, Ogden and Veremund avoided contact with the Plough-Keepers, who were are told are those “brothers who live[] among and minister[] to the people”. Good on Douglass for working this exposition in naturally!
- Many Axe-Wielders noted this and commented on it. Axis thinks some of it can be the result of being isolated in the Keep for so long, maybe combined with the onset of dementia, but he is not sure and he knows that Arne also keeps a close eye on them.
Why Arne specifically? Because he went along to the Silent Woman Keep? Either way, they are in a “relaxed mood” tonight. Belial has got out a harp and tries to play the tune of a ballad he heard in Arcen. Axis smiles and says that, while he likes Belial “very much” and respects him “as a fighting man”, he is very bad at the harp.
Axis asks for the harp, so he can tune it. Belial grins and hands it over. Belial says that he “deliberately mishandled” it so Axis could ask for it. He has been “too quiet” since the attack at the Barrows, and Belial does whatever he can to “lift [Axis] out of his dark moods”. That is quite sweet of him!
Axis pretends to tune the harp, then looks around the campfire and asks what they will sing tonight. One of his commanders calls “Belle my Wife!” and the rest laughs and claps. It is apparently a “favourite ballad” among the Acharites, though it takes a “skilled musician” to do it justice. Axis smiles along with his men and begins to play.
We get the first verse:
This winter’s weather, it waxeth cold
and frost it freezeth on every hill,
And Artor blows his blasts so bold
that all our cattle are like to spill.
Belle my Wife, she loves no strife
she said unto me quietly,
Rise up and save Cow Crumbocke’s life!
man! put thy cloak about thee!
This is better than I expected! The content is good enough, I would say, and it has a nice meter and rhyme scheme. (The former turns out to be “iambic tetrameter” and the latter ABABCDCD.) The only problem is that “quietly” does not rhyme with “thee” for me.
…I do have any problem with it, which is the old-fashioned language like “waxeth”, “freezeth” and “like to spill”. No one we have seen talks like this, so why would Axis sing it this way?
Talk Like a Natural: 6
His voice is “clear and strong”, and the others let him sing “the first four verses” before joining in. They all have a good time, and when they finally close it, “after the fifth repetition of the final chorus”, Axis joins in with the laughter and applause. He plays some more ballads, and then goes to strum “soft tunes” as the mood shifts and the commanders talk about riding north and the danger they face. They wonder (in the narration) what those creatures are, where they come from, and who drives them.
“Baldwin”, one of Axis’s commanders, asks him what he thinks about the Prophecy, and if the creatures attacking Gorkenfort are the Ghostmen from the Prophecy. Before they left Carlon, they thought it was the Forbidden, but now… There falls a silence and Ogden and Veremund carefully look at Axis. Axis turns the question back on Baldwin. Baldwin hesitates, and we are told that the Prophecy has “spread like wildfire” through the Axe-Wielders, and once heard, it is “impossible to forget”.
We already saw that with Faraday, and I am not pleased with it. Baldwin admits that he cannot get it out of his mind, and Ogden nods at that. He says that it enchanted, and once it is heard, “few would be able to forget it”. So the Prophecy is designed to mess with people’s minds? And you agreed to it, Ogden? What a hero. He goes on about how only “one man” can remember the third verse (well, that might get you in trouble), and we get this:
He restrained a smile as he thought of the enchantments that the Prophet had woven into the Prophecy. No doubt the Seneschal would find over the next few months that many Acharites were not so deeply committed to Artor as they thought.
You what!? You see fit to spread a prophecy that you know will mind-control huge amounts of people? Just to score a victory over the Seneschal???
That is what I gather from this, at least. Their “commitment to Artor” is their religious faith, after all! Also, what a condescending description, Ogden.
Maria Monk Redux: 51
What do they plan to do this for, too? I guess they think it is to make the Acharites more willing to accept the Icarii and Avar. Never mind that such integration will never be truly stable; I guess they do not understand that promises made at knifepoint are quick to break.
It is also just wrong. It is wrong and evil to make the Acharites abandon their religion! I do not care if it is necessary; invading their thoughts and forcing a way of life on them is simply not something I would ever condone.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 85 (+10)
What makes it worse is that I am quite sure Douglass put this in to have the stand-in for Christians get deprived of their religion, and it feels so very petty.
Maria Monk Redux: 61 (+10)
And Ogden is smiling about the harm he has caused (it was him who had Axis read the prophecy, after all)! I hate him so much and if I were there… I cannot say for sure what I would do to him. Gah!!!
[Caption: Gif of a dragon breathing fire.]
Well, now I am somewhat calmer, let me discuss further. First, there had better be more enchantments inside of the Prophecy, because this seems certain to blow up spectacularly. Do the Sentinels truly think that the Seneschal would not use this as evidence of “evil sorcery” or that people would not think they are aligned with Gorgrael? Without further protection, they would be dead within a few months, too.
Second… if they want to brainwash people into accepting the Icarii and Avar, why try to break their religion? Even if they do not believe in Artor, they might still think the “Forbidden” are evil. After all, what is there to contradict them? The Icarii and Avar will not be coming back in the next few months, I am sure. I just get the feeling that Douglass thought their religion is inextricably bound up with believing that the “Forbidden” are evil, which is not how things work.
It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 26
Third, I have three more thematic points to offer.
The first, which is not directly related but nonetheless quite important, is that almost none of the Acharites today have ever persecuted the Icarii or Avar. That means that they also cannot be held responsible for the Wars of the Axe, and that this situation is not equal to usual racism, or indeed usual bigotries, something that Douglass does not seem to grasp.
The second is that someone’s religion does not dictate their actions. If, say, Axis decided to persecute the Avar and/or Icarii, the fault does not lie with him being religious. Or, to bring it to what Douglass wants, if a Christian does bad things in the name of their religion, them being religious is not the problem. Being religious does not strip you of free will, Douglass! If the Prophecy is meant to stop them, it should target the bigotry of the Acharites, not their religion!
Maria Monk Redux: 62
The third… this goes against the message of the Prophecy itself. It says that “Forgiveness is the thing assured / To save Tencendor’s soul”. How, pray tell, could the Acharites practice forgiveness when they are magically made to? Is forgiveness not supposed to be given freely? Douglass literally went straight against what she tried to say here.
With that out of the way… let me return to what is happening. Baldwin says that it makes sense that, if Gorgrael is responsible for attacking the north, he might also be responsible for the storm that hit the Barrows. Axis frowns at this and tries to speak, but “Methuen” breaks in, saying that if it is Gorgrael, they need to find the StarMan to save them.
Axis gets angry and tries to speak again, but he is “again forestalled”. Axis, you were merely interrupted. That is not something to get angry over.
Axis Is Angry: 11
Belial now asks Axis what he plays. Axis is completely stunned and wonders it himself. He had not paid attention to what he was strumming, but now he realises that he is playing a “haunting melody” that he has never heard before. Furthermore, “the style of music, its phrasing and beat” are “completely alien” to him. Well, I have never heard “phrasing” with regards to music, and he cannot get a beat out of a harp.
PPP: 169
Still, now we have Axis making a magical melody without outside prompting. Have some powers awakened in him already? He quickly says that it was a “silly tune” and drops the harp. He says he goes to check on the sentries and leaves. Arne wants to follow but Belial grabs his arm (could you not?) and tells him to give Axis “some time alone”.
There is a scene break, and we pick up with Axis inspecting the sentries and then leaving for a little introspection. He wonders what is happening to him. He tells us that the only good thing that came from his experience since the Barrows is that “his nightmares [have] finally completely disappeared”. So Gorgrael did not bother to send him any more nightmares, even though this would be the best time to play into this grief and doubts? Seriously, Douglass?
Papier-Mâché Villains: 21
Clearly, tormenting Timozel will have more impact than with Axis, the commander of the Axe-Wielders! Well, even though he no longer has these nightmares, thinking about the “continuing enigma of his father” gets him “deeply uncomfortable”. He wonders what kind of man it is who can “teach a growing foetus” how to sing a ward to protect against evil. And I wonder why Axis uses “foetus” here.
He goes on that the Seneschal taught him that all enchantments are evil, and even the “herbal remedies” that many country women use are frowned upon. That is especially if they use “words or songs to aid the herbs in their healing powers”. Yes, these country women are actually using magic. It is not magic of any sort we have seen, either, but Acharite magic, as we will learn in Pilgrim. (I am mostly just surprised she managed to set up a future plot point!)
Axis himself has been involved in some cases where he had to bring them to the Tower of the Seneschal “for trial and justice”. Axis shudders at the memory at what happened to those found guilty: “death by the purification of fire”. He says he will never forget the screams of these people burning to death, and says that at least it was not “his role to light the fire”. You are still responsible for their deaths, though, as you were the one who brought them to the Tower in the first place.
I do like this a lot! We finally see the Seneschal actually persecute people! Granted, it may not be very many people they persecute, but it is still as unreasonable as Douglass has made the Seneschal out to be. We also now have a solid reason to want them to stop: them teaching the Acharites that magic is evil actually gets people killed.
Still… I cannot help but be suspicious of the placement of this. I get the feeling that Douglass only let us know about Axis’s more unsavoury aspects quite a way into the book, to keep readers from disliking him.
Well, Axis says that now he, the BattleAxe, experiences “disturbing, long-buried memories” from the place that reading the Prophecy unlocked. Oh, when did we see this?
PPP: 170
He also has had talents come from there, like the ward against evil he sung to Gorgrael and the strange melody he just played. I do like where Douglass is going with this; it would be great to see the BattleAxe, the person who has helped kill people for doing magic, come to terms with him using magic himself. Better yet, I would love to see him deal with being half Forbidden… (Yes, I know Douglass will probably not do so, but I would still like to see it.)
He then wonders where his talent “for the harp and the music” has come from. I think that should be “and music”.
PPP: 171
He cannot remember having actually learning it; he has “simply always played”. Even when he was a small child, he “had been more skilful than the court bards”. And no one thought that was suspicious, then? Axis himself does not think this is very weird? No, of course not.
Ill Logic: 119
After all, a small child playing the harp better than the court bards should rightly have roused all kinds of suspicion… Then again, Jayme probably covered it up because he did not want trouble for his foster child. Either way, Axis ought to have thought about it before now, and there is certainly something magical going on here.
If the Seneschal learns of these strange things he does, he might face the “purifying flames” himself, or, at least, “be subjected to rigorous inquisition”. For the first time in his life, he is glad that he is far away from the Tower of the Seneschal. I still like this!
He keeps walking through the night, listening to the camp settle down. Despite his efforts, he thinks about Faraday and Timozel again, who he describes as “[t]wo such young and innocent people, with such promise and zest for life”. Timozel, he says, is the son of “his closest female friend” (which is why you will not be seeing Embeth for two years…) and the other one “a beautiful women who ha[s] earned his respect and admiration”.
He says that he has never been in love before, though he never had trouble “charm[ing] women into his bed”, and he sometimes wonders if he is just too “cynical and bitter” to fall in love. Or maybe you just are not given to experiencing romantic love? I have not exactly seen him be “cynical and bitter” so far, after all.
PPP: 172
But, that night at the Barrows, he realised that just maybe her “freshness, innocence and above all, honesty” might break down the barriers he built around his heart. Yes, yes, if you say so, Axis. We get a note that he pulls out a “strand of grass” and chews on it as he ruminates. He wonders what he meant when he told Faraday she could “spend[] her life with someone she could learn to love”. He admits that he meant himself by that, and laughs bitterly. Was he truly “so brazen” as to suggest that Faraday, the daughter of an earl, that she would want to forget life at court, possibly as queen, “for his bed”? Apparently so. I do note that he does not acknowledge that marrying Borneheld might make her better off…
PPP: 174 (+2) (capitalisation of “earl” and “queen”)
He goes on to says that Borneheld’s “taunt in the court yard” (which I guess was the one about having “the finest mare in the stable”) “stung deep”, and he can never hope to win the hand of “a noble heiress like Faraday”. He wonders if he only kissed her because it would be “a triumph to win her away from Borneheld”. He is not sure, and says that he might as well have done it because she was Faraday and she was “close and warm” and because he thought he might fall in love with her. (He also notes that he has “never met another woman like her”.)
Well, I do hope it was the second option, then! Axis thinks that she now lies died along with Merlion and “over three hundred” Axe-Wielders. Hmm, then Gorgrael’s attack took out at least… 8,6 percent of the Axe-Wielders, which is a quite respectable amount for such an attack. In any case, he thinks, what is love if it makes him so careless that he condemns hundreds to death? Despite Ogden and Veremund’s reassurances, he still “burn[s] with guilt” about leading the Axe-Wielders out.
Just then, someone says that he should not blame himself. That turns out to be Belial, who gives him a casual salute, though him using Axis’s name implies that he comes as a friend, we are told. In front of the Axe-Wielders they are “BattleAxe and Lieutenant”, but in private they are “friends and companions”.
I would like to stop here, as I am about halfway through the chapter, and I also did not manage to analyse much during the last bit. Until next time, then!