Introduction and Questions!

[intangible-muse.livejournal.com]

Hello! I've been a fan of the series for a while and have been lurking around Sounis for some period of time now. After re-reading the series, I have some questions I was itching to ask, so I decided to finally post!

The questions I have are regarding KOA and I have three of them.
1. Gen's kiss to Relius when he brings Attolia to the infirmary always puzzled me. The dialogue and description of Gen saying, "Jealous?" then giving a kiss on the cheek to Relius without smiling was confusing to me. I don't know if he's subtly mentioning the crush Relius might have on Attolia, but the fact that MWT carefully mentioned that he wasn't smiling doesn't make sense. Thoughts?

2. I've always thought that the myths (or stories) that are told within the books (the ones told by Eddis and Phresine) add to the theme or reveal something we don't already know, but they don't seems to (the one in KOA especially). Am I overthinking it or maybe missing something? :)

3. This one has been bugging me incessantly for a while: why is Baron Susa so interested in whether Gen is homesick?

Comments

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

I always interpreted one of the meanings of Phresine's story to relate to the relationship between Gen and Costis. Costis' story is kind of similar to Gerosthenes'. Both are in a bad situation and end up being friends with the king, and eventually remind their respective kings of their duties when faced by the gods. One purpose of the story could be to remind Gen that he needs supporters and friends--in short, people he can trust--if he ever wants to be great (which we know he pretends he doesn't!).

[intangible-muse.livejournal.com]

Yes, Costis' and Gerosthenes' situation are very similar, even down to how both of them end up being the catalyst of the respective kings revealing themselves as kings (Costis with his dueling party and Gerosthenes with hitting Klimun with an amphora - both situations equally painful for the kings).

To add to that, Klimun eventually became an Annux. Foreshadowing for Gen, perhaps?