All the Queen's Ladies and All the King's Men

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

By KoA, Attolia's ladies are very obviously on Eugenides's side. Quite a shift from QoA, when they were firmly against him (except for the undecided Phresine). Presumably they figured out that their queen loved him and was happy. I started wondering how long it took them to swing from one viewpoint to the other. Seconds after she came floating happily back to her rooms after the last scene in QoA? Sometime between then and the wedding? After the wedding?

Regarding Eugenides' attendants, and everybody else who at the end of KoA has figured out that he has been pulling the (goats') wool over their eyes: I wonder what percentage of them are going to think, "He deceived us! How dare he?" and be even angrier with him than they were before.

In both cases - Oh, I would love to read some scenes from the POV of the people who are seeing Eugenides with new eyes!

And I wonder about the ladies that Lady Heiro mentions to the king, and what they talked about when she visited him. Were those ladies just ones she knew were harmless? Knew they saw the same things about the king that she did? Or were secretly very influential and he needed to get them on his side?

Leslie

Comments

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

what they talked about when she visited him

I think Heiro told him Sejanus was behind the assassination, or gave Gen the information he needed to piece together that Sejanus not only disliked him, but wanted him dead (and dead is dead).

Were those ladies just ones she knew were harmless?

I figured they were either neutral or disposed to be on the side of the King and Queen. That is, not opponents of the throne.

[(Anonymous)]

I think any anger the attendants and guards might feel over being deceived would be offset by the fact that Eugenides has had them all spared from punishments they would otherwise have faced. And a little sheepishnes at not having figured it out earlier. Probably these are people who expect a king to be a bit arbitrary, and are just relieved that he seems to have improved their lives (no more Erondites, yay!).

I love Lady Heiro. Very intriguing that she sees through Eugenides when so many others don't. I love how we know she's okay because she READS PLAYS (which is why her father has no use for her). And Relius and Eugenides develop this bond over reading plays, too.

And, speaking of plays...I went to a production of "Hamlet" a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was just this particular actor and his very athletic approach to the role (scrambling quickly up scaffolding to rather alarming heights), but I couldn't help noticing the spirit of Eugenides, and the many similarities in the two characters -- member of royal family, acts like an idiot so people will reveal their nefarious plans, doesn't like to kill people, communicates with supernatural beings...Boy, how clever of Shakespeare to steal from a novel that wouldn't be written for hundreds of years!

Eugenides is a lot nicer to his girlfriend, though.

-Philia

[dannybailey.livejournal.com]

Oh my, you have the makings of a fine fanfiction writer about you. Do you fic? :)

Seriously though, a lot of your posts seem to inspire fill-in-the-blank fanfiction, the kind of scene that takes place in the book but just isn't written. I love those!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

"Boy, how clever of Shakespeare to steal from a novel that wouldn't be written for hundreds of years!" This made me laugh so much!

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Well, I wrote Due South fanfiction, but that was mostly to fix the ghastly disaster that was Season 3.

And you must understand that in this case I don't want fanfiction, either mine or anybody else's. I want to know what *really* happened. (And don't try to tell me that none of it really happened...*Leslie covers her ears and closes her eyes and chants loudly, "I'm not listening...I'm not listening...I'm not listening...*)

Leslie

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

It's all about Phresine, I think.
And yes. They loved Gen because he made her happy which she never had been before. That's what I think is very important about the Queen's part in KoA; in QoA, she makes friend with Eddis (LOVE EDDIS!), after that she's making true friends with all those who have supported her. I'm sure the ladies were all about a queen who wasn't banishing them over spilled perfume.
(Oh, that's another gut-lurcher; the whole thread of the broken amphora, and her feelings for Eugenides being reflected in association.)

Have a nice day!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

I made you an icon, fellow reprobate! We all know how much Gen LOVES horses!