QoA Section Three - Read-Along Week 3

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Many thanks to ninedaysaqueen for organizing this!

This is the third discussion for Queen of Attolia. The first section is here, and the second is here.

These discussions are spoiler free for the new short stories, “The Wine Shop” and “The Knife Dance,” as well as the Thick as Thieves arc.

There will be spoilers for books 1-4, so if you haven’t read all the published books yet, proceed with caution.

Next week is a break week with a chat on March 19th.

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I'm going to structure this a little differently, with a very brief (and irreverent) summary under the cut and discussion topics in comments to this post. If you want to start new comment threads with completely different topics, please do!

Section three runs from Chapter 15, which begins "Attolia turned to look at him, where he kneeled watching her face," and Chapter 21, which ends, "And she believed him."

In which...Teleus has a terrible evening, Attolia and Eugenides enjoy a romantic moonlit excursion and share fond memories of their last meeting, Attolia redefines the term "statement jewelry", Nahuseresh is schooled in diplomacy, Eddis looks a little vulpine, Eugenides naps dramatically (twice), and Attolia needs to replace her palace windows.

Comments

Rereading

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This book rewards the second read (or third, or fourth, or...I've read it a lot, okay?) by letting us reinterpret so many moments with our knowledge of what the characters are actually planning.

Some of my favorite such moments:

- Attolia's encounter with her future father-in-law, when he helps her down from her horse, his hands tighten about her waist, "and for a moment she was irrationally frightened, caught by him, her feet dangling above the ground."

- Following that, when the Medes attack the Eddisian camp, we see Eugenides and his father (who isn't identified as such until later) mounting a defense. They fight brilliantly together, perfectly coordinated. It's a great reminder of Gen's training, of his father's investment in his swordsmanship, and of the tension that caused in their relationship.

- When Irene sits in her bath, right before she rejects her attendants' first choice of earrings, she thinks over her relationship with Nahuseresh, including her care in making him think she was open to his advice. It's at this point that it becomes a little more obvious that she's been trying to avoid an alliance with the Medes. I love this glimpse of how calculating she is, but also of how difficult her situation is--she's had to work hard to keep her options open.

- And, of course, I love all the double meanings in the scene immediately after this, where she goes to meet Gen and send his father back to Eddis. " 'Goatfoot,' she said, 'do you understand what is going to happen to you?' " and " 'What remains of his life, he spends with me, do you understand, messenger?' "

Others you enjoyed?