Black Jewels: Jaenelle Is Amazing
Mar. 23rd, 2016 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beroliContent note: Sexual trauma mention, rape mention
Back in Hell, Jaenelle, Prothvar, and Andulvar come to Saetan and relate a tale that I have a hard time untangling. Jaenelle wants to learn to fly, and already knows how to use magic to balance on air; Prothvar laughed at the idea of teaching her to fly, and she jumped off the high tower of the Hall, stopping herself less than ten feet down and badly freaking out Prothvar and Andulvar. After--the narrative assures us--"fighting to control his temper" (I think the idea is that even with her ability to stop herself from falling jumping off high places seems dangerous enough to all three of the men here to scare them), Saetan speaks to Jaenelle about what happened. I note that Bishop seems very fond of describing her heroes' emotional reactions, implying heavily that they're justified, and expecting the reader to come up with the justification. It's manipulative: the reader is more likely to buy into justifications they came up with than ones that were actually provided in text. But I don't know if that manipulation is deliberate, or if she just likes writing men as angry.
I also note that I have no idea how strange wingless Blood being able to fly is supposed to be. Saetan isn't surprised by her balancing on air, and isn't thrown by her request to learn to fly from an Eyrien, but is--apparently--frightened by her jumping off a high place. Prothvar finds the entire idea of her being able to fly laugh-worthy. Saetan says "Flying usually requires wings, witch-child." So has she just invented a skill that Saetan is just being weirdly phlegmatic about? That seems the most likely explanation, yet it makes the rest of the Blood seem ludicrously uncreative with their power; they've known they had access to telekinesis for how many thousands of years? Flying, specifically, seems less Jaenelle having a superpower and more everyone else carrying a massive Idiot Ball for millennia until she showed up.
Saetan decrees that Andulvar and Prothvar will teach Jaenelle how to fly; Andulvar adds in that he'll teach her how to use a bow, knife, and Eyrien fighting sticks as well; Jaenelle mentions a few more names Saetan adds to his list of people Jaenelle knows in other places.
Next chapter, Titian, Surreal's demon-dead mother, comes to visit Saetan. She asks him repeatedly "Do you serve her?" only clarifying that she means "the child" after Saetan takes a guess and responds that he doesn't serve Hekatah. Titian tells him, without mentioning any names, about Kartane and Surreal, and suggests that Jaenelle may go insane.
"NO!" Saetan leaped out of his chair and went to stand before the fire. He tried to suppress the thought of Jaenelle sliding into madness, unable to cope with what she was, but the anxiety rolled from him in waves. No one else in the history of the Blood had worn the Black as a Birthright Jewel. No one else had had to shoulder the responsibility--and the isolation--that was part of the price of wearing so dark a Jewel at so young an age.
And he knew she had already seen things a child shouldn't see. He had seen the secrets and shadows in her eyes.
It occurs to me that that isolation is really an informed attribute. Jaenelle has friends all over all three Realms. Saetan later tells her that a list of her friends would be as long as she is tall. Bishop tells that Saetan was horribly isolated all his life because of wearing the Black Jewel, but she shows that he was isolated all his life because of being a huge bully who never understands why the people he yells at, threatens, insults, and frightens don't want to spend time with him when they don't have to.
She is traumatized, but that's unrelated to her wearing the Black, and would in fact be a great deal worse if she wore a lighter Jewel or none. I'll get to that shortly.
Titian suggests asking Daemon to watch over her; Saetan refuses, suggesting that Dorothea could make Daemon hurt (by which he obviously means either killing her or "breaking" her) Jaenelle.
She turned at the doorway and studied him. "What if she sings to your blood as strongly as she sings to yours?"
"Lady." Saetan quietly closed the door on her and locked it. Returning to his desk, he poured a glass of yarbarah and watched the small tongue of fire dance above the desktop, warming the blood wine.
Daemon was a good Warlord Prince, which meant he was a dangerous Warlord Prince.
Saetan resolves that if he decides Daemon has to die to protect Jaenelle, "it wouldn't be a stranger's hand that put him in his grave." I'm actually really unclear on what, if anything, this means. On the surface, it looks like it's saying Saetan will kill Daemon personally, but when he does decide to try to kill Daemon later, he sends Marjong the Executioner, someone who has a couple lines and disappears from the novels entirely after that, with no hint that he was anything but the most complete of strangers to Daemon. I can only conclude that, the dramatic and grim statement Bishop wanted to have Saetan think done, she gives it no further thought.
This concludes Part I of this book.
Back in Hell, Jaenelle, Prothvar, and Andulvar come to Saetan and relate a tale that I have a hard time untangling. Jaenelle wants to learn to fly, and already knows how to use magic to balance on air; Prothvar laughed at the idea of teaching her to fly, and she jumped off the high tower of the Hall, stopping herself less than ten feet down and badly freaking out Prothvar and Andulvar. After--the narrative assures us--"fighting to control his temper" (I think the idea is that even with her ability to stop herself from falling jumping off high places seems dangerous enough to all three of the men here to scare them), Saetan speaks to Jaenelle about what happened. I note that Bishop seems very fond of describing her heroes' emotional reactions, implying heavily that they're justified, and expecting the reader to come up with the justification. It's manipulative: the reader is more likely to buy into justifications they came up with than ones that were actually provided in text. But I don't know if that manipulation is deliberate, or if she just likes writing men as angry.
I also note that I have no idea how strange wingless Blood being able to fly is supposed to be. Saetan isn't surprised by her balancing on air, and isn't thrown by her request to learn to fly from an Eyrien, but is--apparently--frightened by her jumping off a high place. Prothvar finds the entire idea of her being able to fly laugh-worthy. Saetan says "Flying usually requires wings, witch-child." So has she just invented a skill that Saetan is just being weirdly phlegmatic about? That seems the most likely explanation, yet it makes the rest of the Blood seem ludicrously uncreative with their power; they've known they had access to telekinesis for how many thousands of years? Flying, specifically, seems less Jaenelle having a superpower and more everyone else carrying a massive Idiot Ball for millennia until she showed up.
Saetan decrees that Andulvar and Prothvar will teach Jaenelle how to fly; Andulvar adds in that he'll teach her how to use a bow, knife, and Eyrien fighting sticks as well; Jaenelle mentions a few more names Saetan adds to his list of people Jaenelle knows in other places.
Next chapter, Titian, Surreal's demon-dead mother, comes to visit Saetan. She asks him repeatedly "Do you serve her?" only clarifying that she means "the child" after Saetan takes a guess and responds that he doesn't serve Hekatah. Titian tells him, without mentioning any names, about Kartane and Surreal, and suggests that Jaenelle may go insane.
"NO!" Saetan leaped out of his chair and went to stand before the fire. He tried to suppress the thought of Jaenelle sliding into madness, unable to cope with what she was, but the anxiety rolled from him in waves. No one else in the history of the Blood had worn the Black as a Birthright Jewel. No one else had had to shoulder the responsibility--and the isolation--that was part of the price of wearing so dark a Jewel at so young an age.
And he knew she had already seen things a child shouldn't see. He had seen the secrets and shadows in her eyes.
It occurs to me that that isolation is really an informed attribute. Jaenelle has friends all over all three Realms. Saetan later tells her that a list of her friends would be as long as she is tall. Bishop tells that Saetan was horribly isolated all his life because of wearing the Black Jewel, but she shows that he was isolated all his life because of being a huge bully who never understands why the people he yells at, threatens, insults, and frightens don't want to spend time with him when they don't have to.
She is traumatized, but that's unrelated to her wearing the Black, and would in fact be a great deal worse if she wore a lighter Jewel or none. I'll get to that shortly.
Titian suggests asking Daemon to watch over her; Saetan refuses, suggesting that Dorothea could make Daemon hurt (by which he obviously means either killing her or "breaking" her) Jaenelle.
She turned at the doorway and studied him. "What if she sings to your blood as strongly as she sings to yours?"
"Lady." Saetan quietly closed the door on her and locked it. Returning to his desk, he poured a glass of yarbarah and watched the small tongue of fire dance above the desktop, warming the blood wine.
Daemon was a good Warlord Prince, which meant he was a dangerous Warlord Prince.
Saetan resolves that if he decides Daemon has to die to protect Jaenelle, "it wouldn't be a stranger's hand that put him in his grave." I'm actually really unclear on what, if anything, this means. On the surface, it looks like it's saying Saetan will kill Daemon personally, but when he does decide to try to kill Daemon later, he sends Marjong the Executioner, someone who has a couple lines and disappears from the novels entirely after that, with no hint that he was anything but the most complete of strangers to Daemon. I can only conclude that, the dramatic and grim statement Bishop wanted to have Saetan think done, she gives it no further thought.
This concludes Part I of this book.
