BattleAxe First Read: Chapter Eleven: Unlocked Doors

[pangolin20]

Chapter Ten | Table of Contents | Chapter Twelve

NRSG: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, nothing of importance happened.

 

Chapter Eleven: Unlocked Doors

We open on everyone riding into Tare, “the small town which [sits] on the border of the Plains of Tare and the small Province of Tarantaise”. It is the 21^st of September. The land here is not well suited to agriculture, so it “relie[s] on the east-west trade across Achar for its primary income”. When Embeth first came here, she was overwhelmed by the space around the town, but now she loves it and “appreciate[s] the slow rhythms of Tarian life.” I am not sure what these thing have to do with each other, but whatever.

The townsfolk line the walls to see everyone arrive, “waving and cheering”. They are “not displeased” to see the soldiers, as they mean money. The greater part of the Axemen camps outside the town, as the town is too small to hold them all. Embeth does invite “the women, Gilbert, Axis and Belial” to her castle. Axis tells Timozel that he can come too. Timozel is glad with that, but he is “resentful that he need[s] Axis’ permission to sleep in his own house”, especially when Axis will probably use it to further his affair with Embeth.

Axis wants to stop for two days to “replenish supplies and rest his men and their horses”. There is a lot of things to be done after days of hard march, and the soldiers might soon be dead anyway, so he tells his commanders to “let as many men as possible enjoy their evenings in town.”

Cut to a description of Embeth’s castle. Yes, this chapter is very disjointed. The castle is secluded from the rest of the town, it stands on a hill, and it is very large. We are now informed that Embeth has another son and daughter, “twins and a year younger than Timozel”, who are both still at Carlon. Why we are told this now, I have no idea.

Embeth wants to talk to Faraday, but Merlion keeps her locked in her room, “going over designs for dresses, and describing the duties and responsibilities she would have to assume once she be[comes] the Duchess of Ichtar.” Faraday also wants to talk to Embeth, or go out into town. But Merlion has her remember the families of the nobles “out to the third cousin” instead, and “the type of property and income that each control[s]”. She also has to memorise “the towns and villages of Ichtar”, and the names of “Borneheld’s retainers and senior household staff”.

Hmmm, I can see why Merlion wants to do this, but I doubt that it will be very effective. There is only so much that Faraday can learn in two days, after all, and Merlion might better try doing this once they have some more time… I also love that we have a mention of the “important nobles”, but the only mention of Baron Greville, next to whose domain they are, is in the glossary of this book.

Well, by the night of 23 to 24 September, “Faraday [is] despairing”. They will leave the next morning at dawn, and she feels “exhausted rather than refreshed”. She sits up in her bed, looks out her window, and thinks about her marriage to Borneheld. Now that she is away from him, she can think a little more “dispassionately” about it.

She knows she was “bedazzled” by her first look at Axis, but she understands she cannot let that ruin her marriage with Borneheld. Axis certainly looks better than Axis, she says, and his reputation as BattleAxe gives him more glamour than Borneheld, but the latter is not a poor choice by any means. He is the richest man in the realm aside from Priam, and he is the WarLord and heir to the throne. “She could do no better”. I agree entirely with this, but I have the feeling Douglass does not expect us to.

She feels somewhat guilty over her behaviour when they left. Borneheld had not meant to insult her and tried to be kind, she says. She thinks that his “blunt nature” might be because of lack of a mother. We are told that Searlas never remarried after Rivkah “died”, and died when Borneheld was 14, which left him to control Ichtar from that age. And there could not be a regent why?

She thinks that maybe he just needs “the gentle hand of a wife”. She tries to picture him two years on: still a “fighting man”, but with “polished manners and easy conversation.” She thinks that maybe he just needs some manners in his life, and she will provide that. And this truly does not seem all that unrealistic to me, no matter what Douglass may say.

She wonders what it was like for Embeth when she married Ganelon. She knows that Embeth comes from “a Carlonite family” and that she married younger than with Faraday. “Perhaps she’d faced similar problems”. Faraday decides that she will speak to Embeth, and goes to her room. She slowly walks through the corridor outside her own room, holding her breath when she passes Merlion’s room. She curses Merlion’s lists, saying that, at least, she can recite Borneheld’s retainers to him on their wedding night. She wishes that Merlion would “tell her more about what a husband expect[s] of a wife.”

She pauses outside Embeth’s room, and she sees a little bit of light coming around the door. She taps the door a few times, and she hears Embeth’s voice softly, which she takes as an invitation to come in. She quickly enters and sees Embeth sitting on the edge of her bed, “swathed in a green woollen wrap, with a look of utter shock and disbelief on her face.” Faraday says that she is sorry to disturb Embeth, but she wanted to ask… And then she sees Axis standing naked by the fire. Oh my, they have been discovered!

Embeth rises and stretches her hand out toward Faraday. Faraday looks back to her, thinking what a fool she is. “Her eyes fill[] with mortified tears” and she whispers an apology. She flees before she begins to cry. Axis makes to go after her, but Embeth tells him to wait there, as she will talk to Faraday.

Cut to Embeth hurrying down the corridor. She hopes that Faraday will not slam her bedroom door or bolt it, lest Merlion should wake up. Thankfully, Faraday does neither, and Embeth can rush into the chamber, and close the door.

She finds Faraday in tears, “her shoulders convulsing with sobs”, and she embraces her. Faraday immediately apologises, which I can completely understand. Embeth says that it is all right, and Faraday did nothing wrong, and they were just foolish to try it here.

Faraday takes a deep breath, and tries to stop her tears. She thinks about “what a simpleton she [is]”, and then asks how long their affair has been. Embeth says it was “on and off for about three years”. She explains that Axis and her have been “good friends” for a long time (I somehow doubt that), and now and again they “are lovers”, but they are not “in love”. She asks if Faraday understands. Faraday says she does, but she “still feel[s] so stupid.”

Embeth says that at least she learned a quite important “rule[] of court etiquette”. That is, do not burst into bedrooms late at night, no matter if the person inside is supposed to be alone. Faraday smiles and says Merlion did not teach her that. Embeth lets her go and asks what Faraday wanted to see her about. Faraday first wants to ask a question about what just happened, and that is if “women at court take lovers, even though they are married to another”.

Embeth knows that she has to be careful, as this is indeed not uncommon, but she can “foresee disaster” if she tells Faraday this. So she says that noblewomen usually only take lovers once they are widowed. Faraday asks if Embeth and Axis were not lovers while Ganelon lived, and Embeth says not, and she truthfully says that if she should remarry, she will be true to her husband.

Faraday is silent for a moment, and then says she wanted to ask Embeth about marriage, and how she felt about it. Embeth notes she is having doubts, and Faraday nods. Embeth says that this is not uncommon, but she cannot pull out now, and only death can separate them.

Faraday sighs and asks: “But… but what if we are not happy together?” Embeth then says that duty always comes first, if love and happiness come, that is nice, and she should not let “any foolish, girlish, romantic notions” come between her and her duty. Hmmm, somehow I doubt that Douglass will meaningfully deconstruct this, instead of just having this as a background.

Faraday asks if she had happiness with Ganelon. Embeth says that he was a good man, who cared for her, and respected her. That is certainly good to hear. But one day, after she had her children with him, “[she] woke up and realised that [she] was in love with Ganelon”. Hmmmm. I see that Embeth thinks that happiness and “love” in a relationship are inherently tied to romantic love, which leads her to present the situation as worse than it actually is.

I mean, if Faraday genuinely likes Borneheld and is also happy with him, that might be a quite fulfilling relationship, even if she does not like him romantically. And, of course, even if she would like someone romantically (like Axis), that does not mean that she would be happy in such a relationship.

Because of this, I think that Embeth spent several years miserable because she was not romantically interested in Ganelon, even though she did like him. And I also predict that this might lead Faraday to choose Axis over Borneheld, because she likes Axis romantically, even though he has been nothing but awful to her.

This is a quite basic analysis to me, but I do not have the idea that Douglass ever thought of this while writing this book. I think the thoughts were more like “women suffer” and “Axis Good, Borneheld Bad”, respectively. And yes, I know this was the 1990’s, but given how little thought this book has had until now, I am not inclined to be forgiving.

Well, Embeth says that “[t]wo years later”, Ganelon was killed by a boar during a boar hunt. And where do those boars live, then, if all the forests are gone? Or have new forests been planted in the meantime? Douglass did not think the deforestation plotline through, did she?

Embeth does not add that she almost “died with grief” when her steward told about the death. For a moment “her heart clench[es]” as she remembers how the steward’s tunic was splattered with blood and he had tears in his eyes. Oh, that is very awful. I would complain about this muted reaction, but I presume it was some fifteen years ago, given that she specifically mentions it was after the birth of the children.

Faraday is comforted by all this, and says that “[t]his is what [will] happen between Borneheld and her”. She says that “love” might not come immediately, but it will come, and she will be a very good wife to Borneheld, like Embeth to Ganelon. “All it took was patience, respect, and a firm sense of duty.”

She thanks Embeth for the talk. Embeth tucks Faraday in, and tells her to sleep, as they need to leave soon. Cut to Embeth opening the door to her chamber, where Axis has already gone. She feels sad because she misses Ganelon. The chapter ends like this: “If Faraday had been betrothed to a Ganelon then Embeth would have no doubts about the outcome, but Borneheld was no Ganelon.” Ooooh, Borneheld is just so awful!

Well, this was a somewhat boring chapter. I did like the interaction between Embeth and Faraday, though it was marred a little by Douglass’s amatonormativity. My main problem is that this stands in the way of anything plot-connected happening. We have had to wait for 11 chapters already, and we are now almost a sixth in, and only next chapter will it pick up. It is not bad to have, but it would be nice if it would be later in the book.

Oh well, next chapter should prove to be better. Until then!

 

Comments

[pangolin20]

I'm not really liking the notion that Borneheld's rough manners 'must' be due to the lack of a female influance (I can change him Momma!), but I can certainly see him choosing to polish them up for his wife's sake.

NRSG: Indeed. I also see that Axis, as he is written, would be the more conventional target for the "I can change him" attitude, so I get the feeling that Douglass has accidentally switched the tropes with regard to Borneheld and Axis.

Axis? You're supposed to hide when there's an unexpected knock on the door.

Yep.

For my own part, I'm told womanizers make poor husbands and if nothing else Borneheld clearly wants to spend time with Faraday outside of the marriage bed. Have we seen any indication that Axis wants to spend time with Embeth that doesn't involve having sex?

I do not think so. And yes, Borneheld would be the superior partner by far.

Presumably wild boars have become a major agricultural pest.

That would make sense, but I would have loved to hear more information about this.

Borneheld not being a Ganelon would mean more if we knew Ganelon.

Yep.