In archery practice three weeks later, Cally thinks about the murders.

There was no pattern; five were dead, and they had no connection to each other, aside from the competition.

Yeah, there’s no connection except for that ONE HUGE THING THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON.

Also, this is the first time there’s been mention of ‘five.’  At last count there were three.  Admittedly, more time has passed in the chapter break, but that’s still a very awkward way to let us know that there were two more deaths in the interim.

Cally casually informs Chaol that Cain knows her real identity.  Chaol brushes it off as no big deal.  If it’s no big deal, then why does she have a secret identity in the first place?

A bit character runs in to tell Chaol that there’s another body.  So, six dead.  And they’re still eliminating people at each test.  Is there going to be anyone left to have a final duel at the end?  For some reason, Cally is allowed to tag along to look at the body, and when she gets there it looks just like the last one, weirdmarks and all.

Her blood went cold. There was no denying their connection now.

Again, why was that ever in doubt?

Cally and Chaol look around at all the evidence and determine that said hallway was pretty well lit at the time, so Verin had to have seen whatever was there, and they presume that it was a person.  The person then hamstringed him so he couldn’t run away, summoned a monster with claws tough enough to leave gouges in the stone, and that Verin probably saw that coming too because he was clawing at the floor trying to drag himself away.  It’s a pretty nice bit, actually.  It shows both characters observing and coming to conclusions based on their observations.  All in all, pretty smooth.

Celaena realized with a jolt that perhaps the Champions’ killer and Elena’s mysterious evil force might be one and the same.

Until this bullshit ruins it.  Cally, how can you be so astute in one paragraph, and yet miss this obvious connection for an entire month?

You know what no one’s asking here?  What the fuck was Verin doing in this hallway?  He’s a criminal every bit as much as Cally, and we’ve been told before that all the champions have their own guard details.  So where were his guards?  Why was he walking around at night?  Is that even allowed, or did he have to sneak away to do it?  What’s in this hallway that would have attracted him, or was he specifically lured to this location?

And what is in that hallway, anyway?  The book doesn’t say.

Later, Cally sits with her books looking for the two weirdmarks she saw at the crime scene, but she’s having no luck.  While she’s daydreaming about all the strange dreams she’s been having, Dorian shows up.  They chat about the murders, and Dorian even specifically mentions that she’s safe because she’s got her guards and whoever is doing this only does it to people who are alone.  And therefore…

Therefore…

Come on, Dorian, this isn’t hard.

Therefore…you should make sure the other guys are with their guards.  Why aren’t you?

They talk briefly about how annoying Kate is and then compare her to a mongrel dog.  Classy, book.  Classy.  Dorian tries to pry into her personal life and ask about her parents, but Cally is evasive.  So he tries to ask her about music instead, and she’s happy to spout off some poetry about how music is transcendent and such.

Cally decides to pry back and asks why he isn’t married yet.  He answers “because I’m 19!” and in spite of this being a perfectly valid answer, Cally just knows there’s more to it.  Turns out Dorian wants to marry for love and scoffs at the idea of marrying for political reasons.

Damn, you are one piss-poor prince.  Where did you even get these notions?  Marrying for love is a modern idea; you shouldn’t have even considered it as an option.  I’m so sick of arranged marriages being treated with such a modern viewpoint.  At least display the person as being head-in-the-clouds about it, because chivalrous myths and stories are where such notions would have come from, not anywhere practical.

Also, couples resulting from arranged marriages routinely report being happier and more satisfied than couples who chose their own partners.  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Cally does at least laugh and call him selfish for that.  They banter about it for a while.  It’s sort of cute, I guess.  I feel like every time these two get together, though, it’s just for the sake of showing off that they get alone.  There’s no real point to it because character set-up, which is fine once or twice, but they should have more of a connection by this point.  Instead they’re just two people who occasionally chitchat.  I’ve had relationships with people on the opposite side of the country that are deeper than that.

POV switch to Chaol, who is watching everyone eat dinner and wondering which champion’s sponsor is knocking people off.

If Celaena was actually right about it, then whoever was responsible for killing the Champions could be among them.

…Cally never suggested it was a sponsor, she just said that it was probably a person instead of a really scary demon monster, because otherwise Verin would have turned tail and ran from far away.

And, really, did you only just now start thinking that maybe it’s someone knocking off the competition?  Just now?  You suck at your job.

Chaol is especially interested in Duke P, because the Duke keeps getting odd ‘cloudy’ expressions throughout dinner.

He knew little of the duke, and had never entirely trusted him.

I sure know that, when I hire a guard, I want him to be the type who never investigates suspicious people.  Nope.  That kind of curiosity has no place in a position that’s sometimes required to solve murders.

We finally get a better description of the ‘weird expression’ the duke gets.  His pupils expand and completely blot out the iris, even though it only lasts a moment, and he’s also looking at his weird black ring when it happens.  Chaol notes that Kate saw this happen, too, but she didn’t look surprised.

Chaol stretched and rose, finishing his apple as he strode from the dining hall. Strange as it was, he had enough to worry about. The duke was ambitious, but certainly not a threat to the castle or its inhabitants.

You, sir, such donkey balls.  At this point, the only thing in your favor is that you’re not a terrible person just terrible at your job.

Drinking Game Count:  Epithets – 6, Exclamation Marks – 8

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