Three days later, we get to peek in at Berenene getting a report of the whole kidnapping incident (shouldn’t she have better information?  They’re less than a day’s ride from the capitol city) and she at least understands that justice is not the same thing as saying “you’re a bit embarrassed, but you can go home now.”

Granted, she’s intent on punishing them because they acted without her permission and not because of what they did, but I’ll take it.  Either way, that’s future kidnap victims they’re not kidnapping.  Also, when you rule an empire, letting people get away with whatever they feel like kind of is a bad idea.

Turns out Berenene moved her court to a summer palace closer to Landreg so that they can “take in the air” and “drop in for an unannounced visit.”  Berenene and Ishabal also spend a hell of a long time talking about the plot so far, and the only new thing to come out of it is that Berenene rejects the idea of them being prodigies at magic.  They did awesome things before, but that was while working together and with teachers, and she considers them much diminished now that they’re all working alone.

Later, when Berenene descends on the Landreg house, Sandry goes all in a tizzy picking out what to wear because she notices Shan is there, too.  But that only lasts a moment, because Sandry also has to reassure Gudruny that Berenene won’t return her to her abusive ex-husband.

“I also think those who kidnapped Her Imperial Majesty were far more gentle with her, more careful of doing her harm, than are those who seal women who are not imperial heiresses.  I think perhaps she had more opportunity to escape, so she believes we all have such opportunities to escape.”

Yes!  Thank you, book!  Discussions of sexism and feminism must include discussions of bother classism and racism, because everything is connected, and sadly, stuff like this happens all the time in real life.  Especially when it comes to rich white women talking about their rights and hardships, but then turning around and completely ignoring how different it is for women who aren’t in their same situation.  “Well, why didn’t you report him?  Why didn’t you go to family?”  Maybe there wasn’t any family, or maybe the (very real) prejudice of the police force meant that reports of domestic abuse got only a cursory glance.  “Why didn’t you leave?”  And go where?  With what money?  “Why didn’t you get a job?”  Maybe she’s already working two jobs and that’s just to cover the bills, never mind saving up enough to go on the run.

Sexism and misogyny, of course, affects women of all colors and classes, but there’s no denying that it affects them differently, and judging the actions of one set based on the standards of another is the height of hubris.

Berenene arrives properly and there’s much fuss and greeting.  Daja and Rizu catch a quiet moment together and Rizu turns up the flirting to “no, really, I can’t get any more obvious without just being obvious” levels, and IT’S STILL SO ADORABLE because Daja remains utterly blushing and clueless.  Normally I don’t like clueless crushes; it has a tendency to paint the character as being dreadfully unaware and without agency.  But this is just understated enough to be believable.  There’s no longing glances, just moments where she notices Rizu is pretty and then blushes.  There’s no over the top flirting, and in fact most of their conversations are friendly.  And Daja isn’t particularly confused in a ‘what are these feelings???’ kind of way so much as she’s just avoiding putting two and two together.  Plus, there’s the fact that she hasn’t ever crushed on a woman before, and as open as this world is, she’s still laboring under the heteronormative assumption that she, herself, is straight.  So a trope that I normally don’t like is handled with enough subtlety and tact and adorableness make me like it again. 😀

Switch over to Briar, who got the memo a bit late and runs off to change out of his work clothes, only to find Zhegorz is hiding in his wardrobe.  Poor, paranoid Zhegorz.  Briar makes an off-hand comment about how if he’s so paranoid about the empress, why doesn’t he leave Namorn?  (Also, Briar tries to save his fancy clothes from Zhegorz flailing at this idea, which for some reason I find incredibly endearing.  I like a man who can appreciate that clothes are both beautiful and delicate things.)

I’m not entirely happy about how Zhegorz takes to the idea of leaving as if that would fix everything.  Briar’s argument is that he doesn’t know enough about other countries to have damning evidence about anyone there, so Zhegorz wouldn’t need to worry about anyone coming after him to make him talk.  But…paranoia isn’t exactly logical to begin with, so why does logic circumvent his paranoia?

Briar goes off to flirt with the empress and give her magic flowers.  And he’s just so damn cheeky about it.  I love that he can flirt just for the sake of flirting, because it’s a fun interaction, without it needing to be anything else.  Not showing off, not a bid to get anything else (he has no intentions of doing anything physical with the empress), not for the sake of manipulation, just because it’s fun and he’s silly.  Because flirting is fun.  I wish I could do it more often without having random strangers ask me “you aren’t going to sleep with him!?!?!?” as I leave the bar.  (No, random lady, and I even told him as much somewhere around the second cocktail, so if he got his hopes up that’s his own damn fault.)

(Also, cocktails in Vegas are killer, don’t have too many.)

(Also, if you do, apparently strangers on the monorail will give you cheeseburgers.  I don’t know; it was a strange night.)

Sandry tries to escape from the suddenly-renewed attention of her suitors by hiding in the garden, only to run into Shan there.  They flirt a little bit, and then Shan points out some politics.  Turns out Berenene has been working to keep her nobles small and divided, through various means of politicking, so that none of them will get powerful enough to challenge her.  The only lands she hasn’t been able to diminish are Sandry’s, so she wants Sandry married off to someone under her control before Sandry realizes this.  If she marries someone more savvy, that man + Sandry’s wealth and position could be dangerous indeed.

GOD I LOVE FANTASY POLITICS SO MUCH.  Real ones, no, they’re just annoying, but I eat this stuff up with a spoon.  It’s all about subtleties and maneuvering and using various skills and coming at things from multiple ways and it’s basically everything but kicking in the front door and I LOVE IT.  I mean, you get more complex stuff in adult books of the same ilk (sometimes; adult genres have their bad/mediocre eggs) and this is definitely on the simple side of, say, GRR Martin.  But it is for teens.  I’m not a fan of dumbing things down for kids, but there’s a difference between “dumb” and “you’re just starting out; let’s not throw you into the deep end.”  This book is that difference.  I firmly believe that stuff aimed at teens really shouldn’t be any more simplified than what Tamora Pierce writes.

Also, there’s a difference between “not as complex as it could be” and “completely fucking false.”  We lie to our kids and teens under the guise of “keeping it simple” far too often, and it’s not good for them.

 Shan says he can’t court Sandry because he’s not “permitted,” and after a bit more flirting goes inside.  Once back in there, we switch to Daja’s POV as Rizu gossips about how Shan is actually Berenene’s lover.  Then again, that’s always a temporary post at best.

Berenene sets up an outing with Sandry and her friends to an old ruins/garden, but we’ll have to get to that tomorrow.