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Following an announcement from the Trehaug bird-keepers to those in Bingtown calling into question Kim’s good standing among the bird-keepers, “Seductions” opens with Hest attempting to persuade one of Leftrin’s crew to allow him the run of Kelsingra. Hest reflects on similar attempts with others in Kelsingra and his lack of success with them. When Davvie happens by, Hest turns his attentions to him, plying the inexperienced boy with some initial success.

In Chalced, Sedric continues to suffer at the hands of the Duke, tended by Chassim. The pair of them commiserate about their respective situations, assessing them coolly and considering their prospects. They begrudgingly move forward.

In Kelsingra, Leftrin and Alise confer about developments, noting the clear potential for Kelsingra’s growth. How the development will be managed receives comment, as do Rapskal’s increasing instability and the dragons’ desire for vengeance upon Chalced. Amid the discussion, Leftrin suddenly proposes an entirely unorthodox marriage, and, after some consideration, Alise agrees.

Hest continues to ply Davvie, surveying Kelsingra and calculating his potential profits from it. And he makes a sudden advance on the youth.

Carson begins to grow anxious about Davvie, and Sedric follows as he searches him out. He finds Davvie in Hest’s hands, and Sedric interposes himself. Hest attempts to seduce Sedric once again, but fails.

Sedric recognizes Hest’s attempt for what it is and rebuffs him forcefully. He returns to Carson to find him conferring with his nephew, and the three make to head off. They espy the approach of Icefyre as they do.

Hest, staggered by Sedric’s refusal, chases after him briefly before the approach of dragons frightens him. He seeks a bath to restore himself, in which he finds Kalo. Hest attempts to dominate Kalo, failing utterly, and being eaten for his arrogance.

In Hest’s death, I note a(nother?) parallel to Kennit. Both of them find themselves short of a leg (Kennit here). Although it would be a wonderfully tidy bit of writing to have the serpent that took Kennit’s leg be the one who became Kalo, it does not appear to be the case; even so, the amputation does put something of a neat little bow on the parallels between the two characters. Aside from their endings, both come from Trader stock, both have unfortunate relationships with their parents, and both have narcissistic and masochistic tendencies; they both speak to something of a type in Hobb’s writing (which extends to Regal Farseer, as I’ve remarked–here and here, for example). I’ve not done the updating on the Fedwren Project that I ought, certainly, so I am not as aware of whether others have explored the type as I ought to be, but if they’ve not, it seems a useful line of inquiry to follow.

Another thought occurs as I reread the chapter. If it is the case that the Traders are mimetic of the early US, absent some (but far from all) of the perversities that accompanied the settlement efforts, and if it is the case that the progress towards and into Kelsingra mimics the further colonization of the Americas (as I’ve suggested, here and elsewhere), what does the nascent Elderling civilization in and around the renewing city become? In some ways, it seems Kelsingra is moving towards something of a utopia; the romantic aspects of the present chapter and Sedric’s discourse seem to further comments made earlier, and the notion Alise voices of Kelsingra offering many the opportunity to simply start their lives anew, if at the cost of significant work, is certainly an attractive one. Indeed, as I think on it further, I am put in mind of the “city on a hill” rhetoric that is so often espoused. How “true” that rhetoric is in the real world is an ongoing question whose answer is almost always some nuance of “not so much,” but in the Realm of the Elderlings, is it perhaps being set up to be more true than in the historical and contemporary antecedents? It would not be the first work to present what might be taken as an idealized society, of course, although for whom it would be ideal, both in milieu and outside, would still take more than a little untangling.

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Another letter from Erek to his old master, Kerig, provides an update from the previous before “The Well” begins. As the chapter opens, Rapskal pleads with Thymara to accompany him after she and Tats have taken him aside. Thymara considers recent events, conferring mentally with Sintara as Rapskal continues to plead, his words not entirely his own. At length, Thymara is persuaded, and the pair walk Kelsingra, Rapskal speaking from memories he has taken in from it and plying Thymara further. He urges her to reach into her own ancient memories for the secret of restoring Silver.

Elsewhere in the city, Reyn and Malta confer about their fortunes and those of their family and of Tintaglia. Malta places Phron’s hand upon the dragon and offers something not unlike a prayer.

Thymara resists the call to dive into memory, and she rejects Rapskal’s insistence harshly. Sintara pleads with Thymara, however, and she reluctantly descends into the well along with Rapskal. As she does, she feels the memories rising around her, and at the bottom of the shaft, she finds the remains of her past self. More memories rise within her, and she releases a hidden reservoir of Silver from which the dragons begin to drink.

Phron cries and Malta moves to feed him from her breast, the child’s parents exulting in the evidence of changes worked by Tintaglia upon him. Other dragons approach Tintaglia, shunting the Khuphruses aside as they bring Silver to Tintaglia, treating her. The elder dragon rises, hungry, and moves to hunt amid the joy of those surrounding her.

I remain pleased to see the chapter-prefaces used not only in the Asimovian style of providing greater context for the world and the events depicted in the pages of the chapters, but also to trace ongoing outside narratives. I know I’ve commented on the device before, but as it continues to be a source of delight for me, I feel I ought to remark upon it now and again. And it really is a treat to have the short little snippets–because the letters are rarely of any length, sensibly to them being carried by pigeons–do so much to illustrate what else is going on. More formally, by pointing towards events outside the main narrative, the letters assist Coleridgean willing suspension of disbelief by gesturing towards Tolkienian unexplored vistas that authenticate the act of sub-creation; more briefly, by making the presence of outside context within the milieu explicit, the letters deepen the verisimilitude of the main narrative. That is, they make the world in which the main narrative takes place “more real” than a work centering on metamorphosing dragons and their effects upon the world would otherwise be.

The depiction of the Silver in the present chapter continues to reaffirm for me the link between it and the Skill plied in the Six Duchies. I’ve commented on the perceived link a few times (such as here, here, and here), so I was already quite confident in the interpretation. Reading again of the manner in which the Silver-treatment occasions Tintaglia’s recovery offers more to bolster the interpretation; compare, for example, the dragon’s recuperation to that Fitz endures in his Skill-healing (see Golden Fool, chapters 20 and 21). The continued effort to “normalize” things across series taking place in the same milieu, relatively contemporaneously, is clear in the present chapter; it works better here than in some other places in the tetralogy, which is a pleasure to see.

The depiction of the Silver in the present chapter also continues to remind me of the EarthBlood in Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. (I write about it a bit here.) The tension between destructive force and creative power embodied in a markedly colored outflow from within the earth is telling, although I’d need to do some additional rereading to pull out the parallels more fully. Doing a bit of source-study remains tantalizing, of course, but that would require more of an investment of time, and I am not sure how much of it I am likely to have in the near future.

It’s for good reason, or reason good for me, at least. But I would still love to attend to the project, along with a great many others…

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Following a missive from Reyall to Erek and Detozi in which he announces his engagement, “Expectations” opens with Alise asking to move inside as she rapidly assesses events and her place in them. Carson begins to take charge of the situation with the captives that have been brought to Kelsingra, and Hest presents himself before Alise. Alise considers the implications of his appearance against the events of the past months, pleading with her as Reyn and others rebuke him. Alise upbraids him for his deceit of her, disclaiming their marriage publicly, and when Hest protests, Sedric interjects, testifying to Hest’s perfidy. Carson commends Sedric for his declaration, and the group departs from a stunned Hest.

Later, Reyn rejoins Malta as those assembled in Kelsingra confer. The pair discuss Phron and his progress, noting the still-poor prognosis for their son. Reyn also comments on the proceedings regarding the captives and the relative youth of most of those involved in them. Various testimonies and perfidies are summarized, and Reyn and Malta consider their status among the new Elderlings. Their thoughts turn to Tintaglia, and Malta avers feeling her slow approach. Reyn tries to believe but cannot quite do so.

Within eyeshot of the city, Kalo urges Tintaglia along. She reaches the city, losing consciousness as she does so and the new Elderlings flock to her.

In Kelsingra, Tintaglia’s condition is assessed. Reyn and Malta plead with the dragon to drink what Silver is available, administering it to no obvious effect. Thinking they have failed, they ask for privacy for themselves, Phron, and the dragon, and they are given it–including by Leftrin, whose thoughts turn once again to Alise.

I note with some attention the comment Carson makes as he begins to take charge of the captives brought to Kelsingra: “let us act as befits who we are, rather than who we think they might be” (278). Being the age that I am and with my adult life therefore shaped by the events that have occurred, I have heard much in the line of “We have to do X, because those people are going to do it.” My response, when I have offered one (which I don’t much do anymore; it does me no good, and I rarely get traction with it), has been much in the line of Carson’s comment. It doesn’t matter what those people, whoever those people are (and it shifts; oh, does it ever shift!); what does matter is what we do–or what I do, because that is the only thing that falls under my control. With others, I can advise. I can argue. I can cajole. I can command. I can punish (perhaps). But I cannot compel; the choice always exists for others to do other than I would have done. For me, though, the only choice is what I would do; what I do is necessarily what I have chosen to do. That does not mean the choice is always what I would prefer, or that it is a good one; there are sometimes no good choices, which I believe Hobb comments (among many others). But only I can make the choice for me, and I can make the choice for only me. So I find I appreciate Carson’s remark, affective as my doing so might be.

I note, too, Sedric’s public testimony against Hest. Although it is the case that Kelsingra is a far more sexually permissive place than the other Traders’ settlements, that he is willing to out himself in the way he is is something that comes off as commendable; the abused rising against their abusers is a thing worth seeing. Not all real-life victims of abuse are so fortunate as to have situations in which they can do such things, of course; many who attempt something like Sedric does find themselves much less well off than he does in the present chapter. But then, one of the things that fiction can do is show what can be, more than what is.

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