Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

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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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