The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

italics - quotes by themself

bold - text i'm making annotations on

Part One, Regen I (3/27/2025)

(3) "My thighs are sticky with the brains of our babe, Connley, and I want to rip out my insides and bury it all here. I am nothing but bones and desperation."

what a brutally haunting line. we don't have a firm timeline yet for how long she's been trying for a baby but you can just feel the exhaustion in her. however many times she's lost a baby it's been too many

(2) "That is your father talking, Regan."

She reeled back and slapped him for daring to notice. The edge of his high cheek turned pink as he studied her with narrowed, blue-green eyes. Regan knew the look in them: the desire, the scrutiny. She touched his lips and met his gaze. He was a year younger than her, ambitious and lacking kindness, and Regan loved him wildly. Every sign she could read in those damnable stars, every voice in the wind and along the great web of island roots had cried yes when she asked if Connley was for her.

kinda digging this morally grey/not goody two shoes couple we've been introduced to here. or maybe i just love a couple who matches each other's freak

(2) "Would I could arrive heavy with child," Regan murmured, touching her belly. Connley put his hand over the top of hers and moved it lower to the bloody stain. He cupped her hand gently around herself.

"We will go heavy with other things," he said. "Power, wit, righteousness."

"Love," she whispered.

"Love," he repeated, and kissed her mouth.

LOWKEY I KINDA LOVE THEM. LOWKEY THEY MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE. PLOTTING AND SCHEMING AND IN LOVE

Part One, Gaela I (3/27/2025)

(1)(4) The moment Gaela was king, they should be prepared to submit to her, or face these very men and these very war machines.

referring to herself as king: maybe some internalized misogyny?? everyone so far has referred to her future reign as 'queen' so it's not inherent in society to see a queen as lesser, but she attaches more power to the title of King? maybe because the first ruler of Innis Lear was a King??

(1)(4) She was tall but not broad, though she'd spent her life encouraging muscles where few women wanted them. Her posture could have her mistaken for a man from behind, a resemblance Gaela appreciated.

definitely sensing some internalized misogyny now, or maybe just gender envy? but rooted in I.M?

(2) It amused her that he strove to hide the visibility of his sexual interest as best he was able, lest it cause her to turn cold. Gaela could always see it. She knew the signs, and she pushed at them when she was feeling mean. Their marriage bed was a contentious one.

wondering if this is actual ace rep or if it's just commentary on how war/power hungry she is

Part One, Elia III (3/27/2025)

(4) Against the martial Gaela Astore, who covered herself most days in armor and the raiment of men, it was perhaps a surprise to gaze upon such a sleek, feminine princess.

It feels like the only misogyny is coming from the actual princesses themselves?? There have been mentions of female warriors before now and it seems commonplace in this society. Is there internalized misogyny because of their father for some reason?

(1) Gaela had been sixteen when she swore to her sister, fast and secretly, that no child would lock into her womb, she would make sure of it. We will be king and queen of Lear, iron-strong Gaela had promised her willow-thin fourteen-year-old sister. No matter husbands or rivals, it will be you and me, our bodies and our blood. Regan had kissed her cheek and promised.

So maybe she isn't ace but this specific plan to not have kids and have her sister's kids as her heirs is just a way to keep their bond strong and to keep the two of them in power.

(2) "Connley, Connley, Connley," Regan said, differently each time. First casual, then wicked, then deep in her mouth, as if she could taste him buried there.

(1) "Surely you do not speak of love," Gaela scoffed. "Love is no strength."

"Not even between us?"

Gaela scoffed. "This is not love between us, we are one. We are beyond love!"

(1) Regan could not remember if Gaela had been born so, or learned it from their father, his stars, and Dalat's death. All Regan knew was that her sister had the stars of conquerors in her sky, and such men did not love well. Gaela thought she was beyond love's reach, while Regan believed herself to be composed of nothing but love. Terrible, devastating, insatiable love.

Part One, The Fox IV (3/28/2025)

(1) "No, no," responded the Fool. He was a long, lanky man, in a long, lanky coat of rainbow colors and textures. Silk, linen, velvet, strips of leather even, and lace, rough wool and soft fur, patterned in places, woven in plaid in others: a coat such as his marked him a man outside of station or hierarchy. The Fool was all men and no man at all. He wore the remains of a dress beneath the coat, and so maybe he was all women, too. And none.

Part One, Elia VI (3/28/2025)

(2) A laugh tugged out of Elia, though it was tremulous and dry and annoyed. Her sisters were terrible, but so desperately themselves.

Part One, The Fox V (3/28/2025)

(3) The fool king had weakened the ancient voice of the island when he forbade the rootwaters from flowing. Both earth and stars were needed for magic: roots and blood for power, the stars to align them. Without both, everything was wild, or everything was dead. Here, it was dying.

(1) But Elia turned away from him. Said, looking to the stars once more, "Everyone would blame you, say terrible things about you."

"And so the sun rises every morning." The bitterness staining his words stung even his own mouth.

(3) Elia of the Stars and Ban of the Earth, bridging that terrible chasm.

Part Two (3/28/2025)

(1) The sky was a maze, and he must find, for his people, the way through. Consequences were only myriad pinpricks of light, distant and maneuverable.

(1) A king is a symbol, he would say. The crown is your burden because it makes you the representative of all the causes and consequences of a lifetime, and longer. Good and bad. A man cannot be friends with why, Morimaros.

(1)(3) I love many people, and am loved, both as a man and as a king. But there is no person in the entirety of Aremoria whom I truly call friend. There cannot be friendship without the balance of power. And in that we are not equal to any in this land, because our word is the law, and our word can send any man or woman or child to their death.

Young Mars had flinched, realizing the king's word applied to him, too.

(1) Mars could not pretend to be a friend of soldiers, wounded or not. He was the crown. He was why they were here. If he refused such a responsibility, or avoided it, there was no worth to his own life, no worth to those lives snuffed out in the name of Aremoria. So the king would bear it.

Part Two, Elia I (3/28/2025)

(4) Gaela had worn trousers and a soldier's gambeson more often than not, and excitedly would explain to Dalat and the ladies what the earl Errigal or earl Glennadoer-or even the ladies' own retainers-had taught her recently, of defense and the sword and the way of men. Possibly Gaela had not yet realized how vital her occasional dropped detail was to the women's network.

So it seems mostly that people keep to assigned gender roles (in court and in war from what's been mentioned) but it's not a hard rule of society and it's not looked upon with disdain if a woman wants to be a warrior.

Part Two, Gaela I (3/28/2025)

(2) Stepping out of the bathtub, she was rubbed down with cloth, and then another girl spread cinnamon oil along Gaela's spine and arms and belly; it stung every tiny open scratch, and Gaela relished it. That was why she preferred cinnamon. And that it cost her husband.

These were the small prices he paid for ever having loved her, for thinking she was his.

(4) In the corners of her eyes she noticed as those who had never seen her-or had not seen her since she'd grown tall-now marked how like a man she seemed. How like a soldier she sat, breasts bound as flat as she could make them, allowing the chainmail and gambeson to curve as over a man's strong chest. The bulk of the sword belt at Gaela's waist made the dip of her hips more discreet, and her thighs were as strong as many men's. Her life studying war in Astora had changed her.

(1) The first time she'd bled, years ago, it had begun with days of lethargy and fever, until finally, with the first hot drops on her thighs, she ran to her mother in a panic. Dalat had hugged her and smiled, chiding Gaela for not listening the many times she'd been warned this would come. But Gaela never thought those warnings applied to her; they were for girls like Regan who would one day become women. Gaela had been absolutely certain she would never cross that threshold.

Her body had betrayed her. And continued to do so, no matter how she fought, prayed, cursed, ran it ragged, or pretended.

(1) "He will want to touch me," Gaela managed to say, quiet and low. A shudder coursed through her at the thought of it, of his hands on her waist, her breasts, and-memory triggered another sharp pain in her womb. Gaela could not hold back the gasp, and she pressed her hands to her belly, furious at her body's betrayal.

Okay so I think she IS ace or at least sex averse but she doesn't see it from a lense of sexuality, she just sees it as an immutable fact of who she is.

(1)(3)(4) The princess shook her head. Her brow pinched with misery. "No, I do not mean I want your potions or skins or abortifacients. I want this inside me destroyed. Burned out or removed, or erased with your magic, Brona. I want you to make me a man."

Part Two, The Fox I (3/29/2025)

(1)"Earn a place here. You have one." Rory said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You'll always belong here, with me," Rory continued. "My brother, captain of my soldiers, uncle to my sons, a husband to some fat, gorgeous wife, whatever you want. And if anyone says a slant word about it, I'll make them regret it."

Part Two, Elia II (3/29/2025)

(1)(2)This is no confession of hidden affection or respect. I love you as I always have: reluctantly, and knowing we might someday be rivals for this crown.

(1)(2)He waits for providence to save him, as he ever has, but he speaks more of Dalat. Both speaks of her, and speaks to her, apologies and regrets, though I cannot discover the core of them. Tell your lady-hello, darling child-he loves her still, and it is a wound in himself he sought to heal when he made all his daughters choose, not a wound in her. He believed in two things: stars and Elia, and to his foolish mind both seemed to turn against him in unison, while the two more like to join in opposition to his will stood hand in hand with smiles in their hearts.

(3)Elia closed her eyes and thought of her father's blotchy anger, the cold detachment on Regan's face, Gaela's proudly curled lips, and the incandescent passion sharpening Ban Errigal's mud-green eyes as he pushed with all his strength against the ancient standing stones. She was well versed in ignoring dull pains.

Part Two, Aefa I (3/29/2025)

(1)She'd let the adorable legitimate Errigal son seduce her, and in return she pinned him to his pillows to interrogate him on how he made everybody like him so rotting much. He was good looking, and so was Aefa; he was charismatic, and so could she be. Therefore, what could he teach her?

(1)Elia put her other hand over Aefa's. She pulled a simple ring of silver and amber off her thumb and slid it onto Aefa's first finger. "Faith," she said, not looking up to meet her friend's eyes. "Trust? I thought my father was the truest star in the sky—strange and capricious, but true. Years ago I chose him, Aefa. I chose to be his, against my sisters, because he was so very broken by my mother's death. I made myself into his perfect star, believing him to be true. But he isn't! If not that, then what? What can I believe in if I can't believe the stars will rise? How can I trust myself or you or Morimaros or my sisters or Ban Errigal or anyone?" Her voice was tight, high, and fast.

Part Two, Morimaros I (3/29/2025)

(2)He had wished to pull Elia against his chest and hold her, comfort her, promise anything she asked. He had wished to take the letters and burn them if she was afraid to read.

so he DOES actually feel something for her, or is starting to. the question is when it comes down to it, what does he want more? her heart or her country?

(2)Mars would not push too soon. But he wanted to marry her. Regardless of how it would necessarily shift his tactics in taking Innis Lear. In fact, Mars found he could not stop circling his thoughts back and back and back around to it: as if nothing else mattered to him as much as Elia Lear.

He could not recall a single time in his adult life when he'd been so tilted by his heart.

Perhaps the strangeness on Innis Lear had infected him. Perhaps she was a fracture in his careful crown.

Part Two, Gaela II (3/29/2025)

(1)Gaela would not want her men to ignore reason should she give a mad order. She wanted Osli to speak to her, to be honest with her opinions, to be strong. Gaela would surround herself with retainers and counselors as strong as she was. That foundation would make her rule greater! What were sycophants and cowards but a sign of rot and sickness?

(1)He kissed her again, lowering his hands to her waist, then curled them around to hold her firmly. His mouth was urgent; he pressed their hips together. She did not resist, but gave nothing either. How her life might've been easier if she wanted this. Wanted him. Or anyone.

(1)(4)She wrapped her hands around his forearm. "It is because I will wear the crown, and I will get it like a king. Not as a mother and wife, but as the firstborn child, as the strongest. It is no fault of mine to be forced to perform this illusion of being your wife, to pretend to be what a woman of this island is supposed to be, in order to gain power among you and your peers."

Part Two, Elia III (3/29/2025)

(2)Before she could turn, the king of Aremoria came behind her and put his hand delicately against her back. The touch held her open, somehow; sharpened her yearning.

so it seems like she's starting to return affection to him too, but she faces an even more difficult choice: Morimaros, Ban, or her country?

(1)(3)She did not answer, breathing deep for calm and concentrating on the warmth of his hand. His thumb skimmed her skin, at her spine just over the collar of her dress. She had no wish, still, to marry, but how easy it would be to take what he offered, to turn herself over to this strong king, to let herself be subsumed under his power. The way she'd been subsumed under her father. Was this why Regan chose Connley, because he was so vibrant he could fill all the cracks in her spirit?

(1)This king was charming, but she felt a sadness reminiscent of envy. She wished she could relax into sharing a meal with him, to think merely of enjoying his company as if she too belonged here, another sparrow come home to roost and be comforted. But Elia could not forsake Innis Lear.

(2)He was all she could see of the world, and his desire to kiss her was painted clear on his face. She hoped desperately he would not. She couldn't imagine what she would feel if he did, or how his kiss would change her. She only knew that it would. She wasn't ready.

Part Two, Regan I (3/30/2025)

(1)(2)And produce a child she must: the future of Innis Lear depended on it, as well as her relationship with Connley. He loved her, but if she did not bear the next ruler, he would focus all his determination on taking the whole island from Astore. And he would not care if Gaela was lost in the process.

(3)Regan became more than she was: a piece of the forest, with roots and branches for bones, vines of hair, flowers where her lips should be, lichen hardening her fingers, and a black-furred bat unfurling its nighttime wings inside her womb. It fluttered and scratched, then shrieked as Regan shrieked, spilling her magic and her delicious pleasure into the creek, into this vein of the island.

Part Two, The Fox III (3/30/2025)

(1)(3)In his arms, she became as shining and perfect as the sword at his side. Not a witch, but a sleek weapon for drawing rooms and the great hall, a perfect halberd nailed to the wall as the promise of penalty, the seductive weight of implied violence.

Part Two, Elia IV (3/30/2025)

(1)(2)These ladies offered safety to her as Morimaros did: like conquerors. Elia could accept it, sit here in their extended haven. Safety. But what would she be asked to exchange, what was the trade? Kindness and honesty were easy things to give when you were secure. Promises were safe. But safety was also inaction; it was a privilege granted, not won. Elia should've been safe with her sisters, yet she could not depend on it. Because they did not trust her-allow her-to be at ease with them, had not permitted her to share comfort. She had never been safe with Gaela and Regan, and they would never be on her side.

(1)Always Elia had been aimed and set by others. Accepted what was given, absorbed into their wills—especially, though not exclusively, her father's. She'd borne any consequence by detaching from her own heart, unwilling to examine her actions in case they might clash with the need to be still. Elia let the stars decide the course of her life, despite her bold words framing them as distant guides.

She was exactly like her father.

Part Three, The Fox II (3/30/2025)

(1)(2)"Join us, Ban. We've longed to speak with you outside your father's rather gregarious presence, especially after the news my wife has given about your witch work." Connley placed himself elegantly into the carved chair to the right of the hearth. The lord casually flipped the end of his robe over his thighs as Regan sank onto the arm of the chair, as straight-backed as the furniture itself, and as luxurious.

(1)"Well." He couldn’t stop searching for double meaning in everything. No more than he could ignore the bounty in front of him: the bared inner curve of Regan's breast, the strong lines of Connley's lower stomach. Ban took another drink.

(1)(2)As Connley watched, she pulled Ban to his feet and put her mouth against his. She tasted sweet and sharp, her lips like flower petals, her tongue darting. It felt more like an earth saint's blessing than a woman's kiss.

Then she drew away. "You are so noble, Ban the Fox. We are glad to have you on our side."

Connley joined them. He kissed Ban's cheeks, first one, then the other, and then his mouth. There was more heat than had been in his wife's touch. "Hail, Errigal," the duke murmured against Ban's lips.

Ban could not help the shiver that tore down his spine.

"Finish your drink, Ban, and tell us what the Fox of Aremoria would do next," Regan said.

The letter from Elia Lear to her sister remained inside Ban's coat, discarded across the arm of a chair.

ok so like on one hand: i love it. im obsessed with connley and regan and did ban just??? have a threesome with them?? this is so dark and twisted and hedonistic and i absolutely LOVED this scene. and also on the other hand men ain't shit and i kinda hope elia gets with morimaros now. still love ban tho. WOW

Part Three, Six Years Ago, Innis Lear (3/30/2025)

(1)(3)She wore a gown her sister had once owned, and so it was three intricate and expensive layers, but all of them some kind of yellow, and Elia was everything summer-warm in the world.

(2)Strands of wormwork and the thin light of daytime stars sparkled as they reached for each other, but fell short and dropped instead to the ground. Little imaginary flowers, born of bruised hearts and silly hopes, blossomed for just a few brief moments, lifted in pairs like the wings of tiny moths, then sank home to the earth and died.

wonder if this is just a metaphor for the past, when their love failed/died when he was sent away, or if it's going to carry to the future since both of them in the present have such divided loyalties AND ban just allied himself with connley/regan in a very intimate way

Part Three, Elia I (4/1/2025)

(1)Elia would not ask those unfeeling stars that awaited her nightly.

So is it the stars themselves she lost faith in or are they so intrinsically tied with her father that she can't have one without the other, and his betrayal sours them for her?

(1)Elia was too young when the queen died to hear the rumors that some enthusiastic star-reader, or even the king himself, had forced their prophecy to come true. But she heard it later, from Gaela's own sharp tongue.

I thought they were just angry that he chose to marry her in the first place knowing it would lead to her death (maybe by natural causes/disease) but they think he KILLED HER deliberately to fulfill the star prophecy?? That is FUCKED

(2)It occurred to her that Morimaros would allow it, if she reached to touch. Her heartbeat sped, and she folded her hands together. The king blinked, and the sun caught his lovely lashes.

(1)Shame lowered Elia's eyes again, though it was more her father's shame than her own. "I should not have to be a wife. I have spent years training as a priest. I should be an advisor, not a queen. A diplomat at best. I know nothing about strategy or holding a land secure. You have said that I bring people together, and I do believe I can; but that is because my people respond to an unwavering devotion and practice of faith and-and in my reliable prophecies and star-study. Things you do not have in Aremoria. Maybe I have some natural humor, and I think I am-I try to be-often kind. But my sisters devour me so easily, and so would I be consumed here, as your queen. No strength to you, no light of my own; merely something to be protected and displayed."

(1)If she abandoned the island, her history, as readily as her father had tried to strip her name, would she ever be able to know herself? Was that why her family made such terrible decisions? Because none knew themselves, but only knew how others defined them, be it the stars or husbands or fathers?

Part Three, Gaela I (4/1/2025)

(1)A king had no need of brothers, nor uncles, she thought viciously,

(1)In only three short weeks from this refusal to take the throne, both his brothers were dead. By accident, and by sudden illness. Lear had no choice but to take up the crown in the midst of tragedy, and never again questioned the will of the stars-if he had not, his brothers might well have lived.

(1)When he faced a choice, a prophecy could suggest one path, and upon hearing it, Kayo immediately knew if he agreed or not. The prophecies made clear to Kayo not truth or destiny, but his own mind.

(1)(2)Regan always listened, too, and sometimes Astore, though the duke laughed at putting women in charge. He said, "Unless they make themselves like our princess Gaela, it seems a waste of women's talents."

Part Three, Regan I (4/1/2025)

(1)(2)"Reason! That viper has no need of it, for she is a thankless child, and as unnatural as a woman can be!"

(1)(2)"No, you are not so hard-hearted as her, my girl, nor have turned your heart into cruel armor where there should be only soft comfort."

(3)"Who will you pass our crown to, then, my barren daughter?" the king asked, softly, almost as if he were sad. "You and your star-cursed sister, my empty girls."

(2)"You are not welcome where my wife has declared it." Connley backed her with his body, firm at her side. He always had, even when, as now, it crashed his own driving game. He would be a curtain wall around Regan's heart.

Part Three, Elia II (4/1/2025)

(1)(2)"You've already begun the invasion of my island," she whispered, voiceless so she did not scream. "You lied to me, saying there was ever a chance of peace. You've been lying to me since before I even met you. Every letter. Every kindness."

The king did not defend himself.

(1)(3)"I have not lied to you about my intentions, nor my desires," Mars insisted. "I do what I must. I am many things at once, the high and the low, the root and the stars. My kingdom is strong because I know how to breathe high clouds, to take sunshine in hand, while wading my feet through the shit. That is how a land flourishes, and its plants and flowers, birds and wolves and people. Not with magic, or old superstitions, but with a leader who will do everything, give everything, to it."

(3)"Ban Errigal." Aefa's voice was rough, like sand that had seen no tide. "You're thinking of him."

(1)(2)(4)With a sigh, Errigal let her slide down his body. "I know you don't coddle him, but you are a woman, and this is a woman's place here, women and witches, orphans, runaways, those with no lords. My son will not be such a thing."

(1)(3)Brona considered herself an emissary of that wild, starving earth, and devouring the power of the Earl Errigal, taking it into herself, was a blessing, a ritual itself, to weave the stars and roots together again.

Part Three, The Fox III (4/1/2025)

(1)(2)Lear's nose wrinkled. "My retainers are all star-blessed; this boy is not. His wrongful birth and dangerous stars offend us. And he must be farther away, so as to end the influence his stars have upon you. Your stars deserve more from you both."

Elia's love really blinded her because what do you mean your father treated your best friend and the man you loved like this and you didn't even resent him for it a little bit?

(2)(3)He'd said, Tell me a prophecy for us, and she'd replied, I am the stars to your roots, Ban Errigal. Together we are everything we need.

Part Four, Elia I (4/1/2025)

(1)Her father had said, We might bring him home someday, if ever such a path is discovered by the stars.

So Elia had stopped listening to the wind, had taken fully to the stars in order to hunt down that path, with calm and focus and trust. Until she was so calm, so focused, so filled with trust in the stars alone, that the island's voices quieted, and fell away.

(2)He did not do it on purpose, she whispered in the language of trees.

But he did do it, the wind said.

(1)As if they could be replenished by one who took ever more than she could give, wrapped in her own loss.

Part Four, The Fox I (4/1/2025)

(2)Drunkenness muddied his thoughts, as Ban felt pulled in too many directions. He'd sworn to Morimaros of Aremoria because that king had respected him enough to ask for his skills, and not command them. Ban loved Elia, but perhaps only a memory of her; he hardly knew her now. But Regan and Connley, they were like him: ambitious and powerful, and they understood the roots and needs of the trees! Connley had tried to open the Errigal navel well yesterday, arguing with Ban's father that it might make the iron sing freely again.

(1)And worse, since the morning of their intense wormwork, Ban was having an impossible time conversing with the trees, as if all their attentions were elsewhere! Not on him, no; he was never chosen first. Never the most beloved.

(1)Shame stopped the too-vivid dream. They would likely reject him anyway, if it came down to it. Laugh that he'd taken their flirtations too far. Choose each other always, abandoning him. Everyone did.

What are they doing to my boyyyyyy

(1)"I am drunk," he muttered, wishing his father was mad like Lear, not this constant, certain coward, this devotee to rules of destiny. Errigal was such a rotting follower. Ban needed him to be magnificent, like-like Connley and Regan. Like Mars. How could a woman like Brona have ever admired this man?

(1)Ban would die a thousand humiliating deaths before he stood by and watched Lear put on the crown again.

(2)The lady touched his face tenderly. "Tell us," she coaxed.

Connley put his hand against Ban's other cheek, casual and intimate. "Tell us," he said, more commanding.

(1)"Brave boy," said Regan, lovingly, but Ban knew this was not courage.

(2)He fought against a terrible smile; he mustn't show his hand too soon, but remember when Errigal came to Hartfare and tore Ban from his mother, without a care to what Ban needed or wished; when he shoved his son onto a horse, taking him away from love forever, saying it was for their own good, that Ban was too low for Elia's glory; every fondly applied description of base and so many hearty, easy laughing other sons, as if Ban would cease to exist if his father were to do so.

(2)Ban shoved his sword home in its sheath with a sudden, sharp snick. "I've seen no sign from the stars I should help you, sir."

This moment was the last drop of honey, the first whisper from a beloved voice. Worth every betrayal, without space for regret.

"Ban!" Errigal cried.

The Fox smiled.

Part Four, Elia II (4/1/2025)

(3)"Is that what you truly believe, that you and your sisters are not part of us? That Dalat did not make her heart into another root of Innis Lear?"

Part Four, Regan I (4/1/2025)

(1)Those boys had little interest in his cold quiet and used to call him his mother's daughter when they were younger and stupid enough to forget he would be their duke. Though Tear had hardly minded. They would be his allies when the time came, because he knew everything they wanted, and he would be in position to grant it, or not. And because he was, in many ways, his mother's daughter. She taught him very, very well, and he learned, adeptly and eagerly.

Part Four, The Fox II (4/1/2025)

(3)For what was kindness but offering comfort where none was owed?

(1)Sinking to his knees in the muck, Ban knew that no matter what else, he was as wrecked as this island. He was no vainglorious, distant star, but a creature of earth; flawed, desperate, and with a heart so ready to be hurt it could feel nothing else.

Part Four, Elia III (4/1/2025)

(3)Ban was everything wild and cherished about Innis Lear: the shadowy trees, the harsh stone pillars, the windy moors and deep cutting gorges. The aching, curling waves of the sea.

Part Four, The Fox III (4/1/2025)

(3)Elia touched her lips to Ban's shoulder and whispered against his skin, "I won't love anyone so much more than everything else that I lose it all if that person is lost. If it makes your world smaller, it isn't love."

(2)"That isn't how it works. Something always comes first. My mother chose Hartfare over me. My father chose Rory, always. Morimaros would never even consider me first; he must choose his crown and country. Even you chose your father, and the stars, rather than me, never made me first in your heart."

"I was a child," she whispered.

"I was, too."

this sucks so much becuase i understand BOTH of their points of view but the worst part is that elia is never truly going to understand what ban has been through because she's been sheltered and spoiled her entire life. she could never understand NOT having a father who doesn't love you unconditionally because she's always had that, even now she doesn't think her father hates her. she'll never be able to cross this divide between them.

(2)"I will choose everything," she promised. "I will be everything."

Ban thought of the storm. "I will be exactly what I have always been."

Part Four, Regan II (4/1/2025)

(1)She'd kissed his tears away, and as his trembling hands cupped around her elbows, a shaking panic had filled her heart, for this was too big, too bright, and there was no space for brightness around Regan Lear. She was not allowed: there were no stars in her, only an empty, wide sky.

(3)This was the limit of earth magic, and star prophecy, too: neither could force a body to do what it was not capable of doing on its own. Roots might encourage, water direct, wind gift with speed, stars shine hope, but if something was too broken, not even the blood of the island or the tears of the stars could mend it.

Part Four, Elia IV (4/1/2025)

(1)It was clear from the bleakness in his face that Ban did not believe her. Well, she would make him believe, just as she would make her sisters. "Go to Gaela and bring her to me at Errigal Keep. I will get my father and go to Regan. We will wait there, and when you and my eldest sister arrive, you'll see what I can do."

it's kind of crazy how naive she still is. like does she really think she'll just be able to talk out years of enmity and rot? literally WHY would her sisters listen to her??

Part Four, Gaela I (4/1/2025)

(1)"Men of Astore and Lear!" Gaela cried, standing with her dying husband against her hip, the murder weapon brandished and dripping a single long line of blood onto her wrist. "You have until his blood stops running to choose. Against me, and there will be a massacre here today, all the legacy of the fine Astore spirit become one of death and waste. Or with me, and we will ride out this afternoon to take all of Astore's ancient lands back in the name of our duke, husband to the new king of Innis Lear."

(3)Astore held on to her hips, face pressed to her side. She stroked his hair, tugged it in the way she'd learned he liked, during their long marriage. But he was past such desire; he slid forward, blood spattering the packed earth as he slowly fell, but caught himself on his palms. His body shook with effort; Astore collapsed.

Part Five, Elia I (4/2/2025)

(3)Soon the island will show you how to be queen, if you keep listening. There is a bird of reaping that flies through all my holy bones, in the direction of the saint of stars. That is where the future is sanctified by the past, Elia, and life and death are nothing but different shapes of the moon. You will listen, and the island will know you.

Part Five, Aefa I (4/2/2025)

(1)(3)Rory pushed his head to her waist, hugging his arms around her hips. She bent over him, her hands on his thick red hair, hushing his sudden gasp of grief, whispering her comfort, her apology, and allowing even her own grief, finally, to be spoken. A tiny tear slipped down Elia's cheek.

Part Five, Gaela I (4/2/2025)

(1)Lear had poisoned Dalat to bring about the prophecy that she would die on her eldest daughter's sixteenth birthday.

Are we ever going to find out if he ACTUALLY poisoned her?? Because now they're both dead so who else would know?

(1)They would need to find the ruins of the ancient star cathedral where the navel of the island drove deepest, that inspiration of the old faith and the way of kings long dead. And that-that well Gaela would fill to the brim with sand and salt.

The only power on Innis Lear would be her own.

It's crazy that she disdains her father so much and yet she's making the exact same mistakes that he did.

Part Five, Elia II (4/2/2025)

(1)Rory pressed on, distraught, "She doesn't ... Do you know anything about war games? Gaela wins them, but always the same way. Even when her specific tactics vary, the strategy is the same. It is always an aggressive one, always driven and determined, but she cuts losses without a thought. She is a great commander, but a queen should not leave fields trampled behind her every time, nor use a village as a point of play. They're homes, and they matter beyond winning that single battle."

(1)(2)"If you ask me, Elia," Rory said, low and serious, "I will say yes. But you shouldn't."

"Tell me why."

"We shouldn't do things that will hurt more than they heal."

(1)"This island will break," Brona answered, as if her lover had not. "Gaela cannot rule Innis Lear. She is as bad as Lear himself, and worse than her late husband, Astore, for she embraced her path with wholeheartedness as fanatical as your father's. She is the continuation of Lear's rule, not a break from it, no matter what she believes. A zealous refusal to listen is no better than a zealous devotion to the stars."

(1)"Dalat did it to herself."

Elia's lips fell open, as if she could taste the delicate petals of hemlock. "She tried to be the island's queen?"

"No," Brona said. "No, it was not for that. She did not intend to be saved."

Elia's tongue dried and her gorge rose. No.

Brona continued gently, "Dalat loved you, and your sisters, and even your father and this country, so deeply that she died to preserve it. She died to keep everything alive, to hold your place and your father's authority."

Well she's an idiot?? Did she not think for a moment that ANY of her daughters would be angry because of the prophecy coming true? All of this is because of her.

(1)"Dalat did not want you to know," Brona said. The witch sat straight, old grief bowing her mouth. "She wanted all of you to have faith in the stars and in your father, too. She thought-she thought her death would bring you all together. Make you stronger."

Elia laughed pitifully and looked up at the sky. Wind blew hard enough to blur the constellations. "Oh no. She trusted none of us, not even my father. Her husband! She did not-did not let us be her family."

DUMB

(1)(3)The Fox had betrayed everyone; all knew it to be true. He was a shadow, a wormworker, a traitor, a spy. A bastard. He knew the secret paths behind sunlight and slipped through cracks, understood the language of ravens and the tricks of trees. He could see how, with one act, he could change everything here, destroy and re-create with a word.

Part Five, The Fox II (4/2/2025)

(1)"I did not doubt that. I only ... do not know how ... I was not made for love." Ban shrugged, trying for indifference, but it was a jerky, offended motion.

Part Five, Aefa II (4/2/2025)

(3)"Rain is not always a storm. The wind does not always howl. Sometimes death is quiet, or love is peaceful. There are little things."

"Fire can be a candle flame," Elia whispered.

Part Five, Regan I (4/2/2025)

(1)(3)I know who I face, and I know when, and why."

"Do we know why?" Regan whispered. "Some moments lately, I don't remember."

"For love," he said. And there was his lie.

For love, the witch whispered back, in the language of trees.

Part Five, Gaela II (4/2/2025)

(1)Understand, and watch out for her babies. Understand and hold this kingdom together with her husband, despite how terrible his grief would be.

This was so stupidly reckless. You have absolutely NO guarantees for what's going to happen because of your death, just what you 'hope'. Even if there ARE whispers of dissent better to stay alive and fight with your family! This is so fucking dumb.

(1)(2)"What? This? I did not-could not risk changing anything with words!" Gaelan curled his long fingers around her bare shoulders. Her head lolled, but with a great strength of will Dalat lifted it again.

"My heart was strong enough," she whispered, horrified, so very heavy now, and scared. "I only die because I thought there was no other way. For my-us. I thought you would never bend. I thought ... my daughters would be torn to pieces by Connley and-and Glenna-Glenn-and ...

THIS IS SO DUMB Y'ALL HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR 20 YEARS WHY COULDN'T YOU SPEAK TO EACH OTHER. FULL GROWN ADULTS.

Part Five, The Fox III (4/2/2025)

(1)(2)The king smiled grimly and spat blood. "You make those death strikes, Ban. Fight me like you betrayed me: with no thought of my heart."

(1)They fell together to their knees; Ban's name on the king's bloody lips.

Ban heard nothing else, only his name, again and again. He opened his mouth to say—nothing.

There was nothing.

He thought,

here I am at last.

Part Five, Regan II (4/2/2025)

(2)Regan was the pillar for Gaela's wounded, raging heart, a web of iron roots dug deep into the earth of Innis Lear to hold Gaela high.

(1)(2)Regan pressed the bloody scratches on her cheek again until they seeped, like the tears of Saint Halir, the spirit of hunters. Then she put one bloody hand against Elia's and said, You will be alone, and for that I am sorry. "Regan," Elia whispered back.

"I will not miss you," the witch said, lifting the small jeweled knife, "but you must remember us to your children."

(1)(3)Regan turned the knife upon herself. The point found her skin, just over the collar of her ruined gown. "I will take my mother's way, too," she said with a small, hysterical laugh. "The rootwater cannot save me from this! Soon, Gaela, soon, Husband, soon, Mother, soon, all my poor babies!"

(1)This occurred to her like a tiny seed: if she'd already done the worst, it didn't matter what terrible things she had yet to do. So the eldest daughter of Lear gripped her sister's hand, and promised never to let go.

It was too late for anything else.