Chapter 18 begins with Doyle being a big baby about flying. They’re riding in Maeve Reed’s personal jet to St Louis/Illinois/Faerie, and Doyle is terrified of flying. Can’t he just travel through the mirror? He did that in the first book. Merry is surrounded by her guards, they should be okay to travel without him, right? They don’t even bother bringing this up at all, which is so stupid.
So to distract Merry from worrying about Doyle, Frost starts up an argument!
“I would ask what you are thinking,” Frost said from beside me, “but it seems obvious.”
I turned my head against the padded seat back so I could meet his eyes. “What am I thinking?”
“You’re thinking about Doyle.” He wasn’t angry, and he wasn’t pouting. Maybe his voice wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t pouting. It was progress.
“I was thinking that once his fear of flying made him seem less the queen’s perfect assassin.”
His face started to close down, that cold mask building up. “That is not all.”
I touched his arm. “Don’t pout about this, Frost. I was just thinking that if we are ever attacked on an airplane it’s the one place Doyle won’t be at his best. That’s all.”
I turned my head against the padded seat back so I could meet his eyes. “What am I thinking?”
“You’re thinking about Doyle.” He wasn’t angry, and he wasn’t pouting. Maybe his voice wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t pouting. It was progress.
“I was thinking that once his fear of flying made him seem less the queen’s perfect assassin.”
His face started to close down, that cold mask building up. “That is not all.”
I touched his arm. “Don’t pout about this, Frost. I was just thinking that if we are ever attacked on an airplane it’s the one place Doyle won’t be at his best. That’s all.”
Won’t they all be useless on a plane? It’s a giant man-made metal craft, and it’s already been said that the sidhe magic doesn’t work well or even AT ALL inside man made metal things. Betcha LKH is ignoring this to show OH LOOK AT OUR INFALLIBLE BLACK KNIGHT, HE’S TOTALLY FALLIBLE. He’s afraid of flying which is something he doesn’t even need to do to travel, and he can’t even protect her in an airplane anyway because MAGIC DOESN’T WORK IN PLANES. Fuck this stupid series.
So instead let’s shift our focus to what the guys are wearing, this is always fun, right?
Rhys knelt in front of me. He was wearing his white eye patch with the tiny seed pearls on it. It was with the white silk trench coat, white fedora, and pale cream-colored suit. The only color he wore was an icy pink tie. He looked like a cross between an ice cream man and the ghost of some 1940s detective.
Rhys hands Merry the fertility ring that we totally forgot all about after the 1st book. Merry is worried that the ring will react to the magic cup that they are traveling with.
“Damn,” Rhys said, “that could be a problem.”
Frost looked very serious. “A problem, or a salvation. Once the ring was a great relic of power, not merely a chooser of the queen’s fertile lovers.”
“Funny,” I said, “I keep hearing that the ring is a great relic, but no one, not even my father, would tell me what it did once upon a time.” I looked from one of the other of them, and they exchanged one of those glances that said neither wanted to tell me.
“What,” I demanded.
They sighed in unison. Rhys sat back on his knees, the ring box still unopened in his hands. “Once, the ring made the Andais irresistible to any man whom the ring reacted to.”
Frost looked very serious. “A problem, or a salvation. Once the ring was a great relic of power, not merely a chooser of the queen’s fertile lovers.”
“Funny,” I said, “I keep hearing that the ring is a great relic, but no one, not even my father, would tell me what it did once upon a time.” I looked from one of the other of them, and they exchanged one of those glances that said neither wanted to tell me.
“What,” I demanded.
They sighed in unison. Rhys sat back on his knees, the ring box still unopened in his hands. “Once, the ring made the Andais irresistible to any man whom the ring reacted to.”
The Andais. An actual editor could have caught that.
They then talk for a while about just how irresistible the ring made the Andais, which somehow turns into the ring being a matchmaker. It matched fertile couples who would produce a child. Which would be cool, except LKH had to add a creepo factor to it.
“The ring can tell a fertile match, not just from touching bare skin, but from across a room, at first sight. Both the man and woman fell hopelessly in love and lived happily ever after.”
So, sweet, the ring essentially forces two people to fall in love for the sake of baby making. Forced love with a forced happily ever after. Something about this seems wrong to me. Maybe it’s because everything ever written or said about love potions said they turn bad eventually – a forced love match from a fucking faerie ring doesn’t exactly seem 100% foolproof.
Well apparently this ring inspired the ‘happily ever after’ fairytale stuff. Some of the fairytales were inspired by actual faery tales. The queen once used the ring in that creepy manner, forcing love upon the court, until her own true love was killed in battle. The Andais’s anguish turned the ring from perfect fertile love match to just finding lovers for herself.
Ooh oh, then we get a description of what Nicca is wearing!
He wore slacks that were so dark brown, they were nearly black, and boots that matched underneath. His hair spilled over his naked upper body, because his wings were even larger than Sage’s, and though we’d tried to get a silk-and-spandex tee over them, in the end we’d been defeated. They were too huge, and too oddly shaped, all swirls and tail.
So in the last chapter, Merry explains how she’d get frostbite from wearing a short skirt in the Illinois January weather, but Nicca is shirtless on the flight because his wings are just too inconvenient to cover. Alright.
Galen had drifted up behind everyone. “Did the ring ever pick more than one person for anyone?” He was dressed in all pale spring green.
“You mean once someone was widowed, did the ring ever find them someone else?” Doyle asked.
“That, or literally pick more than one person for someone. I mean, you may get a child from every match the ring made, but to be truly happy, not just magically in love, did the ring ever have trouble choosing just one person for someone?”
Doyle opened his eyes again and actually turned to look full at Galen. “Do you not believe in soul mates, one perfect love for each person?” It would have seemed an almost silly question from anyone else.
Galen glanced at me, then forced himself to look away to meet Doyle’s dark gaze. “I don’t believe in love at first sight. I believe true love takes time to build, like friendship. I believe in instant lust.”
“You mean once someone was widowed, did the ring ever find them someone else?” Doyle asked.
“That, or literally pick more than one person for someone. I mean, you may get a child from every match the ring made, but to be truly happy, not just magically in love, did the ring ever have trouble choosing just one person for someone?”
Doyle opened his eyes again and actually turned to look full at Galen. “Do you not believe in soul mates, one perfect love for each person?” It would have seemed an almost silly question from anyone else.
Galen glanced at me, then forced himself to look away to meet Doyle’s dark gaze. “I don’t believe in love at first sight. I believe true love takes time to build, like friendship. I believe in instant lust.”
Smart man, Galen.
Merry finally puts the ring on and they all brace for a bomb to go off or something. First, they’re afraid that the ring’s magic is going to conflict or merge or whatever with the magical cup, so they’re prepared for that to happen. But also, they’re all sort of afraid that the ring will select Merry’s “perfect match”, you know, despite the fact that SHE WORE THE GODDAMN RING ALL THROUGHOUT THE FIRST BOOK AND IT REACTED TO ALL OF THEM.
I looked up and scanned the faces around me. I realized that in a strange way, I loved them all. I certainly valued them all. I also wasn’t sure how Frost or Galen would take it if the ring chose someone other than him. Both had shown a very un-fey-like tendency to be jealous. If Frost wasn’t the chosen one, well, I doubt I’d seen pouting like that from him.
I looked up at Galen, and knew that he loved me, truly loved me, and had loved me when I had no chance of being queen. He was the only one, except Rhys, who had made it clear he wanted to be my lover when it would gain him nothing but my body, and maybe my love. Galen was such a romantic. I think he’d come to terms with not being my husband, not being king to my queen, if I got pregnant by someone else. But I think in his heart of hearts he believed I was his soul mate. He could give me up, as long as he got to keep the ideal of what could have been.
I looked up at Galen, and knew that he loved me, truly loved me, and had loved me when I had no chance of being queen. He was the only one, except Rhys, who had made it clear he wanted to be my lover when it would gain him nothing but my body, and maybe my love. Galen was such a romantic. I think he’d come to terms with not being my husband, not being king to my queen, if I got pregnant by someone else. But I think in his heart of hearts he believed I was his soul mate. He could give me up, as long as he got to keep the ideal of what could have been.
Jeez, I kinda feel bad for the guy now.
Anyway the chapter ends with Merry inhaling deeply and opening the box.
Trailer Park of Emotion 