Chapter 39 begins with Andais rubbing the tortured person in Merry’s face. Not literally, mind you, but more bragging that she was able to solve the murder without needing the cop’s assistance. Anyway, it’s Gwennin who confessed, and it’s because Beatrice had stopped having sex with him. I’m sure all the incels in this would would agree that’s a perfectly good reason to murder a woman.

He tells them that he never meant for her to die, but it shouldn’t matter because she was a distraction, not an actual lover. Merry tries to find out why he would go out of his way to injure/kill her if she never meant anything, but turns out, she totally did mean something to him. Oh that pesky shame in having relations with anything viewed as lesser.

Andais and Merry discuss needing to heal Gwennin, at least so that he can be brought before the press? For reasons? And then Merry realizes she’s covered in mud, Amatheon is almost black with mud, and his hair had grown from all that fucking?

I looked at my hand on Rhys’s white shirt, and realized she was right. I was covered in thick, dark mud. Amatheon was as black with earth as the queen was with blood. His hair was plastered down the length of his body. When he’d vanished his hair had been shorn above his shoulders; now it seemed to be at least to his calves.

Adair was less filthy, for he had been up top.

Okay, back up. How… how were they positioned during the last chapter’s mudfucking? Amatheon must have been totally underneath Merry, with Adair on top, like a fucking faerie oreo. Except they somehow managed to time their movements perfectly with one another, like a seamless fuck machine?

Anyway, both Adair and Merry’s hair had grown as well. Whatever. Andais is mad that the sithen seems to come alive with all of Merry’s magical sex. A stream had formed in the hallway to her bedroom, and Andais wants to turn it into a reflecting pool. Merry disagrees, but doesn’t want to disagree with Andais verbally. Merry wants it to be a happy, bubbling spring, just as it is. Andais doesn’t do “happy and bubbly”. She keeps being real mad and grumpy at them, but lets Merry decide what to surround the spring with.

Merry, Adair, and Amatheon all decide on a nice little field, where the sun can shine down on the land. Inside the sithen. Which is an underground ROCK BURROW. Whatever, magic makes it happen. A magical new sun appears in the magical new sky above this magical new field just outside the crazy fucking queen’s bedroom.

Andais orders them to clean up, as they have a new mystery to solve – why would King Taranis risk war because of the rape accusation lie. Then Andais asks for a kiss.

“Give your aunt a kiss, Meredith.”

I opened my mouth to ask why, then closed it. She was doing it to be cruel, in part, but everyone I had touched today seemed to have gained from my touch. Perhaps the fact that I did not want to touch her would make it all the sweeter for her.

“Of course, Aunt Andais,” I said, and my voice was almost neutral.

“Does the thought of putting your white flesh against me right now sicken you?”

YES. YES INCEST SHOULD ALWAYS SICKEN YOU. WHAT THE FUCK.

Yeah, so then they kiss, and it’s all hard and heavy, and Andais tastes of blood, and Merry has to fight not to gag.

“I think, before I give my throne away, that I will have to demand one night with you, Meredith. You are entirely too human, too Seelie. You would not like what I would do with you.”

Yeah, what you would do is incest, and it’s disgusting and disturbing, and just stop it. And not only is it incest but it’s INCEST RAPE. Merry would never willingly go to her Aunt’s bed. INCEST. RAPE.

CHRIST, THIS BOOK. JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE.

Anyway, they then all talk and argue for a time about how Merry being forced into the Queen’s bed would kill part of her soul, and they worry that the part of the soul to die would be the part that is bringing life back to the sithen. They talk of Merry’s father, and how he never tried to take the throne because of his love for Andais, his sister. Eventually Andais gets so mad she kicks them all out of her room, and they all willingly flee.

Eventually they run into Galen and Kitto and all the other guards. They followed the calling/moth tattoo on Kitto to find Merry. Onilwyn asks to speak to Merry, and he drops to his knees and begs forgiveness. He had underestimated Merry, and now wants to throw his allegiance toward her. He will drop being Cel’s spy for her.

Anyway, then the book just abruptly ends as Merry considers Onilwyn’s offer. Just abruptly ends. One short chapter after the most insane sex scene that prompted this entire blog.

LKH is not a great writer. Her editing is nonexistent. Her chapter lengths are wildly inconsistent, and most of her books are like 85% dialogue. There’s hardly any action or plot anymore aside from fucking. She cannot write suspense to save her life.

But I will give her that I’ve never before thought about bringing a man back to life by mud sex.

I hope you all enjoyed my return to the Merry Gentry series! Book five, Mistral’s Kiss, is up next! This book really helped bring the crazy sex scenes to the forefront, but believe me, they do not stop with the next books.