Kindle Notes & Highlights
what an ugly sword
It wasn't always like this, Rune thought. He watched a thin little girl sit outside her home, hugging an equally thin dog. When I was a child, we'd run playing down these streets, laughing and banging wooden swords together.
Nobody in Cadport was hungry then, Rune thought. It wasn't even called Cadport in those years, of course; it had been Lynport, the jewel of the south.
But then... then the war broke out, the Regime's great war to purify the world of "lesser nations". Then the Cadigus family burned those distant lands. Then those ships sank, and the port closed, and Cadport began to rot.
Years ago, these shops had sold ale, wine, meat pies, and even women for lonely sailors.
Slim and lithe mean the same thing
The knife pierced his tunic; he felt the cold tip between his shoulder blades, almost cutting him. He sucked in his breath and winced.
Kaelyn had the mud part right—her boots and leggings were coated with it—but she was definitely not scruffy, and Rune thought that she smelled rather nice.
She was chewing her lip and whipping her head from side to side, seeking an exit,
Shari herself, the daughter of Emperor Cadigus,
stop saying this. marking repetition
He had heard of the Axehand, a religious order of fanatics who worshiped Frey Cadigus as their god. They were assassins, enforcers, and torturers—Frey's personal thugs. Every man of the Axehand Order, they said, completed his training by lifting an axe and severing his hand; the same axe was then strapped to the stub, a reminder of their loyalty to Cadigus. Rune had never seen their kind in Cadport before; many had whispered that the Axehand Order was only a myth.
exposition dump. I hate how there are blocks of text that just break up the tension
The Resistance lived out in the forests, they said. They hid in trees and holes and secret tunnels, and they fought the Cadigus family, and they hated order and law and life. They stole from good folk to fill their coffers, and they weren't afraid to slaughter the innocent. Rune had heard all about their deeds.
He had never seen anyone but soldiers shift in Cadport;
Dragons pulled these carts now,
She had always thought them moon-eyed, empty-headed peasants. It was no wonder she had never bothered learning their names. Standing here in a cart of them only confirmed her distaste.
IM NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS TM
It's little wonder Rune was my only friend in Cadport, she thought. She missed him. Perhaps not with tears and trembles the way Mae missed Jem, but she missed him nonetheless.
"Don't say the name of that man. They say he... he..." She sniffed. "It's horrible, but they said he r-r-... he did something horrible to a little girl. And then he strangled her to death." She shuddered. "Please don't say his name."
Had Beras the Brute truly raped a child, then strangled her and buried her body?
And Shari Cadigus, the emperor's daughter,
marking repetition! We know who Shari's dad is! ffs
"All right, you miserable lot of whores," he rumbled. "If you ask me, you're good for nothing but spreading your legs in a brothel, the lot of you." He spat again. "But since Shari Cadigus thinks she can whip you into soldiers, you're mine for a few days until you reach your barracks." He clutched his groin and tugged it. "Any one of you harlots moves too slowly or disobeys my orders, you'll get a taste of this." His voice rose to a howl. "So move—now! Off the cart!"
marking for sexual assault threats as well as for being cringy and immature. If i didn't know any better, I would think a horny 14 year old boy wrote this shit.
There were a hundred women in this cart, and each one could turn into a dragon.
EXACTLY! You guys are letting yourselves be oppressed!
He's one miserable murderer who's a darling of the empire, she reminded herself. Unless you want to shift into a dragon and have that empire hunt you down, obey him.
You can still escape to the "distant lands." Unless the royal family burned away the actual landscape, you can live off the wilds of the land far away from Requiem.
At every cart, a soldier stood shouting, threatening to flay, whip, or behead anyone who moved too slowly. The shouts rose across the forest.
marking for violent threats against loyal soldiers
If they formed these ranks wrong, and she was responsible, would they behead her too?
that would be stupid if they did but I don't put it past them
She remembered this skinny girl—an orphan named Erry Docker, a dockside urchin who slept on the beach and ate whatever she stole. Some whispered that Erry was the daughter of a long-dead prostitute. Others whispered that Erry herself had taken up the profession and already bedded a thousand men.
"I could have bedded two whores by the time you formed ranks!" Beras shouted.
"They will butcher you, and skin you alive, and they will rape your flayed bodies as you thrash and beg to die."
They whispered that these rebels, wild men and women who lurked in the forests, were even crueler than the Cadigus family. They were bloodthirsty.
Beras grunted and walked on. He paused before another girl, licked his lips, and ogled her.
"And you," he said, "you are soft and rounded. You're made for a brothel, not a barracks." He spat at her feet. "I bet two coppers you end up in one. I'll be there to break you in."
Jem lay on the ground, hacking and coughing blood. Beras laughed and kicked him, again and again, as the youth mewled.
With a laugh, Beras kicked hard. The steel-tipped boot drove into Jem's head. The youth's neck snapped, and Tilla closed her eyes and struggled not to gag, not to faint. Stars, oh stars. Her eyes stung and the world spun around her. Another death.
Rune cursed
Rune cursed
Rune cursed
cursed
We were hunted, afraid, dying.
Requiem is strong now; Frey Cadigus made her strong."
NO ITS NOT! YOUR ECONOMY IS FUCKED AND ALL OF YOU ARE BROKE AND STARVING
Rune rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I had a feeling you were going to say that." He gave her a sidelong glance. "And damn it, you didn't disappoint. Yes, I've heard of this missing Aeternum babe. I realize he vanished around the time I myself was a baby. Stars, Kaelyn, every boy in Cadport my age was mocked for being the missing Aeternum."
You know... We couldve gotten these stories earlier. Have a slower burn beginning showing rune and wil's relationship that would have made his death more impactful
For the first time, Rune realized where he had seen Kaelyn before. Of course! The young, demure priestess had visited the Old Wheel the last two winters, claiming to be on a pilgrimage to Ralora Cliffs, the place where Requiem had fought a battle hundreds of years ago. The priestess would wear a headdress, heavy robes, and a hood, but Rune remembered her large, hazel eyes.
On any other night, being stuck in a burrow with a beautiful woman—overnight, too!—would have made Rune feel like the luckiest man in Requiem.
Stupid line
SHARI
Oh no why???? We don't need a chapter in her point of vieeeeeew
Soldiers walked forward in human form, clad in black armor and bearing great hammers. The dozen townsfolk wailed, trapped under the claws. "Please!" one begged, a young girl no older than ten. "Please..." Another wailed, an old woman with white hair. "Please, my princess, have mercy—" The hammers swung. Bones snapped. The dozen screamed.
The hammers swung again. Again. Snapping limbs. Snapping spines. Shari laughed. "Sling them onto the wheels!" she commanded. The soldiers dragged the wailing, broken bodies onto the wagon wheels, slung limbs between spokes, and tied the dozen down.
"I seek Rune Brewer!" she shouted. "You let him flee this city. This is your punishment. These bodies will hang until they rot!" She blew fire down at homes, torching roofs. "You will bring me information about the boy. You will tell me where he fled. Or next moon, I will break a hundred bodies, then a thousand, then ten thousand, until none are left alive."
you saw him be taken by Kaelyn. Wtf makes you think these people had anything to do with his escape. Why aren't you trying to burn down the forest? I hate the whole "she loves this land in her own twisted way." That's a stupid excuse for not doing a thorough search.
I'm only on page 82 and I have over 100 notes. jesus
LERESY
He narrowed his eyes and found himself salivating. Yes, he thought. Yes, lots of new recruits here—young, afraid, and female. He licked drool off his maw. So much flesh to claim. So much to taste, to savor, to conquer.
"You think like a fighter," Leresy whispered into the wind. "Like a brute. Like the mindless killer that you are. But I want more than the glory of war,
You're a mindless brute too. Don't act like you're clever in anyway
The rest were ripe females, and Leresy snorted and grinned and felt his pulse quicken. I will savor them, he thought. This fort is mine, and they are mine. I own these bricks, and I own this flesh.
He placed his hands on his hips, raised his chin, and felt his mood improve. His hair was woven of purest gold, short enough to look like a soldier's hair, but long enough to shine. His eyes were blue as sapphires. His cheeks were smooth, his lips full and pouty. Some said he looked like his twin, the filthy traitor Kaelyn, but of course, Kaelyn would be wearing rags now and crawling through the mud. Lersey's dress was immaculate. Not a scratch spoiled his armor of black steel and gold. Not a single errant thread marred his fine cloak of crimson wool and fur. An apple-sized ruby clasped that
...more
Hello my name is Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way. I'm wearing black fishnets and a black dress...
Also how does he have a ruby that big? Weren't jewels imported? They destroyed all of the "distant lands" so how do they have jewels when it was no longer available to them? Did they take the other lands? Arenson's maps are so bad that I can't tell what is what? Why doesn't he draw the county borders ffs?
