Giraffedragon
asked
Sebastien de Castell:
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[I haven't started the fourth Greatcoat book, so I'm sorry if it's mentioned more there, but how does Kest feel about being the Queen's Sheild? I mean there was some from Falcio's viewpoint, but I was wondering if you would mind mentioning a little how Kest feels about it? Your books are amazing by the way. (hide spoiler)]
Sebastien de Castell
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Thanks for the kind words!
For Kest, becoming the Queen's Shield is about accepting that his days as a swordsman are over. Throughout Saint's Blood, he's struggling not only with the pain of having lost his hand and the fact that one of the consequences of giving up his Sainthood is that wielding any bladed weapon now causes him tremendous pain, but even worse, that his lifelong effort to become the greatest swordsman in the world has been wasted. He devoted his life to the sword and to Falcio and now that's all been in vain.
There's a moment (which we don't see on the page directly as the story is told from Falcio's point of view), when he picks up the shield in the old Greatcoats tavern called the Busted Scales, and he's thinking about the way so many of the others have transformed themselves to go beyond their previous destiny (Valiana's courage, Aline daring to push back against a God, Quentis leaving the Inquisitors . . . etc), and he simultaneously sees the perfect geometry of the shield, and at last gets a sense that there could be a different focus to his life: to protect all of them (rather than just Falcio) – to be, in effect, the country's shield. Of course, Kest, being Kest, barely shows any sign of it to anyone else.
Hope that helps!
Sebastien (hide spoiler)]
For Kest, becoming the Queen's Shield is about accepting that his days as a swordsman are over. Throughout Saint's Blood, he's struggling not only with the pain of having lost his hand and the fact that one of the consequences of giving up his Sainthood is that wielding any bladed weapon now causes him tremendous pain, but even worse, that his lifelong effort to become the greatest swordsman in the world has been wasted. He devoted his life to the sword and to Falcio and now that's all been in vain.
There's a moment (which we don't see on the page directly as the story is told from Falcio's point of view), when he picks up the shield in the old Greatcoats tavern called the Busted Scales, and he's thinking about the way so many of the others have transformed themselves to go beyond their previous destiny (Valiana's courage, Aline daring to push back against a God, Quentis leaving the Inquisitors . . . etc), and he simultaneously sees the perfect geometry of the shield, and at last gets a sense that there could be a different focus to his life: to protect all of them (rather than just Falcio) – to be, in effect, the country's shield. Of course, Kest, being Kest, barely shows any sign of it to anyone else.
Hope that helps!
Sebastien (hide spoiler)]
More Answered Questions
J. Griff
asked
Sebastien de Castell:
Hello Sebastien. If I can call you that, I’ve asked a question before & you were kind enough to answer so I thought I’d try it again. I am truly enjoying your Spellslinger series & am currently engrossed in Charmcaster, but my question comes is why am I not able to get Charmcaster as an audiobook here in the U.S.? Audible offered it & I pre-ordered it, but when release day came it wasn’t available anymore.
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