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A chipper, smiling red-haired girl who looks to be a year or two younger than Tammy answers the door. “Hello! It’s such a wonderful day, isn’t it? How can I help you?”
“It is.” I smile. “I’m Lady Kingsley…” and I go through the story of being visiting nobles from Stonnebrin paying social calls.
“Lovely to meet you, milady.” The teen curtsies at me, then Tammy and Lindsey. “I’m Rian. Right this way. Lord and Lady Galahir will be thrilled to have guests.”
The chipper teen beckons us inside, closes the door behind us, then breezes off into the house after inviting us to follow.
Lindsey whispers, “I can’t trust anyone who’s this upbeat in this world.”
“She doesn’t realize she’s in this world,” says Tammy, gazing around at statues and paintings everywhere. “If that girl has spent her whole life in this place, she wouldn’t know about all the horrible ways Q kills people off.”
“Still… she has to be aware that the kingdom has had nine monarchs killed in three years.” Lindsey whistles. “That’s not really a statement of stability.”
“Wow.” I blink at her. “Nine?”
“Yeah,” says Tammy in a flat tone. “There have been nine books.”
“Hah.” I smile. “Were they all assassinated?”
“Nope.” Lindsey holds up two fingers. “In the third book, the king died in battle with the ice lord’s forces. In the seventh book, the queen dropped dead for mysterious reasons after a crazy illness that made her act all sorts of mad for a few weeks.”
Tammy nods. “Most people suspect House Normand of cursing her, but it’s probably just lead poisoning.”
Our discussion of dead monarchs is forced to stop when we arrive at a huge, sunlit chamber. The room’s easily double the size of the studio where my sister’s youngest daughter took dance classes as a kid. Most of the opposite wall is floor-to-ceiling windows, with many of them also being doors out to the vast property behind the house. Despite the amount of space in here, it’s nothing more than an enormous sitting room.
Elden and Sansha Galahir are in the middle of practicing some sort of music—she on a harp, while he plays a harpsichord. They continue playing for the time it takes Rian to lead us across the room, then stop to peer curiously at us.
Rian introduces us, a little less than formally, then stands there smiling at them like a little kid who just did something they think their parents would be proud of.
The next twenty minutes are surreal, to say the least. Sansha invites us to sit with them and talk before asking Rian to have some refreshments brought in. Then, the oddity begins. The siblings are angelic blondes, as beautiful as the human body can be. Although they both appear to be adults in their early to mid-twenties, they act somewhat childish. I mean, there’s a fine line between overdone idealism and innocence and behaving like a juvenile. They’re not children, but they definitely come off as not realizing how dark the world around them can be.
Rian returns with two other servants, both women older than her, maybe thirty or so. They set out an assortment of tiny cakes as well as a fruity tea. I’m unsurprised at the lack of a wine offering. Not complaining at all. It’s merely appropriate for these two. Less a sense they think ‘alcohol is bad’ or they’re not old enough for it, more they just don’t think of it as something one drinks with food… exactly like a kid might. If this realm had Pepsi, I’m sure they’d be drinking it.
The surrealness comes from feeling like I’m hanging out with the kids while the parents are away. Sansha’s a bit flightier. She seems like she might be mentally around thirteen while her brother is a touch more mature, coming off like a ‘responsible’ sixteen-year-old. Most things he says, there’s a faint pause like he’s trying to figure out if he’s saying or doing it correctly.
Sansha and Elden don’t appear to be overly concerned about assassinations and political intrigue for the most face-palmy reason imaginable: they think ‘evil’ can’t win. They’re convinced the gods of this realm will protect people who deserve it.
I haven’t read Quentin’s books, though I’ve heard that more than a few sweet, innocent characters have met cruel deaths simply for being in the way of someone else’s plans—or just in the wrong place when violence went down. I mean, there’s a reason the girls are both convinced the story would kill Thae in the first few chapters. Someone as tragic and adorable as Frostmarch’s child queen would absolutely die gruesomely.
It’s hard for me to think of her as a fictional character now. After this experience, I’m going to be wondering if every book or movie I consume is a reflection of a potential reality somewhere and the things happening there are actually occurring to living people, even if they’re in another dimension. No idea at what point fiction spawns a reality. Nor am I going to burn off brain cells trying to understand it. Some things are just not meant for mortals (or immortals) to comprehend.
So, yeah. The Galahirs are convinced the gods are protecting them because they work so hard trying to take care of and protect everyone they can who needs help.
Meanwhile, they come off as bright and friendly. When I bring up the subject of the throne, they both act like it’s a foregone conclusion they’re going to end up ruling Frostmarch. There’s a bit of reluctant resignation in the statement but also some conceit. Like ‘of course we’re going to be king and queen, we’re the only ones virtuous enough for it because we don’t want power for power’s sake.’ They think being king and queen will allow them even more ability to help and protect the citizens. Which, in an ideal world, should be the case.
That said, it’s as though they’ve poked their heads out of this reality and read Quentin’s notes so they know where the story is going before it happens. No way they did that, of course, it’s just how convinced they are.
This is a case—at least in my opinion—where the two of them would probably make fairly good rulers in peacetime. As long as everything runs perfectly, they’d be fine. Neither one of them could handle the pressures of war or some existential threat like dragon invasions or the ice demons spilling over the northern wall again. I mean, this woman would feel guilty about ordering soldiers to fight inhuman monsters, and not only because some of her soldiers would die. She’d feel bad for the inhuman monsters dying, too.
Half an hour into this crazy ‘tea party’ with overgrown children, my head is spinning. They’re too sweet. Too innocent, and really unsettling. Their demeanor comes off like preciously mature children. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what they’re doing that makes me feel a little creeped out. Likely, it’s watching grown adults act like children pretending to be grown adults, as if they have to concentrate to play the role of maturity. It defies belief that they’ve managed to continue to exist in a world as bleak as Quentin’s. If an assassin wanted to kill either one of them, all they’d have to do is knock on the door and they’d be invited right in. No, there’s something indefinably wrong here, not the least of which are a pair of siblings talking about becoming ‘king and queen.’
At least, I don’t sense darkness from them. Even if they became co-monarchs, they would not act like a married couple. In fact, I don’t think either one of them has any sense of a sexual awakening. Whatever trauma happened to them as actual children has left some deep mental scars. It’s as though they’re stuck mentally at a younger age and refusing to acknowledge the reality of the world beyond how a child would see it. To them, life is a storybook where the good prince and princess end up on the throne and everyone lives happily ever after because good always triumphs over evil.
Or... they are incredible liars/actors.
It’s so disconcerting my daughter’s lost for words. She’s had this ‘wow are you serious’ face on for the past ten minutes. Lindsey’s able to keep up with the conversation when they talk about goings on in the kingdom. She’s read all the books at least five times each and has memorized every conceivable tiny detail about everything.
I sit back and let Lindsey do most of the talking once I realize she’s trying to steer them into saying something that could give them away. She’s a bit more diplomatic than I have the patience to be right now. Good thing, since the siblings probably wouldn’t react well to me making a direct accusation.
