WEBVTT

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Welcome to your safe space. The podcast, your

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partner, friends, parents, whoever thinks it's

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dirty. Don't have time to read books? Want to

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understand all the jokes and the TikToks? We

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got you fam. We're the spice traders and we deal

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in spicy books. I'm Katie and I need it to make

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sense. I'm Liz and I'm hypercritical. Before

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we get to today's episode, we want to encourage

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you to check out our Patreon, where we publish

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extra episodes every other week, as well as ad

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-free versions of our regular feed episodes.

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Also, any series we read past the first book,

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all that coverage is Patreon only, so think series

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like Akatar, Fourthwing, Guild. Anyway, we really

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appreciate the support and encouragement to continue

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doing something we love and sharing it with you.

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Thanks in advance for checking that out. As always,

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we start this episode with three things. First

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is a generic trigger warning. You can find specific

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triggers for this book in our show notes, so

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please check those out. We also use foul language

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and talk a lot about sex. If you have sensitivity

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to either of those things, our podcast probably

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isn't for you. Second, our episodes talk about

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books, the whole book, nothing but the book,

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so help me goddess. If you don't want something

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spoiled, don't listen to this episode. And finally,

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we acknowledge that a good book can hit you at

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the wrong time. Our views discussed in our episodes

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are our opinion, and we don't want to diminish

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the work or the talents of the authors in our

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community. That said, we have some notes. Okay,

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so, should we get into it? Yeah, let's get into

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it. All right, so what are we talking about today,

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girl? Today we're talking about Amid Cloud and,

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no, Clouds, plural clouds, right? Plural, yeah,

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clouds and bones. Clouds and bones, okay. Today

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we're talking about Amid Clouds and Bones by

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Ella Fields. This was published in 2024, and

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it is... Standalone? Sorry, I didn't update that.

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I was like, please tell me it's a standalone.

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I picked it specifically because the subtitle

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is a standalone fantasy. There we go. Updated.

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I swear to God, we'll go kill Ella Fields right

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now. I did see the author and the publish and

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the MIDI thing. And I was like, I'm done. Because

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they're all ongoing series. All right. So one

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small with feeling today. Today we're talking

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about Amid Clouds and Bones by Ella Fields, which

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was published in 2024, and it is a standalone.

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Thank you. Thank God. Thank God. Seriously, thank

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you, Ella Fields. This book is 364 pages long,

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and that's a midi for us, which is also really

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refreshing that we get a standalone of like a

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decent length without being gigantic. Yeah. Full

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disclosure, I picked this book because it is

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build as a standalone romanticie, and we need

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more of those. Girl, yeah. We don't say thank

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god because we're not enjoying the book. It's

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just like, oh. It's hard to commit to like an

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eight book series. Yes. Or where it's like maybe

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it's two books, maybe it's 12. And they're all

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900 pages long. Like I just, I need some shorties

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up in here. Yeah, same. The cover, I think, is

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really pretty. OK, so the cover is very simple.

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It's really pretty. It has this pastel -y, ethereal

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clouds at the top, and then ookie -spooky roots

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and bones at the bottom. Literally, the title

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is the cover. And I'm here for it. There's another

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cover that I saw online when I was looking for

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it that's very similar, but I think it's our

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main character from behind. So she's standing

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at a balcony. and you see her blonde hair, and

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then it's still the clouds on the bones below

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her. It's also really pretty. I'm happy with

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both of them. I think it's pretty. It seems like

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there's a lot of special editions for this one.

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Oh, yeah. There's like this red one that has

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a dragon on it for some reason. You'll find out

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why later. OK, great. I was like, did I miss

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that? Nope, not yet. OK, good. That one's also

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really pretty. The other thing that I just realized

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is that I assumed, I don't know why, probably

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because it's a standalone, there's not a lot,

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that this was self -published, but it's Simon

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& Schuster. It was a pretty big publisher. Yeah.

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Well, and on the cover, it says, I think USA

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Today's best selling author. Yeah. Which I've

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never heard of. I've never read anything else

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by this author, but it's clear that she's got

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credentials of some kind. Yeah. Which I appreciate

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because I think I saw this in the debrief, but

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I solely chose this book because it's standalone

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and we need those. Yes, clearly. Oh, my God.

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She has so much. I'm looking at it now. Yeah,

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which is great. I mean, it looks like she has

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other standalone romantic romances, which I would

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read another one of hers. So far, I definitely

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would, which is great because we need more. Oh,

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wow. She has a lot. Yeah. That's great. Great

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news. So great news. So that's where we are.

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That's why we're here. Went a little bit on a

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tangent, but it's beautiful. So let's get into

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it. Katie, start us off. All right. Before we

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get into it, I do just want to mention that I

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like that this is, I like the title of this book

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because it's not a blank of blank and blank,

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but it is kind of like that adjacent. It scratches

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that itch without being like formulaic. Yes,

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which we didn't. I noticed that we didn't actually

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ever call that out when we did Queen of Myth

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and Monsters, which is a blank, a blank, a blank.

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We're just like to sensitize to it that we don't

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even notice. I think you're right. And this title's

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great. It's like ethereal. It gives you the whimsy.

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We are going to talk about Faye. It's also a

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little dark because this is kind of dark, romance

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-y. Yep. Yep. All of those things. It's great.

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No notes. So this is a MIDI. We are going to

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break it up into two parts. This part is going

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to be Chapters 1 through 18 and then part 2 will

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be chapters 19 onwards. It is worth noting that

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there are different parts in the book too It's

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part 1 and part 2 but they're not broken up the

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same way So we're gonna get I think into part

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2 a little bit in this part. It's a little confusing

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when they do that, but It'll you'll understand

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why when we get there and it's fine. It's where

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we are This is just our lives. So this book is

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on KU for all of you who participate. It is told

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from a single first person perspective throughout.

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There are some exceptions to that, but it's really

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clear when that was not straightforwardly happening.

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And our main character is a woman named Mildred,

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which is a name. Not my favorite name. It brings

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forth the imagery of a very old woman. Yeah,

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I mean, it is a very dated name, right? Like,

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grandmother's, silent generation, Mildred's.

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Yeah, and she doesn't... She doesn't go by, like,

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Milly or anything. Like, it's Mildred. Her name

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is Mildred. Yeah, her name is Mildred. Fine,

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whatever. I'll get over it. So we start with

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part one, which is called Welcome to Ethermore.

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Ethermore? Ethermore? How did you read it? I

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read it as Ethermore because otherwise my brain

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wanted to say, yeah, and the ether like clouds,

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right? Otherwise I want to say Ethelmore. Because

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Mildred and Ethel, they go together. OK, so we'll

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go with Ethermore. I'll try my best. If you can,

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it's OK. I don't know. The first handful of chapters

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were fun to me because it gave me big swan princess

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vibes. Yes. Yes, and I was a little worried because

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we'll get into it, but she starts very young

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and I was like, how long is she going to be young?

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But like she rapidly ages to be a full grown

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adult. And I like that we didn't spend too much

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time, but we got enough to like get what's going

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on. Right. It was very Swan princessy. Yeah,

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I heard the. The the song at the name of which

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escapes me But the song that they play in the

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movie when they're like going back and forth

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where they end with like what else is there?

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That was the entire time. Yes Anyway, we jump

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into it and we see Mildred She's described as

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having pale yellow hair yellow not blonde pointed

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ears and we're we're told that she's half fairy

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she is a princess and She is hiding in the dungeon

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I was a little bit confused for half a second.

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I was like, why are you here? I thought she was

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in the dungeon, and I was also confused. And

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I think that's one of the things we kind of mentioned

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at the top, that there's some things with the

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writing that are a little clunky. Yeah. This

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was one of those things. Because she's literally

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in a cell. Yeah. And she's not happy about it.

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No, she's sad. She's in her feels, and she's

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in a dungeon. I'm like, OK, you're 11. Slow your

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roll. Yeah, I was like, how did you even end

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up here? Right. Anyway, her half -sister Bernadette,

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who she calls Bernie, comes to find her. And

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Bernie calls Mildred Butter, which I thought

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was so cute. It's super cute. I liked Butter

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as a nickname. I love when kids have food -based

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nicknames. My daughter has a food -based nickname.

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And when we went skiing most recently, we ran

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into another child whose nickname was Potato.

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That's adorable. So I'm just a big fan. Yeah.

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Anyway, so her sister, Bernie, has come to coax

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her out. And the reason that Mildred is hiding

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is because she doesn't want to meet her betrothed.

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Her betrothed is a couple of years older than

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her, and he is already nicknamed Attakin the

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Heartless. Rough, when he was 15. Right. He's

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full -blooded Sealy Fay and the Crown Prince,

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and they are betrothed. They're betrothed because

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they want to seal an alliance between their kingdoms

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specifically for military power and that will

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become more clear as we get further into the

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book. So Bernie takes Mildred back upstairs out

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onto the lawn where everybody is. They go over

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to their father and he's in conversation with

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the Seelie King and Attakin shows up and the

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first thing that he does is he squishes a beetle

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with his boot, which is exactly who he is. Yeah.

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Yeah. He's a dick he's a dick and so they're

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encouraged to walk together alone with guards,

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of course and Mildred just doesn't know what

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to do with herself during this conversation.

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She's incredibly aware that like she doesn't

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like this person He doesn't like her and like

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there's no way that this is going to end. Well

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One of his parting shots at her is he says quote

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out of all the dangers awaiting you in my court

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I'm the one you'll need pretend protecting from

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And she's like, great. Welcome to my marriage.

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Amazing. Yeah. Well, especially because we get

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it. I don't know if it's here. I think it's around

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here that Bernie is like, your husband will protect

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you. It's kind of like his whole job. It'll be

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fine. And then you get Attican that's like, I'm

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the problem. Right. Good luck. Nobody else is

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going to bother you. It's me that you have to

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worry about. Enjoy. And we said this in our debrief,

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but like, this is what I wanted Cruel Prince

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to be. Yes. And especially in the first few chapters,

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that's how I Was reading it and it's it's and

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also this is how you do an enemies to lovers

00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:34.299
Right because they are enemies and he is a bully

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But he's not like trying to drown her. I mean,

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I guess he tries to kill her, but he's not trying

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to drown like he's on violent I mean like it's

00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:45.899
magical It hits different when you're like playing

00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:48.039
a prank on somebody that could result in being

00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:50.340
deadly Then when you're literally holding somebody

00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:53.379
underwater with your own hands Yes, exactly.

00:11:54.019 --> 00:11:58.460
Like, my God. Yeah. So we skip ahead a couple

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of years, and now Mildred is 14, and she goes

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to this place called Sparrow Hall. And this is

00:12:04.019 --> 00:12:07.879
described as, like, basically a barn on the,

00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:10.320
like, the banks of a river. And I thought for

00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.460
sure, as she was setting this up, I'm like, this

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is where everybody but her and Attican are going

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to get killed. Like, somebody's going to set

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this barn on fire. There was so much foreshadowing

00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.299
for this, but they're fine. They just had the

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party and whatever. Yeah, I thought something

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more was going to come of that, too. It's just

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a place. It's just a place. But Mildred gets

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tired of being in society, inside, and so she

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walks outside to be with her horse. When she

00:12:33.769 --> 00:12:37.009
does this, she sees Attican and some other fairy

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female post -coital. And not in a romantic way.

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She sees him stand up and basically doop his

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pants and leave the girl on the floor and just

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walk away. Yeah, and this is the first... This

00:12:50.450 --> 00:12:52.659
gives us... several points of information. One,

00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:55.639
Attican's a dick. Two, she also tells us that

00:12:55.639 --> 00:13:01.000
it's not the him having sex thing that is the

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problem, right? Because fairy are very kind of

00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:07.740
free love adjacent. And even she knows that if

00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:09.279
she wanted to take an interest in somebody like

00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.039
she could, she just doesn't have an interest,

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right? So it's not that she's like, ugh, prudy

00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:16.500
like that. She's just like, huh, you're kind

00:13:16.500 --> 00:13:18.620
of a dick. You're just going to leave her on

00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:20.659
the ground and not help her do her corset up

00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:23.179
or anything? OK. Right. That's typically a two

00:13:23.179 --> 00:13:28.299
-person job, my guy. Yeah. OK. So he walks back.

00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:33.299
They get into a verbal spar. And she sees basically

00:13:33.299 --> 00:13:37.899
this wet spot on his pants. And he basically

00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:39.419
calls her out for watching. And he's like, did

00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:42.120
you get an eyeful? And she's like, unfortunately,

00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:43.980
I missed the part where you soiled yourself,

00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:48.779
which he does not like. She's really sassy and

00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:51.240
even though she's kind of a blank slate, I like

00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:55.179
their banter. Yeah, I agree. Their banter is

00:13:55.179 --> 00:14:01.340
really good and her internal inner workings or

00:14:01.340 --> 00:14:02.919
thought process is really interesting because

00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.820
it's clear that she is a very intelligent leading

00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:11.080
lady. Yes. So after this, rather than go inside

00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.259
and watch Attic and do anything, she decides

00:14:13.259 --> 00:14:15.059
to go back to the carriage waiting outside of

00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:18.820
this hall and sleep. She's interrupted when somebody

00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:21.259
throws a two -headed serpent into the carriage

00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:24.259
and she realizes that she's locked inside. She

00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:26.980
gets bitten and this serpent is very poisonous,

00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:29.799
so she has a really high fever, is delirious

00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:33.519
for weeks and nearly dies. When she comes out

00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.100
on the other side of it, she knows that she needs

00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:38.139
to get revenge because she knows that this was

00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:43.200
Attican. Yep. Yep. And this is setting the tone

00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.419
for their dynamic for like the entire book, which

00:14:45.610 --> 00:14:48.070
Like the framing of the dynamic changes, but

00:14:48.070 --> 00:14:50.309
I like that it doesn't materially change, which

00:14:50.309 --> 00:14:55.090
is they're legitimately trying to best each other

00:14:55.090 --> 00:14:58.110
the whole time. Like this is a zero sum game

00:14:58.110 --> 00:15:00.850
for them. Yes. And the other thing I liked about

00:15:00.850 --> 00:15:02.870
this that makes it feel different than Cool Prince

00:15:02.870 --> 00:15:05.570
or the other like enemies lovers is because she's

00:15:05.570 --> 00:15:09.490
really smart. They do feel evenly matched, right?

00:15:09.529 --> 00:15:11.230
Like their wits are evenly matched. The way they

00:15:11.230 --> 00:15:12.870
like kind of play the game is evenly matched,

00:15:12.889 --> 00:15:16.789
which just makes it more fun and feels less Abusive.

00:15:17.450 --> 00:15:19.490
Right. And well, and he's not like raising hands

00:15:19.490 --> 00:15:22.470
at her either. No, no. Like you said, they're

00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:26.690
playing pranks that could be deadly. But they

00:15:26.690 --> 00:15:29.210
aren't. Yeah, I mean, like I I know that it's

00:15:29.210 --> 00:15:32.190
a fine hair that we're splitting here. Yeah.

00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:35.009
It's like, I don't know, it works for me like

00:15:35.009 --> 00:15:37.230
this. It works for me, too. This is this is the

00:15:37.230 --> 00:15:40.070
kind of enemies to lovers that I like. Yeah.

00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:45.220
So we fast forward a couple more years and. Mildred

00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:47.679
is still plotting her revenge and her revenge

00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.360
is like hardcore premeditated because oh, yeah

00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.000
She doesn't want to do just anything. She wants

00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.820
to do the same thing to Attican. So she like

00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:00.240
goes on this pilgrimage with under some pretext

00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.039
to a different place, captures a two -headed

00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.899
baby serpent on her own, milks it of its venom,

00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:11.399
and then pays off a servant boy to poison Attikin's

00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:14.320
wine at the next time that she's slated to see

00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.960
him. It's a long con. The long con. But even

00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.039
in the moment, she sets it up perfectly because

00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.200
they enter the ballroom. Attikin, they're at

00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:26.159
Mildred's place this time. And they're having

00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:27.960
a ball, right? And Mildred just walks in, and

00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:29.879
she just waits. And she's making, like, hard

00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:33.039
eye contact with, like, Atikin's group. And eventually,

00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:35.059
like, Atikin saunters over, and they get into

00:16:35.059 --> 00:16:37.419
a verbal spar. And he's completely engrossed

00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:40.220
in this conversation that he just takes the wine

00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:43.019
from the tray that this paid -off servant gives

00:16:43.019 --> 00:16:45.919
him, drinks it, and she's like, deuces, have

00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:49.620
a good night. He, like, immediately passes out.

00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:53.399
Immediately passes out. It's amazing. It's gold.

00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:56.610
It's so satisfying. Right. And I love that it

00:16:56.610 --> 00:16:59.690
sets it up to your point, Mildred's not a damsel

00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:02.809
in distress that needs saving. No, no. It feels

00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:04.410
almost like they're testing each other, which

00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:08.029
is more fun. Right. And it's not so cliched that

00:17:08.029 --> 00:17:10.670
she needs to go through a training montage to

00:17:10.670 --> 00:17:13.430
defend herself. No, she's perfectly capable on

00:17:13.430 --> 00:17:16.130
her own. Yeah. And she's really clever to go

00:17:16.130 --> 00:17:18.029
to these lengths to get him back in the same

00:17:18.029 --> 00:17:22.640
way. Right. So then we skip forward another couple

00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:27.180
years and Mildred is 18. They are visiting the

00:17:27.180 --> 00:17:29.880
Cloud Castle which is where the Unseelie King

00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:33.579
and his son Attican live. This is described as

00:17:33.579 --> 00:17:38.859
like like a really badass tree house which I

00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:41.579
liked a lot. Yeah I think she even says something

00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:44.500
like castle of trees or something. Yeah and it's

00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:47.460
it's not tree house like you're thinking of um

00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:49.960
Like where they they literally have tree houses

00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:52.039
like up in the treetops. It's like no the trees

00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.240
are so big that that castle is inside them Yes,

00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:59.079
which is So cool because we get the very fae

00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:05.059
vibe of that, right? so they're having the celebration

00:18:05.059 --> 00:18:09.339
and Mildred goes exploring and she runs into

00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.440
Attican never could have guessed who could have

00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:16.539
guessed They get into their banter again banter

00:18:16.539 --> 00:18:20.940
is on point He chokes her? It's not like a heart

00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:24.660
choke. It's like a Stevie sexy choke, right?

00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:27.720
It's not like a Zodiac Academy or Cruel Prince

00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:31.359
choke. No, he's basically holding her against

00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:35.940
the wall by her throat. Yes. Right. And she's

00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:39.140
into it. Her internal monologue is like, oh,

00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:41.619
this is kind of nice, actually. We could kiss

00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:44.099
maybe. We could kiss maybe. I can not like you

00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:46.470
and still find you attractive. Yeah. Humans hold

00:18:46.470 --> 00:18:49.009
multitudes. And the one thing I really couldn't

00:18:49.009 --> 00:18:50.950
tell you what Attican looks like, but she focuses

00:18:50.950 --> 00:18:52.990
a lot on his eyes. And they're copper -colored

00:18:52.990 --> 00:18:55.329
with gold flecks, which just sounds stunning.

00:18:55.730 --> 00:18:57.410
Yeah. She also talks about stabbing them out

00:18:57.410 --> 00:18:59.529
a lot, which I also enjoy. I also enjoy that

00:18:59.529 --> 00:19:01.410
too. I think there's this interesting thing that

00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:04.230
she does with his eyes, which are, in this scene,

00:19:04.329 --> 00:19:06.769
they're described as being goldy. But as you

00:19:06.769 --> 00:19:08.890
get further and further into the book, he develops

00:19:08.890 --> 00:19:12.089
green flecks. And they almost oscillate. You

00:19:12.089 --> 00:19:14.880
know he's pissed off and like, Not in a lovey

00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:16.579
-dovey mood when his eyes are gold and when they're

00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:20.619
more green there he's like Nice Attikin, I guess.

00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:27.140
Yeah, it's it's very subtle. Yeah, it is So anyway,

00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:28.680
they're doing this thing they're bantering against

00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:30.420
the wall they almost kiss they're interrupted

00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:34.680
by this person called Ruel who is Essentially

00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:38.140
Attikin's flavor of the weak lover, but she sticks

00:19:38.140 --> 00:19:41.019
around for like she's the flavor for a while

00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:46.710
Yeah, right During this conversation we get some

00:19:46.710 --> 00:19:50.589
lore. We learn that Garin, who's Attikin's father,

00:19:50.769 --> 00:19:54.869
the current Seelie King, loved the unseelie queen

00:19:54.869 --> 00:19:59.430
Kalista and he supposedly killed her. There was

00:19:59.430 --> 00:20:04.369
a war and that war is almost over because Garin

00:20:04.369 --> 00:20:09.170
and his allies, including Mildred's dad and her

00:20:09.170 --> 00:20:12.849
countrymen, have penned the unseelie into their

00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:15.599
Kingdom the bone lands and are building wards

00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.319
around it around it effectively caging them in

00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:21.960
Don't ask any questions. It'll come up later.

00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:24.920
It'll be fine. Honestly It will say this book

00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:27.220
does a good job of planting seeds of the political

00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:30.559
intrigue without doing the info dump like I had

00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:34.519
questions But it was better than being like here's

00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:39.660
the history of our land Yeah, exactly And it's

00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:41.960
like the right pacing of it, right? Because you

00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:44.819
start at the surface level, a very like acceptable

00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:46.799
throw away thing. And then as the story progresses,

00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:49.160
you get a little bit deeper and a little bit

00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:50.539
deeper and a little bit deeper. And you're like,

00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:52.619
oh, that's why that seemed a little bit weird.

00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:56.119
Got it. Yeah, it's very nicely done, honestly.

00:20:57.860 --> 00:21:01.559
So then we flash forward about a year and this

00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.059
is when we say we we see Mildred leaving her

00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:06.980
homeland She's saying goodbye to Bernie and Bernie

00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:09.240
is absolutely wrecked She's trying not to show

00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:12.099
it because she is the next queen of this kingdom

00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:14.940
and she has to like put on a strong face But

00:21:14.940 --> 00:21:18.440
before Mildred leaves she tells her quote. Don't

00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:22.990
let this make you forget that you are loved And

00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:25.049
they part ways. And Mildred doesn't say goodbye

00:21:25.049 --> 00:21:26.769
to her father in this moment, but she does say

00:21:26.769 --> 00:21:28.529
that they had a private moment the night before.

00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:31.549
Again, the King has to show no weakness. And

00:21:31.549 --> 00:21:33.950
in that goodbye, he gave her something of her

00:21:33.950 --> 00:21:35.769
mother's, which is something called a featherbone.

00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:39.390
Some kind of heirloom from her dead, fairy mother,

00:21:39.650 --> 00:21:42.369
Elorna. Purpose unknown, but the King's basically

00:21:42.369 --> 00:21:44.069
like, it was hers, and I think it's time I give

00:21:44.069 --> 00:21:48.609
it to you. Love you, bye. Love you, bye. Right.

00:21:49.049 --> 00:21:50.829
Don't worry. We know this will matter. We will

00:21:50.829 --> 00:21:53.940
find out. I was stressed that it was called a

00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:55.700
feather bone because to me it was very delicate

00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:57.819
and I was like that thing's gonna break. That

00:21:57.819 --> 00:22:01.799
thing's gonna break. I didn't know what this

00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:03.500
was. I thought maybe it was gonna turn into a

00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:05.279
weapon of some kind. This is not that story and

00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.920
I'm really satisfied with where it went. Well

00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:09.880
she literally says like I don't know the use

00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:11.740
of this other than I could use it to stab out

00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:15.299
his eyes. Yeah she does say that a couple of

00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:17.559
times. She says like quite a few times at least

00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.119
in the first few chapters it kind of fades out

00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:21.569
later but like yeah. She's got a thing about

00:22:21.569 --> 00:22:24.430
stabbing his eyes out. So when she arrives at

00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:27.130
Cloud Castle, nobody greets her, which is its

00:22:27.130 --> 00:22:30.230
own little humiliation. And her things have already

00:22:30.230 --> 00:22:32.910
been moved into the castle, specifically into

00:22:32.910 --> 00:22:35.890
Attikin's rooms. God forbid she gets her own.

00:22:36.470 --> 00:22:38.609
Listen, honestly, I appreciated that because

00:22:38.609 --> 00:22:42.089
I feel like especially in these. Royal like you

00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:43.410
got it. You have the things like they have their

00:22:43.410 --> 00:22:45.849
own quarters and I get it But like no just I

00:22:45.849 --> 00:22:47.490
want them to be in the same room immediately

00:22:47.490 --> 00:22:50.329
Right exactly. Like let's skip one two six five

00:22:50.329 --> 00:22:52.029
six seven eight. Let's move to the end, right?

00:22:52.150 --> 00:22:54.049
We know where they're gonna end up. It's a mythical

00:22:54.049 --> 00:22:58.710
world. We don't need to worry about Appearances,

00:22:58.750 --> 00:23:02.289
okay, right exactly Especially because like nobody

00:23:02.289 --> 00:23:04.509
expects them to like what wait until marriage

00:23:04.509 --> 00:23:07.230
right? Like these are fey they are wild like

00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:10.880
they are sexually freer than like our puritanical

00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:14.240
asses over here. So like, that's not the problem,

00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:16.420
right? The problem is that they don't, she doesn't

00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:20.279
want to be here. Exactly. And she has to be here

00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:22.960
because daddy said so. Right. And an alliance,

00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:25.819
you know, depends on it. So sorry, that was the

00:23:25.819 --> 00:23:30.660
breaks. Sorry. So she's in Attican's room, enter

00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:34.680
Ellian, who is the steward. And he is immediately

00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:36.900
the only person that's being nice to her. And

00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:39.369
even when Even when he's doing that she's like

00:23:39.369 --> 00:23:42.130
I don't I don't know why you're doing this, but

00:23:42.130 --> 00:23:45.470
it's not because you're nice And it's suspicious,

00:23:45.529 --> 00:23:48.670
and I'm not an idiot right But he does things

00:23:48.670 --> 00:23:51.009
like he'll fix her hair when she doesn't even

00:23:51.009 --> 00:23:53.349
know have a comb or anything She doesn't have

00:23:53.349 --> 00:23:55.049
any ladies in waiting which I thought was interesting

00:23:55.049 --> 00:23:57.849
like nobody's helping her with her shit Yeah,

00:23:57.990 --> 00:23:59.009
I thought that was interesting to you because

00:23:59.009 --> 00:24:02.630
she is going to be a queen Yeah, there were a

00:24:02.630 --> 00:24:04.670
couple of those like mechanical things like this

00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:07.170
castle has functionally six people into it. Like

00:24:07.170 --> 00:24:11.130
there's not there's not that level of like believability

00:24:11.130 --> 00:24:13.250
there. But whatever, I breeze right past it.

00:24:13.369 --> 00:24:15.009
Yeah, I was fine. I was here for the rest of

00:24:15.009 --> 00:24:17.789
the plot. Yeah. So he does things like that.

00:24:17.789 --> 00:24:19.829
And then he feeds her little bits of information.

00:24:21.190 --> 00:24:23.029
And like, frankly, when I was reading this the

00:24:23.029 --> 00:24:24.230
first time I waited for there to be a catch,

00:24:24.269 --> 00:24:26.109
but there doesn't seem to be one. And even later

00:24:26.109 --> 00:24:31.089
in the book, like Much of the people in this

00:24:31.089 --> 00:24:33.049
castle that we will meet are effectively like

00:24:33.049 --> 00:24:35.349
trickster gods. They're not out to get anybody,

00:24:35.970 --> 00:24:39.190
but they're out for a good time. Yeah, which

00:24:39.190 --> 00:24:41.250
I feel like is very, if you, I mean, we read

00:24:41.250 --> 00:24:44.869
a lot of books about fairies like Akatar, but

00:24:44.869 --> 00:24:47.910
this is much more kind of that traditional fey,

00:24:48.230 --> 00:24:50.769
like they're tricksy and like a little manipulative

00:24:50.769 --> 00:24:53.490
and a little creepy, but like not, they're not

00:24:53.490 --> 00:24:57.250
bad. They're not evil. Right. Exactly. Malicious.

00:24:57.430 --> 00:25:00.980
Yeah. Unless you wrong them. Exactly. So speaking

00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:03.539
of maliciousness, Mildred knows what she's getting

00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:05.799
into, right? Like she's met Attican before. She

00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:10.279
knows he is vicious. And so she's decided that

00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:14.680
she must survive. And in order to do that, her

00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:17.160
best bet is to refuse to just roll over and take

00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:20.160
this, right? She can't play dead. So she makes

00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:22.519
herself at home. She moves all of his shit over,

00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:25.160
puts her gowns in his closet, takes up space,

00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:28.339
cleans up his fucking mess, makes herself impossible

00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:33.220
to ignore. She says because, quote, if fairies

00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:37.220
unchangeably loathe one thing, it was boredom.

00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:40.759
And this is undoubtedly true about Attican. And

00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:44.369
I think this is such a fun way to look at. Because

00:25:44.369 --> 00:25:47.109
in this story, fairies are immortal. I don't

00:25:47.109 --> 00:25:49.150
know what that means for Mildred's mortality,

00:25:49.269 --> 00:25:51.029
because she's only halfway. But they are immortal.

00:25:51.130 --> 00:25:54.289
And so I think it's a really fun and logical

00:25:54.289 --> 00:25:56.230
fatal flaw that they don't want to be bored.

00:25:56.750 --> 00:25:58.750
They need to be entertained. You live forever.

00:25:58.869 --> 00:26:01.890
It gets pretty boring. Yeah. And I like this

00:26:01.890 --> 00:26:04.509
juxtaposition of she knows there's a power imbalance

00:26:04.509 --> 00:26:07.670
here, right? She is a half -breed, essentially.

00:26:08.029 --> 00:26:11.369
She doesn't have a lot of sway over her future.

00:26:11.450 --> 00:26:13.309
And so she's managing the thing that she can

00:26:13.309 --> 00:26:15.450
control, which is Attikin's reaction to her.

00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:20.910
Which is hilarious. Yes. So then we get a little

00:26:20.910 --> 00:26:24.349
bit more lore. So we specifically get lore about

00:26:24.349 --> 00:26:27.490
the two goddesses that make up essentially the

00:26:27.490 --> 00:26:30.990
two halves of the Fae realm. So we get Etheria

00:26:30.990 --> 00:26:35.329
and Asherlyn. So they were torn apart, torn in

00:26:35.329 --> 00:26:38.740
two, their sisterly bond, by what is described

00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:44.019
as a pet mortal. Which sounds wild. Which sounds

00:26:44.019 --> 00:26:46.339
wild. But he was like their sex pet, right? So

00:26:46.339 --> 00:26:48.160
they would have sex with him, and he eventually

00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:52.279
turned into the God Arrow. And we learn that

00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:56.220
they essentially were having kids with this guy

00:26:56.220 --> 00:26:58.700
that they didn't know about, and those kids were

00:26:58.700 --> 00:27:03.920
the fey. And so Etheria is the source of the

00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:09.109
Unseelie, and Asherlyn is the Source of the sorry.

00:27:09.250 --> 00:27:11.009
I have that backwards. Etherea is the source

00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:13.009
of the seely and then Asherlyn is the source

00:27:13.009 --> 00:27:16.730
of the unseely Which I was here for the lore

00:27:16.730 --> 00:27:21.009
right so Attican arrives at breakfast Just a

00:27:21.009 --> 00:27:23.109
brief interaction. They have a little banter.

00:27:23.390 --> 00:27:25.509
But importantly, the scene confirms for us that

00:27:25.509 --> 00:27:27.789
Attikin has the magical ability to vanish, which

00:27:27.789 --> 00:27:30.950
is essentially like teleporting at will. Not

00:27:30.950 --> 00:27:33.170
all fey have it. Royal fey are more likely to

00:27:33.170 --> 00:27:35.329
have it. Obviously, Mildred doesn't have any

00:27:35.329 --> 00:27:37.069
magic because she's only half fey. As far as

00:27:37.069 --> 00:27:39.390
we know for now. Right. As far as we know. Before

00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:41.529
he vanishes, Attikin invites her to breakfast.

00:27:41.589 --> 00:27:44.309
And so she goes. And this is a court breakfast.

00:27:44.390 --> 00:27:48.109
So we get introduced to Phineas, who is Attikin's

00:27:48.109 --> 00:27:52.640
second cousin. Folly. who is Phineas' twin, and

00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.299
she's an artist who seems like totally uninterested

00:27:55.299 --> 00:27:57.299
by anything else, but she's not afraid to throw

00:27:57.299 --> 00:27:59.920
daggers at people who displease her. It's fun.

00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:03.019
Ruel, who is that Faye who's in love with Attican

00:28:03.019 --> 00:28:05.299
and really doesn't like that Mildred's here.

00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:10.740
And then we have Garen, the king, and then Cordania,

00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:16.420
who's Garen's consort. Cordania. Cordelia. And

00:28:16.420 --> 00:28:19.319
Cordelia, importantly, has been Garen's concert

00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:21.779
for a long time, but Garen refuses to have another

00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:26.039
queen after Queen Calista, that whole kerfuffle

00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:30.359
thing. After he murdered her? Yeah, I mean, there's

00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:32.839
that thing. It's fine. Someone's like, because

00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:34.559
that was his true love. I'm like, I don't think

00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:37.269
that's why, though. Yeah, I mean this whole thing

00:28:37.269 --> 00:28:39.549
about Calista right like she was the queen of

00:28:39.549 --> 00:28:42.430
the unsealy and then ran away because the king

00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:45.569
was so toxic and sought refuge with Garen who

00:28:45.569 --> 00:28:47.730
and they fell in love and then she displeased

00:28:47.730 --> 00:28:50.170
him enough that he killed her and I'm like, okay,

00:28:50.170 --> 00:28:53.170
you can't both love something so much that you

00:28:53.170 --> 00:28:57.049
Kill it. Okay, like listen this sounds this sounds

00:28:57.049 --> 00:28:59.109
bad and not very feminist. It sounds like Calista

00:28:59.109 --> 00:29:02.750
might be the problem Girl Helen of Troy. Hello,

00:29:03.190 --> 00:29:04.789
like you're just fucking shit up all over the

00:29:04.789 --> 00:29:09.619
place Right, and like, there will be a good explanation

00:29:09.619 --> 00:29:11.400
for this at the end of the book, but it is very

00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:15.339
much like, even Mildred has the inner monologue

00:29:15.339 --> 00:29:19.920
of like, and you guys are just not taking any

00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:24.599
responsibility for this at all? Yeah. Your response

00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:26.680
is to start a war where hundreds of thousands

00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:29.920
of people die? Just because of like, basically

00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:31.880
a pissing match between two dudes? It's Helen

00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:34.859
of Troy. Right, this doesn't make sense. So later

00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:40.140
on, We get our first steamy, heady scene between

00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:44.000
Attican and Mildred. I'm glad that it happened

00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.319
pretty quick. I mean, we get the almost kiss,

00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:49.880
but I thought it was going to be a lot more hot

00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:53.019
and cold for a while and not like, oh, no. Oh,

00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:56.799
yeah. Yeah, we're in chapters eight, nine -ish,

00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:59.799
and we're just off to the races. Which is great.

00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:02.980
Mildred is taking up space in Attican's chambers.

00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:07.849
Attican is not. Pleased but not displeased So

00:30:07.849 --> 00:30:10.809
when Mildred takes a bath, he's like they're

00:30:10.809 --> 00:30:14.170
watching and goading her like so you are do I

00:30:14.170 --> 00:30:15.589
don't make you uncomfortable Are you gonna cover

00:30:15.589 --> 00:30:17.690
up like what what is it and she knows that she

00:30:17.690 --> 00:30:21.829
can't so she doesn't? Which is great. I I loved

00:30:21.829 --> 00:30:25.150
it. She was like, I don't give a fuck Tidbits

00:30:25.150 --> 00:30:27.529
up through here that like he might not like her

00:30:27.529 --> 00:30:28.970
and she went out like him, but they find each

00:30:28.970 --> 00:30:31.569
other attractive It's very clear. He can't stop

00:30:31.569 --> 00:30:34.259
staring at her tits She's got huge tits. That's

00:30:34.259 --> 00:30:35.980
all I could tell you about her body type. I don't

00:30:35.980 --> 00:30:37.900
know if she's tall or short, but she's got massive

00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:41.559
tits, from what I understand. And they're talked

00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:48.319
about near constantly. Yeah. Fortunately, that's

00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:50.079
just a thing in the first part of the book, because

00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:52.779
it did kind of bother me that they came up so

00:30:52.779 --> 00:30:55.940
often. Yeah, and I think my suspicion of that

00:30:55.940 --> 00:30:57.940
is that it's supposed to show her maturing. You

00:30:57.940 --> 00:30:59.140
know, when you watch a movie and the end of the

00:30:59.140 --> 00:31:01.180
movie, they're wearing glasses to show that time

00:31:01.180 --> 00:31:03.420
has passed. Her boobs got bigger to show that

00:31:03.420 --> 00:31:06.319
time has passed. And I'm like, I get it. She's

00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:10.039
a woman now. Fine. And I think it also had to

00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:12.619
do with setting the tone of the juvenility of

00:31:12.619 --> 00:31:14.559
the first couple of chapters, because they are

00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.599
teenagers, right? And Atticus is essentially

00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:19.920
like, boobs. Boobs. Boobs. Look at the boobs.

00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:24.769
Yeah. Anyway, speaking of boobs, Mildred gets

00:31:24.769 --> 00:31:27.089
out of the water, stands stark naked in the middle

00:31:27.089 --> 00:31:30.009
of the bathroom, doesn't cower, and, you know,

00:31:30.109 --> 00:31:31.730
enjoys the way that Attican looks at her, like

00:31:31.730 --> 00:31:35.329
he's hungry. Yeah. They move into the bedroom

00:31:35.329 --> 00:31:37.369
and they both lay down on the bed because Attican's

00:31:37.369 --> 00:31:38.990
like, I'm not sleeping on the floor, and Mildred's

00:31:38.990 --> 00:31:41.569
like, great, I would like to sleep. Yeah, I'd

00:31:41.569 --> 00:31:44.670
also like to sleep on the floor. Right. So this

00:31:44.670 --> 00:31:49.779
is where we get a bargain scene. Attican... tells

00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:56.440
her to sit on his fingers purely as a test. Listen,

00:31:56.940 --> 00:32:00.720
I just have to say, I know what that means, but

00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:04.759
the phrasing sounds really uncomfortable. I know,

00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:07.779
I know. It's not the same vibe as sit on my face.

00:32:07.960 --> 00:32:11.019
I just picture him like. Our listeners can't

00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:14.160
see us, but his fingers up, his hand flat, and

00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:16.500
sit on them. That doesn't seem comfortable for

00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:19.440
either of us. No, but what he's essentially asking

00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:24.119
her to do is if he was fingering her, but she's

00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:27.299
just sitting up. Yeah, and I was here for it.

00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:28.700
I just had to call out the verbiage because I

00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:33.259
was like, ow. It's weird. I mean, even in the

00:32:33.259 --> 00:32:36.079
text, I had to like. literally picture what she

00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:38.519
was saying to figure out, like, what was happening.

00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.039
Yeah, that's why I pictured this, like, weird

00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:43.140
claw. And I was like, nah. I know. That's not

00:32:43.140 --> 00:32:47.380
it. No, that's not it. So he basically just,

00:32:47.380 --> 00:32:49.180
like, goads her into doing this. And she's like,

00:32:49.240 --> 00:32:50.740
OK, well, I'm only going to do this if I get

00:32:50.740 --> 00:32:52.319
something out of it. So she makes a bargain,

00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:55.740
right? And she says, OK, fine, I will do that

00:32:55.740 --> 00:32:59.599
if you sleep on the floor. And he's like, great,

00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:01.059
but only if you come. She's like, great, let's

00:33:01.059 --> 00:33:03.579
do it. Off to the races. Sold. It sounds like

00:33:03.579 --> 00:33:06.420
a win -win for me. A win -win for me. Except

00:33:06.420 --> 00:33:09.079
Mildred is a virgin, so she's trying not to sit

00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:13.119
on his fingers too hard. Because it could hurt.

00:33:13.259 --> 00:33:16.339
It could hurt. But she gets hot and bothered,

00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:19.400
and unfortunately she does sit on his fingers

00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:23.920
to the point where she breaks her hymen. And

00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:28.960
Attican is incredibly turned on by this. He says,

00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:33.319
quote, you saved yourself for me. which usually

00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:36.940
I'm not into the virginity thing. This one was

00:33:36.940 --> 00:33:40.119
so hot because not only does he lick his fingers

00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:44.579
clean, but he takes a scarf and wipes her clean,

00:33:44.619 --> 00:33:48.799
so it's got her hymen blood on it and saves it

00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:51.920
for later. It becomes his favorite thing. Yes,

00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:55.579
it was super unhinged in the best way. I was

00:33:55.579 --> 00:33:58.359
here for the whole thing. Yes, I was here for

00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.160
the whole thing, especially because Mildred is...

00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:04.279
not that was not her plan to reveal but she realizes

00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:06.359
now that it's happened that like not only did

00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:08.519
she win the original bargain which she came on

00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:11.559
his fingers but she gave him this other thing

00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:13.880
that he's obsessed with and that was also a victory

00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:16.780
so she won twice in this banter and he slips

00:34:16.780 --> 00:34:18.559
on the floor so then she really wins three times

00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:26.179
right so it's great it's great no notes so then

00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:28.679
we get a welcome ball because she's arrived finally

00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:31.710
and so the court has to welcome her to town,

00:34:31.710 --> 00:34:34.389
essentially. I thought the wedding would happen

00:34:34.389 --> 00:34:37.989
sooner for some reason. I did too, because she's

00:34:37.989 --> 00:34:40.610
like, ostensibly going there to get married to

00:34:40.610 --> 00:34:42.869
her betrothed, right? But they don't even like

00:34:42.869 --> 00:34:44.550
talk about the wedding for like a good while.

00:34:44.829 --> 00:34:47.869
They don't. And I think that's intentional, right?

00:34:48.210 --> 00:34:51.230
Like, yeah, she kind of says something to the

00:34:51.230 --> 00:34:52.949
effect of like, she knew it wasn't going to be

00:34:52.949 --> 00:34:56.909
immediate. But she also doesn't want to like

00:34:56.909 --> 00:35:00.360
ask to like show a weakness of like, she's not

00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:03.159
she's anxious about her position, you know? Yeah,

00:35:03.179 --> 00:35:05.440
or God forbid, look excited about it. Right.

00:35:05.579 --> 00:35:10.739
Exactly. So this ball, she's alone, right? Her

00:35:10.739 --> 00:35:12.639
family's not invited, right? It's just the people

00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:17.420
at court. She shows up and asks Attican to dance

00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:21.019
as like a like a goading thing, right? Like another

00:35:21.019 --> 00:35:25.679
test in this bar. But he's scared. So instead

00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:28.389
of. doing that. He just walks off with Ruel and

00:35:28.389 --> 00:35:30.829
she's like, great, cool. So then Phineas comes

00:35:30.829 --> 00:35:33.710
along and they dance. And it's clear that Phineas

00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:35.489
isn't trying to make Attic and jealous. He's

00:35:35.489 --> 00:35:38.610
trying to make Ellian jealous, which I love.

00:35:39.090 --> 00:35:42.070
I was so here for this little side quest romance.

00:35:42.610 --> 00:35:45.610
I am so here for it. And so it's not enough that

00:35:45.610 --> 00:35:49.889
they dance together. Phineas tells Mildred to

00:35:49.889 --> 00:35:52.949
like sent him, which is like just, you know,

00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:55.300
bring your face in close to my neck, like bring

00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:57.139
your nose up my neck and like inhale, right?

00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:00.400
Like that's senting to face, I guess. Yeah, it's

00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:04.119
fine. It works on Ellian. Like Ellian is stewing

00:36:04.119 --> 00:36:06.679
across the room, but then suddenly Atticus appears

00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:11.280
and he's like also stewing. Also stewing. I need

00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:13.019
you to take your hands off of things that belong

00:36:13.019 --> 00:36:17.619
to me. Thank you so much. Oh, it's so good. It's

00:36:17.619 --> 00:36:22.789
so good. There's so many. So, okay, I think the

00:36:22.789 --> 00:36:26.150
reason why this works over the Cruel Prince thing

00:36:26.150 --> 00:36:30.489
is because it's so obvious that Attican is obsessed

00:36:30.489 --> 00:36:33.989
with her in a good way. Yes. Yes. Not in a creepy

00:36:33.989 --> 00:36:36.289
hidden note with just her name on it repeatedly

00:36:36.289 --> 00:36:39.190
way. And they have chemistry where there's no

00:36:39.190 --> 00:36:40.929
chem... You can't convince me that they have

00:36:40.929 --> 00:36:43.409
any chemistry in Cool Prince. No. Negative amounts

00:36:43.409 --> 00:36:48.139
of chemistry. And can't... Can't say this enough.

00:36:48.340 --> 00:36:51.800
He's not like bodily harming her No, or even

00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:53.460
like threatening to yeah, there was the snake

00:36:53.460 --> 00:36:55.619
thing. But like that's really the only time Yeah,

00:36:55.619 --> 00:36:57.699
and she did it back. So it's fine. Exactly. And

00:36:57.699 --> 00:36:59.460
I think she won that one. I think she won that

00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:05.019
one too So Attican cuts in they start to dance

00:37:05.019 --> 00:37:09.500
and She effectively gets him to admit that he

00:37:09.500 --> 00:37:12.559
wants to fuck her and he says it through gritted

00:37:12.559 --> 00:37:15.360
teeth Like it's been physically extricated from

00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:20.150
him That was so hot to me. So hot. More of that,

00:37:20.150 --> 00:37:24.630
please. I know. It's just amazing. And she's

00:37:24.630 --> 00:37:26.670
like, OK, great. I guess I'll see you in a little

00:37:26.670 --> 00:37:29.550
bit and you can fuck me. And she goes up to their

00:37:29.550 --> 00:37:32.230
room and waits naked in his bed. But of course,

00:37:32.230 --> 00:37:38.250
he doesn't come. Which Mildred correctly reads

00:37:38.250 --> 00:37:41.110
as him winning that round. I like the scorecard

00:37:41.110 --> 00:37:45.369
thing. I like the scorecard thing too. Yeah.

00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:48.239
I don't want to, but I do. I don't want to either.

00:37:48.579 --> 00:37:50.599
But I mean, this is a competition, and I want

00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:55.059
Mildred to win. Yes. So the next morning, he

00:37:55.059 --> 00:37:57.119
even confesses to Mildred that he searched the

00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:58.840
ballroom for someone with her hair, with her

00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:01.619
lips, anything similar to her to bed instead

00:38:01.619 --> 00:38:05.559
of her, which is, she said something to the effect

00:38:05.559 --> 00:38:07.539
of, well, too bad. You could have just come here.

00:38:07.559 --> 00:38:09.860
And he's like, I know, but you waited for me.

00:38:09.860 --> 00:38:12.860
And she says something to the effect of, what

00:38:12.860 --> 00:38:15.289
makes you think I waited for you? I did that

00:38:15.289 --> 00:38:19.570
for me, which I love that comes back. That's

00:38:19.570 --> 00:38:22.329
like they're they're kind of tit for tat because

00:38:22.329 --> 00:38:24.150
she doesn't she never shrinks from him. She's

00:38:24.150 --> 00:38:27.230
not like, oh, my little feelings like she's like.

00:38:27.369 --> 00:38:29.949
Cool, no one said that was a gift to you. Yeah,

00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:31.949
great. Like, are you the only one that would

00:38:31.949 --> 00:38:34.309
get off by doing something like that? Yeah, interesting.

00:38:34.849 --> 00:38:37.929
Don't think so. So a couple of weeks pass and

00:38:37.929 --> 00:38:40.639
Attican is gone. He's. on a military mission,

00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:42.599
nobody really knows why. Or if they do, they're

00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:45.760
not telling Mildred. And this is where it kind

00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:47.699
of bothers me that Mildred is a little bit of

00:38:47.699 --> 00:38:52.480
a paper bag. Like she she reads books that Folly

00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:54.800
recommends to her. And we're told that they're

00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:56.880
romance books. But like she doesn't really have

00:38:56.880 --> 00:38:58.579
interests or hobbies outside of that. And she

00:38:58.579 --> 00:39:00.519
doesn't really explore the castle that much either.

00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:03.820
She like solely exists in a bedroom or in a dining

00:39:03.820 --> 00:39:07.360
room and has no friends. I kind of wish she had

00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:11.690
had like fairy royalty classes, right? Like,

00:39:11.789 --> 00:39:14.610
here's what you need to know. Like, some sort

00:39:14.610 --> 00:39:17.889
of education. Like, something besides her just

00:39:17.889 --> 00:39:20.809
flopping around reading romance. Yeah, exactly.

00:39:20.989 --> 00:39:23.769
Because it did make it feel like she was a little

00:39:23.769 --> 00:39:27.230
bit passive. Yeah. In this whole story. And like,

00:39:27.250 --> 00:39:29.250
she does... She's not passive when it comes to

00:39:29.250 --> 00:39:30.690
some of the plot points. Like, she is actively

00:39:30.690 --> 00:39:33.409
making choices, but it just... I wish she had

00:39:33.409 --> 00:39:36.480
a little bit more of a personality. Yeah, like

00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:38.300
a friend or something, even if she spent more

00:39:38.300 --> 00:39:39.880
time with folly. I don't know. She needs like

00:39:39.880 --> 00:39:44.840
something else to do. Yeah, exactly. So one of

00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:47.480
the days that she's alone and Attican is ostensibly

00:39:47.480 --> 00:39:49.920
not back, she's looking out the window and she

00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:53.840
sees smoke in one of the nearby mountains. And

00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:55.579
so she goes outside to, I guess, get a better

00:39:55.579 --> 00:39:57.440
look. But then she just starts walking toward

00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:59.380
the smoke. And she even has the thought of like,

00:39:59.380 --> 00:40:00.940
it would take me forever to get there. Like,

00:40:00.940 --> 00:40:03.739
I don't really know what I'm doing here. And

00:40:03.739 --> 00:40:07.159
I'm like, yeah, girl. Same. What are you doing

00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:09.719
together? And I appreciate that, like, even though

00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:11.619
she's kind of feedback, she's not an idiot. Right.

00:40:11.659 --> 00:40:13.380
I like her. I don't know what I'm doing here.

00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:15.639
I'm not just going to go like walk off to find

00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:19.460
this by myself. Right. Like I appreciate that

00:40:19.460 --> 00:40:22.980
she has the desire to help or like tell somebody.

00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:27.039
But like she fully acknowledges that she has

00:40:27.039 --> 00:40:30.559
no plan. Exactly. It doesn't really matter. Like

00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:33.380
she's in. the woods near the castle and she's

00:40:33.380 --> 00:40:35.960
like having this thought and then Attican appears

00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:37.440
and he's like, hey, what the fuck are you doing

00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:42.460
out here? So we see there's smoke. She's like,

00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:44.019
there's smoke over there. And Attican's like,

00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:45.820
yeah, no shit, you're coming with me. It's not

00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:47.559
safe to be out here. And she's like, it's just

00:40:47.559 --> 00:40:52.360
a forest. Which solidly in like chapter one or

00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:54.400
two, we were told that like fairy forests are

00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:55.980
dangerous because there's shit like two headed

00:40:55.980 --> 00:40:59.480
serpents out there, girl. Yeah, like just fully.

00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:03.260
Fully questioned. So he he starts dragging her

00:41:03.260 --> 00:41:05.099
back to the castle, but instead of taking her

00:41:05.099 --> 00:41:06.940
to the castle there's like a garden shed in one

00:41:06.940 --> 00:41:09.000
of the gardens I guess that he pulls her into

00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:14.619
instead and Sure, I he pulls her in there basically

00:41:14.619 --> 00:41:20.039
to like play a game, right? He's It's interesting

00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:21.940
in rereading because like it's clear to me that

00:41:21.940 --> 00:41:25.179
he's trying to protect her from the things that

00:41:25.179 --> 00:41:28.960
are going on like on Yeah, but in this moment

00:41:29.079 --> 00:41:31.719
he's also trying to distract both of them from

00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:34.539
what's actually happening outside, right? So

00:41:34.539 --> 00:41:38.400
he's trying to goad her into another game because

00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:41.340
it's clear that he's started to enjoy these banters

00:41:41.340 --> 00:41:45.099
with her. He also likes the scorecard. Right,

00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:46.699
he also likes the scorecard and she's trying

00:41:46.699 --> 00:41:48.920
to get like an actual answer, like why is the

00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:51.449
forest on fire? And he's like... What were you

00:41:51.449 --> 00:41:52.789
doing out in the woods and she's like touche?

00:41:53.849 --> 00:41:55.809
Because the forest was on fire because the forest

00:41:55.809 --> 00:41:57.349
was on fire and here we're back at the beginning

00:41:57.349 --> 00:42:00.090
Why is the forest on fire? So they they get into

00:42:00.090 --> 00:42:02.489
the kind of the circular thing, but she eventually

00:42:02.489 --> 00:42:05.230
is just like fine. Let's play you're hot I'm

00:42:05.230 --> 00:42:09.590
bothered. Let's do it and they Girl, they'd be

00:42:09.590 --> 00:42:12.369
fucking in the garden shed. Listen. I also didn't

00:42:12.369 --> 00:42:17.010
expect this to happen. So soon who? She's this

00:42:17.010 --> 00:42:20.260
is So hot, like so incredibly hot. It's one handed

00:42:20.260 --> 00:42:22.400
reading club and I was so pleasantly surprised.

00:42:23.500 --> 00:42:29.380
Yeah. Um, I mean, like it's, it's nice because

00:42:29.380 --> 00:42:30.980
they kind of get into like this push pull, right?

00:42:31.019 --> 00:42:34.099
Like he initially fingers her, refuses to like

00:42:34.099 --> 00:42:36.699
actually have sex. She starts to walk out and

00:42:36.699 --> 00:42:38.699
then like fake trips and then like brushes against

00:42:38.699 --> 00:42:40.519
his erection and it's like, oops, silly me. And

00:42:40.519 --> 00:42:42.360
she's like, okay, fuck it. We're doing this.

00:42:43.099 --> 00:42:45.400
And then they consummate, and she actually loses

00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:51.860
her virginity to him. And it's so interesting

00:42:51.860 --> 00:42:55.579
how it can be emotionally close and intimate

00:42:55.579 --> 00:42:59.079
when these two ostensibly hate each other. Yeah.

00:42:59.139 --> 00:43:01.579
And I think that this author did a really good

00:43:01.579 --> 00:43:04.980
job of balancing that, because I feel like that's

00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:07.900
a hard line to walk. We do get that actual intimacy.

00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:10.880
It's not this weird hate fuck. There is this

00:43:11.690 --> 00:43:15.130
closeness, but they're not lovers yet. Right.

00:43:15.150 --> 00:43:16.929
Like they're still enemies. It's like they're

00:43:16.929 --> 00:43:19.710
right in the two side of enemies, two lovers.

00:43:20.130 --> 00:43:23.789
Right. Exactly. And she walks the line so well,

00:43:24.110 --> 00:43:27.469
because usually in enemies lovers, they either

00:43:27.469 --> 00:43:29.869
like hate fuck and like don't talk about it.

00:43:29.869 --> 00:43:31.550
Or they're like they've already decided that

00:43:31.550 --> 00:43:35.230
they have feelings. Right. It's like there's

00:43:35.230 --> 00:43:37.909
it's zero to 60. There's no in between. Yeah.

00:43:37.909 --> 00:43:40.190
And this is that perfect in between. We're like.

00:43:40.349 --> 00:43:42.269
they're both still playing a game, but also getting

00:43:42.269 --> 00:43:46.130
something out of it. Yeah. And I think it's important

00:43:46.130 --> 00:43:48.690
that Mildred's disposition and the way that her

00:43:48.690 --> 00:43:50.769
character is structured really makes it perfect.

00:43:51.090 --> 00:43:53.889
Because some of these things do bother her, right?

00:43:53.989 --> 00:43:56.170
When he says sideways things to her, she's like,

00:43:56.429 --> 00:43:59.730
well, that was rude. But I'm going to serve it

00:43:59.730 --> 00:44:01.110
right back to you, because I'm not a fucking

00:44:01.110 --> 00:44:04.489
bitch, right? She's with it. She acknowledges

00:44:04.489 --> 00:44:06.369
on the one hand when her feelings are hurt, but

00:44:06.369 --> 00:44:10.550
she also is fully into the game. Yeah, which

00:44:10.550 --> 00:44:13.010
makes her, even though she's super bag, and I'm

00:44:13.010 --> 00:44:14.309
gonna keep saying that because I agree with you,

00:44:14.690 --> 00:44:16.550
it makes her really relatable too because she's

00:44:16.550 --> 00:44:20.369
such a strong character, but she is human. She

00:44:20.369 --> 00:44:23.570
has feelings. She's not immune. Right, exactly.

00:44:25.489 --> 00:44:29.789
And so speaking of being immune, she does admit

00:44:29.789 --> 00:44:33.170
to herself in this scene that she's starting

00:44:33.170 --> 00:44:36.369
to want to do more than survive Attican. She

00:44:36.369 --> 00:44:39.690
says, quote, she wants to claim him and perhaps

00:44:39.690 --> 00:44:42.369
even ruin him the same way he was ruining me.

00:44:44.510 --> 00:44:47.710
I always like the ruin language in romance. I

00:44:47.710 --> 00:44:52.789
know it's weird, but it isn't ruining of who

00:44:52.789 --> 00:44:58.250
you thought you were. Even just like you were

00:44:58.250 --> 00:45:01.289
on a path and that path is ruined. You're not

00:45:01.289 --> 00:45:06.159
going that way anymore. No. So, the thing that

00:45:06.159 --> 00:45:08.119
I like about the scene, too, is that Attican's

00:45:08.119 --> 00:45:11.099
exit line, as, like, they part ways, is, quote,

00:45:11.099 --> 00:45:13.659
well, that scratched an itch, which is just clearly

00:45:13.659 --> 00:45:16.639
him lying to himself. And this, we've called

00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:19.179
this out in other books as not hitting. This

00:45:19.179 --> 00:45:23.579
book really is, like, self -aware. Like, it's

00:45:23.579 --> 00:45:27.780
so clearly written that we know he's lying to

00:45:27.780 --> 00:45:29.880
himself. He's not just being an asshole. Like,

00:45:29.960 --> 00:45:34.389
yes, he is, but I'm... The book isn't trying

00:45:34.389 --> 00:45:37.269
to convince me that he's an asshole. Right, exactly.

00:45:37.590 --> 00:45:39.530
He's obsessed with her. He's obsessed with her,

00:45:39.570 --> 00:45:46.789
right? Both things are true. Yes. And I'm obsessed

00:45:46.789 --> 00:45:50.349
with that. I'm obsessed with that. Yeah, I just

00:45:50.349 --> 00:45:53.110
ate up this dynamic that they have together.

00:45:54.030 --> 00:45:58.210
It's so good. Give me more. I can't wait to keep

00:45:58.210 --> 00:46:01.949
reading. I know. Okay, so the next scene that

00:46:01.949 --> 00:46:04.199
we have Attikin has gone away for a little bit

00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:05.820
longer and when he comes back it's the middle

00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:09.000
of the night and he's wounded. He has iron splinters

00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:12.440
in his back and he says that it's been they've

00:46:12.440 --> 00:46:16.280
been essentially implanted in him by wind magic.

00:46:16.300 --> 00:46:18.239
And so I had to slow down on this a little bit

00:46:18.239 --> 00:46:20.679
because what I didn't quite understand the first

00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:24.079
time around was that wind magic is specifically

00:46:24.079 --> 00:46:28.980
seelie magic and Attikin is a seelie fey. Which

00:46:28.980 --> 00:46:32.579
means that the unsealy who are ostensibly trying

00:46:32.579 --> 00:46:34.900
to get out of the ward and like still attack

00:46:34.900 --> 00:46:38.579
and continue this war have Sealy on their side

00:46:38.579 --> 00:46:42.179
and those Sealy are willing to attack Attican.

00:46:42.420 --> 00:46:44.619
Yeah, I had to slow down on that too and go back

00:46:44.619 --> 00:46:47.500
and read a little bit. Yeah, it's it's a it's

00:46:47.500 --> 00:46:50.460
not so because we get some kind of the splints

00:46:50.460 --> 00:46:53.539
sprints splintering sprinkling of information.

00:46:54.059 --> 00:46:57.139
It's not given to us all at once. And so you

00:46:57.139 --> 00:46:59.119
really do have to kind of read between the lines

00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:01.900
a little bit, the Seelie and Unseelie have different

00:47:01.900 --> 00:47:04.900
types of magic. So typically, Unseelie do the

00:47:04.900 --> 00:47:07.699
shadow daddy thing, and then they also have shifter

00:47:07.699 --> 00:47:11.199
stuff happening. And then the Seelie are much

00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:13.679
more elemental in their magic. So like Wind,

00:47:13.760 --> 00:47:17.679
for example. So Mildred helps to pick the irons

00:47:17.679 --> 00:47:21.920
out of Atticus' back. And she realizes that she

00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:26.980
is the one that he came to, not because of any

00:47:26.980 --> 00:47:29.679
kind of affinity or just by accident, he doesn't

00:47:29.679 --> 00:47:32.400
want anyone else to know specifically that he

00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:35.340
was wounded or how he was wounded. It's something

00:47:35.340 --> 00:47:37.840
that he's keeping close to the chest. And this

00:47:37.840 --> 00:47:41.039
is the first real indication that she has that

00:47:41.039 --> 00:47:43.199
Attican might not be fully invested, but he does

00:47:43.199 --> 00:47:46.239
at least trust her to keep her mouth shut. Exactly.

00:47:46.659 --> 00:47:50.059
Mm -hmm. And trust her more than others. Yeah.

00:47:52.579 --> 00:47:55.239
So then a couple of days later... Mildred is

00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:56.639
sneaking through the halls and she overhears

00:47:56.639 --> 00:47:58.780
a conversation between Garin the king and his

00:47:58.780 --> 00:48:01.840
son Attican. Garin wants Attican to hunt and

00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:07.280
kill down somebody. She infers that it is the

00:48:07.280 --> 00:48:10.460
unseelie king, a man that we will later learn

00:48:10.460 --> 00:48:13.300
is called Vane. And the reason that he wants

00:48:13.300 --> 00:48:15.800
this to happen is because this person can vanish

00:48:15.800 --> 00:48:19.530
through the wards. So The wards are acting like

00:48:19.530 --> 00:48:22.449
a physical barrier to keep the Unseelie in their

00:48:22.449 --> 00:48:26.449
lands, except for this guy. He can vanish in

00:48:26.449 --> 00:48:29.750
and out of the wards. And it's implied that he's

00:48:29.750 --> 00:48:34.710
able to do that with other people. So like, what's

00:48:34.710 --> 00:48:37.789
it called when they did it in Harry Potter? Like

00:48:37.789 --> 00:48:42.090
the port key? Kind of like the port key. They

00:48:42.090 --> 00:48:44.309
can like apparate? Apparate. That's the one.

00:48:44.590 --> 00:48:47.659
But like with others. Right, so when they would

00:48:47.659 --> 00:48:50.159
apparate in Harry Potter with a buddy, or an

00:48:50.159 --> 00:48:51.780
adult would apparate with a kid, that kind of

00:48:51.780 --> 00:48:54.139
thing. Who couldn't do it otherwise. Right. In

00:48:54.139 --> 00:48:56.860
this conversation, Garen flatly admits that Mildred's

00:48:56.860 --> 00:49:00.440
life is meaningless to him. And her father's

00:49:00.440 --> 00:49:02.840
complaints that specifically the marriage hasn't

00:49:02.840 --> 00:49:06.340
happened yet can and will be ignored. Which I

00:49:06.340 --> 00:49:08.039
had that question too, because like I said, I

00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:10.559
thought it would happen much earlier. And I like

00:49:10.559 --> 00:49:12.739
that that's addressed. Like you said, it is on

00:49:12.739 --> 00:49:15.469
purpose that it's not happening. Exactly. It's

00:49:15.469 --> 00:49:18.670
very clear. I mean, it becomes clear to Mildred

00:49:18.670 --> 00:49:23.329
in this moment that there are people in the Seelie

00:49:23.329 --> 00:49:25.449
kingdom that have no intention of her marrying

00:49:25.449 --> 00:49:29.110
Attikin. And people in power, like the king.

00:49:29.690 --> 00:49:33.329
Right. And Garen remarks, so Mildred can't see

00:49:33.329 --> 00:49:34.929
the looks on their faces. She's like listening

00:49:34.929 --> 00:49:38.349
down the hall, right? But it's clear that Attikin

00:49:38.349 --> 00:49:40.610
made like a face or something because his dad

00:49:40.610 --> 00:49:43.400
remarks he laughs and he's like, You know, you

00:49:43.400 --> 00:49:45.320
better not be growing a heart, quote, when we

00:49:45.320 --> 00:49:49.679
are reliant on its lack of existence. Which is

00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:51.880
so rough, because you're putting so much pressure

00:49:51.880 --> 00:49:54.199
on your kid who was given that nickname, essentially

00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:57.239
before he was even 15. Right. Like, you're really

00:49:57.239 --> 00:49:59.980
boxing this kid in. Yeah. And essentially, he's

00:49:59.980 --> 00:50:01.940
like, you better not be catching feelings. Like,

00:50:01.940 --> 00:50:04.460
don't tell me what to do, man. Yeah. Also, you

00:50:04.460 --> 00:50:06.000
brought her here. Like, you could have put it

00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:09.039
off in another way. Right. Also, if you don't

00:50:09.039 --> 00:50:11.280
want me to or if I am catching feelings, can

00:50:11.280 --> 00:50:14.320
we, like, address it and figure out a different

00:50:14.320 --> 00:50:17.380
way to do this? Yeah, dad. Come on. What's your

00:50:17.380 --> 00:50:19.059
game plan? Are you just going to kill her? What's

00:50:19.059 --> 00:50:26.179
happening? Right. So this kind of reference to

00:50:26.179 --> 00:50:28.579
Attikin potentially developing feelings for her,

00:50:28.599 --> 00:50:31.340
she feels like that's she doesn't take that as

00:50:31.340 --> 00:50:33.760
truth. She just feels like it must have been

00:50:33.760 --> 00:50:35.900
a misinterpretation because she knows that Attikin

00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:38.420
loathes her just as much as she loathes him.

00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:42.559
Yeah, OK. Yeah, OK, girl. Sure, Jan. The other

00:50:42.559 --> 00:50:45.179
thing that really is, is needling her is this,

00:50:45.179 --> 00:50:48.039
this idea that like, she was just kind of taking

00:50:48.039 --> 00:50:49.519
for granted that she was going to marry Attican.

00:50:49.679 --> 00:50:51.739
Like whether it was today or in a year, like

00:50:51.739 --> 00:50:53.599
they were going to get married. And now she's

00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:57.360
realizing that's potentially not the case. Yeah.

00:50:57.420 --> 00:50:59.199
And potentially you're in more danger, girl.

00:50:59.519 --> 00:51:01.840
Girl, you in so much danger. And so she's, she's

00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:04.099
despairing. She's like, I don't have any control

00:51:04.099 --> 00:51:07.940
over my life. I can't. I can't make these people

00:51:07.940 --> 00:51:10.099
do what I want them to do. Like I have no way

00:51:10.099 --> 00:51:12.199
to secure my safety. And like, I don't, I don't

00:51:12.199 --> 00:51:14.199
know what to do. I just want to go home. And

00:51:14.199 --> 00:51:15.960
as she's thinking these thoughts, she's back

00:51:15.960 --> 00:51:17.920
up in Attican's room. She's on the balcony and

00:51:17.920 --> 00:51:22.159
she's absent mindedly like, I was going to say

00:51:22.159 --> 00:51:25.059
fingering, but I guess toying with worrying,

00:51:25.659 --> 00:51:28.000
worrying away at the feather bone. That thing

00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:31.139
that her dad gave her from her mom. She squeezes

00:51:31.139 --> 00:51:34.500
it really hard when she's frustrated and darkness

00:51:34.500 --> 00:51:40.199
swallows her. End of part one. Which, what a

00:51:40.199 --> 00:51:44.460
cliffhanger. Genuinely good. And so then we start

00:51:44.460 --> 00:51:50.119
part two of the book. And I like this. I just,

00:51:50.119 --> 00:51:53.940
I did not see this coming. No. She like wakes

00:51:53.940 --> 00:51:55.760
up or comes to her or whatever, and she's in

00:51:55.760 --> 00:51:58.980
the bonelands in the chamber of King Vane. Which

00:51:58.980 --> 00:52:00.820
like, I didn't see that coming at all. I didn't

00:52:00.820 --> 00:52:02.420
think we were going to meet King Vane like maybe

00:52:02.420 --> 00:52:05.559
at all, ever. He was just like a faceless entity.

00:52:05.960 --> 00:52:11.250
Yep. Holy shit. Yeah. The scream I scrimped.

00:52:12.289 --> 00:52:14.670
Yeah. The scream I scrimped was so big. In his

00:52:14.670 --> 00:52:18.190
chambers. And so I haven't finished the book.

00:52:18.590 --> 00:52:20.550
But when this happened, I was like, girl, is

00:52:20.550 --> 00:52:22.510
this a white shoot? That's what I was thinking,

00:52:22.650 --> 00:52:24.869
is like, you're in his bedroom. You're in his

00:52:24.869 --> 00:52:28.449
bedroom. I will tell you, I'm about 80 % of the

00:52:28.449 --> 00:52:30.469
way through the book. I don't think that it is.

00:52:30.469 --> 00:52:34.079
All right. Yeah, sorry. OK, that's fine. It's

00:52:34.079 --> 00:52:36.880
really unfortunate, because Vayne is essentially

00:52:36.880 --> 00:52:39.420
the exact opposite. So the things that we do

00:52:39.420 --> 00:52:42.360
know about Attican is that he's essentially a

00:52:42.360 --> 00:52:45.719
Draco Malfoy with green eyes. Yeah. Which is

00:52:45.719 --> 00:52:46.980
also maybe why I'm such a big fan. He's blonde.

00:52:47.000 --> 00:52:50.800
He's slender. He's like, I know. Such a sucker.

00:52:51.639 --> 00:52:55.300
Also, no rat tail. Just feel like I have to clarify

00:52:55.300 --> 00:53:01.340
that. Thank god. And King Vayne is the exact

00:53:01.340 --> 00:53:05.179
opposite of that. dark crimson hair. He's got

00:53:05.179 --> 00:53:08.199
these big old black wings, which are like kind

00:53:08.199 --> 00:53:11.119
of, kind of a cross between bat and feathered

00:53:11.119 --> 00:53:13.780
wings, which I liked. I liked that. It was interesting.

00:53:14.099 --> 00:53:17.239
Yep. He's got really piercing blue eyes and he's

00:53:17.239 --> 00:53:19.940
built like a fucking mountain, like Mack truck

00:53:19.940 --> 00:53:22.780
just like in the middle of the room. Giant man,

00:53:23.059 --> 00:53:29.989
giant man. Cool. So he tells her, That the feather

00:53:29.989 --> 00:53:32.750
bone is a spelled vanishing relic. It only works

00:53:32.750 --> 00:53:35.570
once she's used the magic and it was it would

00:53:35.570 --> 00:53:40.329
only ever answer to her Which wild is wild and

00:53:40.329 --> 00:53:42.110
she's been told her entire life that halflings

00:53:42.110 --> 00:53:44.550
can't Access magic like even if they were to

00:53:44.550 --> 00:53:46.510
hold like a magical thing like like he's telling

00:53:46.510 --> 00:53:48.010
her this relic is like she wouldn't be able to

00:53:48.010 --> 00:53:51.789
use it Yeah, also vein cracks me up because he's

00:53:51.789 --> 00:53:55.559
like Obviously, he's not surprised, but he's

00:53:55.559 --> 00:53:57.639
just, like, the least amount of surprise that

00:53:57.639 --> 00:54:00.739
she just floofs into his room. Yeah, I mean,

00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:03.519
I think the thing that he says is, like, something

00:54:03.519 --> 00:54:05.440
akin to you got to be fucking kidding me. Like,

00:54:05.800 --> 00:54:07.760
yeah. Like, really now? OK, all right. Right

00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:10.739
now? Because he's just chilling. Like, he's so,

00:54:11.099 --> 00:54:13.179
well, I think it's, she even says in her maternal

00:54:13.179 --> 00:54:15.739
monologue that, like, he is so convinced that

00:54:15.739 --> 00:54:17.599
there is nothing I could do to this man that

00:54:17.599 --> 00:54:21.079
he's not even concerned. Yeah. Not concerned

00:54:21.079 --> 00:54:23.619
at all. It's like a mouse just appeared in your

00:54:23.619 --> 00:54:26.960
bedroom and you're like, okay, right. But we

00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:29.900
kind of learned that he was expecting her because

00:54:29.900 --> 00:54:33.960
he needs her to break a curse. And this is the

00:54:33.960 --> 00:54:35.940
whole, we learned the whole proposition of the

00:54:35.940 --> 00:54:39.619
book, right? The curse for him are the wards

00:54:39.619 --> 00:54:42.659
around his bonelands, right? And the thing that

00:54:42.659 --> 00:54:46.300
I will say is that it made it seem, I don't know

00:54:46.300 --> 00:54:48.659
when the wards came up, right? Because like,

00:54:48.840 --> 00:54:52.880
Obviously, within Mildred's lifetime, they were

00:54:52.880 --> 00:54:54.940
making alliances, and the war was still active,

00:54:54.960 --> 00:54:59.619
right? Yeah. So the wards happened between when

00:54:59.619 --> 00:55:02.539
she was 11 and 18. It feels like the curse is

00:55:02.539 --> 00:55:04.260
a lot older than that, but they're effectively

00:55:04.260 --> 00:55:07.619
the same thing. Yeah. And that was kind of hand

00:55:07.619 --> 00:55:11.840
-wavy. It's fine. Yeah, that's fine. I do wonder

00:55:11.840 --> 00:55:15.219
if there will be parallels drawn between the

00:55:15.219 --> 00:55:18.199
two kings and Kalista. If this is just like fate

00:55:18.199 --> 00:55:20.860
repeating itself, I don't know. Yeah, that's

00:55:20.860 --> 00:55:22.179
kind of where I thought it was going to, because

00:55:22.179 --> 00:55:24.119
now you have the sons of the kings and a new

00:55:24.119 --> 00:55:30.139
girl who is the daughter of Kalista. Right. Or

00:55:30.139 --> 00:55:32.659
not the daughter of Kalista, but now related

00:55:32.659 --> 00:55:37.699
to this love triangle. Right. At least Vane is

00:55:37.699 --> 00:55:41.800
Kalista's son. Yes. The girl, it gets so fucking

00:55:41.800 --> 00:55:44.880
wild. I have so many questions. Anyway, not in

00:55:44.880 --> 00:55:48.780
part one. So hold off on those. Hold off on those.

00:55:49.880 --> 00:55:53.539
Anyway, Vayne is like, the only way I can break

00:55:53.539 --> 00:55:56.699
these wards that the Unseelie King, or sorry,

00:55:56.780 --> 00:55:58.940
the Seelie King Garen had these witches put up

00:55:58.940 --> 00:56:03.539
around my lands is if I steal the heart of the

00:56:03.539 --> 00:56:06.059
Seelie ruler. In this case, that Seelie ruler

00:56:06.059 --> 00:56:08.920
is Attikin, even though he's not king yet. He

00:56:08.920 --> 00:56:13.219
is a royal. And Vane knows who Mildred is and

00:56:13.219 --> 00:56:15.539
thinks that she, that Attican's in love with

00:56:15.539 --> 00:56:18.780
her. And so he's essentially like, all right,

00:56:18.780 --> 00:56:20.559
we got to fall in love. Five, six, seven, eight,

00:56:20.579 --> 00:56:24.800
what do we do? How do I do that? Which I also

00:56:24.800 --> 00:56:26.239
really wanted this to be what I choose. So I

00:56:26.239 --> 00:56:28.039
was like, okay, yeah. Okay, great. Break his

00:56:28.039 --> 00:56:30.219
little heart. It's a little bit endearing too,

00:56:30.219 --> 00:56:32.480
because he's like, how do I make you like me?

00:56:32.519 --> 00:56:35.440
Like, what is it? He has no idea. He has no idea.

00:56:35.440 --> 00:56:37.639
I'll do what you like. What do you like? And

00:56:37.639 --> 00:56:41.239
he's like... Charming, but not charming enough.

00:56:42.119 --> 00:56:45.019
Zero Riz has a negative charisma modifier, like

00:56:45.019 --> 00:56:49.900
just so... He has actually what happened is that

00:56:49.900 --> 00:56:52.880
he has big beast vibes from Beauty and the Beast.

00:56:53.159 --> 00:56:55.940
Yes, yes. He's just awkward and endearing and

00:56:55.940 --> 00:56:59.619
will do whatever. But his heart's not really

00:56:59.619 --> 00:57:03.320
in it for like what it needs to be. Right, exactly.

00:57:04.659 --> 00:57:07.179
And he essentially says things like, you must

00:57:07.179 --> 00:57:08.579
fall in love with me. I'll give you anything

00:57:08.579 --> 00:57:11.159
you want. fall in love with me." She's like,

00:57:11.380 --> 00:57:14.760
that's not how it works. I can't just do that.

00:57:15.119 --> 00:57:17.139
You can't just do that. Also, I'm also not sure

00:57:17.139 --> 00:57:19.000
that Attican loves me yet. He's obsessed with

00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:21.880
me, but this might not be the thing. And she

00:57:21.880 --> 00:57:24.119
says something to that inwardly and outwardly.

00:57:24.159 --> 00:57:26.179
She's like, he's heartless. You know that about

00:57:26.179 --> 00:57:29.960
him. I can't help you. I literally can't. So

00:57:29.960 --> 00:57:33.320
sorry. So sorry. Please send me home. Right.

00:57:34.719 --> 00:57:37.739
So the plan is essentially hope that Attican

00:57:37.739 --> 00:57:42.340
really does like potentially love Mildred, make

00:57:42.340 --> 00:57:45.880
Mildred fall in love with Bane on the off chance

00:57:45.880 --> 00:57:49.179
that that is the case. I just hope that that

00:57:49.179 --> 00:57:54.119
works. Cool. Great plan. Bane does do things,

00:57:54.139 --> 00:57:55.960
like I mentioned, that are kind of sweet. He

00:57:55.960 --> 00:57:58.099
knows that she likes peppermint tea, and so he

00:57:58.099 --> 00:58:01.860
brings her some in the morning. But then he tries

00:58:01.860 --> 00:58:05.739
to immediately kiss her as well. And she's like,

00:58:05.780 --> 00:58:09.510
whoa, buddy. We just met. This is not how this

00:58:09.510 --> 00:58:15.110
works. Just met. No, thank you. And he's genuinely

00:58:15.110 --> 00:58:19.789
like, he doesn't understand how she's not charmed.

00:58:20.429 --> 00:58:22.010
He's like, but this is what the book said to

00:58:22.010 --> 00:58:24.949
do. I just kiss you, right? Snow White, true

00:58:24.949 --> 00:58:29.989
love's kiss. I don't know. So fine. She's like,

00:58:30.070 --> 00:58:33.130
OK, I guess I'm stuck here. We'll figure it out.

00:58:33.550 --> 00:58:35.710
The next day is when we meet some of the other

00:58:35.710 --> 00:58:40.139
people in the Bonelands. court. We have Sirwin

00:58:40.139 --> 00:58:44.880
who is Vane's persnickety and kind of dickish

00:58:44.880 --> 00:58:51.280
right hand. Dahlia who is Sirwin's mate and is

00:58:51.280 --> 00:58:54.400
a cat shifter and acts as the steward for the

00:58:54.400 --> 00:58:58.599
boneland castle. I loved that we get this mate

00:58:58.599 --> 00:59:01.500
thing but I don't think any of our main characters

00:59:01.500 --> 00:59:04.840
are like mated but I like that it's like I could

00:59:04.840 --> 00:59:07.460
be wrong but it's like Mates are a thing over

00:59:07.460 --> 00:59:11.480
there. And I just, cool. I really like that mates

00:59:11.480 --> 00:59:13.880
are a thing over there. It is not true that some

00:59:13.880 --> 00:59:15.679
of our main characters are mated or not mated.

00:59:15.679 --> 00:59:20.800
Damn it. OK. But I think it serves to be interesting

00:59:20.800 --> 00:59:23.619
because it's that we're introduced to this concept

00:59:23.619 --> 00:59:26.219
of mates. And we're in what, chapter 15? Yeah.

00:59:26.460 --> 00:59:28.860
Mildred doesn't know anything about it. We don't

00:59:28.860 --> 00:59:30.800
have this, oh, there's fated mates. And it's

00:59:30.800 --> 00:59:33.099
like the blah, blah. Everybody wants to do that.

00:59:33.320 --> 00:59:35.760
That's not. It's not even a part of the conversation.

00:59:36.239 --> 00:59:38.260
That's why I was like, okay, cool. Yeah. And

00:59:38.260 --> 00:59:39.980
even here, it's just an offhanded like, oh yeah,

00:59:40.039 --> 00:59:41.800
we're mates. It's really where we're really lucky.

00:59:42.320 --> 00:59:48.659
Yeah. Good luck. Right. Welcome, I guess. So

00:59:48.659 --> 00:59:52.900
Sirwin and Dahlia seem fine. They are much warmer

00:59:52.900 --> 00:59:56.820
to Mildred than like anybody else was in the

00:59:56.820 --> 01:00:00.639
Seelie kingdom. So on the one hand, she's like...

01:00:00.409 --> 01:00:03.730
This is odd. But between Vayne knowing that she

01:00:03.730 --> 01:00:05.489
likes peppermint tea and these guys actually

01:00:05.489 --> 01:00:07.869
treating her like a person, she's like, I mean,

01:00:07.869 --> 01:00:10.170
this could be nice, right? I could stay. This

01:00:10.170 --> 01:00:16.929
is fine. I could stay, right? So one night. So

01:00:16.929 --> 01:00:18.650
Vayne does the same thing that Attican does.

01:00:18.670 --> 01:00:21.349
He doesn't stick around. He's doing military

01:00:21.349 --> 01:00:23.690
shit. He's gone for days at a time. She's alone.

01:00:23.750 --> 01:00:26.849
This is when she spends most of her time in a

01:00:26.849 --> 01:00:30.449
bedroom. Reading books. All she does. All she

01:00:30.449 --> 01:00:33.849
does. And when Vane finally does come home, he

01:00:33.849 --> 01:00:39.769
has a phalanx cub with him. And phalanxes are,

01:00:39.809 --> 01:00:42.130
I think, essentially those dragon -y things that

01:00:42.130 --> 01:00:44.409
we saw on the covers. They're like cats, but

01:00:44.409 --> 01:00:49.469
they have wings. And they get huge. Oh, cute.

01:00:49.809 --> 01:00:51.710
Yeah. Sorry, these are the last two chapters

01:00:51.710 --> 01:00:53.730
that I didn't read. But I'll pretend like I'm

01:00:53.730 --> 01:00:59.449
with you. Yeah. So I really liked the introduction

01:00:59.449 --> 01:01:02.989
of some of these, like, mythical beings, like

01:01:02.989 --> 01:01:07.230
beasts that we saw a little bit more in, like,

01:01:07.349 --> 01:01:09.769
cruel prints with, like, the types of fairies.

01:01:09.869 --> 01:01:14.010
Yeah. But I liked this and I liked that he brings

01:01:14.010 --> 01:01:16.969
this cub home and Mildred's kind of like, oh,

01:01:16.969 --> 01:01:18.849
my gosh, so cute. And she holds it and he's like,

01:01:18.949 --> 01:01:21.989
well, you're bonded now. You have a pet. Those

01:01:21.989 --> 01:01:26.440
are the rules. Yeah. She's like, that doesn't

01:01:26.440 --> 01:01:29.840
make any fucking sense. You saved it. Why isn't

01:01:29.840 --> 01:01:31.400
it bonded to you? And he's like, I've already

01:01:31.400 --> 01:01:33.480
bonded to one and I don't want to do it again.

01:01:33.699 --> 01:01:36.320
She's yours now. Them's the breaks. Them's the

01:01:36.320 --> 01:01:38.500
breaks kids. And she's like, you can't just give

01:01:38.500 --> 01:01:40.880
me a pet. Like I refuse this thing. And he's

01:01:40.880 --> 01:01:42.400
like, okay, you don't have to tell me. You have

01:01:42.400 --> 01:01:44.460
to tell her. And like she essentially looks down

01:01:44.460 --> 01:01:47.679
at this phalanx and it's just like, I guess I

01:01:47.679 --> 01:01:50.840
have a pet now. Guess I have a fucking dragon

01:01:50.840 --> 01:01:53.519
now. I'm a fucking dragon. This is the first

01:01:53.519 --> 01:01:57.199
night that they actually bedshare. Vayne is tired,

01:01:57.420 --> 01:02:01.300
he lies down, and Mildred won't be - she won't

01:02:01.300 --> 01:02:02.719
give up the victory, right? So she lays down

01:02:02.719 --> 01:02:06.639
too, and the phalanx, who she calls Meadow, sleeps

01:02:06.639 --> 01:02:11.699
between them. Oh! It's really - our cat - my

01:02:11.699 --> 01:02:14.639
cat sleeps between Liam and I sometimes, and

01:02:14.639 --> 01:02:16.920
it's really adorable. He'll like wedge himself

01:02:16.920 --> 01:02:19.670
between us. I've read that about cats that sometimes

01:02:19.670 --> 01:02:21.530
they do that. It's really cute. He doesn't do

01:02:21.530 --> 01:02:22.989
it every night, but sometimes he will and it's

01:02:22.989 --> 01:02:27.829
really adorable. So one thing we learned about

01:02:27.829 --> 01:02:29.550
Vayne when they're having this kind of pillow

01:02:29.550 --> 01:02:31.489
talk before conversation before they go to sleep

01:02:31.489 --> 01:02:34.710
is that even though Vayne has wings, he is afraid

01:02:34.710 --> 01:02:37.130
of heights. And so Mildred is like, huh, it's

01:02:37.130 --> 01:02:38.650
such a weird thing for you to tell me, but I

01:02:38.650 --> 01:02:40.869
guess I'll keep that in my back pocket. And also

01:02:40.869 --> 01:02:42.369
like, you're really going to give me your weaknesses?

01:02:42.809 --> 01:02:47.829
Okay. Right. So then we get another kind of wounded

01:02:47.829 --> 01:02:50.030
scene. Vayne has been gone patrolling. When he

01:02:50.030 --> 01:02:52.090
comes back in the middle of the night, he's drained

01:02:52.090 --> 01:02:55.690
and clearly wounded. He goes into the bathtub

01:02:55.690 --> 01:02:58.170
and Mildred tries to make it not her problem.

01:02:58.170 --> 01:03:00.750
She's like, I don't care. I just want to go home.

01:03:01.030 --> 01:03:03.269
Like I don't this guy could die and it could

01:03:03.269 --> 01:03:07.809
be fine. Actually, that would be my fault if

01:03:07.809 --> 01:03:09.949
he died and I was there and I didn't save him.

01:03:09.969 --> 01:03:11.929
And so she goes into the bathroom and tries to

01:03:11.929 --> 01:03:14.210
help him. I like that she has a heart and she's

01:03:14.210 --> 01:03:17.170
like, I can't let this guy die, I guess. Yeah,

01:03:17.170 --> 01:03:18.710
because he essentially goes to take a bath and

01:03:18.710 --> 01:03:22.030
then like he's in there for too long and she's

01:03:22.030 --> 01:03:23.590
deliberating in her head. She's like, I should

01:03:23.590 --> 01:03:25.730
go and help him. I don't care if he dies. But

01:03:25.730 --> 01:03:27.590
if he dies, it's kind of bad for me. So like,

01:03:27.670 --> 01:03:29.130
I guess I should help him. Because also, I don't

01:03:29.130 --> 01:03:30.989
know how to get home. There's wards up and I'm

01:03:30.989 --> 01:03:34.210
just a halfling. Yeah, because now she falls

01:03:34.210 --> 01:03:35.789
into the category of people who are trapped in

01:03:35.789 --> 01:03:41.010
the bonelands. So this is just one POV, but I

01:03:41.010 --> 01:03:44.570
want to know what Anakin is doing. She's just

01:03:44.570 --> 01:03:50.710
disappeared. So speaking of, we do get a nightmare

01:03:50.710 --> 01:03:55.409
from Mildred's perspective. And she dreams of

01:03:55.409 --> 01:03:58.010
this dungeon scene and some prisoners who are

01:03:58.010 --> 01:04:01.429
being dealt with. It's clearly a captured unseelie

01:04:01.429 --> 01:04:06.750
couple. And whoever Mildred is in this scene

01:04:06.750 --> 01:04:09.869
is trying to use the female of this couple against

01:04:09.869 --> 01:04:11.469
the male to get information out of the male.

01:04:11.989 --> 01:04:16.289
And she... knows in her bones that it's Attican,

01:04:16.710 --> 01:04:19.210
but she doesn't understand why she's having this

01:04:19.210 --> 01:04:26.210
dream. Oh. Intrigue. Intrigue. Seduction. Seduction

01:04:26.210 --> 01:04:29.070
dreams. And when she wakes, she's certain that

01:04:29.070 --> 01:04:31.309
it wasn't actually a dream, but somehow a memory

01:04:31.309 --> 01:04:35.230
from Attican's own perspective. And she does

01:04:35.230 --> 01:04:38.250
not know what to do with that. No, that's messy.

01:04:38.829 --> 01:04:43.949
Right. But It is foreshadowing because it is

01:04:43.949 --> 01:04:46.869
dangling the possibility that her connection

01:04:46.869 --> 01:04:51.730
to Attican is a real thing. Oh, and it's deeper

01:04:51.730 --> 01:04:55.369
than just an arranged marriage. Exactly. OK.

01:04:55.949 --> 01:04:57.590
So she goes into the bathroom and she finds Vane

01:04:57.590 --> 01:05:00.630
actually asleep in freezing bathwater. She wakes

01:05:00.630 --> 01:05:03.030
him and it's clear that he's in pain and we realize

01:05:03.030 --> 01:05:06.710
that he has a wound on his wing. And she goes

01:05:06.710 --> 01:05:09.579
to tend it, but it... It's almost like he uses

01:05:09.579 --> 01:05:11.760
magic to try to knit the skin back together because

01:05:11.760 --> 01:05:14.039
she's like not touching it at all and she's like

01:05:14.039 --> 01:05:15.639
watching the skin knit back together. So it's

01:05:15.639 --> 01:05:17.219
like he had to rest for a little bit in order

01:05:17.219 --> 01:05:19.079
to use the magic to do that. Not really well

01:05:19.079 --> 01:05:22.260
explained, but it's a painful process. Yeah.

01:05:23.280 --> 01:05:27.179
And in this time, they have a quiet charged moment

01:05:27.179 --> 01:05:31.119
where he like touches her face and she's a little

01:05:31.119 --> 01:05:35.980
bit aroused and he can smell it. And rather than

01:05:35.980 --> 01:05:38.550
flee from it, She goes to get to stand up and

01:05:38.550 --> 01:05:40.789
he just asks her to stay. And so she does. And

01:05:40.789 --> 01:05:43.050
she falls asleep on the side of the bath while

01:05:43.050 --> 01:05:46.809
he heals ostensibly. It just stays in the cold

01:05:46.809 --> 01:05:49.329
bath water. So she's not actually he stays in

01:05:49.329 --> 01:05:51.170
the cold bath water. She just falls asleep on

01:05:51.170 --> 01:05:53.969
the stone floor. I guess like he could make it

01:05:53.969 --> 01:05:57.610
warm again. He could make it warm again. She

01:05:57.610 --> 01:05:58.789
doesn't really know how long she stays there,

01:05:58.789 --> 01:06:00.369
but at some point she's aware that he's picked

01:06:00.369 --> 01:06:02.869
her up and like puts her back on the bed. Oh,

01:06:02.869 --> 01:06:07.989
that's so cute. I know. So then we get a little

01:06:07.989 --> 01:06:10.949
bit of a slow, this is the start of the slow

01:06:10.949 --> 01:06:15.190
build of Vayne. He's different from Attican and

01:06:15.190 --> 01:06:17.650
she's not really sure how to deal with that because

01:06:17.650 --> 01:06:20.289
Vayne is being genuinely sweet to her in some

01:06:20.289 --> 01:06:25.789
ways. Yeah, we get this turn of enemies to lovers.

01:06:25.989 --> 01:06:27.130
We're like, there's still kind of enemies but

01:06:27.130 --> 01:06:29.110
he's really nice to her because he needs her.

01:06:29.670 --> 01:06:32.170
Right. And he's like, you know, you can go anywhere

01:06:32.170 --> 01:06:34.349
in the castle. Like, the whole second floor is

01:06:34.349 --> 01:06:36.690
a library. Like, I'll give you whatever you want.

01:06:36.710 --> 01:06:39.590
Like, just tell me what you need. Just love me.

01:06:39.949 --> 01:06:42.909
Right. And I think it's... I'm not sure if it's

01:06:42.909 --> 01:06:44.969
in the scene or if it was in one of the earlier

01:06:44.969 --> 01:06:48.429
scenes, but critically, like, she agrees to go

01:06:48.429 --> 01:06:50.170
through, like, this process because she doesn't

01:06:50.170 --> 01:06:52.050
have a choice, right? She's trying to manipulate

01:06:52.050 --> 01:06:56.030
her way back to safety. And so... he essentially

01:06:56.030 --> 01:06:57.889
she enters into this bargain and he's like great

01:06:57.889 --> 01:07:00.309
so for doing this after i invade the sealy lands

01:07:00.309 --> 01:07:03.869
i'll give you something of your choosing okay

01:07:03.869 --> 01:07:10.309
okay cool so then one night mildred is just chilling

01:07:10.309 --> 01:07:12.230
in the castle it's been several days maybe a

01:07:12.230 --> 01:07:14.070
week since she's been there and she overhears

01:07:14.070 --> 01:07:16.210
people talking in the dining room and she's like

01:07:16.210 --> 01:07:18.250
that's weird that people are having dinner and

01:07:18.250 --> 01:07:22.670
i wasn't invited which i love i love her entitlement

01:07:22.670 --> 01:07:25.639
she's like i'm here now i'm doing a thing What

01:07:25.639 --> 01:07:28.840
the fuck? Right. So she gets dressed, and then

01:07:28.840 --> 01:07:30.599
she joins them for dinner. And they're having

01:07:30.599 --> 01:07:33.000
a great time, and then it immediately becomes

01:07:33.000 --> 01:07:35.900
dead silent as soon as she opens the door. I'm

01:07:35.900 --> 01:07:38.860
hungry. I'm hungry. Hi. Good to see you all.

01:07:38.920 --> 01:07:41.579
What's going on? And so we see the people of

01:07:41.579 --> 01:07:42.860
the court that we've been introduced to sitting

01:07:42.860 --> 01:07:44.960
around the table, as well as Vane. But we also

01:07:44.960 --> 01:07:49.780
see a man named Lord Stone. Lord Stone is a seely

01:07:49.780 --> 01:07:53.400
lord that Mildred recognizes from Garen's court.

01:07:54.239 --> 01:07:58.099
And turns out that he is a longtime secret unseelie

01:07:58.099 --> 01:08:02.360
ally. Probably the one that hurt Attican? Yeah,

01:08:02.440 --> 01:08:06.579
kind of makes sense, right? Yeah. Yeah. So Lord

01:08:06.579 --> 01:08:08.199
Stone doesn't try to hide that fact. He's like,

01:08:08.239 --> 01:08:10.340
yes, you do recognize me. I am who I am. There's

01:08:10.340 --> 01:08:11.619
nothing you can do about it like you're stuck

01:08:11.619 --> 01:08:14.079
behind the ward. Sorry about it, girl. I can

01:08:14.079 --> 01:08:19.409
leave, though. Right. He says that... Mildred's,

01:08:19.409 --> 01:08:21.810
quote, calculated boldness is the reason that

01:08:21.810 --> 01:08:25.210
she gained Attican's attention and insinuates

01:08:25.210 --> 01:08:28.029
that she also has his heart. It's clear, based

01:08:28.029 --> 01:08:29.350
on this comment and the way that other people

01:08:29.350 --> 01:08:31.550
react across the table, that everyone in the

01:08:31.550 --> 01:08:33.430
room is operating under the assumption that Attican,

01:08:33.649 --> 01:08:35.710
the Heartless Prince, actually does love Mildred.

01:08:36.149 --> 01:08:38.229
And Mildred's like, all of these people are idiots.

01:08:38.789 --> 01:08:41.729
Like, I don't think so. We banked once and then

01:08:41.729 --> 01:08:44.630
I disappeared. So, like, girl, I don't know what

01:08:44.630 --> 01:08:47.350
to tell you. And I'm like... I guess. Oh, everybody

01:08:47.350 --> 01:08:50.090
sees it but you. It's OK. I know. Because she

01:08:50.090 --> 01:08:56.430
had it from years. Yeah. So this scene is great

01:08:56.430 --> 01:08:59.729
because obviously Mildred's come in halfway through

01:08:59.729 --> 01:09:03.149
dinner. And so nobody knows what to do. And at

01:09:03.149 --> 01:09:05.090
some point, there are other people at the table

01:09:05.090 --> 01:09:06.590
that she doesn't know. And so she points to a

01:09:06.590 --> 01:09:08.729
woman sitting next to Bane and is like, you haven't

01:09:08.729 --> 01:09:12.310
been introduced yet. Go for it. She's so bold.

01:09:12.609 --> 01:09:15.279
I know. And we learned that this woman's name

01:09:15.279 --> 01:09:18.520
is Marona. She's introduced as Vane's quote unquote

01:09:18.520 --> 01:09:22.779
friend. But yeah, OK. It's very clear that they

01:09:22.779 --> 01:09:25.380
are like biblical friends, if you know what I

01:09:25.380 --> 01:09:31.500
mean. Yeah. Mildred can't help but feel a little

01:09:31.500 --> 01:09:34.899
tinge of jealousy when this subject is broached,

01:09:35.180 --> 01:09:37.659
especially when it comes time for people to start

01:09:37.659 --> 01:09:40.680
leaving and Vane walks Marona out. And she's

01:09:40.680 --> 01:09:44.529
like, well. So much for falling in love with

01:09:44.529 --> 01:09:46.949
me, huh? Yeah, exactly. I thought I mean, although

01:09:46.949 --> 01:09:48.470
I guess the agreement is that she has fall in

01:09:48.470 --> 01:09:52.670
love with him not vice versa Right All right

01:09:52.670 --> 01:09:56.329
So Mildred does follow them out of the dining

01:09:56.329 --> 01:09:59.189
room at you know a distance and I thought for

01:09:59.189 --> 01:10:00.810
sure that she was gonna overhear them fucking

01:10:00.810 --> 01:10:02.750
in her bedroom But vein is just literally what

01:10:02.750 --> 01:10:05.430
walking marona to a carriage and when he comes

01:10:05.430 --> 01:10:08.050
back inside This is when they make the bargain

01:10:08.050 --> 01:10:11.579
right so vein swears to give Mildred anything

01:10:11.579 --> 01:10:13.800
that she wants when she breaks the wards and

01:10:13.800 --> 01:10:15.159
she's like, okay, great. Let's try to do this

01:10:15.159 --> 01:10:16.680
fall in love thing. And he's like, how do we

01:10:16.680 --> 01:10:18.420
do that? And she's like, well, we're going to

01:10:18.420 --> 01:10:22.399
start by going on a picnic. The only reason she's,

01:10:22.399 --> 01:10:25.119
she suggested that is because she once saw Bernie

01:10:25.119 --> 01:10:28.619
come back from a picnic with her betrothed and

01:10:28.619 --> 01:10:30.979
said that Bernie looked really happy and like

01:10:30.979 --> 01:10:34.510
in love and maybe that will happen for her. That's

01:10:34.510 --> 01:10:38.770
so juvenile and sweet. I know. And it's clear

01:10:38.770 --> 01:10:41.090
that she's not cynically playing this game anymore.

01:10:41.890 --> 01:10:43.909
Like, Vayne has been so nice to her, as have

01:10:43.909 --> 01:10:45.789
the people in this castle, that she's testing

01:10:45.789 --> 01:10:48.189
whether this is like a real thing that could

01:10:48.189 --> 01:10:51.050
happen. Because, I mean, she doesn't really owe

01:10:51.050 --> 01:10:53.550
Atticant anything. And he might be obsessed,

01:10:53.649 --> 01:10:59.149
but she's not. No. Even if she does go with Attican,

01:10:59.350 --> 01:11:01.949
right? She's still powerless. She's still a pawn

01:11:01.949 --> 01:11:05.310
on a board. The whole inner monologue that she

01:11:05.310 --> 01:11:07.430
has here is that she's never had control over

01:11:07.430 --> 01:11:09.149
her life. She's never had one thing that was

01:11:09.149 --> 01:11:12.029
hers, and she just wants to know what that feels

01:11:12.029 --> 01:11:16.470
like. Yeah. So that's where we're going to end

01:11:16.470 --> 01:11:21.710
part one of our coverage. That's so good. It's

01:11:21.710 --> 01:11:23.630
so good. I got to say, I'm having a great time.

01:11:23.909 --> 01:11:27.199
Me too. I'm pleasantly surprised because I just,

01:11:28.060 --> 01:11:30.739
I don't know, the one -offs haven't really done

01:11:30.739 --> 01:11:33.720
it for us lately. So I just didn't think it was

01:11:33.720 --> 01:11:35.739
going to be good. They've been a struggle. And

01:11:35.739 --> 01:11:38.760
like, I will say that there are a couple of instances,

01:11:39.100 --> 01:11:41.359
like there is some clunky wording. I'll pull

01:11:41.359 --> 01:11:43.960
out some examples for part two so that you can

01:11:43.960 --> 01:11:46.119
understand what we're talking about. But even

01:11:46.119 --> 01:11:50.170
that doesn't... bother me so much, right? This

01:11:50.170 --> 01:11:52.750
is the kind of book that my nose is literally

01:11:52.750 --> 01:11:55.609
glued to my phone, and my partner is like, are

01:11:55.609 --> 01:11:59.609
you good? You're like, I'm good. You seem distracted.

01:12:00.109 --> 01:12:05.720
I am. I am, in a good way. Yep. Anyway, we did

01:12:05.720 --> 01:12:08.159
it. Those are our thoughts on part one of Amid

01:12:08.159 --> 01:12:10.079
Clouds and Bones by Ella Fields. Thank you, as

01:12:10.079 --> 01:12:11.779
always, for joining us on this journey. Let us

01:12:11.779 --> 01:12:13.079
know what you thought. You can find us on the

01:12:13.079 --> 01:12:15.159
socials at TikTok, YouTube, and Goodreads at

01:12:15.159 --> 01:12:17.039
Spice Traders' Pod. And if you like our podcast

01:12:17.039 --> 01:12:19.520
and want more, consider becoming a patron where

01:12:19.520 --> 01:12:21.439
we release Patreon -exclusive episodes on our

01:12:21.439 --> 01:12:23.439
off weeks. And if you really, really like us,

01:12:23.439 --> 01:12:25.899
drop us a review wherever you listen. But until

01:12:25.899 --> 01:12:28.460
next time, we'll see you. Bye. Bye.