Last time, Metaleyes says that if she doesn’t want to get married, they can still have sex.

THE NOTION of having a lover was to Katsa something like discovering a limb she’d never noticed before. An extra arm or toe. It was unfamiliar, and she poked and prodded it, as she would have prodded an alien toe unexpectedly her own.
That the lover would be Po reduced her confusion somewhat. It was by thinking of Po, and not of the notion of a lover, that Katsa became comfortable enough to consider what it would mean to lie in his bed but not be his wife.

You know, as nice as it is to see what I think is our first female character so far to completely sidestep the unholy mess of sexual hangups that’s characterized these books, she does seem to be kind of jumping the gun here.

Katsa obviously has some major issues with intimacy, between seeing marriage of any sort as eating her soul and the fact she was driven to blinding rage at the idea she cared about another person and would be sad if they were gone. I’m not really sure fucking him is going to help with any of that. She’s a pile of trust issues shaped into girl form.

I wonder if this is the author’s own feelings on the issue showing through? Metaleyes is very much the perfect idealized boyfriend, and Katsa is perfect except for her issues that are the sort of flaw that means everyone needs to constantly reassure her that actually she’s a wonderful person. And I was guessing from the way the author gave Katsa the joke flaw of abusing her horse that these features are because they’re personally appealing, since if this was just being aimed at readers in general, the first two things make sense as broadly appealing to potential readers but the third doesn’t at all.

So with that in mind, it may be that the reason things progress like this is the author thinks women shouldn’t be concerned about having to marry before having sex and is getting slightly preachy about it.

Considering the other messages we’ve seen about women and sex, it’s hard to mind too much.

Anyway, they’re still traveling, and it’s getting rocky. Katsa wishes they could dump the horses already because she thinks it’d be faster by foot.

“You never tire,” Po said, “do you?”
“I do, if I haven’t slept for a long time. Or if I’m carrying something very heavy. I felt tired when I carried your grandfather up a flight of stairs.”
He glanced at her, eyebrows high. “You carried my grandfather up a flight of stairs?”
“Yes, at Randa’s castle.”
“After a day and a night of hard riding?”
“Yes.”
His laugh burst out, but she didn’t see the joke. “I had to do it, Po. If I hadn’t, the mission would’ve failed.”
“He weighs as much as you, and half as much again.”

…so, she does have a strength grace? But she said Metaleyes was stronger than she was and we know his grace isn’t fighting related at all. Unless they both have double graces and the second one is the same?

Metaleyes goes on to clear up absolutely nothing by adding, “Your Grace is more than fighting

How the fuck do graces work? Does that mean she only can have one grace? How are we even defining a grace given that Metaleyes can sense random shit and also know people’s thoughts on him and it’s considered one grace?

Katsa doesn’t care about the fact their magical system makes no sense and just starts thinking more about sleeping with Metaleyes.

If she took Po as her husband, she would be making promises about a future she couldn’t yet see. For once she became his wife, she would be his wife forever. And, no matter how much freedom Po gave her, she would always know that it was a gift. Her freedom would not be her own; it would be Po’s to give or to withhold. That he never would withhold it made no difference. If it did not come from her, it was not really hers.

What the fuck.

I don’t even know where to begin. Is she supposed to sound insane? Is this actually how marriage works in this world? Even assuming it’s actually how marriage works in this world it’s obvious no one can force her and she clearly doesn’t care about how people think she’s supposed to act, so how could anyone enforce this?

And in a world where this is what happens to everyone who gets married, Katsa should know there’s no being a wife “forever” because wives should be murdering their husbands left and right. They probably invented chocolate cake to have something to stuff with all the arsenic.

Although at least if this is true it means Metaleyes is actually giving something up by saying he won’t marry her if she doesn’t want to, although he really should have started the conversation with, “Not being a horrible person, I of course don’t want you to marry me and become my slave.” instead of waiting for her to object to the idea of marriage and proposing an alternative.

Katsa then decides to ask how Metaleyes would feel if she just ran off and left him without any warning or reason.

“Katsa, a man would be a fool to try to keep you in a
“But that doesn’t tell me how you’ll feel, always to be subject to my whim.”
“It isn’t your whim. It’s the need of your heart. You forget that I’m in a unique position to understand you, Katsa. Whenever you pull away from me I’ll know it’s not for lack of love. Or if it is, I’ll know that, too; and I’ll know it’s right for you to go.”
“But you’re not answering my question. How will you feel?”
There was a pause. “I don’t know. I’ll probably feel a lot of things. But only one of the things will be unhappiness; and unhappiness I’m willing to risk.”

Metaleyes continues to be the perfect boyfriend. I can’t tell if he even has a personality at this point. His feelings seem to always be whatever’s best for Katsa. He would be just sad enough to reinforce that he thinks she’s special but not so much she shouldn’t leave if she feels like it.

I can see why people are accusing him of being a girl, this is the role usually forced on the female character.

Is this bad writing? It seems like it’s quite intentional. It’s easy to see what the author was trying to do, and they’ve succeeded at it, so I’m inclined to say no. It’s just that it isn’t what the story seemed to be about, and it doesn’t go well with other bits. A story about the main character having the most perfect boyfriend is a story that needs to revolve around the character and that plot point. It clashes with an external plot or really any sign there’s problems existing outside the main character’s personal life.

The next night Katsa catches a fox for supper, because who wouldn’t prefer to eat carnivore when given the chance? Also way to waste a perfectly good fur. Then she says she feels scared and that she wants to fight because she thinks she’ll feel better.

And then they have sex. There is more detail than that but it’s the usual thing, so we’ll move on.

Afterward, Katsa is pleased to discover her soul wasn’t sucked out in the process.

Are you in pain still?”
“No.”
“Why do you suppose it happens that way? Why does a woman feel that pain?”
She had no answer to that. Women felt it, that was all she knew.

Uh, because something tears in the process? Jesus, book, it’s not some big mystery.

And that’s all! So, halfway through the book and we’ve completely resolved the love interest plot. I guess that means we’ll be focusing on King Evulz now?