book stuff

Character Analysis

Antonetta is such an interesting character. We start off the book with her being engaged to Artal Gremont, and her first scene is almost a repeat of her first scene in Sword Catcher - at the Caravel. Antonetta does the exact same thing in RPK that she did in SC: she pulls back the curtain to interrupt Kel and Silla; the first time it was because Conor needed help, but this second time, it was just because she was being petty. Kel runs after her and she tells him that she must marry Gremont because if not him, her mother will force her to marry an equally terrible man anyway. And she needs to marry for a year to get the Silk Charter.

She seems really determined to marry Gremont, especially in her small POVs that we get. We see that she didn't even plan on escaping after finding out that Gremont requested the horrific "First Night" to humiliate her, and she was unable to back out of the marriage at that point because her mom was going to get a bunch of land from Gremont. And she was going to GO THROUGH WITH IT?????? I couldn't believe that she was so determined to get the Charter that she was willing to go through that nightmare. It was horrifying, actually, how she was mentally preparing for such a disgusting violation.

The only reason she decides not to marry Gremont is because she finds out that he is searching for Prosper Beck and realizes how far under the thumb of Elsabet Belmany he is. Then, she starts planning his murder by enlisting Alys's help to switch the amulets while he was drugged and having Jerrod assassinate him.

This shows that Antonetta prizes Prosper Beck, her real self, over anything. She was going to endure horrific things with Gremont because she has her goal and will achieve it no matter what - Antonetta Alleyne getting hurt in the process is just collateral damage and she believes that she could survive it. But when Prosper Beck is threatened, she immediately starts planning Gremont's murder, showing that Prosper Beck is who Antonetta really is; although it is a false identity, everything that Beck represents is what Ana is but cannot reveal as Antonetta Alleyne, the wealthy noble. She sees such little worth in her true self that she is willing to sacrifice herself because she knows it's not real, but she is so quick to protect Prosper Beck at all costs. That's the interesting thing about her character, and how she directly opposes Kel - her identity doesn't align with her true name, station, and class; it aligns with her false name and false life, Prosper Beck. For Kel, he has to pretend to be Conor and/or Kel Anjuman, which is his false identity that he has to live by; his identity aligns with his true self, Kel Saren. At the end of RPK when Kel thinks "it is intoxicating to be seen" I think it applies to both of them. Kel finally knows Antonetta's false name (her true self), while Antonetta now knows Kel's real name (his true self).

Something that the book doesn't really answer is why Antonetta decided to dissolve Beck's enterprises at the end of SC, and then 3 months later, bring him back? Due to the fact that she left Kel a warning of a slaughter on the Hill that ends up happening, I am guessing that she caught wind of the doings of the nobles, which include her mother, and that there are sinister things happening. At the end of SC, Andreyen says that he suspected something like the Shining Gallery slaughter would happen, but hoped it wouldn't. Therefore, Beck would also probably catch wind of something like that, and also because of the whole mess with Sarthe that was caused after Beck's blackmailing, Beck could be considered the fall guy and could have a lot more scrutiny placed on him, ultimately leading to the discovery that Antonetta is Beck. After 3 months, she came back as Beck because some time has passed and things have cooled off (or so she thought) and also, I think she did it as soon as Artal Gremont came back to Castellane because she wanted to feel like she had an escape. In her POV during the interstital between Ch 8 and Ch 9, Antonetta sits in the cellar of her house, looking at the entrance of the tunnels just to remind herself that she has an escape if she needs it. Beck seems like her escape in many ways - mentally, emotionally, physically, financially. Being Beck reminds her that she has more power than her station as Antonetta Alleyne allows, and I think she feels more and more powerless as Gremont arrives and demands all these things for their upcoming wedding because he "has the right" since he will own her. Also, I think Antonetta was not going to go through with the marriage in the first place, no matter how much she told herself she could endure it, I think that she was looking for any excuse to kill Gremont and shift her plan because the whole situation was just such a nightmare. She goes missing after Gremont dies, probably to lie low and deal with making sure Elsabet doesn't immediately find her and Jerrod, but also probably to make a new plan on what the hell she is going to do next. She's going to have to switch gears to get her Charter now.

Also, at the end of SC, Jerrod says to Kel "Tell Merren he's not the only one awaiting Artal Gremont's arrival in Castellane." It was my belief this whole time that Jerrod's backstory involved Gremont and that he, too, had a history with him. However, we don't find out anything in RPK about his backstory, except that Antonetta apparently saved his life and that is why he is loyal to her. It doesn't seem like Jerrod necessarily has a personal vendetta against Gremont, so Jerrod is not saying that HE is waiting for Gremont to arrive; he is likely hinting that Beck is waiting for Gremont to arrive. Then, the next time Kel sees Antonetta, she says she is engaged to Artal Gremont. It would make sense that Jerrod would already know at this point, so he's almost hinting to Kel that Prosper Beck is coming back when Gremont arrives. So, Beck's return is foreshadowed. Hopefully we learn more about all of this in book 3 so that we can understand the whole planned course of action with Gremont.

Back to the whole identity of Prosper Beck. Ana creates this identity as a man because she knows that women are not taken as seriously. We see in her POV how she resents Conor for getting to have everything he wants and for also being attractive because he is already rich, powerful, and a man, and being beautiful matters little for a man in high station compared to how much importance beauty has on Antonetta's station. We can see her bitterness about how misogynistic the society and the rules are for women. Beck is her escape, her freedom to break out of all these rules.

In the last chapter of RPK, we see not only a difference in her attitude (more angry, bitter) but also a difference in her looks. On the Hill, she is bound by a certain strict societal standard in order to be seen as beautiful. The entire book, whenever Kel looks into her eyes, her pupils are changed shapes by poppy-drops, which is in the fashion of the Hill. I'm always looking at what shapes her pupils are during a scene because it is another piece of her armor, along with the clothes. It shows intentionality of what she wants to show outwardly. For example, in SC, chapter 18, during the Princess's arrival, Antonetta arrives at the square with pupils in the shape of tears because she's trying to show that she is sad that Conor is engaged to a different woman. In RPK chapter 12, when she and Kel are in the Ochre Room, her pupils are the shapes of hearts, which shows her intentionality. Notably, in RPK chapter 26, this is the first time Kel looks into her eyes and sees her pupils unchanged. We see her outfitted in more masculine attire but still keeping her signature feminine touches, instead of her hyper-feminine appearance on the Hill. This is who she REALLY is, and Kel finally sees her without her armor in this chapter.

In this chapter, we also see how Antonetta is nervous about what Kel thinks about her being Prosper Beck, not just because of it being a betrayal, but also because Beck is her true self, and as Kel says "there is nothing more intoxicating than being known," which I think is a big part of their relationship dynamic.

Relationship Analysis

Antonetta took many risks as Antonetta Alleyne and as Prosper Beck to try to help Kel / save Kel's ass at the end of the book. She tries to free him from his Sword Catcher title by planning on giving Gremont's Charter (after they get married and she kills him off) to Kel so that he could be free of being a Sword Catcher, which I think House Aurelian would immediately say FUCK NO to that, they like to keep Kel on a tight leash, and besides, Kel doesn't even want power. It's something interesting, since Ana is so obsessed with gaining power that she thinks Kel would want it too since she knows he has none; therefore, she is trying to secure this Charter for him, not even knowing him truly, because he wouldn't even want that Charter. (Side note: I wonder if her other main motive of giving Kel a Charter is to put them on a level class so that they can actually be together without the class divide issues). She also tries to warn him at the Solstice Ball during their dance by sacrificing his trust in her, and then doing the best thing of all, which is giving Conor the amulet to save Kel's life.

Her actions as Prosper Beck are what show that she really cares about Kel and wants to protect him. She also said that she never meant to hurt him, and was surprised with how angry/upset he was and how he took her actions as trying to hurt him, because she doesn't fully believe that he has feelings for her yet so she doesn't think he'd be hurt. But he kind of ended up collateral damage with a lot of the Prosper Beck stuff, especially with how she used the locket & grass ring. We still don't get a reason why she had him steal her locket to see the grass ring; hopefully we will find out in book 3 what the hell the point of that was, but it was clear that she didn't think he would be affected by finding the grass ring. Maybe it was more just messing with his head, making him run around and look for clues but never coming up with anything concrete.

The whole scene in the Ochre Room was interesting because at this point we have to assume that she already is planning Gremont's murder (in the chapter interstitial between 12 and 13, Silla says that Alys is in the office with the "blonde girl" and we are introduced to the "little trick" of switching Gremont's amulet with a false one so she was literally planning Gremont's death with Alys RIGHT AFTER this scene with Kel. Alys would not have known about the importance of the amulet; Antonetta would've gotten the information from Jerrod after Lin explained what the amulet was. Therefore, Antonetta already needed to have a false amulet created BEFORE she went to the Caravel and enlist Alys's help to do the amulet switch. This is evidence to show that she knew she wasn't going to have to endure First Night already, so she just wanted an excuse to be connected to Kel. I find the timing random, though. I am trying to think of why she would decide to proposition him at this specific time in the story - maybe it was just the only time that they wouldn't be caught and she wouldn't be risked to reveal herself as Beck? It seems like a big gamble though since this was during Joss's party, where her fiancé is downstairs, like isn't that a terrible time to be propositioning Kel because they could've been caught so easily. In Ch 26, Jerrod does say that he wondered if Kel figured out her identity because "she has always been somewhat careless with you" and I think this can apply to this situation. I think she was probably just lonely, and wanting to feel any connection possible with the person she loves, even if she is unsure about his feelings toward her.

The Solstice Ball dance scene shows Antonetta sacrificing Kel's trust in her to get him to understand that he is in danger and needs to stop walking this razor's edge because he is going to get killed if he doesn't (and she was completely right about that). I think this just shows that she loves him & wants him to live, even if they cannot be together. At the same time that she is willing to give him up for his own good, she is also keeping him close (with the Ochre Room scene, with the Solstice Ball dance); she is warring with the selflessness of letting him go and the selfishness of keeping him, but ultimately decides on what will save his life.

Kel is in a predicament because he loves her but feels like he doesn't really know her since he has been lied to. I think that he has valid concerns but, as Antonetta points out, he gives her a hard time for lying about who she is but he does the exact same thing. I think he needs to learn more about himself as Kel Saren alone in order to feel comfortable with understanding this newfound version of Antonetta and how he feels about her; as he says in Ch 26, "I have to know myself before I know her." I think that they took a step forward when they re-introduced themselves at the end of the book, but they both need to develop separately as people and develop trust before they can be in a real relationship where they are their true selves. I think they are both so afraid to be hurt that right now, they aren't taking the full step forward to say how they really feel. I am excited for their character development.