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rainwatersparkPart 1 here.
(TW: mentions of rape)
Something that really, really bothered me in Kings Rising was the fact that I didn't feel like the book adequately addresed Damen's experiences as a slave and how that affected his relationship with Laurent. To me, it's more than possible to read Damen as slightly traumatized by his whole ordeal—perhaps not rising to the level of PTSD, per se, but he's clearly lost all interest in being attended by slaves himself, for one, and he also seems to be uncomfortable when confronted about things like his experience being flogged. And Laurent never really apologizes for his brutal treatment of Damen, particularly for his flogging of Damen or ordering him to be raped. Yes, Laurent apologized (once) in the second book, but it doesn't really feel like enough, especially when he at least appears to gloat about having flogged Damen in front of Nikandros in Kings Rising. The power imbalance in that stage of their relationship and Damen's residual feelings of trauma never feel like they're resolved, placing Damen and Laurent's relationship in a weird place, to me, in the third book.
One might say—as I think the book actually implies—Laurent doesn't really have to apologize because his actions were justified by his hatred for Damen, knowing Damen was his brother's killer. But that's a terrible conclusion. Understanding a character's action is not the same as justifying or excusing it. Laurent's treatment of Damen might be understandable, but it's still not excusable because it was objectively quite brutal and traumatic, two wrongs don't make a right, etc.
At some point, Damen says something like, "I was your slave," and Laurent says, "You were never a slave," but I feel like that was a horrible way to address Damen's experience. Damen obviously, objectively, was Laurent's slave. He may not have been as submissive as the average slave, and possibly got away with more freedom than a slave usually had (particularly later on), but that still doesn't change the fact that he went through experiences of humiliation, physical brutality, attempted rape and actual rape that seem to have affected him, if not in superficially obvious ways.
(TW: mentions of rape)
Something that really, really bothered me in Kings Rising was the fact that I didn't feel like the book adequately addresed Damen's experiences as a slave and how that affected his relationship with Laurent. To me, it's more than possible to read Damen as slightly traumatized by his whole ordeal—perhaps not rising to the level of PTSD, per se, but he's clearly lost all interest in being attended by slaves himself, for one, and he also seems to be uncomfortable when confronted about things like his experience being flogged. And Laurent never really apologizes for his brutal treatment of Damen, particularly for his flogging of Damen or ordering him to be raped. Yes, Laurent apologized (once) in the second book, but it doesn't really feel like enough, especially when he at least appears to gloat about having flogged Damen in front of Nikandros in Kings Rising. The power imbalance in that stage of their relationship and Damen's residual feelings of trauma never feel like they're resolved, placing Damen and Laurent's relationship in a weird place, to me, in the third book.
One might say—as I think the book actually implies—Laurent doesn't really have to apologize because his actions were justified by his hatred for Damen, knowing Damen was his brother's killer. But that's a terrible conclusion. Understanding a character's action is not the same as justifying or excusing it. Laurent's treatment of Damen might be understandable, but it's still not excusable because it was objectively quite brutal and traumatic, two wrongs don't make a right, etc.
At some point, Damen says something like, "I was your slave," and Laurent says, "You were never a slave," but I feel like that was a horrible way to address Damen's experience. Damen obviously, objectively, was Laurent's slave. He may not have been as submissive as the average slave, and possibly got away with more freedom than a slave usually had (particularly later on), but that still doesn't change the fact that he went through experiences of humiliation, physical brutality, attempted rape and actual rape that seem to have affected him, if not in superficially obvious ways.
