Good and Evil
Vanyel is the hero. Leareth is the villain. It could no be simpler than that. One good and one evil. And yet, there is something both opposite and similar about them which Vanyel immediately notices upon gazing at Leareth:
“The young man was wearing black armor and clothing that had to be a conscious parody of Heraldic Whites. He was absolutely beautiful, with a perfectly sculptured face and body. Somehow that face looked oddly familiar. It could just be that the face was so perfect, it looked like the statue of a god. He was a reverse image of Vanyel in every way, from sable hair to ebony eyes to night-black boots…His voice was a smooth, silky tenor; he had learned the same kind of perfect control over it that he had over his body. The familiarity of his features bothered Vanyel. At first he thought it was because he very closely resembled the Herald himself, but there was more to it than that. A kind of racial similarity to someone—"
Fantasy of a Crush
Stefen has a crush on Vanyel. Like all such relationships, Stefen spends much of his time in a fantasy world about what might happen if the day were to come when things moved beyond unrequited passion from afar:
“In all those daydreams, Stefen imagined himself doing something wonderful-writing a ballad that would bring tears to the eyes of everyone who heard it, perhaps, or performing some vague but important service for the Crown. He had pictured himself being presented to the Court, then being formally introduced to Herald Vanyel. He'd invented a hundred witty things to say, something to make the Herald laugh, or simply to entertain him. And from there the daydreams had always led to Vanyel's seeking out his company-and finally courting him.”
A Dying King
The king of the realm is dying. This particular circumstance sets the climax of the trilogy in motion. But there is also a thing going on here with ghosts. And here is where the imagery collides:
“Randale looked like a ghost; from colorless hair to skeletal features to corpse-pale complexion, if Stef had come upon this man in a darkened hallway, he'd have believed all the tales of spirits haunting the Palace. That the King wore Heraldic Whites didn't help matters; they only emphasized his pallor.”
Drivel
The end of the book features “Songs of Vanyel’s Time” which detail provide a little context and color to the proceedings preceding them. One of the songs is title “My Lady’s Eyes” and is described outright by the author as being “drivel” but drivel with a purpose. Sadly, some might not necessarily sense a difference between this and the other songs:
“My Lady's eyes are like the skies
A soft and sunlit blue
No other fair could half compare
In sweet midsummer hue
My Lady's eyes cannot disguise
Her tender, gentle heart
She cannot feign, she feels my pain
Whenever we must part.”
