Wild speculations, or The Regent made me do it

[elizaben]

 Hi guys. New CP fan and community member here.
While still dazed, on my first 24h with no new chapter and reading entries here like an addict, I'm trying to think of possible plot twists and outcomes.

Comments

[kestrelsparhawk]

a) Freece has said Margaret is the female Laurent? I didn't read that, but of course I've missed a lot of dialogue from before I started reading. I have of course seen the parallels as far as Damen is concerned; he admitted to liking certain qualities in her, and I wanted to whack him upside the head and point out that those appeared in Laurent as well.

I find it plausible the Regent might know; just barely plausible, though, unless he's deeply in league with her, and we know (via Laurent, and observation of the court) the Regent doesn't like women.

As to the "relationship," I think the Regent was doing inappropriate things BEFORE Marlas, and that precipitated the death of Laurent's protectors, because they found out. Or at least precipitated the father's death. So far, we haven't learned anything to suggest that the son's death cannot be placed squarely to Damen's work. So far.

As to what the Regent is playing at -- there have been several times where everything would have gone precisely as planned, had Damen not entered the equation. The first attempt, the horse, if not killing Laurent, was set up to get Damen killed and Akielos blamed either way. What he underestimated there was that Damen and L had their first (more or less) civil exchange the days before; also perhaps underestimated Laurent's unwillingness to sacrifice a slave.

The second time, Laurent was to have been assassinated, but they made the mistake of including Damen in their plan -- again for the Akielos connection. The Regent offered Damen a chance to spy for him, and after that failed, apparently wrote him off instead. He was supposed to be a scapegoat, but instead ended up helping Laurent. As Damen pointed out, if Laurent could do it on his own, he would have already.

[feverfewmole]

...I think the Regent was doing inappropriate things BEFORE Marlas, and that precipitated the death of Laurent's protectors, because they found out.

Never thought about it that way. I'm not sure if I'm convinced, but this is certainly a possibility. The Regent could have meant to make Laurent a puppet-king, then, but he went out of hand. Really interesting!

[kestrelsparhawk]

Oh, I'm definitely not entirely convinced! I like your point that he might have expected he could make Laurent a puppet-king; or he could simply have taken advantage of an opening ( I mean, the death of Auguste.) But the place is such a hotbed of plots and counterplots, anything's possible. I look forward to finding out what it was!