Some Notes on The Uninitiated
Some notes on The Uninitiated
For those who may be following Invocatus Rex on tamingthemuse or here, I've put together some information from Triplex Coniunctio that will hopefully flesh out the prophecy oriented portions of Lucie's character. Much of this is lifted directly from the first book with some ancillary explanation. Having put this together, I can see that it's probably pretty necessary information.
On the Uninitiated
1st Mention: From the writings of the renegade witch (whose identity is still unknown at present in IR.
The renegade witch is speaking directly to The Unknowing, who it was learnt in Triplex Coniunctio was Ambrus Peyton, Sylvie's grandfather. At the time he and Thalia discovered her writings (the renegade witch's), Thalia was pregnant with Etienne and already living in St. Malo. She'd come home for some sleuthing, which among other things led to the discovery of this collection of writings. The renegade witch is speaking specifically about the Triplex Coniunctio, the Triple Bond, which is the primary mystery of the first book, and here she says:
The first requirement is a blood oath to be undertaken by The Unknowing and the leader of their enemies. This oath, foretold to occur in childhood, seals the union of our two orders irrevocably. The second requirement is that The Healer be born from these same two. Only The Healer can carry the blood of both darkness and light; only he can see through the veil of darkness and sow light into tortured souls. The third requirement is that The Healer sire a child upon The Uninitiated. She is predicted to be the child that goodness spawns and purity bears forth. No more is known at this time of The Uninitiated. The Healer will know her, and together they will bring a child into the world who is to be the fulfillment of the Triplex Coniunctio. What this child’s destiny is none of us knows.
The renegade witch is called such because she broke from the Dark Coven in the 1800s, at a time when it was really dangerous for her to do so. When she speaks of “them,” she's speaking of the Dark Coven. Thus, the “leader of their enemies” would be Thalia, as she is the rightful leader of the Coven of Light. Ambrus, it is determined through the renegade's writings is the rightful leader of the Dark Coven. The blood oath of which she speaks is actually Thalia's first spell, cast in childhood one day when Ambrus is teasing her about not really being a witch. The Healer you know about. The child to be born of The Healer and The Uninitiated is, of course, Sylvie.
2nd Mention: Trivial. As Ambrus is ingratiating his way into the leadership role within the Dark Coven in an effort to stop their plans to kill his son, Bertrand (who is actually a cardinal within Magi Sancti's order but not entirely within their thrall and is posturing as the rightful leader of the Dark Coven) mentions something about The Healer's destiny to father a child with an even greater destiny. Ambrus mentally thinks about The Uninitiated, but it's an unimportant moment in the book.
3rd Mention: Not really a mention at all. It's the point where Etienne realizes he's in love with Lucie, and the prophecies be damned.
“Lucie, how is it you’ve walked your whole life under the shadow of the prophecy and whispers of danger from the Dark Coven without becoming tainted? Yours is the quietest soul I’ve ever encountered, and that seems amazing to me somehow. Gavin is different. He seethes at all times with every emotion, both positive and negative, and he’s rarely calm. But you, you’re just so quiet.” I kept saying that word, quiet, as if it were the only one to adequately describe my observation, but even that wasn’t quite right. I looked down into Lucie’s blue eyes while she thought of her response, and I realized I’d never seen her before. Not in any way that approximated seeing her now.
4th Mention: At a dinner to celebrate the 93rd birthday of Sebastien, Thalia's seer, the old man has a vision. As Etienne realizes that's what's happening, he wonders if it has to do with Lucie and with The Uninitiated, and he thinks to himself:
This was the moment I had dreaded for three years. Lucie and I had talked about the prophecy, the final prophecy regarding my supposed relationship with The Uninitiated. We both knew it was possible I’d fallen in love with the wrong girl. Because no one knew who The Uninitiated was, no one knew how to feel about me and Lucie being together. My parents adored her as a daughter, and I knew that, under different circumstances, they would welcome the idea of us being together. As things were, they were guardedly optimistic, hoping against hope Lucie was actually The Uninitiated. For myself, I had spent three years patently ignoring any part of my destiny that wasn’t related to the healing. Prophecy or no prophecy, I wasn’t willing to lose her. So, when Sebastien looked at Lucie and then seemed to lose focus, we all waited without breathing to hear what he would say.
The following is the conversation that took place between Sebastien and Lucie after the vision passed. About halfway through is an odd little phrase about good and evil and the colour grey, and this harkens back to something that occurs earlier in the book.
“My dear, forgive an old man for being out of touch, but why did you refuse to join the Coven of Light?”
What was the man talking about? Did his vision have nothing to do with my love? I realized then that I did want to know the truth about Lucie and me. I needed to know, and I wouldn’t. Sebastien’s vision was obviously unrelated. Beside me, Lucie stirred and leant toward the table so she could see Sebastien better.
“I didn’t really refuse, Sebastien. I just chose to go my own way. There is a larger path out there, and I didn’t want to be confined just yet. I may one day join the Coven, but that day won’t come until I know I can truly serve as the Coven would have me do.”
“Do you not then believe there exists magic for good and magic for ill?”
It seemed the rest of us had fallen away, vanished behind the import of their conversation, and the two of them spoke only to one another.
“No, Sebastien. I can’t say I believe that. It seems to me magic is just magic. Or at least it should be. What one does with it is a choice.”
“Evil implodes; good explodes. There is only grey.”
“Exactly.”
“Then you believe that neither Coven holds a true place for you?”
“At this time, that is what I believe, yes. Do you have more questions now, or can you tell me what you saw in your vision?”
“Only you, my dear, shining with a brighter light than I have ever seen. You were dressed in the robes we used to wear, but these were neither black nor white. They were…”
“Grey.”
“Yes.” The seer straightened in his chair and cleared his throat. “Lucie, do you understand now the title Selmati bestowed upon you more than eleven hundred years ago?”
“The Uninitiated. Yes, I understand. I am not destined to belong to either order.”
“Almost, my dear. You are destined to belong to neither order.”
Sebastien turned to our parents then and nodded sagely. “They didn’t need a prophecy to find one another. We should all be so blessed.”
5th Mention: Upon finally catching the scheming would-be-murderer Bertrand and his accomplice Delia (witch of the Dark Coven, who you may also know as Darwin Welles' wife and Hadrian Welles' mother from Coadeyder), Delia finally lets the cat out of the bag about what the child of The Healer and the Uninitiated will be.
"When The Healer and The Uninitiated produce a child, that child will carry within it a long history of magic. The heritage of its father will meld with the choice of its mother, and pure magic will be the result."
There's more, but you get the general idea...
For those who may be following Invocatus Rex on tamingthemuse or here, I've put together some information from Triplex Coniunctio that will hopefully flesh out the prophecy oriented portions of Lucie's character. Much of this is lifted directly from the first book with some ancillary explanation. Having put this together, I can see that it's probably pretty necessary information.
On the Uninitiated
1st Mention: From the writings of the renegade witch (whose identity is still unknown at present in IR.
The renegade witch is speaking directly to The Unknowing, who it was learnt in Triplex Coniunctio was Ambrus Peyton, Sylvie's grandfather. At the time he and Thalia discovered her writings (the renegade witch's), Thalia was pregnant with Etienne and already living in St. Malo. She'd come home for some sleuthing, which among other things led to the discovery of this collection of writings. The renegade witch is speaking specifically about the Triplex Coniunctio, the Triple Bond, which is the primary mystery of the first book, and here she says:
The first requirement is a blood oath to be undertaken by The Unknowing and the leader of their enemies. This oath, foretold to occur in childhood, seals the union of our two orders irrevocably. The second requirement is that The Healer be born from these same two. Only The Healer can carry the blood of both darkness and light; only he can see through the veil of darkness and sow light into tortured souls. The third requirement is that The Healer sire a child upon The Uninitiated. She is predicted to be the child that goodness spawns and purity bears forth. No more is known at this time of The Uninitiated. The Healer will know her, and together they will bring a child into the world who is to be the fulfillment of the Triplex Coniunctio. What this child’s destiny is none of us knows.
The renegade witch is called such because she broke from the Dark Coven in the 1800s, at a time when it was really dangerous for her to do so. When she speaks of “them,” she's speaking of the Dark Coven. Thus, the “leader of their enemies” would be Thalia, as she is the rightful leader of the Coven of Light. Ambrus, it is determined through the renegade's writings is the rightful leader of the Dark Coven. The blood oath of which she speaks is actually Thalia's first spell, cast in childhood one day when Ambrus is teasing her about not really being a witch. The Healer you know about. The child to be born of The Healer and The Uninitiated is, of course, Sylvie.
2nd Mention: Trivial. As Ambrus is ingratiating his way into the leadership role within the Dark Coven in an effort to stop their plans to kill his son, Bertrand (who is actually a cardinal within Magi Sancti's order but not entirely within their thrall and is posturing as the rightful leader of the Dark Coven) mentions something about The Healer's destiny to father a child with an even greater destiny. Ambrus mentally thinks about The Uninitiated, but it's an unimportant moment in the book.
3rd Mention: Not really a mention at all. It's the point where Etienne realizes he's in love with Lucie, and the prophecies be damned.
“Lucie, how is it you’ve walked your whole life under the shadow of the prophecy and whispers of danger from the Dark Coven without becoming tainted? Yours is the quietest soul I’ve ever encountered, and that seems amazing to me somehow. Gavin is different. He seethes at all times with every emotion, both positive and negative, and he’s rarely calm. But you, you’re just so quiet.” I kept saying that word, quiet, as if it were the only one to adequately describe my observation, but even that wasn’t quite right. I looked down into Lucie’s blue eyes while she thought of her response, and I realized I’d never seen her before. Not in any way that approximated seeing her now.
4th Mention: At a dinner to celebrate the 93rd birthday of Sebastien, Thalia's seer, the old man has a vision. As Etienne realizes that's what's happening, he wonders if it has to do with Lucie and with The Uninitiated, and he thinks to himself:
This was the moment I had dreaded for three years. Lucie and I had talked about the prophecy, the final prophecy regarding my supposed relationship with The Uninitiated. We both knew it was possible I’d fallen in love with the wrong girl. Because no one knew who The Uninitiated was, no one knew how to feel about me and Lucie being together. My parents adored her as a daughter, and I knew that, under different circumstances, they would welcome the idea of us being together. As things were, they were guardedly optimistic, hoping against hope Lucie was actually The Uninitiated. For myself, I had spent three years patently ignoring any part of my destiny that wasn’t related to the healing. Prophecy or no prophecy, I wasn’t willing to lose her. So, when Sebastien looked at Lucie and then seemed to lose focus, we all waited without breathing to hear what he would say.
The following is the conversation that took place between Sebastien and Lucie after the vision passed. About halfway through is an odd little phrase about good and evil and the colour grey, and this harkens back to something that occurs earlier in the book.
“My dear, forgive an old man for being out of touch, but why did you refuse to join the Coven of Light?”
What was the man talking about? Did his vision have nothing to do with my love? I realized then that I did want to know the truth about Lucie and me. I needed to know, and I wouldn’t. Sebastien’s vision was obviously unrelated. Beside me, Lucie stirred and leant toward the table so she could see Sebastien better.
“I didn’t really refuse, Sebastien. I just chose to go my own way. There is a larger path out there, and I didn’t want to be confined just yet. I may one day join the Coven, but that day won’t come until I know I can truly serve as the Coven would have me do.”
“Do you not then believe there exists magic for good and magic for ill?”
It seemed the rest of us had fallen away, vanished behind the import of their conversation, and the two of them spoke only to one another.
“No, Sebastien. I can’t say I believe that. It seems to me magic is just magic. Or at least it should be. What one does with it is a choice.”
“Evil implodes; good explodes. There is only grey.”
“Exactly.”
“Then you believe that neither Coven holds a true place for you?”
“At this time, that is what I believe, yes. Do you have more questions now, or can you tell me what you saw in your vision?”
“Only you, my dear, shining with a brighter light than I have ever seen. You were dressed in the robes we used to wear, but these were neither black nor white. They were…”
“Grey.”
“Yes.” The seer straightened in his chair and cleared his throat. “Lucie, do you understand now the title Selmati bestowed upon you more than eleven hundred years ago?”
“The Uninitiated. Yes, I understand. I am not destined to belong to either order.”
“Almost, my dear. You are destined to belong to neither order.”
Sebastien turned to our parents then and nodded sagely. “They didn’t need a prophecy to find one another. We should all be so blessed.”
5th Mention: Upon finally catching the scheming would-be-murderer Bertrand and his accomplice Delia (witch of the Dark Coven, who you may also know as Darwin Welles' wife and Hadrian Welles' mother from Coadeyder), Delia finally lets the cat out of the bag about what the child of The Healer and the Uninitiated will be.
"When The Healer and The Uninitiated produce a child, that child will carry within it a long history of magic. The heritage of its father will meld with the choice of its mother, and pure magic will be the result."
There's more, but you get the general idea...