The Levantine coast was a ribbon of crushed white limestone, blooming wild thyme, and sun-baked earth that stretched endlessly between the sapphire expanse of the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the jagged, arid peaks of the Lebanon Mountains to the east. For the men of the Vanguard, marching down this ancient, winding trade route felt less like a military campaign and more like a mass resurrection.
They had left the rotting, plague-choked graveyard of Antioch hundreds of miles behind the
Baldwin does die, but it is in the dust in Egypt, where he is left by how own men to rot by the roadside.
Not in these books, but still, a satisfying end to the @#$!@%
The Kremlin Dome rose from the heart of Volgograd like a blade buried to the hilt.
It had been the seat of colonial power for two centuries—first under the Empire, then under the various corporate interests that had carved up the system after the Collapse, and now, for the past two weeks, under Tripp. The previous occupants had been evacuated. Not gently. The ones who had objected were in the holding cells beneath the dome, waiting for whatever came next. The ones who had cooperated were in
ok yes he named it, BUT Darien will NEVER admit that out loud :: chuckles ::
And the implication is that Guy has had something happen, yes, however I *think* he does show up later in the text during the final battle of the book. Don't quote me on that... I don't actually remember if I did or not... (my memory is not the greatest when it comes to small moments)
Also, it isn't explicitly said, but Ashot.
He is brown, a thief, a former prostitute, and a catamite.
Darien getting him out of Antioch as well, probably saved his life. He was, probably, in far more danger than Wylan was, and he lacked the awareness of it.
Darien, however, knows exactly why they all have to leave.
Raymond's quest for the Crown of Jerusalem... and the absolute magnitude of the Atrocities he does to try to claim it... The man was beyond a psychopath. So yes, he'd interpret getting struck down by lightening and a chorus of angels denouncing him to hell, as being a sign that he's destined to rule.
i believe both Val and Lady Adele (via letter) made disparaging comments about Darien's Latin. And you know Val was asleep through most of them. Julian probably heard it, and will tease Wylan mercilessly for this.
Poor Wylan is going to have to learn Latin if he has any hope of continuing the ruse that he's an Ordained Priest by the Legate of Rome. (Much to Stephen's amusement)
The rules of the crusade were, whoever flies their banner first over a city, rules. Darien is about to carve out a Kingdom along the coast that will control the flow of supplies to the crusade.
Antioch had become a graveyard masquerading as a city.
By the third week of July, the heat trapped within the Orontes valley had baked the mud of the streets into a cracked, pale crust that smelled perpetually of rot, stale incense, and desperate, starving men. The walls that had kept the Crusaders out for a year now kept them penned inside, stewing in a toxic broth of religious fanaticism and political venom. At the center of the city, Count Raymond of Toulouse paraded daily with his ruste
I just wanted somewhere that wasn't the bulk standard loft, or apartment... something with a sense of character that would suit Flynn and his limpet-boyfriend.
I just finished a second book to this one, and just enjoy the Poitr character, he's selfish, on track mind, totally self-serving and demanding, and yet somehow, he's really endearing. Like his brattiness is armor and Flynn's the one thing he loves more than himself. It shouldn't work, but somehow... it does.