#erondites
So on my latest reread of KoA, I noticed on p. 77 when Eugenides is scaring the living piss out of the tax evading baron:
In the bed beside the baron there was a sleepy murmur, not his wife, thank the gods, his wife would have been awakened by the whispered conversation. His bedfellow stirred beside the baron and sat up.
Then later in chapter 9 (p. 187):
It was Legarus who had been the ostensible cause of their sudden promotion, an arrangement by some lover in the palace, everyone had assumed. Nepotism had only been a disguise […] His lover had used Legarus and left him to die.
Was Baron Artadorus Legarus’ lover??
(@fuckyeahqueensthief, because it was too long for an ask)
Considering Megan doesn’t use gender identifying pronouns and that must be deliberate, I’m convinced Legarus was the baron’s lover.
Furthermore, this Artadorus was clearly in contact with the Erondites family as Sejanus’s father was the one to suggest the tax fraud to begin with. The assassination was planned by Sejanus with the aid of Sounis and Nahuseresh. Artadorus appears to have assisted the plot by getting the neophyte guards promoted. He did think that Erondites had set him up by informing the king of his tax scheme, so it makes sense Artadorus would’ve gone against Erondites’s plan to control the king with a mistress and sided with Sejanus on the regicide plan. It all makes sense!
There’s also this line… “…leaning close enough that the baron could have taken him in his arms, had he been a lover instead of a murderer.” That’s pretty suggestive that he’s been with male lovers.
(Spoilers for the whole series!)
I have been re-reading the Queen’s Thief series by M.W. Turner lately because I’m still salty about the delay of the last book (…I’d already ordered it! from Germany because they don’t sell it here! I had already paid and had to cancel!) and it made me wonder about a few issues the fandom has been speculating about. I have my own theories and I’m going to make several posts about it.
Firstly - who will be the next Thief?
Many readers seem to think it will be Costis because he has already acted as the Thief by stealing Kamet from the Mede in ‘Thick as Thieves’. I don’t really agree with this theory and here’s why:
1. In general, Costis „doesn’t have the temperament” (to use Helene’s words) to be the Thief. Thieves of Eddis are independent souls and outsiders – Costis is a team player at heart. He didn’t take it well when Gen separated him from the rest of his squad in the Royal Guard.
2. Thieves of Eddis like to play by their own rules – Costis is a natural follower. When he stole Kamet from the Mede he was following his King’s orders. What’s more, while Thieves of Eddis act on behalf of their monarchs they swear no oaths and might choose to go against the throne should they consider the person sitting on it unworthy. Costis, on the other hand, has already sworn an oath of loyalty and takes it so seriously that he couldn’t act against Gen even when he’d hated him and considered him the worst king ever.
3. Thieves of Eddis need to be sneaky and conniving, and lying bastards at times – Costis is honest. He can lie when he has to but he doesn’t like to and is bad at it. He doesn’t like intrigue and it took him some time to realise someone was trying to kill him and make it look like an accident. He also had to be kept in the dark about some aspects of the „steal Kamet” plan for it to work.
4. Lastly, Costis is too old - Gen started his training when he was still a kid. While Costis’ exact age (nor anyone else’s ) is never stated, I think it’s safe to assume that in ‘King of Attolia’ he must be in his late twenties at least.
To sum it up, I believe that Costis’ role in the ‘Thick as Thieves’ is not to be the Thief in his own right but to be Gen’s proxy – to act on Gen’s behalf, carry out his plans and go where Gen himself cannot go due to his obligations as a monarch. This is even stated in the book: Costis’ earring with his King’s personal coat of arms means that he’s Gen’s man and acts as an extension of Gen’s will.
But if not Costis, then who?
Well, I believe that a suitable candidate for the role has already been introduced. Someone of appropriate age to begin training, someone intelligent (but hiding it behind an obnoxious facade) and thinking „outside the box”; someone who – like Gen – doesn’t have much respect for authority, likes riling people up and yanking their proverbial chains for the heck of it, and who isn’t above snooping around in other people’s correspondence if need be (the need being his curiosity that is).
This candidate is the new Erondites heir.
