History Literature / KushielsLegacy

* DeadlyDecadentCourt:

* TheOathBreaker:
** Joscelin, in a largely heroic example. Cassilines swear many oaths, loyalty to their order, to never abandon their charge, to never draw their sword unless they need to kill to defend their charge, to remain celibate, among others. Being sold into slavery to the Skaldi, Joscelin is forced to break most of his vows to keep Phèdre safe and get them both home, having refused to abandon her and escape himself. He is finally forced to break his last vow and abandon the Cassiline order (who wanted him in custody to atone) in order to continue protecting Phèdre, holding his oath to never abandon her above all the others. Ironically, the Cassiline's mythology of their patron angel Cassiel features a very similar choice.
** Played straight and invoked with the Unforgiven, a military squad sworn to a traitor lord that allowed the Skaldi to invade. The survivors of the attack that turned back the Skaldi are sworn to atone by forever guarding and holding the Skaldi passes, and also to follow [[TitleDrop Kushiel's Chosen]] on Earth, Phèdre (who is flabbergasted on hearing this). Phèdre later asks them to abandon their posts and march with Ysandre to retake the City of Elua, referencing Joscelin's choice of breaking one vow to hold a higher one.

* PaperThinDisguise: Examples that go unnoticed in-universe -

* QueerRomance: Phédre and Moiron are both bisexual. They have romances and sex with women in their respective trilogies (although [[ButNotTooBi with less focus]] than the straight relationships). Some gay male romances also occur, though [[ButNotTooGay off page]].

* RescueRomance: Subverted. Imriel attempts to save Sidonie from a boar, but it turns out to be just a deer.

* DespairEventHorizon: The Mahrkagir is an expert at pushing people over it. Many women in his zenana have crossed it, and some starve themselves to death as a result. [[spoiler:Phèdre and Joscelin come close to hitting it during their time in Darsanga, but never actually do.]]

* QueerRomance: Phaedra and Moiron are both bisexual. They have romances and sex with women in their respective trilogies (although [[ButNotTooBi with less focus]] than the straight relationships). Some gay male romances also occur, though [[ButNotTooGay off page]].

* GirlsLove:
** Phèdre winds up in this position, occasionally. Her relationship with Nicola L'Envers is pretty much friends with benefits. And her relationship with Melisande is... complicated.
** Amarante, the daughter of the head priestess of the goddess of prostitutes, was hired to teach Sidonie, the crown princess, of the realm the "arts of the bedchamber."
** Moirin has a number of female lovers. [[spoiler: Including Jehanne, Snow Tiger, and the Rani Amitra.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: This is particularly common in the Delaunay household. Delaunay, Alcuin, Phèdre, and Guy are all without parents.

* {{Patricide}}: In ''Dart'', though Drustan is the Cruarch's heir he is forced to flee when the Cruarch's son kills his father and takes his title.

* PimpedOutDress[=/=]CostumePorn: Phèdre spends a while waxing lyrical about her dress before every fete, ball, masque or other special occasion. The red dress and velvet cloak for her first assignation comes to mind. When she anounces that her return to being a servant of Naamah she wears a gown with a low back that shows her tattoo, to show she means business. [[spoiler:Phèdre gets really dressed up on the night she plans to kill the Mahrkagir with her hair-pin.]]

* DisappearedDad: Imriel's father died when he was just a baby.

* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Along with irresistible angelic gifts, there is the matter of Moirin, Snow Tiger, and the dragon. Not perceived as ''okay'' exactly, but certainly not held up as a terrible evil.

* GirlsLove: Amarante, the daughter of the head priestess of the goddess of prostitutes, was hired to teach Sidonie, the crown princess, of the realm the "arts of the bedchamber."

* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: Delaunay often shows his affection towards Alcuin and Phèdre by stroking their hair.

** Skaldia is an interesting example. It's located where Germany is in RealLife and the culture is Old Germanic with a hefty dose of Norse, but the history is a mix of different German time periods. They're initially Germanic barbarian tribes (Roman period) who are united under a single leader (''a la'' UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck) [[spoiler:that is then soundly defeated by an alliance of France and Britain (UsefulNotes/WorldWarII) and afterwards becomes known more for trade than force of arms (modern-day Germany, reputed to have the strongest economy in the [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion Euro zone]]).]]
*** Although of course Terre d'Ange is basically France at the height of its power, which makes it easy for them to [[spoiler: defeat Skaldia]], whereas RealLife Germany and France were indeed historical enemies [[labelnote: note]]The mutual enmity only began to subside after WWII, and ironically by now both countries have arguably the strongest ties in the Eurozone and share a lot of mutual strategic interest - it's no coincidence the Franco-German cooperation is referred to as the "dual engine" or "dual heart" of the EU[[/labelnote]] and had several wars, it's France who was usually decisively on the receiving end (apart from [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte a few memorable exceptions]]). And specifically in the case of WWII, it can hardly be said that France "won" it by virtue of own merit. [[labelnote: note]]That was still a primarily Soviet/American/British enterprise with France being liberated by the Western allies and contributing mainly in the end phase of the war, with Germany already on the verge of collapse.[[/labelnote]]
** Alba is a Britain where the Celts were never replaced by the Anglo-Saxons and Normans as the dominant cultural group (the name is Scots Gaelic for Scotland, and the "mab" in Drustan mab Necthana is a patronymic used in Welsh, Breton, and Cornish). The Dalriada in the first book are borrowed in name from a Celtic kingdom that ruled in the Hebrides in the mid-first millennium A.D. (in real life it was later conquered by the Norse).

* ButNotTooBi: Though Phèdre and Moirin, two of the protagonists, are both bisexual, their main relationships are with men. Relationships they have with women fall apart or aren't serious. Both end up with men. Even aside from relationships, most of their sex partners are also male.

* BuryYourGays: Despite the series taking place in a society where homosexual love is celebrated alongside heterosexual love, gay characters either die, [[spoiler: like Alcuin, Roland, and Delaunay]] or live in the closet/straight marriages of convenience [[spoiler: like Lucius and Ricchardo, though neither are from Terre d'Ange and would be disinherited/slandered for being gay.]] The one gay relationship that lasts happens in the OffstageWaitingRoom [[spoiler: with Ti-Phillipe and Hughes]]. This tends to spark off a lot of debate in the fanbase.

* NoAccountingForTaste: This is stated to be the realm at large's opinion of Phèdre's relationship with Joscelin.
** Then, later, their reaction to Moirin and Jehanne.

* NotWorthKilling: Inverted. Instead of killing Phèdre, Melisande continuously deals her more merciful punishments, [[spoiler: like selling her to slavery, trapping her in the worst prison in the world, etc.]] because legend has it that a descendent of Kushiel who kills a bearer of Kushiel's Dart suffers [[AndIMustScream ten-thousand years of torment]] in the afterlife. This is a smart decision in a world where gods and angels are proven to exist. Rather than not being worth killing, Phèdre is ''too valuable'' to kill. That, and the fact that Melisande just finds her [[BrutalHonesty too much fun as a sex slave.]]

%%* FeudingFamilies

* ProudScholarRace: The Siovalese have this reputation in Terre d'Ange. They are known for being great scholars and engineers.

* EveryoneIsBi: Nearly every d'Angeline character is bisexual. Some characters [[ButNotTooBi are only really shown being interested in one gender]] due to only having one or two love interests. Some are {{Depraved Bisexual}}s, since there are bound to be ''some'' evil people in the story. But most are simply BiTheWay.\\

-->''"Love as thou wilt."''

* ManInWhite: Imriel, attending the Midwinter Masquerade as Baldur, the Skaldic god of light. This unfortunately makes people ask questions since it both echoes the role of the Sun Prince and because of his mother's role in the Skaldi invasion twenty years previous.

* WomanInWhite: Phèdre does this at least three times over the series at Midwinter Masques.
** At Cereus House's celebration when she is ten years old, she and the other Cereus fosterlings are dressed in white as part of the winter theme that Cereus House always has. Prince Baudoin singles her out as joy-bearer and kisses her for luck.
** At the masque for the peerage of Kusheth, Phèdre is dressed in nothing but white gauze and diamonds and put on a leash. It causes quite the stir at the party that she's showed up practically naked.
** One masque that she attends with Imriel has the whole Montrève household dressed in white as Skaldic gods. Because everyone else is dressed in bright colors, they definitely stand out.

* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: It's the norm of D'Angeline society. It's considered rather strange if you don't, which is part of why the Cassiline Brotherhood is seen as overly strict and austere.

* EternalSexualFreedom: The motto of Elua is "Love as thou wilt", and most D'Angelines are more than happy to follow it. Educated and successful [[BandOfBrothels Servants of Naamah]] often have political power and are treated with as much respect as a Companion in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', if not more. However, Terre d'Ange also has age of consent laws and extremely harsh punishments against rape (it's not just a crime, it's ''heresy''), while one of the gifts the women were given by their fertility goddess Eisheth [[FantasyContraception is that they will only become pregnant after requesting it from her]], though issues of sexually-transmitted infections are not touched on. It's also noted that having sexual freedom doesn't necessarily make choices of the heart ''easier.'' In some cases, they're actually harder. Definitely one of the more intelligent examples of this trope. It's also inverted as most of the countries around Terre d'Ange aren't [[DeathBySex half as free about sex]].

* EveryoneIsBi: Every single d'Angeline character is bisexual. Some characters [[ButNotTooBi are only really shown being interested in one gender]] due to only having one or two love interests. Some are {{Depraved Bisexual}}s, since there are bound to be ''some'' evil people in the story. But most are simply BiTheWay.\\

* PurpleEyes: Ysandre, Alais and those from House L'Envers.

* IKEAErotica: Becomes a characterization point. Imriel is ''not'' comfortable with his sexuality. Phèdre is very comfortable with hers.

* IncestIsRelative: A mild example that's only mentioned directly once, but Sidonie is Imriel's cousin (twice removed: since his father was the Queen's great-uncle (the brother of the Queen's grandfather), then Imriel is first cousin to the dead Prince Rolande, first cousin once removed to Queen Ysandre, and first cousin twice removed to Sidonie. They are "first cousins", albeit with a couple of "removes" tossed in.) They're close in age, but his father was her mother the Queen's great-uncle [[spoiler: who sired him to have a "pure"-blooded heir to the throne because Sidonie's father is the Cruarch of Alba, a dirty barbarian foreigner in his view, and thus made her unfit to rule]]. The objection to their relationship isn't based on them being related, though, but fear that Imriel will [[InTheBlood be like his parents, both duplicitous traitors]].
* IndenturedServitude: The Houses in the City of Elua, and some private parties in Terre d'Ange take in children, training them and then having them [[SexSlave serve for sex]] until their servitude is completed (signified by the completion of a tattoo that runs the length of their backs). Both Phèdre and Alcuin are bonded as this, and Phèdre once buys out the indenture of a girl who suffered a facial injury before she could complete her term of service and couldn't get any more customers because of the scar. Later, Phèdre goes on to fix the holes in the rules that result in situation like that.

* BrotherSisterIncest: In ''Chosen'', one of Phèdre's assignations is a pair of twins, although it's pretty heavily suggested that the siblings don't actually interact and just enjoy being in the same ... situation. (Phèdre's Showing at Camellia House in ''Dart'' does not feature a pair of siblings; it features the Dowayne's sister, whom Phèdre and Alcuin met when they arrived, and another adept.)

* EternalSexualFreedom: The motto of Elua is "Love as thou wilt", and most D'Angelines are more than happy to follow it. Educated and successful [[BandOfBrothels Servants of Naamah]] often have political power and are treated with as much respect as a Companion in ''Series/{{Firefly}}''-if not more. However, Terre d'Ange also has age of consent laws and extremely harsh punishments against rape (it's not just a crime, it's ''heresy''), while one of the gifts the women were given by their fertility goddess Eisheth [[FantasyContraception is that they will only become pregnant after requesting it from her]], though issues of sexually-transmitted infections are not touched on. It's also noted that having sexual freedom doesn't necessarily make choices of the heart ''easier.'' In some cases, they're actually harder. Definitely one of the more intelligent examples of this trope. It's also inverted as most of the countries around Terre d'Ange aren't [[DeathBySex half as free about sex]].

* EveryoneIsBi: Every single d'Angeline character is bisexual. Some characters [[ButNotTooBi are only really shown being interested in one gender]], due to only having one or two love interests. Some are {{Depraved Bisexual}}s, since there are bound to be ''some'' evil people in the story. But most are simply BiTheWay.\\

In other countries, however, ''not'' everyone is bi—or at least, if they ''are'', their cultures don't allow them to express it. Much of the story is spent in countries other than Terre d'Ange, and sometimes this is a point of CultureClash.

-->'''Hyacinthe to Melisande''': That which yields is not always weak.

* GreenEyes: Moirin's eyes are often mentioned to be jade-green and she is regularly called a bear-witch. Her ability to talk to plants fits in the nature aspect nicely.