One lives for his kingdom. One lives for his prince.
A standalone Queer Romance fantasy novel written by Alexandra Rowland. In Araşt, a fantasy world similar to the Ottoman Empire, some people have the ability to "touch taste" (detect metal composition with their hands). This makes counterfeiting extremely difficult and Araşti currency the most trusted coins in the world. So when counterfeit coins start to enter the market, it's a matter of national importance, and Prince Kadou, the younger brother of the current sultan, is tasked with finding the root of the problem. Meanwhile, he's been assigned a new kahya, Evemer Hoşkadem, after a disastrous scandal involving his previous personal bodyguard, who only sees him as careless, flighty, and negligent. But their investigation reveals a far deeper intrigue that goes to the heart of the court, even as they grow closer together.
A Taste of Gold and Iron provides examples of:
- Amicable Exes: Kadou and Tadek. Even after they end their physical and romantic relationship, they remain good friends, to the point that Tadek is the one Kadou asks for when he has a panic attack.
- Battle Butler: Every kahya is trained to be this, with the idea that eventually they may be elevated to higher positions in government once they are too old to fight. Accordingly, they are not only trained in combat but are given a stipend for the express purpose of pursuing any education that interests them.
- Bodyguard Crush: Evemer and Kadou, in a queer version of the Lady and Knight archetype.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Araşt has different words for concepts that are familiar to readers, but also lacks words for things that are commonplace in the real world. Characters regularly talk about the religious ritual of "unburdening" (that is, talk therapy), but have no concept of what we would call "chronic anxiety" and "panic attacks." Kadou refers to it as cowardice, while Evemer tries to think of his own term for it and comes up with "persistent nervousness."
- Fake-Out Make-Out: Kadou goes for one to prevent their pursuers from recognizing them. He is incredibly apologetic about it afterwards, as he sees it as an unacceptable use of his power over Evemer as his lord.
- Gender-Inclusive Writing: Araşt has three gender-specific pronouns: he/him, she/her, and çe/çir. Multiple characters are of this third gender.
- Heir Club for Men: Completely averted, which causes a culture clash between the Araşti characters and their guests from Oissos. Siranos cannot wrap his head around the concept of matrilineal descent, and so thinks his daughter is a bastard because he and her mother are not married.
- Heroic BSoD: Kadou, after killing several people to protect Evemer, has a particularly severe panic attack. Evemer, who has no idea what a panic attack is, initially thinks Kadou is in shock or having an epileptic fit.
- Man of Kryptonite: The villains are attempting to counterfeit the money of a kingdom in which a not-insignificant portion of the population can determine the exact makeup of anything metal simply by touching it. They do try to get around this by making sure to only use the coins overseas, but it's impossible to control where every single one ends up, and they're discovered in short order.
- Matriarchy: Araşt, of the "original system" kind. Inheritance is matrilineal, and "body-fathers" (biological fathers) have no legal claim to their children unless they are married to the mother or the mother chooses to accept their claim. Thus Zeliha and Kadou's grandfather needed to marry, in order to have heirs that were legally his, but Zeliha has no such requirement. Siranos, as a foreigner, has trouble understanding this and thinks he has more legal claim to Enye than he actually does.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Zeliha is far more outspoken and ruthless than Kadou (she has to be, as sultan), and Sylvia, Siranos' sister, is really in charge of their counterfeiting operation.
- Poor Communication Kills: The incident in which two of Kadou's kahyalar are killed comes about because Kadou accidentally convinces Tadek that Siranos has designs on his life, and no matter how hard he tries, can't unconvince him—Tadek thinks he's just being politic. Kadou also doesn't realize just how far Tadek thinks he needs to take things, because Tadek actually is being politic and so doesn't say straight out "I think I need to kill Siranos to save your life". This leads to Tadek misinterpreting a very awkward and chilly hunt as Siranos trying to arrange a "hunting accident" and trying to preempt him.
- She Is the King: Zeliha is sultan, not sultana.
- Shrinking Violet: Kadou. Evemer initially misinterprets it as disinterest and an inability to behave properly as royalty.
- Spare to the Throne: Discussed. Kadou is aware that this is his role and, as a result, is absolutely terrified that something might happen to Zeliha.
- Undying Loyalty: All kahya are intended to have this, but Evemer takes it up to eleven in his devotion to Kadou. At one point, Evemer takes all the steps to cut his own arm off – up to and including tying a tourniquet to prevent bleeding out afterwards – solely to prove his loyalty, and his only concern is whether he'll get blood on Kadou's clothes. Luckily it's a Secret Test of Character that he passes with flying colors.
