History Literature / ASongForArbonne

* FemmeFatale: Lucianna. '''Dear Corannos'''. She's like an eviler, creepier version of Lukrezia Borgia, even though about the worst we actually see of her [[BondageIsBad is that she's into bondage]].

* MaybeEverAfter: The epilogue mentions that [[spoiler:Blaise ended up marrying twice. His first wife is most likely Rinette, Bertran and Aelis's daughter, but it's never mentioned whether his second wife is his [[OldFlame old flame]] Lucianna--like his father suggested--or Ariane, the woman he's in love with by the end of the book.]] Complicating this, [[spoiler: it's said that Lisseut never marries, but also that she bears a son with unknown parentage. Whether this means that [[TheyDo she ended up following through with her crush on Blaise]], or was impregnated by a third party, is not stated.]]

* TriangRelations: Not only are there multiple characters with their own varying triangles, these triangles tend to overlap at so many points that it becomes more like Complex Polygon Relations. See LoveDodecahedron above.

** Galbert claims that his cruel actions that are seemingly done ForTheEvulz are part of his grand plan. However, when you consider [[AbusiveParent what]] [[AristocratsAreEvil kind]] [[TheSociopath of]] [[SinisterMinister a]] [[StrawMisogynist person]] [[BurnTheWitch Galbert]] [[{{Narcissist}} is]], it's not unreasonable to assume that he's just [[IMeantToDoThat lying to save face]]. Hell, he's such a ConsummateLiar who sells his ridiculous claims with so much confidence that it's possible that it's also a case of BelievingTheirOwnLies.

* TheCaligula: Ademar of Gorhaut. He's kinda like adult [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Joffrey]], though considerably braver and more competent in actual battle.

* TheCaligula: Ademar of Gorhaut. He's kinda like adult [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Joffrey]].

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* ArcWords: "Even the birds above the lake are singing of my love."

* CorruptChurch: In a way, a subversion of ReligionOfEvil. At first, the cult of Corannos outside of Arbonne looks like yet another fantasy-{{expy}}-on-crack for Catholicism, with warriors and holy wars and oppression of women. Then Blaise makes a point that Corannos is a god of protectors, and his warriors are supposed to stand against injustice and help the weak, and it's the high priest who's the real heretic.

* TriangRelations: [[UpToEleven Hoo boy.]] Not only are there multiple characters with their own varying triangles, these triangles tend to overlap at so many points that it becomes more like Complex Polygon Relations. See LoveDodecahedron above.

* TriangRelations: [[UpToEleven Hoo boy.]] Not only are there multiple characters with their own varying triangles, these triangles tend to overlap at so many points that it becomes more like Complex Polygon Relations.

* MaybeEverAfter: The epilogue mentions that [[spoiler:Blaise ended up marrying twice. His first wife is most likely Rinette, Bertran and Aelis's daughter, but it's never mentioned whether his second wife is his [[OldFlame old flame]] Lucianna--like his father suggested--or Ariane, the woman he's in love with by the end of the book.]]

* CorruptChurch: In a way, a subversion of ReligionOfEvil. At first, the cult of Corannos outside of Arbonne looks like yet another fantasy-{{expy}}-on-crack for Islam or Catholicism, with warriors and holy wars and oppression of women. Then Blaise makes a point that Corannos is a god of protectors, and his warriors are supposed to stand against injustice and help the weak, and it's the high priest who's the real heretic.

* TheCaligula: Ademar of Gorhaut. He's kinda like adult [[ASongOfIceAndFire Joffrey]].

** Gorhaut is medieval France (the northern part). Essentially, the GrimUpNorth version of France ([[spoiler:you don't see that often, eh?]]), fresh out of a lengthy conflict with Valensa that mirrors the Hundred Years' War. There is also a small tinge of Palestine and Vatican, as it's regarded as the birth place of Corannos and the religious authority, in the first-among-equals sort of way.

* TheCasanova: Bertran de Talair. As he says, he looks for a woman who could equal Aelis. In the twenty-three years since her death, he hasn't yet found any.

** Götzland is Germany, umlauts included.

* CareerKillers: Rudel Correzze foremostly, but his friend Blaise isn't foreign to this trade, either.

In the current day, Arbonne is torn by the conflict between two of its most powerful lords, whose hatred for each other has not dimmed in the slightest over twenty-three years since the death of a woman who stood between them. What is a major nuisance may however soon prove to be deadly: the king of Gorhaut has recently signed an inconvenient peace treaty, and starts looking at Arbonne as a way to make up for the losses.

* TheCaligula: Ademar of Gorhaut. He's kinda like [[ASongOfIceAndFire Joffrey]] who grew up.

* TheChessmaster: Galbert de Garsenc, Gorhaut's high priest of Corannos, master of BatmanGambit. With a taste of UnreliableNarrator towards the end. [[spoiler:If he is to be believed, his craptastic treatment of his sons and Blaise's subsequent rebellion was a part of his plan to make a de Garsenc the king of Gorhaut, by creating a believable pretender to the throne.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: Blaise's duel is pretty much a dual case. Blaise's entry is already a risky affair, but his enemy, Quzman the Arimondan, tops him. [[spoiler:After his defeat he asks Blaise to kill him, and when Blaise doesn't, he provokes his seconds.]]

* WonTheWarLostThePeace: The Treaty of the Iersen Bridge, which ceded all the northern lands of Gorhaut to Valensa in exchange for money, dispossessing a significant part of Gorhaut's population and squandering the victory in the actual Battle of the Iersen Bridge. [[spoiler:Galbert claims it was all part of the plan.]]