History Literature / TheTithenaiChronicles

* HasTwoMommies: In Tithena, since same sex marriage is well accepted, this is often the case, they in fact have both systems and magic in place to ensure that two people of the same gender can still have children, some of which include having a child with a member of the clergy, a service provided by them. They also can have a child with another noble family, though that often causes inheritance issues.

!Tropes for ''A Strange and Stubborn Endurance''

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During a family dinner in the Garden Hall, Ruya and Laecia chat about the magelights there and Laecia mentions that she thinks her family has insufficient appreciation for magic. [[spoiler:She turns out to be a gifted mage.]]

* BetaCouple: Markel, Velasin's vallet and best friend; and Ru Telitha, Yasa Kithadi's right hand woman and a scholar who shares many intelectual interests with him.

* MasculineFeminineGayCouple: Discussed and deconstructed. In Farathel, same-sex relations are such tabboo that Velasin has no frame of reference of what a genuine relationship between two men would even look like, so he defaults to act in a way more befitting of a Ralian wife (including assuming it would be his role to raise their children and take care of Caethari's estate, as Ralian wives are expected to do). Caethari says that if these are things he wants to do, he is free to, though he would also like to raise their children, but Velasin is corrected that there is no wife in their relationship because they're both husbands and there is no need for Velasin to feel like he must fit into a feminine role.
-->'''Velasin:''' I cannot avoid the assumption, however flawed, that I am your wife, in the occupational sense, and that such duties as I consider wifely are now my duties.

* BrainsAndBrawn: While Velasin isn't a weakling and Caethari isn't stupid, they each have a specialty in these. Velasin is an experienced political and capable of easily reading people, where as Caethari is a condecorated military man with a lot of fight experience.

* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: Justified. Caethari is extremelly attracted to Vesalin and when the story is told from his perspective, its clear that he is very turned on and would love to be with physical with Velasin, however, between their unconventional situation, Velasin's fragile emotional state after his assault, and their promise to be friends first, he has to reign himself his own impulses to make a move on him, and tries to do so even when it becomes clear that Velasin feels the same way.

In the conservative country of Farathel, Velasin vin Aaro escapes from his secret former lover, Killic vin Lato, to his father's estate, only to then learn he is to be bethroted to a Titheani clan named Aeduria, in a long term political move to mend the bonds between the countries that the vin Mica family destroyed. After Killic finds him and, in the confrontation, reveals his predilections for men to his father and the Titheani envoy, Velasin gets disowned by his father, but, surprisingly, his commitment to marry is still upheld, with the Tithenai society being particularly open to same-sex relationships. Under the envoy's oversight, Velasin is transported from his country to marry Caethari Aeduria, the son of the Aeduria clan and a former military man known as the Wild Knife.

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: The Tithena is rather open minded abut sex and gender. Same-sex marriages are just as valid as opposite sex ones, and used to the same political marriages. They also recognize non-binary people. This is in stark opposition to the socially conservative Farathel society, in which same-sex thrysts are kept a shameful secret, among which, learning to speak Tithenai is usually considered something to do, so they can use terms that are more accepting of their sexuality.

* HasTwoMommies: In Tithena, since same sex marriage is well accepted, this is often the case, they in fact have both systems and magic in place to ensure that two people of the same gender can still have children, some of which include having a child with a member of the clergy, a service provided by them, and also

In the conservative country of Farathel, Velasin vin Aaro escapes from his secret former lover, Killic vin Lato, to his father's estate, only to then learn he is to be bethroted to a Titheani clan named Aeduria, in a long term political move to mend the bonds between the countries that the vin Mica family destroyed. After Killic finds him and, in the confrontation, reveals his predilections for men to his father and the Titheani envoy, Velasin gets disowned by his father and set to marry a man in a foreign land.

!Tropes

* DramaticIrony: It's not until the second part of the story that people in the Aeduria clan learn that Velasin hadn't been just caught with a former lover, but actually assaulted by him, previously believing he is simply hung up on a former lover.

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: The Tithena is rather open minded abut sex and gender. Same-sex marriages are just as valid as opposite sex ones, and used to the same political marriages. They also recognize non-binary people. This is in stark opposition to the socially conservative Farathel society, in which same-sex thrysts are kept a shameful secret, among which, learning to speak Tithena is usually considered something to do, so they can use terms that are more accepting of their sexuality.

* DownerBeginning: Velasin is raped by a former lover and caught by his father and a foreign envoy, endangering an important political alliance and disgracing himself to the point of considering suicide. The alliance is saved thanks to the unusual progressivism of Tithenai society, but Velasin's father still disowns him for his homosexuality. This leads to a grueling and traumatic travel to marry someone he never met while still under the post-traumatic stress of an assault experience. Things get a bit more levity after Part Two, which introduces Caethari as a source of support to him.

* NonHeteronormativeSociety: The Tithena is rather open minded abut sex and gender. Same-sex marriages are just as valid as opposite sex ones, and used to the same political marriages. They also recognize non-binary people.