Literature / The Tithenai Chronicles

aka: A Strange And Stubborn Endurance

The Tithenai Chronicles is a series of adult fantasy novels written by Foz Meadows.

The books are set in a fantasy world, where a recent civil unrest in the country of Farathel resulted in the vin Aaro family overtaking the greedy Lord Ennan vin Mica, taking his lands, including an important trade route that had gone in disarray during his tyrannical rule.

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 Tithenai 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.

The series contains the following books:

1. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (2022)
2. All The Hidden Paths (2023)

Tropes for A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

• All for Nothing: Laecia's plan of ruining Caethari's chances to be an heir to their father or grandmother turns out to be for nothing. Both were competing to have her as an heir, not for Caethari, whom both were aware was not fit for administrative duties of their heritage. By extension, the Tieren and the the Yasa's years long stalemate Succession Crisis also ends for naught, as their candidate ends up dead following the confrontation.
• Amicable Exes: In stark contrast to Killic and Velasin, Caethari and his ex, Liran, get along very well. Caethari is warmly received in Liran's house, he invites Liran to his marriage-gathering, Liran is the one to offer a "temptation" to Velasin, and Liran freely offers his help to Caethari and Velasin's investigation on magical artifacts that might have been used to commit crimes.
• Arranged Marriage: Velasin is promised to marry into the Aeduria clan, believing that he will marry the youngest daughter Laecia, but ends up marrying the middle brother, Caethari. It's mentioned that Tithenai families have a tendency towards having many children, and arranged marriages are made to a clan, not to a particular person, the clan simply selects the best match for the people they have promised, which is why the arrangement can be changed so swiftly.
• Beta Couple: 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.
• Big Bad Friend: The conspirator turns out to be Caethari's little sister, Laecia.
• Bittersweet Ending: Caethari and Velasin are in love and together, Velasin and Markel find Tithena much more of a home than Ralia ever was to either, and the conspiracy is over. That said, the Aida is in griefing over the deaths of the Tieren and Laecia (for all she did, Caethari still loved her), the Succession Crisis is for naught as their candidate died, pushing Ruya into the Tierena position, but also putting Caethari, who has no interest or skill for the administrative roles, as the Yasa's inheritor. The final chapter also mentions that word of the death of a Ralian noble in the hands of clan Aeduria (Killic getting killed by Velasin) has reached the embassy and may weaken the alreday frail relation between countries.
• Brains and Brawn: While Velasin isn't a weakling and Caethari isn't stupid, they each have a specialty in these. Velasin is an experienced political mind and capable of easily reading people, whereas Caethari is a condecorated military man with a lot of fight experience.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: 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 his husband, 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.
• Chekhov's Gun: When Velasin is assaulted, he cogitates using magic to summon fire, but decides against out of fear of setting the garden on fire and worsening the situation. In the climax, he uses the spell against Laecia to get released from her.
• Culture Clash: While for the most part nobody commits any egregious faux-pas, there are still significant differences to Tithanai and Ralian culture, to which Velasin and the members of the Aida must acclimate when accomodating each other.
  • A dark example occurs early on. When Keletha catches Killic raping Velasin, thei do not realize that this was an assault because, in Tithena, there is a trend towards people letting themselves be caught with a lover in order to avoid an arranged marriage. It's not until Caethari tells thim the full story that thei realize that Tithena culture clouded thir judgement.
  • Velasin offers to braid Caethari's hair. Velasin only thinks of this as a nice act for his husband, but in Tithena, offering to braid someone's hair is tantamount to a love declaration and is an extremelly intimate act. While he understands that Velasin is none the wiser about it, he is still flushed about it.
• Downer Beginning: 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 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.
• Dramatic Irony: It's not until Part Two of the novel 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.
• Driven to Suicide: Twice at the beginning of the novel, Velasin ponders about killing himself following his experience with Killic. The first time, immediatelly after the fact, he is halted by Markel finding him. The second time, after marrying Caethari, he is halted by him, who listens to his story and swears to protect and help him.
• Fall Guy: The several attacks against the Aeduria clan are marked by the existence of people who could take the fall were them to be caught. Ren Baru, a merchant obsessed with the Wild Knife was the one to attempt at Velasin's life, while Killic attempts to kill Caethari during his marriage-gathering.
• 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. She turns out to be a gifted mage.
  • Velasin compares the situation between Laecia and Caethari to the situation between his own siblings, Revic and Nathian. In both cases, a younger but much more talented sibling attempts to constantly antagonize and compete with an older sibling in an attempt to prove their worthiness despite the order of their birth. In both cases, the older sibling doesn't react, choosing not to compete; however, Caethari doesn't react out of a lack of interest in said competition and games, while Velasin suspects that Nathian never responded to the challenges because he knew Revic was likely to win. Revic's ultimate fate of dying foreshadows Laecia's own death at the end of the book.
• Improvised Weapon: When attacked by bandits, Velasin rushes and kills two of them using a pitchfork he finds near the inn he stayed the night prior.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Tierens have something called "tieren privilege", which allows them to deal with domestic crimes in-house, having to do little in the way of explanation to any outside body, including the judicate or the Ralian embassy. Caethari invokes this to allow himself to judge and condemn Killic for assaulting Velasin, branding him as a rapist under Ralian costumes.
• Mark of Shame: In Ralia, crimes can have, as punishment, a permanent branding in one's hand. Caethari and Velasin brand Killic as a rapist with a mark on his hand when he gets to Qi-Katai, attempting to get Velasin back.
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple:
  • 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, take care of Caethari's estate, and develop some sort of social activity). 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 that is not necessarily what he is expected to do, 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.
  • Later on, Caethari specifies that there is no need for Velasin to think of their relationship in terms of a Ralian heterosexual relationship, correcting that there is no wife in their relationship because they're both husbands.
    Velasin: But the way some husbands treat their wives, stringing them along for any little glimpse of affection, or how some wives let their husbands think them forever indifferent...
    Caethari: You're not my wife, Vel, nor am I yours.
• Meaningful Rename: Upon marrying Caethari, Velasin takes his last name, abandoning the vin Aaro name, from which he had already been disowned.
• Mental Health Recovery Arc: Part of the story of the first novel is about Velasin recovering from his assualt at Killic's hands and how Caethari supports helps him through it.
• The Missus and the Ex: Caethari's current husband, Velasin, and his former lover, Liran. The two actually get along swimmingly, aside from the fact that Velasin feels a bit intimidated by the fact that his husband's former lover is, in Velasin's own words, the most handsome man he's ever seen.
  "It wasn't he distrusted either Velasin or Liran, but the prospect of his husband and his former lover conversing in his absence contained more possibilities than he was comfortable acknowledging."
• Non-Heteronormative Society: 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 and trans people, even having magic that realizes body alterations. 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.
  Velasin (in narration): I managed to restrain myself, savouring instead the delightful novelty of being introduced as a husband's husband to men who shared the title, or to women with wives, or to kemi of all inclinations.
• Pair the Suitors: It's mentioned by the Tieren the case of a noble that was having an affair with a commoner woman. The woman barged in on his wedding to a noble woman who was unaware of said love triangle, breaking off the engagement and taking in his original woman as well as their twins. It's later mentioned that the two women started courting each other afterwards.
• Patricide: At the climax of the book, Laecia kills her own father in a bout of rage for learning her conspiracy was for naught.
• Red Baron: Caethari is known in Tithenai as the "Wild Knife". Caethari himself finds the name unfitting, since he has only taken down one bandit with his knives, albeit he does use throwing knives as a hobby.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Laecia loathed the fact that both of her older siblings were favored to inherit the titles of their father and grandmother so much she set off to create a conspiracy to ruin Caethari's chances of being an heir to either title. As revealed in the end, both were well aware that Caethari would be unfitting to their administrative duties and were, in fact, competing over her as an heir. Laecia's plan and subsequent breakdown causing the death of her father and herself ensured that she'd not only get neither title, but that Caethari would be the one to inherit their grandmother's duties, with Ruya earning the title of Tierena.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • Both Caethari and Velasin to the conspirator's plans. That Velasin would try to commit suicide and be stopped by Caethari ruined Laecia's plans to drive a wedge between them. Even further so when Velasin notices about the clothes Killic used to attack Caethari and that leads them to Ren Adan, where she is yelling about her Evil Plan, catching her in the act.
  • Killic poisoning the blade he used to attack Caethari. This deviation from Laecia's plan causes her to have to go to Ren Adan's house to discuss the plan and berate him, and opens herself up to Velasin and Caethari catching her in the act.
• The Social Expert: Velasin spent his entire life dealing with court intrigue and the complicated relationships of it, so he is quick to be able to read people and talk with them, mentioning himself to be good at politics.
• Succession Crisis: Between the Tieren Halithar and the Yasa Kithadi, over the three Aeduria children. Because they're of different families and Kithadi's daughter's divorce from the Tieren, the succession of the title falls to one of their children, Riya, Laecia, and Caethari. The Yasa's successor would inherit her lands and a seat in the conclave, whereas the Tieren's successor will keep his lands and duties. The problem is, they can't choose the same heir, such a thing is frowned upon and could put their two duties at odd with each other. They can't name an heir without the possibility of causing an actual problem if they pick the same heir as the other, so they keep it close to chest, and waiting for the other one to die so they can take their pick.
• Unwitting Instigatorof Doom: Killic and Keletha. Killic's assault on Velasin causes Keletha to learn of Velasin's preferences, and change the terms of the marriage from marrying Velasin to Laecia to marrying him to Caethari. Said change puts the conspiracy in motion, as Laecia, threatened by the loss of leverage that Velasin represents, is moved to do so.

Tropes for All The Hidden Paths

• Late-Arrival Spoiler: The book's synopsis includes a reference to the fact that Caethari is his grandmother's heir, where as in the first book, who would become the heir was a major plot point.

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