Ruthless Vows

“A fortnight wasn’t much time at all; Iris still had faint bruises and scabs on her knees and arms, from when she had crawled through the rubble and clouds of gas. She could still hear the thunder of the bombs exploding, sense the shudder of the earth beneath her feet. She could still feel Roman’s breath in her hair as he held her, as if nothing would ever come between them.”

Iris’s physical wounds symbolize the lingering mental and emotional wounds that Roman’s absence has left her coping with in day-to-day life. They also represent the lasting trauma caused by the war and the attack on Avalon Bluff. The question of how to cope with such trauma is one of the narrative’s central themes, with the novel ultimately advocating for Pain’s Necessity to Healing.

“Iris chewed on her lip, knowing this was the moment of no return. And yet there was no other option. She was consumed by the thought of writing to Roman again. Of taking that magical connection into her hands once more, letting it slip over thresholds and cross war-torn kilometers.”

The impact of written words showcased in Divine Rivals returns in its sequel. Now on opposite sides of a war between gods (and physically on opposite sides of a war-torn country), Iris and Roman still manage to connect through their writing. Moreover, Iris’s words to Roman prove crucial in restoring his memories and thus his sense of identity and his relationships with others.

“Her fingers closed over the locket, holding to it like an anchor. She remembered what Forest had once told her: when he had found this locket in the trenches, his strength and determination had rekindled. He had rallied and slipped away from Dacre’s hold, remembering who he was and where he had come from. It was only when he held something tangible of home—a memory strung on a long chain—that he was able to break the god’s power over him.”

In the first installment of the series, this locket represents familial relationships in wartime. It continues to symbolize this when Forest gifts it to Iris for luck as she travels back to the war front. In this way, Iris is able to carry both Forest and her mother with her, so she is not alone in whatever hardships she might face. Forest’s relationship to the locket also demonstrates the novel’s interest in memory and identity; his recovery of his sense of self also foreshadows how Roman will free himself from Dacre.

“Roman was frozen, silent. But his heart ached, desperate for home. For family. He couldn’t deny that he wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere. He wanted to trust what he was seeing. To fight for something.”

While Roman might be free of his more traumatic memories at the start of the novel, he’s also missing his most treasured recollections. Without those memories, he doesn’t have family, a home, or a partner to think of, to trust in, or to fight for. This creates a void in his life that he seeks to fill and that Dacre can’t hope to, underscoring How Trauma Shapes Identity.

“She hadn’t cried much the past few weeks. Indeed, she thought she had recovered from most of the trauma she had experienced, letting it hollow her out. But perhaps it had only been buried. Perhaps she had shoved it down to dark forgotten places and it had grown roots while she had been sleeping. It was alarming to Iris at first, to feel it blister again.”

This passage alludes to Iris’s recent habit of daydreaming rather than facing her current reality, developing the theme of What Is Versus What Could Have Been. Avoiding her trauma in favor of burying it has only caused it to resurface in full force now that she finally must face her past.

“She was very good at burying things like that, her anguish and her sorrow and sometimes even the reality of what she faced. But she didn’t quite know how to let them go without losing vital pieces of herself.”

In this passage, Iris admits to her talent for avoiding reality by burying it. Though Iris knows that facing her trauma would finally allow her to heal, she worries that doing so would fundamentally alter who she is. This speaks to the relationship between trauma and identity, which in Iris has taken an unhealthy turn; she doesn’t recognize that it’s possible to heal while still recognizing how suffering has shaped her.

“Chills raced along her skin as she stared at Roman. She couldn’t draw breath; she could only wonder if she was imagining him. If he would morph into a stranger when she closed her eyes. It felt like a cruel enchantment that Dacre would delight in, granting her a surge of hope before reality broke her.”

After weeks of dreaming up what ifs, Iris is shocked at the possibility that one might have come true. Rather than believe in this reality, Iris briefly worries that it is an illusion too good to be true.

“A twinge of pain shot down his right leg. At first he thought it was only the aftershocks of his fear and the effort of countless steps until he felt it in his chest next. Something was gnawing at him from within, making his lungs heavy. He stifled a cough, hid his limp.”

This is the first time Roman’s old wounds bother him. The reemergence of his pain makes it clear that Dacre’s magic doesn’t work as he claims it does and that he is not to be trusted. Thematically, it underscores that the suppression of trauma is not the same as healing from it; to move past what has happened to him, Roman has to confront his pain.

“You remember how you said that word to me in the infirmary, post-trenches? You believed I had come to the Bluff to outshine you. And I would speak this word back to you now, but only because I would love to see you burn with splendor. I would love to see your words catch fire with mine.”

Roman’s letter to Iris implies the power of written words, which is explored throughout the duology. After speaking in depth about the danger that giving up Dacre’s movements puts Roman in, the novel illustrates the tide-altering change that this information can bring about if used correctly.

“‘There is always pain in healing,’ the lieutenant interrupted. ‘To fully avoid it is impossible.’”

Shane’s words explicitly articulate one of the novel’s themes: that suffering and healing are interrelated. This statement, spoken to Roman before he retrieves his memories, subtly warns Roman to keep quiet about the worsening pain in his wounds because it represents the healing of his mind and the imminent return of his memories—things Dacre would like to avoid.

“Iris couldn’t understand why she wanted to weep until she felt the joy radiating from her brother, warm as a furnace on the coldest night. It almost felt like the old days, long before the war. He had those he loved dearest safe and close. And what Iris would give to feel the same.”

The joyous reunion that Iris has with her brother is one of the few places where Forest and Iris’s love for each other appears on the page. These last scenes of the siblings together gain pathos in retrospect, as Forest dies in the final chapters.

“A writer such as you, with words like iron and salt, could change the very course of time if you only had the right support.”

Even Dacre, who has admitted to underestimating Iris as a writer and failed for some time to employ a correspondent of his own, takes note of the power that words hold. A powerful speaker or writer can alter the course of an entire war, and as the war against Enva reaches its final leg, Dacre wants that power for his own.

“But he wondered if she could sense the changes that had evolved beneath his skin. The cracks and the wounds. He wondered if Iris would embrace those broken pieces or be wary of them […] He returned the caress, following the bridge of her nose, the bow of her lips. The waves of her hair. The dark curl of her eyelashes. And he knew that she had changed too. They weren’t the same people that they had been when they first gave each other their vows.”

As the novel and series approach their climax, the narrative takes stock of the changes its protagonists have undergone. Through their inspection of each other, Roman and Iris recognize and appreciate how they’ve changed physically and mentally since the day they first met. This calls attention to the character arcs that have spanned the entire duology.

“Roman picked it up, leafing through the old pages. He almost put it on the shelf with his other books, but he stopped himself at the last minute. This was such a tiny tome. Something he could easily carry with him. A tangible reminder of her.”

The novel closely associates Iris with birds, and her bird book is a touchstone for her inner strength. In Roman’s hands, it therefore serves a purpose similar to that of Iris’s mother’s locket or Iris’s wedding—tokens that symbolize loved ones. This passage illustrates Roman using Iris’s bird book to keep her close to his heart and shield himself against the conflict that lies ahead.

“A knot pulled tight in Iris’s chest. It almost hurt to draw air, to think of what the woman described. A world in a cage. A world culled of freedom and magic, a memory of what had been. It made her think of her typewriter. The enchantment in small, ordinary things. She thought of the letters she had passed beneath her wardrobe door to Roman. Words that had spanned kilometers and distance, grief and joy, pain and love. Words that had made her drop her armor after years of clutching it close.”

In this passage, Iris describes the prospect of Dacre metaphorically imprisoning the world with reference to the bird motif. Just as Dacre intended to keep Enva and her music imprisoned like a songbird in a cage, he intends to do the same with the world’s magic.

“Roman flinched as Iris’s book flared into a bright flame. Slowly, it melted into smoke, leaving behind curls of ash. But the words and illustrations remained, seared into his mind. He thought about the owls, the herons, the albatrosses, the nightingales. The pages that had been worn down the most. Dog-eared and smudged, as if they had been touched by countless hands, read over and over again. He thought about the birds that had broken their wings, refusing to remain captive.”

Dacre confiscates and burns the bird book that Roman has taken as a token of Iris. The callousness of the action and the fact that the book is a compendium of thousands of bird species illustrate the destruction and chaos that Dacre will bring to the world should he win the war; he does not care about either the book’s emotional value or the survival of the creatures it depicts.

“You, sir, never healed me as you should have. You are the author of my wounds to begin with. I would have never breathed the gas that has scarred my lungs if not for you. I would have never felt the bite of shrapnel in my leg if not for you.”

This passage presents an alternate perspective on the theme of fantasy versus reality. Rather than mourning his own choices or questioning what he could have done differently, Roman observes that Dacre could have chosen a different path and blames him for the destruction and harm his actions have caused. This is a positive form of wishful thinking, as it recognizes an injustice that needs remedying.

“Tobias reached into the small leather pack he had brought with him from home. His mum had thought he was going to take his trophies, his ribbons. All the objects that embodied his success on the racetrack. But he had reached for his old car collection. His wooden toys from childhood.”

Sentimental tokens are important symbols throughout the series. Iris’s mother’s locket motivates Iris to be resilient in her war correspondence work while she searches for her brother. The locket later prompts Forest to regain his memories and save Iris from Avalon Bluff. The wedding ring Iris gives Roman coincides with the return of his full memories. Tobias’s race cars provide comfort for many children as Dacre’s forces arrive in Oath. What these tokens all have in common is their ability to remind the characters of their relationships with each other, which inspire more resilience than anything else.

“Her wife’s name, for within it was everything Marisol loved and dreamt of. It was strength and comfort, safety and wildness. A past and the present and the future.”

Romance is at the heart of the series. As a couple whose relationship is well established, Marisol and Keegan embody the duology’s perspective on romantic love. Marisol thinks of Keegan while watching the bombing of Oath, her mere name a salve to Marisol’s worry, devastation, and grief. Marisol’s love for Keegan is what she clings to at the end of everything they’ve known.

“She hadn’t written for herself in a very long time. And as Oath crumbled around her, she did the only thing she could manage. She lit another cigarette, and she began to type.”

Iris, Roman, and (in this passage) Helena all find strength and comfort in the act of writing, which provides a healthy outlet for individuals to process their thoughts, emotions, and trauma. As the war has worsened, Helena’s journalistic work has left her haggard and depleted. In what she believes may be her final moments, she embraces writing for herself as a way to return to her roots and (if necessary) pass contentedly.

“He looked younger and softer in sleep, and Iris thought of what could have been, and what could still be now that he would be gone from the world.”

Dacre’s death brings hope back to Iris’s life and resolves the conflict between what is and what could be. What could have been is no longer a source of sorrow because Iris is now free to enact some of those dreams and fantasies.

“She was broken by what could have been. By what now would never be.”

Just as Dacre’s death allows Iris to dream about what could be rather than agonize over what could have been, she learns of Forest’s death. This loss greatly diminishes Iris’s hope, as it signifies a trauma that can never be mended; Forest is gone forever.

“Every time Iris read a new chapter of his, she felt as if she belonged within the story. It was about a boy who sailed a ship in the clouds, and the adventures and challenges and friends he met along the way. It was not always a happy story, although it was an honest one, and hope never faded for the boy and his friends, even in their moments of loss and grief.”

In a thematically appropriate conclusion to the duology, Roman’s novel and Iris’s response to it nod to ideas explored throughout the Letters of Enchantment series. These include resilience in moments of loss and grief, the importance of friends and family in times of hardship, and the power of the written word to facilitate healing, learning, and escape.