If Hild got her (sort of) happily ever after at the end of her first book, what comes next?
The answer is a whole lot of violence.
Also diplomacy, riches, sex, and more violence.
I don’t think I can talk about this book by Nicola Griffith without some serious spoilers, so consider this your SPOILER ALERT!!!
Almost as soon as the book starts, Hild figures out she’s pregnant. She spends some time deliberating between keeping it and taking some herbs to get rid of it, knowing the risks every woman faces in pregnancy and childbirth, much less a woman who could be summoned by the king at any moment and needs to maintain the appearance of power expected of his godmouth.
Sure enough, she gets summoned to court shortly after deciding to bring the baby to term. She tries to hide her pregnancy, but makes the mistake of telling the queen, who tells the king, and he is PISSED!
Despite her pregnancy, he sends her north to scope out the situation and also to try to get the people of Bernicia on his side.
She completes her mission, though just barely, and loses one of her men in the process. She also ends up having to swear a blood oath to an overly-confident prince in order to get him to do her bidding and stay out of harm’s way. It mostly works, which is a relief, since his father held Hild’s BFF as ransom.
Hild also struck up a flirtation with the wife of the king of Bernicia, and it’s not clear whether he’s aware or cares. It’s definitely implied that they took their flirtation to the bedroom, and while she doesn’t tell Cian, she doesn’t go out of her way to hide it from him either. There seems to be an understanding between them that “what happens on the road, stays on the road.”
The whole first section of the book builds up to a big battle between Edwin and the lords surrounding him who would be king. Hild recognizes that Edwin is getting older, and kings don’t die of old age. When younger, stronger men sense their weakness, they strike. The only question is, from which direction will the strike come?
As it turns out, two or three of the kings banded together against Edwin, and his own son betrayed him. Hild spotted the lie, but Edwin didn’t want to hear it. He wanted to hear what his son was telling him, which was that the other side didn’t have the forces to win.
Turns out, the other side did have the forces to win, and Edwin’s son was predictably killed alongside his father instead of being put on the throne as he had clearly hoped he would be.
Not only is Edwin killed, but Cian is killed in the battle. Hild tries to fight her way to Cian to get him out of there, but he’s a gesith, which means he can’t leave his king’s side just as he’s about to go into battle. He’s sworn to see it through, and see it through he does.
A few people on Edwin’s side survive the carnage, but not many, and Cian is not one of them. Hild does manage to survive, but just barely, and only with the help of Gwladus, her bodywoman. Hild does give birth, but she took an axe to the hip and belly that damaged her baby, who only lives a few days.
Hild sinks into a deep depression after this, but eventually manages to come out of it and make her way back to Menewood, all thanks to Gwladus who managed to keep Hild alive through the depths of her depression. A lot of her people were slaughtered, but some of them did manage to make their way to safety. Similarly, some of their hidden stores are still good, but others have rotten.
So, they set about rebuilding, and Hild sets about plotting. She declares herself the lord of Elmet, but she knows it’s not as easy as claiming it. Being a lord means she’s responsible for the safety and prosperity of her people. To do that, she needs money. That means she needs to collect tithes from the people of Elmet, which means she needs them to take her seriously as Lord of Elmet.
She also needs the lords of the surrounding areas to take her claim seriously.
She manages to get there, but she knows she can’t rest for long. There will be another battle to be overking of England, and if she’s not careful, the battle will come to her doorstep, and she doesn’t want that.
She also swears to Cian’s mother that she will kill the man who killed Cian. Of course, they don’t know the exact person/people who killed Cian, but she swears to kill the overlord who led the attack on Edward and his men.
And she does it!
She gets everything she wants, but then another king offers her a position at his court and suggests he might have need of someone to negotiate on his behalf with the Franks, and Hild might be just the person to do it.
Hild knows she should settle down, but it’s clear she’s tempted by the call of adventure…
I liked that Griffith left the end of the book open for interpretation, and despite the fact that it took her a decade to write the sequel to Hild, I would absolutely be down for another sequel.
If Hild wants to go on another adventure, I’m there!