King of Battle and Blood

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Themes

The Effects of Political Power on Personal Relationships

Power plays a crucial role in the development of the key relationships in King of Battle and Blood, and this dynamic can be seen both in Isolde’s fraught interactions with Adrian and in her various power struggles with her father and Killian. Isolde’s distaste for Killian stems not only from their passionless romantic encounters but also from Killian’s persistent attempts to control her. For example, when he tries to force her to return to the castle just after the vampires’ arrival, she tells him, “I outrank you, Commander. It is not within your power to tell me what to do,” to which Killian replies, “No, but it is within your father’s” (3). This tense exchange illustrates Killian’s tendency to fall back on the king’s political power whenever his own influence fails, and St. Clair uses this scene to emphasize that Isolde is caught within a complex patriarchal power structure jointly authored by her father and her former lover.

Within Isolde and Adrian’s relationship, however, the power dynamics take on a far more nuanced role. At the very beginning of their romantic relationship, Isolde struggles to understand why Adrian seeks to marry her, and because of the complexity of the truth, he declines to answer fully, telling her only, “I set out to become king of Cordova […] And I need a queen” (41). However, Adrian already possesses all the political power he needs in his capacity as the Blood King, and his wedding to Isolde is not an attempt to consolidate further power. Because he wants Isolde in a romantic sense, his desire for her gives her power over him, even though she does not yet realize this truth.

Instead, Isolde views her developing feelings for Adrian as a cessation of her own personal power and a betrayal of her people. These culturally ingrained emotions are further complicated by her inexplicable desire for Adrian. When she sees him with Safira, she feels intense jealousy and then becomes angry at her own reaction, thinking, “I ground my teeth and tamped down the pain. I would not let him have that kind of control over me” (279). In this moment, Isolde uses an impotent physical action to choke off her feelings for Adrian because she believes that his ability to conjure emotion within her is an intolerable form of control. In reality, however, Adrian reciprocates her feelings and gives up power of his own when he “only makes promises for [her]” (133). Thus, both characters surrender aspects of their personal power to each other as they fall in love, and when they finally come together as a couple, they maximize their joint political power to further their conquest of Revekka, especially after Isolde remembers her past life as Yesenia.

The Evolution of Identity Within Constraining Circumstances

Isolde’s struggle to redefine herself within new political contexts becomes one of the novel’s central conflicts. Although she begins the narrative fairly certain of who she is and what she wants, her plans for a future in Lara are soon shattered by Adrian’s request for her hand in marriage. This proposal changes Isolde’s entire world, and in the space of a moment, she realizes that she is no longer the current princess of Lara but the future queen of Revekka. However, navigating this new role is a complex proposition due to her people’s hope that she will kill Adrian for the sake of all Lara. Isolde even wonders what her father hopes her future will be, and she laments the cryptic nature of his declaration when he says, “You are the hope of our kingdom, Issi” (75). To Isolde, her father’s true wishes remain unclear, and she finds herself set adrift, with no clear path through a dangerous political landscape. She cannot decide whether she should work to diplomatically change Adrian and Revekka for the better or attempt to murder her new husband; in short, she does not know whether to be a good queen or an adept assassin.

Isolde also worries that her marriage will change her identity. As she says goodbye to her father, she desperately wonders who she will become, thinking, “Would my father even recognize me? Would I recognize myself?” (116). Prior to her marriage, she lived a sheltered life within the borders of Lara, and she now lacks any practical knowledge of the world beyond the borders of her kingdom. As she learns more about herself and about the true history of the world, her new perceptions help her discover her true self: one that has been shaped by her past life.

Once Isolde discovers the truth about Cordova’s history, Dragos’s cruelty, and her past life as Yesenia, her priorities and sense of self utterly change. She succinctly highlights her new mindset when she reflects, “It was strange, the notion that I was agreeing to protect vampires, to protect the kingdom I had once despised, and yet I found myself agreeing with my whole heart, because I knew the truth of this world” (363). When Isolde remembers her past life, she realizes that the world she thought she knew was built on a bedrock of lies that she easily believed when she remained in the constrained environment of Lara. The truth sets her free, allowing her to form her own perception of the world and develop a more self-aware system of values that will drive her character development throughout the rest of the series.

The Moral Complexities of Wartime Leadership

At the beginning of the novel, the entire continent of Cordova is at war, and because Blood King Adrian seeks to conquer as many kingdoms as he can, including Lara, St. Clair relies on this political reality to cast him as an enemy in Isolde’s eyes. Her early perspective therefore reveals the complex calculus that underlies Henri’s decision to meet with Adrian in a diplomatic effort to avoid war. Henri does not want to fight a war that he knows he will lose, so he instead makes the unpopular decision to offer Adrian a partial surrender. However, Henri hesitates when Adrian asks for Isolde’s hand in marriage, which Adrian finds odd, remarking, “You would choose war so quickly? I thought you cared for your people” (35). This wry exchange indicates that Adrian understands how to properly care for a populace, and he manipulates Henri’s desire to protect Lara to broker a marriage contract. Notably, Isolde convinces Henri that her life is less important than the kingdom, and with this declaration, she illustrates her own awareness of her responsibilities to make hard decisions on behalf of her people. She sees it as her responsibility to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

However, after her arrival in Revekka, Isolde’s perspective changes radically, and she begins to see war as a justifiable course of action, particularly after the arrival of King Gheroghe at the court proceedings. Gheroghe offers Adrian surrender in exchange for becoming a vampire, and he tries to entice Adrian by explaining that his kingdom offers a good vantage point to invade the Atoll of Nalani. Incensed, Isolde rejects his plea, telling him, “You lost my support when you suggested that Adrian invade my mother’s lands […] Return to your kingdom and await the war” (237). Isolde perceives Gheroghe’s willingness to sacrifice the innocent for his own gain, which is inconsistent with her own ethical code, and in this light, she finds war against him to be justified.

Henri’s own actions relate a darker angle on the theme; when he tries to kill Isolde, he shames her for not ending her own life, arguing that taking Adrian with her would be for the “greater good” of Lara and Cordova. However, Isolde has gained the inner poise necessary to question this definition of the “greater good,” and she redefines her own understanding of leadership when she declares, “I did not care for the greater good. I wanted what was good for me, what would ensure I lived long enough to save my mother’s people, protect those I called my own, defeat Ravena, and become queen of all who would harm me” (382). Thus, although Isolde frames her definition in selfish terms and claims not to care for the greater good, her goals are ethically oriented, and she seeks to free her mother’s people, protect her loved ones, and prevent a dangerous foe from unleashing evil upon the entire continent. As the Queen of Revekka, she is responsible for completing these goals, which will frame her actions throughout the rest of the series.