“I hold my head high, my scorn of those around me plain on my face. In truth, it is no act, for I loathe nearly everyone here, from D’Albret’s courtiers and attendants to the spineless Breton lordlings who showed no resistance when he seized their duchess’s castle for his own. Craven, lickspittle lackeys, the lot of them.”
I loved Sybella instantly. She’s dark and cynical. She was a main character that I would want on my team in a heartbeat. Each book in the His Fair Assassin series follows a different character and I definitely enjoyed both Sybella and the plot in Dark Triumph more than I did the first novel, Grave Mercy. Sybella is definitely stronger and more damaged than Ismae and the inclusion of her backstory in particular really conveys that to me, I think she was worse off than Ismae but you don’t know that right away. You’ll be almost finished this book when more tidbits of Sybella’s past are exposed and that was very effective because it let the plot that’s happening in the present happen first before flashing back in the past. Dark Triumph felt much darker and I liked the plot. Her ties to D’Albret and how he’s her father made her double agent status all the more satisfying when she would get closer to completing her mission. This book explored the familial bond that D’Albret has to the MC and that made the stakes much higher for this handmaiden of death. She was kind of a rebellious handmaiden too. She wasn’t afraid to call out the convent or go ‘rogue’ when she didn’t agree with where the mission was headed. The times she would be hesitant would be when they affected her, anytime it was one of her friends she had the courage to fight for them knowing their own hesitation (like her own) Nothing fired her up more than when one of her friends or loved ones were in danger. Plus, I like how she views the courtiers and the whole aristocratic lifestyle. Sybella’s voice was executed with perfection and worked seamlessly with her backstory.
“Like an unsettled flock of pigeons, every one of the nuns’ warnings rushes through my head: killing without a marque is killing outside Mortain’s grace and I will imperil my immortal soul. It will be sundered from me forever and forced to wander lost for all eternity.”
I never really bought this particular bit of kool-aid the convent was trying to push. It makes no sense. Even if you know that a person is evil or has done heinous things you can’t act unless they have been marked by death itself? Like WTF? It was a tad infuriating that’s for sure but don’t worry, in here Sybella doesn’t buy it either and by the time you finish this second instalment to the His Fair Assassin trilogy it’s discovered that the marques are more complex than that.
“The mistake I think the convent has made is about the nature of these marques. They are meerly reflections of what will happen, not commands to act.”
This was a much needed distinction that was expressed and I think this really saved the series for me because the initial stance on the marques continued to bug and irritate me until I read this.
“Besides, I would like to think I am capable of doing something other than killing and acting the whore.”
Absolutely loved this quote! You tell them Sybella! Her mission was very hard to execute because of her sheer hatred towards the very people she was sent to get close to. She doesn’t want to be stuck between two options and that’s it and she phrases it perfectly to bring her point home.
“It is a lie, for it will burn like fire, but I cannot talk to this man anymore. I know from long experience that hope is but a taunt from the gods, and I hate that somehow this man causes me to feel it.”
There’s an instant chemistry between her and Beast. I loved Beast’s character in book 1 so when I saw his name mentioned in here and continued to read I was estactic to realize that he was the perfect love interest (LI) for Sybella. They value honour and duty above all else. He challenges her at a game that she thought she knew best. He makes her guard fall and realize that she is absolutely perfect. Not damaged and not defined by family or duty. She is her own.
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“Besides, you looked afraid’
‘Now who has feathers for brains. I had a mission—there was no fear involved.’ But that is a lie. I was terrified and I hate that he saw it.”
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He sees her when she’s vulnerable and I think that’s intentional. I think she senses a safety around him and her walls disintegrate as an auto-response because she’s comfortable around him. Anyone who remembers him from Grave Mercy will know what I mean. The Duchess had a similar response (platonically of course!) This makes him different to so many other romantic entanglements that would have suited this time. So I loved the direction and pairing between MC and LI.
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“For a woman with a sharp tongue, you have surprisingly gentle hands,’ he says.
‘I think your injuries have caused you to lose the feeling in your body, for while I am many things, none of them are gentle.”
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There’s a fire between these two that is undeniable. It’s something I didn’t really see between Ismae and Duval. See what I mean?
“For one, he’s a miller, not a peasant. And two--’ Beast gives me a grin as infectious as the plague-- ‘I can kill without getting off my horse.”
The Beast can be so cocky and I wasn’t expecting that. He seemed polished and loyal, a true soldier with a clear head on his shoulders in Grave Mercy. And then he meets Sybella and we see this more playful side to him. He’s not all business. He can let loose while still being himself and that is him letting his guard down because of her. They make each other feel safe and that is an ideal place to spring a relationship from.
“She looks at me, her eyes wild with barely checked terror, then shakes her head no. But I know it for a lie, even if she does not. Those men have destroyed her sense of safety for months—possibly years—to come. Unable to stop myself, I reach out and grip her shoulder. ‘It was not your fault’ I whisper fiercely. ‘You and your father did nothing to deserve this except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was not a punishment from God nor any of his saints—it was simply brutish thugs who happened upon you.”
Sybella isn’t perfect and here we see her strength. She has not had a good life, she has been there and felt pain and yet she remains strong and shows her vulnerability to this girl. She gives her the strength that she needs to not let this stop her from being strong. She is literally telling someone that it wasn’t their fault that someone made them a victim and that’s positive. Sometimes people need that shove, they need someone to tell them that exact thing before they can move on and Sybella jumped right in knowing that she would be exposed herself and yet she did it anyway.
“I roll my eyes as I dismount. ‘You are not my nursemaid. Remember, I am rescuing you.”
Just because I love Sybella and Beast and this was too perfect not to include!
“I find I am surprisingly reluctant to end this evening. I have eaten finer dinners, supped in far more elegant surroundings, and been entertained by far wittier companions. And yet, there is a simple warmth and joy here that is headier than the strongest wine I have ever drunk. Two years ago I would have mocked their simple life. Now I envy it.”
I liked this quote for the simple fact that its humble in nature and it shows that Sybella has hopes for one beyond her present. She’s not on (for lack of a better term) on a suicide mission. She still wants a life beyond the convent and beyond all this death and havoc. This has you pulling for her, rooting for her to get that happy and humble life. This showed how a born aristocratic longs for a different life. That it’s not all about riches. This is showing a main character who always follows someone else’s orders (whether it be the convent or death itself) want something for herself as well. It shows her humanity in the simplest of forms.
“I’ve never met a lady who enjoys her work as much as I enjoy mine.”
Cue the wedding bells already! They are a match made in heaven! She’s a strong warrior who might even best him and yet Beast values those exact qualities that would make any other man run in the opposite direction. Because she’s not subservient and she won’t be silenced. And he likes that. A woman with a mind of her own is not a quality many men in this time appreciated.
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“Sweet Camulos! It’s about time!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I have loved you since you first slapped that vile mud on my leg and ordered me to heal.”
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I really did love these two but the plot was also very good! 10/10!!!! Let’s hope the last book, Mortal Heart holds up to this one!