Hild

Parts of this novel were really lush and gorgeous–especially the parts with Hild noticing the natural world around her. But like many readers, I had a very hard time keeping people and places straight, even with the map and glossary and family tree. I feel like there's a lot of subplot that I totally missed, primarily, whatever Breguswith was plotting the whole time. And the ending came out of left field. Why on earth did the author feel the need to create this character in the first place, and then make him Hild's half brother on top of it if she was just going to have them wed? Is there some political or historical significance to this that I'm missing?