The Barbarian's Vow

How could he respect himself if he forgave such a violation of trust? Wasn't he worth more?

Jem is my hero. An alternative title for this could have been ‘Consequences'. I love the judgement - free portrayal of wishing you could forgive someone but not being emotionally ready or willing to. Like I said in the prior review, Cador did not deserve Jem's forgiveness at that point in time.

I love, love, loveeeeeee the groveling Cador had to do in this. This is a man whose basis for an apology was falling in love in Book One, and whose basis in Book Two was both that, AND a deep understanding of why what he'd done was wrong, why Jem couldn't forgive him based on just words and why he had to prove himself worthy of rebuilding the trust. And kudos to Cador for not getting pissy about how long it was taking Jem to get to the forgiveness bit.

I love that Jem was given the liberty to feel his feelings, be hurt by them, and then slowly get to a point where he could see the change in Cador, the remorse, the willingness to do better until such a time as he felt open to tentatively building that trust again.

This, to me, is not only a realistic depiction of a reconciliation after a breach of trust, but also a healthy one. I'm never really sold when the one MMC makes a bare minimum apology for heinous crimes committed against the other, and is then forgiven because, oh well..... Love conquers all. This duet really showed me how unfulfilled I've been with others that treat the resolutions of conflict in such a cavalier manner.

On the less serious side, Cador's not wanting to be the next chieftain (I don't want it) gave me Jon Snow vibes.