Yeah, I think there was supposed to be only 3 nails total. So 3 swords.

The virtues of love, hope and faith are listed in the bible and even quoted by Thomas in the books.

It has also been suggested that the virtues of the 3 swords are the ones that can burn the three different white court vampires so it fits better there too. I think there have ever been only 3 swords.

 

Oh, I'm 99.9% sure that all three swords would have a BIG problem with cold-blooded murder of an innocent; Amoracchius is just the only one that would be outright destroyed by it.

As for the swords having been re-made, since the swords' power comes from the Crucifiction nails it seems reasonable to assume that so long as the nail itself remains intact the sword built around it could be changed into just about any form. I also wouldn't be surprised if there were some way to restore a Sword that has been unmade; after all the power in that sword has to go somewhere when it's destroyed, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to think it might be possible to reconstruct a destroyed Sword.

 

I hadn't checked out this thread in a while, so when I went back and read until I was up to date, I was (though perhaps I shouldn't have been) genuinely shocked at the general reaction to the Maeve/Amaris scene in chapter 14.

I'm all for Harry/Lily and whatnot, that doesn't squick me, this, however, is something completely different. Amaris was very clearly (unless she's just a spectacularly unenthusiastic lover) portrayed as neither enjoying, nor even actively participating in that little make-out show Maeve put on for Harry, she just stood there, motionless, and allowed her mother (and I use the term loosely) to molest her.

We're not talking about a consensual act, we're talking about Amaris's only guardian taking advantage of her in order to get under Harry's skin and further her own schemes. Instead of crowing about the 'hot mother/daughter action', I would think people would be at least a little upset at Harry's daughter being violated and maybe wonder about how deep this mistreatment goes.

Yes, she allowed it to happen, but clearly that's because she is being used, coerced, and twisted. Is this something that she was instructed to do just to get under his skin, or is it done to her on a regular basis in the Nevernever where Harry can't reach her to help?

The saddest part is one wonders whether her little speech to Harry before he banished her was a scripted response penned by Maeve, or whether she has actually been taught to think that this was what Harry would want and that she has now been rejected. When he banished her, was the pleading look she gave part of the act, or does she now think he hates her?

Either way, how will Maeve use this to twist her further? Harry has only been with her for a fraction of the apparent 14 years she's been alive. If he ever does regain custody of her, will she be so messed up from her upbringing that she's irretrievable as a functioning person? Look at how fucked up Harry was (canon or Denarian) from his few years at the Dursleys.

I guess I was surprised that after that scene and I found the reaction a bit crass. People either didn't comment on it at all, or simply remarked on the 'hot incest'. Unless I completely misread things, it seems to me that the scene was meant to be creepy, even anger-inducing, rather than titillating. That's not even really touching on the possible broader implications.

Allowing me a bit of wild speculation (to go with the previous mild speculation ), just for the hell of it: For all we know, she's being pimped out to that wizard Maeve has allied herself with or being used as breeding stock.

We've already seen how flippantly Maeve treats the act of giving birth, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that she could see the benefit of controlling the offspring of Amaris/Evil Wizard (which would be part winter fae royalty, part Boy Who Lived/Denarian Lord, and part powerful anonymous wizard {who might just be Voldemort}).

Just some food for thought. Nothing is beyond the realm of possibility until Shezza shows us otherwise.

I guess the fate of Amaris bothers me more. At least Harry knows he was conceived in love, Amaris was conceived to close a deal and now it appears her life is being treated the same way.

--

As for the story as a whole, it's still going strong, plot-wise (spelling and grammatically there are some snags). You know you're doing something right when the reader cares about what is happening to the characters and I, for one, care; so mission accomplished there, Shezza. Can't wait to see what's next, keep up the good work.

 

That's the exact sort of reaction I was hoping to inspire in the readers, to further humanise and generate sympathy for Amaris and to alienate Maeve from the readers. Just thought I'd come out and state it for the record- there was an actual purpose behind the squick.


Anyway, I'm hoping to have a scene of chapter 20 up in the next few hours, which has been hesitantly titled as "The Maeve Arc".

 

Ahah, then what I expect is going to come to pass.

Heh, it would of been easy enough to ask you, but I kept forgetting. :/

 

You're such a damn tease Ellisande. It's one thing for Shezza and Jon to know the intimate details of the plot. But you?

My only consolation is that so far this damn story is worth the wait.

 

With regards to Maeve/Amaris: when reading that scene I read it mostly as part of the Maeve - Harry interaction and something for Harry to get angry about, rather than the reader.

After all, they're faeries. Their ways are not our ways.

Anyway, I'm hoping to have a scene of chapter 20 up in the next few hours, which has been hesitantly titled as "The Maeve Arc".

Amaris hasn't Chosen yet, but her current nature and outlook is pretty much that of a faerie's, due to her upbringing.

 

The new scene is good stuff. Amanda's POV is a nice change from Harry's, and the explanation of why she still has a thing for him is good.

I'm assuming Maeve attacked him? Or maybe the Winter Knight, a new one. It'll be intresting either way. For some reason, I keep thinking of a raid being launched, like the one in Proven Guilty, probably with Dumbledore, Amanda, a member or two from the Order, and maybe the two knights.

 

Has Order killed millions of people? I know they had lots of time, but they didn't really kill people in the way Hitler did.

evil person

It's great to see things from Amanda's perspective but leaving such a cliffhanger was cruel.

I take it that the OoTP checked his apartment and we know that after events in chapters 17,18 and 19 it was vulnerable. The question is, was Harry stupid enough not to ward it again or was he just covering his tracks? And in case if he was taken, was it French Aurors? White Council? Voldemort's forces?

 

It was implied that Nicodemus&Co were responsible for the Black Death Pandemic which wiped out (according to Wikipedia anyway) 75 million people. And that was just one plot of theirs. I think Hitler is small potatoes in comparison.

 

/me pulls a Jon/Ellisande and comments on how he's been looking forward to this for ages and how awesome it's going to be.



Liked the Amanda PoV, nothing she thought seemed off.

Personally I'd go for "one the one hand" rather than "on one hand".

 

Somehow I don't think the French Aurors are capable of that.

 

It had to be either Maeve or Voldemort. I don't see anyone else being both able and willing to do it.

White Council might have but given that Harry did pass his Owls and is now a citizen of the wandwizard world I doubt they would have.

So unless Shezza has suddenly introduced some completely new antagonist, which would be rather poor writing imho, it has to be Maeve or Voldemort. I am guessing Maeve.

Please hurry with the next chapter Shezza!

 

Given enough numbers and surprise?

and

As for Maeve, all deals were off, she shouldn't be able to attack Harry. Unless it was Winter Knight, but I really hope Shezza is done with pulling strong characters out of nowhere.

 

Forgive me but I seem to have missed something. Why on earth would the French want Harry?

As for the update itself, it was a nice change of pace seeing the developments from another perspective and the explanation of why Amanda still has a thing for Harry was welcomed, especially since she doesn't think she can fix the "bad boy". It's going to be interesting to see how this all pans out.

 

I liked it. After the last chapter, I'm kind of wondering if Harry tried to use the sword without knowing that it wouldn't recognize him as a Knight anymore? Could be the reason he got captured. Tried to use the sword to block a spell, and the spell wasn't affected at all or something.

I'm going to assume it was Maeve, or at least something from the Unseelie court, since you said earlier that this was the 'Maeve Arc'.

Two mistakes I noticed earlier, that nobody has posted yet.

The bold part seems off to me. Maybe if it were 'Somebody tore this place up pretty badly.' instead? Seems to flow a little bit better, in my opinion.

Bold part, again. Should be 'he' instead of 'it'.

 

It would be my mistake, I think. I was under impression that the manor was located in France, and if that was the case, their aurors would be rather curious about destroyed manor and lots of bodies.

I still might be right, though. The land was given by King of England after some victory in Hundred Year War and it's only logical to give away land he didn't care about.

I also wonder if Harry was really taken. He managed to successfully avoid surprise attack by Voldemort over a year before, but now he would know to go into hiding instead of asking "allies" for help, given how this worked out last time.

 

If this is the case, if the sword did not even bother to warn Harry that it would not help him anymore, and Harry was captured as a result, then I think Harry should declare open season on the church/God. Because that would be SUCH a fucked up thing to do.

I don't think so. He was kicked out by Charity and ambushed by the White Council afterwards.

Harry knows that unlike Charity, Dumbledore would never turn him out if he came for help. Not only is that something this Dumbledore would not do, but there is also the fact that Dumbledore needs Harry to take out Voldemort. A fact Harry knows.

Add to this the fact that Harry would be unlikely to miss out the lessons with Dumbledore, which are increasing his power/skill and it would not make much sense for him to go into hiding and avoid Dumbledore.

 

Ah, that makes sense, thanks KrzaQ, thought I'd missed a transitional chapter or something. As for Harry getting captured, he's good, but there's always a bigger fish, and when you're Harry, the fish tends to be huge... with lots of pointy teeth. He was likely outnumbered and there's a good chance he royal fucked up a few of the people who came to grab him.