Welcome everyone to the third week of the Republic of Thieves readalong (weeks 1 and 2 here and here!).  I hope you all had an excellent weekend filled with fun and Gentlemen Bastards.

This week we read Chapter 6 thru Interlude “Aurin and Amadine”.  We finally get an introduction to the theatre troupe that the gang will be working with and in the election competition we see the boys unexpectedly wind up back out at sea!  For those not reading along please beware of spoilers below.

1. The election competition.  Sabetha isn’t wasting any time throwing pranks at Locke and Jean.  Mostly it seemed fairly harmless, or at least not overly serious, until they were kidnapped and put onto a ship and taken out to sea.  What did you make of Sabetha’s latest plan? And what did you think about the way she executed it?  I never saw that coming at all!  In fact I was quite staggered. I really hadn’t realised just how seriously this whole election campaign was going to be taken.  We started off with a few pranks, spider infestations, minor insults, bit of pick pocketing and it was plain to see that Locke and Jean were playing catch up with Sabetha who seemed to be constantly one step ahead.  At first I was really shocked that she’d put them out to sea – and I do mean really shocked!  It just never occurred to me that either side would take such measures.  I guess all’s fair in love and war after all.  And, as to the way she executed her plan – well, at the end of the day we all know that Locke is besotted with Sabetha and we’ve had lots of discussion about whether she manipulates his obsession or not – well this put us all straight.  Yes, she’s aware of how much he idolises her and no she’s not afraid to use it!  She crooked her finger and he came running and fell hook, line and sinker into her little plan.
2. During the escape overboard and Jean’s rather subtle nose dive into the water – I was curious about the lights Locke saw deep in the water when he was performing his rescue – Locke thought they looked different once he was under the waves which I suppose they would but he also had the feeling that he was being watched?  Do you think this relates back to the Eldren or some other presence? Firstly, I thought it was great that Locke actually got to do some rescuing as it feels that Jean is usually the one getting Locke out of trouble.  I really don’t know what the lights under water signify – that’s why I asked this because I’m hoping that one of you has a theory!  Maybe mermaids exist in this world – it does seem as though the lights were at first an attraction but once Locke was in the water he felt like he was being watched by something more sinister.  A bit as though the lights are some kind of lure or trap?
3. Given that Locke hadn’t seen Sabetha for five years how did you think their first meeting together went (well, it wasn’t strictly speaking their first meeting of course – were you surprised that Jean and Locke hadn’t figured out that the woman pickpocket was Sabetha?) and also what did you make of Jean and Sabetha’s reaction to each other? I think the first meeting they had with Sabetha, even though she was in disguise, showed again how she was ahead of them, it never even occurred to them that it was her!  Even with the initialled handkerchief.  I thought for the second meeting there was a really big build up, Locke getting ready hours in advance (so he’d have enough time for pacing nervously) and so the initial meet felt a little bit flat almost.  I guess I was hoping for more emotion in some way, even if they were both annoyed and shouting at each other.  It felt like they were both treading on eggshells a bit although I liked that it gave us a little bit more insight into why Sabetha left.  I thought Jean and Sabetha’s reaction was very interesting and even a bit strange.  Jean seemed very cool and suspicious of Sabetha and it was Sabetha who instigated the hug.  I suppose Jean isn’t the one enamoured with Sabetha after all and maybe he doesn’t like watching Locke constantly suffering over her?
4. So, the gang have arrived in Espara and already the plans have gone wrong through no fault of their own!  Jail for a year plus lose a hand for slapping a noble?? What do you think of the justice system in Espara and how does this bode for the gang?  Losing a hand for hitting someone – bloody hell!  I don’t suppose it should come as a surprise that the justice system is biased – it’s probably put in place by the nobility after all! The way the GBs carry on you can’t help thinking they could all end up missing a few body parts!  They’re not shy about insulting people after all and we all know they have light fingers – what do you suppose is the penalty for pick pocketing!  Lose both hands and have your ears cut off if not worse.  It makes you think that they’re going to need to be very careful whilst in Espara not to upset any of the nobility.
5. The acting company are finally coming together and we’re watching the gang as they try to read, act and grab the best parts – are you all ‘happy face’ with the whole theatre scenes or, sad face!  Also, I can’t help feeling like this whole storyline is a step out of character for the gang.  Any ideas of how it will play out??  I love the theatre story.  I think it’s genius.  It shows us the gang finally getting to put a lot of their training into use.  They need to be able to act after all when they start pulling cons.  Plus I think the play itself is great.  This part of the story is unusual because Chains has sent them to help somebody and until they get a feel for the place they won’t really know how to do that.  Of course it all goes wrong from square one with Moncraine being in prison!  I liked that they didn’t use this as an opportunity to pack up and go back home but saw it as a challenge and we finally got to see Locke and Sabetha in action together pretending to be nobles in disguise (I love that they’re thieves, pretending to be nobles who are pretending to be actors).  I guess this storyline is also going to give us some more of Sabetha and Locke’s background and add to the ‘will they won’t they’ debate.
6. We are also being introduced to a number of new characters, particularly Moncraine and Boulidazi.  What are your first impressions of these two and the other new characters in the Company and any particular likes or dislikes so far?  I can’t say that I like either of the two new characters so far.  Although I probably dislike Boulidazi marginally more than Moncraine.  I mean Moncraine is obviously a bit of a maniac isn’t he?  Why would you punch a noble in the first place (if you know the punishment) but why when he’s offering to help you out.  Why wouldn’t a simple ‘no’ suffice?  Considering his position he’s not short of arrogance and pig headedness.  He’s also not particularly concerned about anyone else but himself.  His whole ‘being in prison for a year is the best place to be’ – for him – what about all the other troupe members and the mess it leaves them in.  Then Boulidazi – he’s a slippery sort, or so he seems to me.  I didn’t like, for example, that he immediately saw himself as a likely suitor for Sabetha and also that he took Locke to one side to ask about her – like she doesn’t have a say in the matter at all!
7. The rooftop scene and the apology.  How did it all go so wrong?  And how will Locke get out of this latest fix with Boulidazi?   OMG, how could it go so wrong so quickly!  Locke was doing so well, he was finally making a good impression with Sabetha and they were talking at last!  I did want to say to him though to ‘shut up’ – he was just so determined to say as much as possible as quickly as possible.  It went from punching the air to slumped shoulders in one easy step! To be honest I don’t quite get the whole obsession with the ‘hair’ colour thing.  I mean, why is he fixated on Sabetha’s hair colour.  Obviously he loves her and so he loves everything about her but I suppose from her point of view you wouldn’t want somebody to be just fixated on something like that would you?  Okay, he has this memory of the first time he saw her hair and he romantically seems to link this with his Sabetha ‘lightbulb’ moment, but he still seems to know so little about her or how she feels.  I mean, she dyes her hair and never lets her true colour show – has he never thought about that?? Or that maybe there’s a reason behind it so going down the whole ‘the first time I saw your beautiful red hair’ route seemed highly likely to cause problems!  You just can’t help feeling sorry for him though.  He tries so hard to please her and he’s just so desperate for any scrap she throws his way!  As to how he will get out of his latest trouble with Boulidazi, I think that Sabetha will come to his rescue – just like she did when she thought he was being arrested by the yellow jacket!

Quotes this week:

‘Yeah, but if I don’t start my nervous pacing now, I’ll never have it all done in time.’

‘Remember how she joked about twenty armed men in the next room?’  said Jean with a resigned sign.  He set down the book he’d been reading.  ‘There were twenty armed men in the next room.’  How cute is Jean – sat on his bed reading!  *sigh*

‘Do you want to do as you’re told, or do you want to kiss that pavement?’  It turned out he wanted to do as he was told!  (Well you would wouldn’t you – kissing pavements – not recommended!)

Check out everyone’s answers here:

Many a true nerd

Genkinahito’s Blog

Over the Effing Rainbow

Just Book Reading

Violin in a Void

Little Red Reviewer

All I am a Redhead

Dab of Darkness

Joma Fantasy

Theft and Sorcery

Coffee, Cookies and Chilli Peppers

Booky Pony