Kings Rising spoilers:
Hold tight cuz this is gonna be a long ass analysis.
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Re-reading and at chapter 15 when they spend last night at the inn before kings meet.
I noticed this sentence:
It's just a description on the surface but it's a little too specific.
Young cut wood is a description that can fit Laurent as a newly shaped man and a leader.
And if Laurent is the wood, the flames-- too loud-- consuming him are obviously the Regent.
By what happens after, we know that Laurent thought this was his last free night, that he was going to die.
When he orders Damen to his room that night then, he is very very aware of his end, of the fire that is going to consume it.
It is not cynical but a fact for him.
I thought maybe this is a stretch so I decided to look at everytime fire is mentioned during their lovemaking.
There's two types of light consistently mentioned.
- Flame from candles and Fire from the hearth
The candlelight is almost always used to describe Laurent and his beauty.
E.g. "Laurent was haloed in the candlelight, all cream and gold"
" The candlelight turned Laurent's hair to gold, flamed in the dip of his lashes, the line of his throat" etcetc. You get the picture.
The candlelight is how Damen views this night, this moment. He is all focused on Laurent. He has forgotten the outside world.
In the candlelight we see Laurent as Damen sees him.
There are also specifically three candles.
Initially I thought the third candle was Auguste but no. The third candle is their future, how Damen projects their future, because Damen was never unsure of their victory.
The flames however are different and this is gonna be a more detailed analysis than candlelight.
1.
Obviously Laurents dismantles the bed because of his previous memories, and he wants to rewrite his experiences.
However, by now we know everytime Laurent has violently tried to get out of his uncles plans he would still play into his uncles hands (until Damen came along). Just like he would the next morning. The foreshadowing is a little insane.
2.
The flames are too loud. Laurent is extremely aware of his end,of his demise, of his death. He is doing all this not as an escape but to collect as much of Damen in his memory as possible.
His awarness of his end is the , "too loud fire*. And here we also have a direct contrast from Damen's perspective where "candlelight is reflecting the windows". Damen is under the illusion of privacy and by extension, the safety it offers.
While Laurent is acting as a man who has a complete and utter lack of safety.
3.
This is one of the billion times we see Laurent's past of being groomed.
At the same time, if the Fire is Regent, Laurent would NEVER give Damen or anyone related to Damen to the Regent. In fact, tomorrow, Laurent is planning to give himself up for Damen's child; his seed(hated using that word, ew). Even if it is Kastor's child, he is STILL related to Damen.
4.
As they get more and more intimate, Damen starts feeling the "heat of the fire". Damen has always been intuned with Laurent's moods. He can never figure out why (or never assumes) till Laurent himself tells him, but he is always aware to some level.
So it makes sense that he is aware of this too in Laurent.
Interestingly enough, Damen feels the heat when they finish and Laurent gets up.
Almost like it was Laurent who made Damen SEE the cruelty of the Regent; of how dangerous he is. And how much Regent has damaged Damen and still holds so much power to do more damage.
And if all of this wasn't enough and Pacat HAD to stab me. When Laurent comes back and lies down it says,
"Laurent was closer to the fire" as he always has been. Regent hurting Akeilos across border of course but Laurent has always been in the same castle as him. Always near to hurt and prick and cut.
And like a bird domesticated too well and wouldn't survive in the wild, leaving that castle meant death for Laurent.
So yeah, Laurent has always been too close to the fire.
And then twisiting the knife slowly,
"he could hear the fire again" becuase Damen is making future plans while Laurent is preparing his head for the guillotine. Because Damen has been shouting MARRY ME on top of his lungs and Laurent cannot tell him that he can't because he doesn't believe he will live that long.
