"So... Tamlin touches Feyre's body, getting paint on her intimate areas, and Rhys kisses Feyre when he notices Amarantha's presence, so she'll think he smeared the paint on her body and not Tamlin... isn't that enough justification for you? He only kissed her, he didn't touch her body at any point, and he did it to save her life. Afterward, he was punished by Amarantha, and Feyre was publicly shamed. Imagine if she had known exactly what happened... she would have killed Feyre on the spot."
For me? No, it's not enough. Personally, I've always had the feeling that Sarah ignored all the possibilities she had previously shown as a possible solution and way to save Feyre, in order to have this specific scene.Sarah ignored the fact that Tamlin, with his limited magic, used glamour to hide Feyre's scent from Attor and Rhys; she ignored the fact that Rhys, using magic, could remove Tamlin's scent from Feyre (we saw that he can remove dirt to the point where it looks like you took a shower, on the page where he forces a deal with Feyre); she ignored the fact that Rhys could also use glamour and just pretend he was doing something with Feyre (after all, he had pinned her against the wall by force, So it would be easy for Amarantha to think they were doing something more than just talking, especially since she believed that humans had fickle hearts, and would use this to show Tamlin and Jurian how easily humans can be seduced and jump from one love to another).
Furthermore, there are plot holes in this scene that you don't need to be a genius to notice. (That's why I hate chapter 42, and whenever I have the opportunity, I'll criticize it and point out how convenient Sarah is and how she ignores things that were presented before in order to create a specific scene. It doesn't matter whether it makes sense for the narrative or not, and what was presented as a possible solution before). 1) If Tamlin's scent lingered on Feyre, then Feyre's scent lingered on Tamlin, So Rhys should have kissed him (I'm sure Rhys only kissed Feyre to get a taste of Tamlin, lol 😏.) 2) Tamlin's torn shirt...I have NO IDEA what happened to her because the scene doesn't even mention that she was fixed (at least, I don't remember). 3) Wasn't Tamlin's scent wafting through the hallway? Conveniently, no?... Or maybe Amarantha has a cold, I don't know, whatever. 4) Did Amarantha see Tamlin leave that place? If Amarantha see that, then the charade was pointless. The time when Rhys goes after Feyre, Tamlin leaves, and they talk and then kiss is... something, you know? As far as I remember, Tamlin left through the same place they came in... Correct me if I'm seeing a problem where there isn't one, in this case. Amarantha went after them... How did she know she had to go specifically to that place? Did someone tell her? Did she guess? Did she use her powers? And the biggest question of all, why did she go after Rhys and Feyre?She went after them precisely because she imagined they would be doing something so she could point and say that humans are weak-hearted? Was it Rhys going after Feyre that exposed the place? 5) He could have fixed the paint on Feyre's body or taken her out of the hallway with the paint smeared and her hands dirty.
So, what I'm trying to say is that the justification is weak... There were many other possibilities that Sarah ignores, and consequently makes Rhys look like a jerk who uses that moment to have a The opportunity to be seen as a hero by Feyre: "Regardless of the methods and motives, he kept me alive" or "if it weren't for that kiss—" anyway, that's it, I just wanted to vent lol... Rhyset thinks that just because there was a justification behind it, you can't find the scene disgusting. If those other options didn't exist, I MIGHT accept it and say, "Really, he couldn't do much..."But if a woman can use magic to clean water from a bucket, why can't a HIGH LORD use the magic he possesses to cleanse the scent of another man? Poise.
