This is the BEST chapter, except perhaps certain later chapters. The book takes a while to build to this point, but now that it's here it goes ALL OUT.
I just love the explosion of hurt/comfort here. Ewen: confused, feverish, in pain, not even certain that it's really Keith here; a brief moment of comfort in between the horror of the battle (God, his description of waking up naked and stiff with cold on the field!) and the horror that awaits once he's captured. Keith: in some ways even more confused about his own feelings, but that confusion doesn't stop him from doing everything he can to help Ewen.
The atmosphere in this chapter is also just incredible. I love the burned shielings still smoking when Keith arrives, poor Neil stiff and stark by the door, the darkness and the flickering light in the shieling, Keith sopping the bread in the wine to feed to Ewen... and the incredible sweetness of Ewan's gratitude and affection once he fully grasps who Keith is and what he has done for him, and the fact that Keith just can't quite accept it, partly because he feels the stain on his honor from the things he implied to Guthrie, but also just... he's not used to people being fond of him, or letting himself be fond of other people.
and the incredible sweetness of Ewan's gratitude and affection once he fully grasps who Keith is and what he has done for him, and the fact that Keith just can't quite accept it, partly because he feels the stain on his honor from the things he implied to Guthrie, but also just... he's not used to people being fond of him, or letting himself be fond of other people.
Yes! Totally agree, Keith's awkwardness around accepting Ewen's gratitude and affection is just very satisfyingly written. Oh, Keith. ♥
ETA: And also another reason for Keith's awkwardness is that he's aware of just how much worse his own side has treated the Jacobites, compared to how the Jacobites treated their defeated enemies at Prestonpans! This injury called for a surgeon, and he had nearly said so; but, reddening, checked himself, recalling the deliberate denial of care to the Jacobite wounded at Inverness, and the actual removal of their instruments from the few of their own surgeons imprisoned with them.
Yes, it's definitely partly guilt on Keith's part! He's knows just why Ewen is so stunned to be taken care of by a solider in a red coat and the knowledge that his own side has been so destitute of honor and humanity just makes him shrivel up inside.
I love how even in his current desperate situation, Ewen is so warm and trusting once he realizes that it's Keith who has come back to nurse him - it really shows the sweetness of his nature. It would be understandable if he remained as cold and standoffish as he could, keeping his guard up just in case, but the idea doesn't even enter his head. Bs pbhefr, gung jvyy znxr Znwbe Thguevr'f npgvbaf gung zhpu zber cnvashy sbe uvz...Oevatvat zber uheg gb gur uheg-pbzsbeg.
This injury called for a surgeon, and he had nearly said so; but, reddening, checked himself, recalling the deliberate denial of care to the Jacobite wounded at Inverness, and the actual removal of their instruments from the few of their own surgeons imprisoned with them.
Ohhhh, yeah, that was a really powerful line <3 :( To actually remove the surgeons' instruments... that's a special kind of cruelty, ugh.
That is a very good point! And an interesting development of Keith's guilt over the army's actions in last week's chapters—'as his prisoner last year I received very different treatment from that which we are now giving to ours!', indeed.
Yes, that's a good point—Keith's obliviousness and confusion about his own feelings really follows from his observation of his own actions, it doesn't keep him from acting on those feelings. It's a good tangle.
And oh, yes, the atmospheric details here are really well done too.
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I just love the explosion of hurt/comfort here. Ewen: confused, feverish, in pain, not even certain that it's really Keith here; a brief moment of comfort in between the horror of the battle (God, his description of waking up naked and stiff with cold on the field!) and the horror that awaits once he's captured. Keith: in some ways even more confused about his own feelings, but that confusion doesn't stop him from doing everything he can to help Ewen.
The atmosphere in this chapter is also just incredible. I love the burned shielings still smoking when Keith arrives, poor Neil stiff and stark by the door, the darkness and the flickering light in the shieling, Keith sopping the bread in the wine to feed to Ewen... and the incredible sweetness of Ewan's gratitude and affection once he fully grasps who Keith is and what he has done for him, and the fact that Keith just can't quite accept it, partly because he feels the stain on his honor from the things he implied to Guthrie, but also just... he's not used to people being fond of him, or letting himself be fond of other people.
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Yes! Totally agree, Keith's awkwardness around accepting Ewen's gratitude and affection is just very satisfyingly written. Oh, Keith. ♥
ETA: And also another reason for Keith's awkwardness is that he's aware of just how much worse his own side has treated the Jacobites, compared to how the Jacobites treated their defeated enemies at Prestonpans! This injury called for a surgeon, and he had nearly said so; but, reddening, checked himself, recalling the deliberate denial of care to the Jacobite wounded at Inverness, and the actual removal of their instruments from the few of their own surgeons imprisoned with them.
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I love how even in his current desperate situation, Ewen is so warm and trusting once he realizes that it's Keith who has come back to nurse him - it really shows the sweetness of his nature. It would be understandable if he remained as cold and standoffish as he could, keeping his guard up just in case, but the idea doesn't even enter his head. Bs pbhefr, gung jvyy znxr Znwbe Thguevr'f npgvbaf gung zhpu zber cnvashy sbe uvz...Oevatvat zber uheg gb gur uheg-pbzsbeg.
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Ohhhh, yeah, that was a really powerful line <3 :( To actually remove the surgeons' instruments... that's a special kind of cruelty, ugh.
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Yes, that's a good point—Keith's obliviousness and confusion about his own feelings really follows from his observation of his own actions, it doesn't keep him from acting on those feelings. It's a good tangle.
And oh, yes, the atmospheric details here are really well done too.