Scorpion by Aleksandr Voinov

The blurb:

You learn your wisest lessons from your enemies. Assuming, of course, you survive the encounter. Kendras is a casualty of war: injured, penniless, and quite possibly the last surviving member of the only family he's ever known—the elite fighting force known as the Scorpions. When a steel-eyed stranger offers him medicine and shelter in exchange for submission and a secret task, Kendras has no choice but to accept. He is a Scorpion; he’ll do whatever it takes to survive.

But his true goal is to rebuild the Scorpions. Neither Steel’s possessive nature nor Kendras’s shattered foot can keep him from finding the last of his brothers... or the mysterious leader of the Scorpions, a man who held Kendras’s heart long before Steel tried to take it for himself. The goal is simple, the situation anything but. To rescue his leader and escape from Steel for good, Kendras must fight through a morass of politics and intrigue, where enemies are allies and even allies have hidden agendas.



This is my review from Goodreads:

"I was really resentful of things that took me away from this book when I was reading--little things like food, sleep, children...The world that was built here feels like it could easily lend itself to many more stories; its history seems rich enough, certainly, as does its present. And there are several support characters and relationships I'd love to know more about (although I suppose the M/F ones are out of the question? *sigh*)

I will admit, I have a thing for a (well-done) Sekrit Baby, and I really really want Kendras's personal history (whatever led up to his becoming an orphaned street-urchin) to be something nice and dramatic (prophecies are always fun, too...) And I remain intrigued by the dichotomy of Kendras's emotions as directed toward his officer and the anonymity of that officer through a good portion of the book; as well as the differing reactions he has to being saved from certain death by the officer as a boy, and being saved from whatever fate might have befallen him after his battlefield injury by Steel.

I would have liked to see more of the hinted-at history between Andrastes (and apparently a number of Dalmanye kings) and Steel. However, I admit that, as tightly-written as the story was, that probably would have been too much. I would love to see the high priest get what's coming to him.

(Final note: Can I just say thank you for not alerting my inner English teacher? No misused homophones, no horrible glaring grammatical issues, no random weird italics/punctuation--SO refreshing!!)

Loved loved *loved* it!"

And I have no quibbles with what I wrote there, but there are a few things I'd like to get into a bit more in depth now.  And I'm gonna have to figure out how to hide it... (Spoilers, no doubt, ahoy!)




One of the things that struck me the most as I was reading was the relationship between Kendras and Steel (the man who rescues him and has his foot healed after it's been injured in battle and Kendras has been separated from his unit) and that between Kendras and his officer (who turns out to be Adrastes, son of the previous Lord Protector of Fetin and half-brother of the current Lady Protector of Fetin.) Kendras met each man at a low point in his life, and they each in their own ways saved his life. But Steel was unable to gain Kendras' respect and loyalty to the degree that The Officer did (somehow, even though it was always lowercase throughout the book, I can't help but see it capitalized like that in my mind.) Part of that, perhaps, was the way he treated Kendras. Steel had an ulterior motive; he needed Kendras for an unnamed purpose and felt that he had "bought" Kendras and his loyalty. He treated Kendras rather like a thing or a pet, I felt, instead of a valuable thinking being, and that, I think, is ultimately what led to his downfall. He was not, inherently, a leader, but was forced into leading while being manipulated and led by the High Priest. However, at base he seemed like a decent, honorable man, and I think that his story could be an interesting one.

The Officer also bought Kendras as a very young man who had grown up on the streets and alone, and was sanctioned to death. However, he gave Kendras a chance to choose his own way, and a way out of the life he had been leading up to that time. He was very much a father figure to Kendras, and that earned him Kendras' trust and loyalty. His aim was never to hurt or force, but only to teach and lead; and the man that Kendras became speaks volumes about his character. Ultimately, Kendras is able to free him from the High Priest who has taken him captive and enables him to take up his role as Lord Protector of Fetin. Kendras becomes the new officer, and is able to meet Adrastes on a more level playing field (at least in terms of mundane position.) Kendras is still suffering a bit from hero-worship, I think, and he may have trouble in the future balancing the needs of Adrastes the lover vs Adrastes the leader vs the needs of the Scorpions, to whom Kendras feels his first loyalties lie. There's a lot of growing on both their parts that needs to happen for them to have a HEA, and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if all they get is the HFN. I can hope for more, but I won't be surprised or disappointed if I don't get it.