This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set. Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published. You've been warned.
I included a lot of quotes from Forgotten Secret #4 in my original post on the Forgotten Secrets.
Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 The Forgotten Secrets
The quotes are way too much for this post, so go to the above link to see them. In summary, Kenric says that he dreams of walking away from the Council, like he might resign someday. He tells Oralie that he loves her and acts like he might kiss her. When she declines, he then reveals that he knows about her involvement in Project Moonlark.
From my post, Keeper of the Lost Cities: Oralie and Sophie:
Book 8.5, Page 530 He leaned toward her, and her lips parted, like she might let him kiss her. But at the last second she turned her face away. "I can't do this." He turned her chin back toward him. "Can't? Or won't?" "Both."
Kenric is making sure of how strong Oralie's resolve is. He professes his love, suggests that they be together, and acts like he might kiss her. Oralie rejects him. I believe this is partly why Kenric is able to fake his death without being shattered by guilt over what he did to Oralie. He can justify his action because she was never going to marry him.
While I do think that what I wrote is still part of it, I've realized something else. Kenric said exactly why he professed his love and acted like he was going to kiss Oralie. Somehow, I didn't consider that he comes out and says why.
Book 8.5, Page 533 "It's okay," he added, wiping away her fresh tears. "I knew this was how this conversation was going to go. Why do you think I've never said anything before? I just... had to say it—at least once. Just to see what would happen. And now seemed like a perfect time, since you won't remember it anyway."
Kenric is very close to Oralie when he says that the reason he professed his love is that he "just... had to say it—at least once. Just to see what would happen." This means that he was telling the truth; he doesn't step away from her like he does when he's lying. He didn't profess his love to plant clues; he just wanted to see what she would do. He wasn't bullying her, either. He loves her, and he was curious as to what she would do if he were to say it.
Kenric isn't perfect, which is why he's a compelling, fascinating character. He wanted to know if Oralie would still resist his advances, and he wanted to do it when he knew that the memory was going to be erased anyway. That's all it was. And yes, coincidentally, it might have helped him avoid feeling guilty about faking his death and hurting her.
From my first Forgotten Secrets post:
The information from this portion of the Forgotten Secret establishes that Kenric knew about Project Moonlark and also knew that Oralie was Sophie's biological mother. Furthermore, Kenric didn't want to be a Councillor anymore. This means that he most likely did fake his death in Book 3.
When I read the series for the third time, I wrote another post about the Forgotten Secrets. Here is what I wrote.
Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 More on the Forgotten Secrets
In the second post, I wrote:
This portion of Forgotten Secret #4 turned quite a few readers against Kenric. Some of the content is Kenric teasing Oralie. The other part is Kenric telling Oralie that he knows about Project Moonlark. Actually, Kenric questions Oralie in a needling way that doesn't come across as very nice. Some readers see it as abusive. I don't view it that way, because I know that something else is going on here.
Besides...
Book 8.5, Page 533: Oralie closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. "You can't hide your feelings, Kenric. They're there—every time I'm around you."
From the above passage, we must assume that Kenric truly loves Oralie. She'd know if he were insincere. I believe that Kenric tells Oralie that he knows about her involvement just to get the information in the cache. He needles her to get her to admit to her secrets. He already knew that he was going to erase the memory because of the previous part with Fintan. He decided to make more use of it by getting some Project Moonlark clues placed in Oralie's cache. That's why he says what he does to Oralie. He's not bullying her. He's planting clues.
Book 8.5, Page 526: "You breached his mind? Why?" Kenric backed away, resuming his pacing. "The same reason I always breach someone's mind—but I didn't find the information that I was looking for, in case you're wondering."
Kenric backs away from Oralie. He's probably lying and backs away so that Oralie can't detect the lie. Something important happened between Kenric and Fintan during that mind breach.
In the second post, I wrote this about Kenric possibly faking his death.
I've already mentioned that this passage indicates that Kenric did fake his death. The part that jumps out at me now is where Oralie asks, "You mean resigning?" Kenric then hesitates before answering. He also doesn't specify whether he means resigning. I don't think he was considering resigning. He was planning to fake his death all along. Even so, what Kenric does tell Oralie is true. He simply says that he'd have "zero problem letting someone else take over."
It may also be significant that Kenric steps closer during the conversation. This might be so that Oralie can read his emotions and know that what he says is true.
Book 8.5, Page 531: "That time when you were ill... I stayed by your side the whole night, just to be safe... You'd toss and turn and whisper something over and over. Something that sounded... a lot like suldreen."
In my second post, I also commented about Kenric telling Oralie that he heard her say "suldreen."
Ah, yes. Kenric knows all about Project Moonlark. I think back to Book 1. When Sophie mentions how her human father called her "soybean," she wonders if there's an elven word that sounds like it. Kenric says, "I can't think of what that would be." Classic evasive Kenric/Forkle.
Now, let's get to my thoughts as I read through Book 8.5 for the fourth time.
On page 531, Kenric steps back right before he tells Oralie how he knows that she was involved in Project Moonlark. He claims that he heard Oralie say suldreen. Kenric steps back so that Oralie can't detect the lie. Kenric knows that Oralie was involved because he's part of the Black Swan. He didn't hear her say anything. He just had to give Oralie a believable reason, but he had to step away from her first so that she couldn't detect the lie.
When Kenric acts like he might kiss Oralie, I realized that Oralie resists for one reason only: She's protecting Sophie. She must remain a Councillor in order to protect Sophie. That's it.
In a nutshell, Oralie is torn between the two people she cares about the most: Kenric and Sophie. She wants to be with Kenric, but she must protect her daughter.
Oralie mentions that Kenric was "gray as a ghoul" when he mentions Elysian, which was a slip. She says that Fintan was telling the truth when he said he didn't know what stellarlune is. However, Fintan did know about Elysian; I'm sure Kenric learned about it when he entered Fintan's mind.
I no longer think that Kenric was planting clues in his cache. Kenric's cache contains memories that were inconvenient for anyone else to know. He's the one who washed them and placed them in his cache.
Also, and this part makes my head hurt because of the ramifications—I think the memories in Kenric's cache are mainly other people's memories of events where Kenric was present. I don't think they are Kenric's memories necessarily, even though he was present. Kenric had to erase this stuff from other people's minds, and he used his cache. If we had Kenric's actual memories, we'd know a lot more about what he was really doing. Shannon doesn't want us to know everything about Kenric just yet.
In this memory, Oralie tries to get Kenric to tell her about whatever the deal was with Fintan, which we know has something to do with Elysian and stellarlune. Oralie comments that she can sense his "fear and frustration" as well as disgust. The truth about Elysian and stellarlune is something that scares Kenric and causes him distress.
All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:
Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories
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