63 pages • 2-hour read
The Hurricane Wars
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Symbols & Motifs
Alaric’s Gloves
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of violence and animal cruelty.
Alaric’s gloves, which he wears almost constantly, are a symbol of his guarded emotions. Alaric wears gloves whether he’s dressed in his full regalia or his training gear, but there are several notable moments throughout the text when he removes his gloves. He is not wearing gloves at the feast before Surakwel’s arrival, but he puts the gloves back on prior to his duel with Surakwel. At the feast, he touches Talasyn’s sleeve in a strange display of near affection. Without his gloves, his feelings are more apparent, and his attraction to Talasyn is obvious. With his gloves, he returns to the facade of the brutal leader of the Shadowforged Legion and Night Emperor, hiding his emotions again.
At the royal wedding, Alaric also forgoes his gloves, leaving his hands bare as he holds hands with Talasyn while they exchange vows. The feeling of Talasyn’s skin, while she repeats the vows to love and cherish him forever, affects him emotionally, and he cannot stifle his feelings even as he believes that Talasyn does not mean what she says. He regrets leaving his gloves behind as he thinks, “He should never have eschewed formal gloves. His father had drilled into his head that they were his armor, that they insulated him from the distractions of the physical realm” (426). His gloves are a symbolic shield that protects him from feeling emotions, emotions that Gaheris wants to stifle to keep Alaric loyal to only him and the Night Empire. Alaric’s growing feelings for Talasyn pose a threat to his loyalty to the Night Empire, and Gaheris knows this, hence his continued attempts to keep Alaric paranoid and isolated from others.
Sariman Birds
Sariman birds are a symbol of Nenavarene independence throughout the narrative. The sariman birds first appear after Talasyn and Alaric are apprehended by the Nenavarene troops when they fight at the Belian Light Sever. Both realize they cannot access their magic because of the presence of the sariman cages, powered by the sariman birds. Nenavar remains independent as Talasyn and Alaric remain in Nenavarene custody. However, after Surakwel’s duel with Alaric, Alaric demands the cages be removed so that he can access the Shadowforge, while he also demands freedom of movement for his troops throughout Nenavar.
When the cages are gone, he notices his power return: “Now that the sariman cages had been removed, a stern demand for entrance tugged and scratched at the corners of his magic like clawed fingers, a call that he was powerless to ignore” (305). Alaric uses the word “powerless” to refer to any attempts he could make to avoid the Shadowforge, as he is “powerless” to avoid his father’s attempts at stifling Nenavarene independence. When Alaric returns to the Citadel, he sees that his father has stolen a sariman bird in a bid to permanently remove Talasyn’s powers and take over Nenavar. When Alaric looks at the bird, he notices, “The sariman’s wings scrabbled against the bars of the cage in a futile bid for freedom, its plaintive melody filling the hall as it sang for its lost shores” (470). The bird is kept in an unfamiliar cage, attempting to escape without success. Unlike the sariman cages in which the birds feel comfortable at home in Nenavar, this new cage and the bird’s discomfort are indicative of Gaheris’s attempt to take over the Dominion.
The Belian Light Sever
The Belian Light Sever is a motif that connects to the various themes surrounding the notion of power. Talasyn first seeks the Sever when the Amirante sends her to Nenavar to train after Alaric discovers her Lightweave abilities. Talasyn reaches the Sever, but Alaric attacks her, and the two are arrested by Nenavarene forces before she’s able to commune with the Sever to train her abilities. Once Talasyn moves to Nenavar permanently as the Lachis’ka, she continues to ask to return to the Sever. In response, Urduja says, “I understand that you wish to know more about these abilities of yours, which is why you have incessantly lobbied to be granted access to the Belian Sever. However, such access was not part of the terms” (153). Talasyn lacks real power as the Lachis’ka because her power stems from her relationship to Urduja. Urduja does not care about Talasyn’s ability to use the Lightweave, and therefore she keeps Talasyn away from the Sever.
However, when Talasyn enters into her engagement to Alaric, she gains power from her association with the Night Empire. After his duel with Surakwel, Alaric makes a series of demands, including that Talasyn be allowed to return to the Sever to train. He calls it “her” Sever, which is meaningful to Talasyn, as she thinks, “He had called it her nexus point. Not Urduja’s, not the Dominion’s” (293). The Sever belongs to Talasyn, and her connection to it fuels her Lightweave power. Alaric fosters Talasyn’s connection to the Sever and Lightweave abilities, as his relationship with Talasyn grants her more political power, illustrating the connection between the Sever and the idea of power.
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