#Irene hating Nahuseresh's beard /scent is something I appreciate immensely (even if I think she's too conservative in how she

[child-of-hurin]

Some Queen's Thief bullshit

The fact that only Irene ever remarks on the scent Nahuseresh's beard oil*, and more importantly, calls it cheap, has always been of interest for me, because it feels so out of character for Nahuseresh to save money on this one thing he clearly cares about. The fact that neither Gen nor Kamet ever remark on it either also gets me all in my

thoughts.

Anyway, there are many possible explanations. Kamet repeats so often that Attolia stinks, that one might think the olfactory landscape of each country is just different enough to produce two very different standards. Maybe coastal Attolians like the salty breeze and Kamet, city boy extreme, thinks it smells like fish; maybe Nahuseresh's scented oil is in the same position...& maybe Gen has a cosmopolitan nose, and appreciates it all?

You can go a little more psychological if you want. Nahuseresh's scented oil triggers for Irene the memory of that amphora she broke as a child; she goes on to say that after that she became the Heir, and was given more expensive scented oils to use. Maybe Nahuseresh's scented beard oil is too close to the cheaper scent she associates so strongly with that symbolic, troubling memory...

CHEAP though! My actual favorite theory is a little simpler: his beard oil has a scent that is rare and precious in the court of Ianna-Ir... but rather commonplace in Attolia :o He notes nobody in court is wearing that fragrance and doubles down thinking he's so exclusive and posh....in an AU where Nahuseresh secures power in Attolia, he becomes very rich very fast by exporting it...

*Sophos makes a similar complaint to Eddis about Akretenesh's oil scent, so everything in this post could apply to him as well