#Once again I have questions about the choices made by John Gaius

[katakaluptastrophy]

An aspect of the queer coding of Abigail and Magnus' relationship that I've not really seen people discuss is how Harrow's response to them manifests as a sort of internalised homophobia (for lack of a better word).

The idea that there's an explicit taboo against romantic or sexual relationships between necromancers and cavaliers is introduced in A Sermon on Necromancers and Cavaliers at the end of GTN (a text that for the most part reskins Ephesians 5 to be about necromantic aptitude instead of patriarchy...).

It says in no uncertain terms that "the love of the cavalier for the necromancer, and the necromancer for the cavalier, is not the love of a spouse. It cannot be libidinous", that "after a myriad of thought about the matter, marrying your cavalier remains taboo at best", and that "there have been those who have argued eloquently that [necro/cav marriages are] traitorous to the ideals of the Necrolord Prime."

It then specifically addresses Fifth House practice, saying "There is still a precedent in the Fifth for spouses to become a cavalier at particular times, but this is regarded as a stubborn holdover that is characteristically Fifth to not remove from their practise." (Fifth House necro/cav marriages seem to use the same logic as married Orthodox clergy - the marriage can precede the ordination/cavalier vows, but the other way around would be unacceptable.)

In HTN, the taboo against necro/cav relationships is mentioned twice. When Harrow is interviewing Augustine, he describes his cavalier as having been "my other half" and Harrow has a visceral reaction:

You were momentarily revolted by the apparent Fifth House tradition. “You and your cavalier were—wedded?”

This, of course, is the same Harrow who, prior to a spot of DIY lobotomy, exchanged what seemed very like wedding vows with her cavalier (who is now narrating that feeling of revulsion from inside her head).

When Harrow awakes in her River bubble, she immediately repeats part of those maybe-vows and says "Griddle". Shortly thereafter, while helping the gang prepare to banish the Sleeper, we find her very pointedly observing Abigail and Magnus:

"She watched Abigail and Magnus cross on tiptoe, nimbly dodging any line that their shoes might scuff, and in passing turn and kiss each other gravely. She was not embarrassed to see this intimacy; in fact, she found that it was vaguely interesting to see a marriage play out in front of her. There were many strictures against a necromancer marrying their own cavalier, and whatever road Abigail and Magnus had chosen to walk had been a difficult one: she knew that the marriage had preceded the cavaliership, which perhaps had made it less grotesque for both. They kissed as chastely and briefly as children; Magnus touched her cheek and said quietly, “Godspeed, my darling,” and she said, “You too.” That was all. No more, and no less."

We've not been party to any internal monologue Harrow may have had observing the Fifth before, but here she's clearly working through a number of complicated feelings: her interest in a relationship like this, an acknowledgement of the difficulty these kinds of relationships face in light of social and religious taboos against them, and then an odd swing back round to the language of revulsion, as if she's reigning herself back in before she can let herself think about it too much.

Part of the taboo that is causing Harrow to have such visceral reactions is the idea that a necro/cav marriage somehow sullies the spiritual beauty and purity of cavaliership with its unacceptable introduction of the erotic. There's something terribly poignant about Harrow having this reaction even watching Abigail and Magnus' chaste kiss, and what a deeply internalised sense of shame she must have about her own feelings.

But it also makes me wonder how often Abigail and Magnus had to police their behaviour. Because even if their relationship is tolerated, it will always be interpreted less charitably. There's just something very sad about imagining high protocol situations with Magnus silently walking half a step behind Abigail, both very aware of the need to make sure that they embody one relationship and not the other.

It all happens rather in passing in the middle of the plot picking up, but it's a poignant little moment of Harrow grappling with the implications of her and Gideon, what their relationship has been and has become, and what it perhaps will be.