# X: A Wooing explained — The Lost Continent

> Chapter companion for The Lost Continent by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne.

## What happens

Deucalion faces public pressure to worship the newly deified Empress Phorenice but refuses, standing alone in the stone circle. Ylga pleads for his life but is rebuked. Phorenice pardons Deucalion and they ride back together, discussing politics and marriage. She reveals her intention to marry him for policy and her own growing desire, but demands a cruel wedding gift: that Deucalion entomb Nais alive under a granite throne. The chapter explores the tension between Phorenice's imperial will and Deucalion's secret loyalty to the old gods and Zaemon's commands.

## Themes in this chapter

### Power and Tyranny

Phorenice's deification and her cruel demand to entomb Nais alive illustrate the tyrannical use of power to eliminate rivals and enforce obedience.

### Love and Sacrifice

Deucalion's coldness in the face of Phorenice's wooing, and Nais's implied sacrifice, highlight the tension between personal affection and political duty.

### Tradition vs. Change

Deucalion's adherence to the old gods contrasts with Phorenice's revolutionary claim to divinity, reflecting the clash between established religious traditions and new imperial cults.

## Character check-ins

### Deucalion

Refuses to worship Phorenice as a goddess, stands alone in the circle, and later negotiates a political marriage while concealing his true allegiance to the Priests' Council.

### Phorenice

Newly declared goddess, she pardons Deucalion's defiance, proposes marriage, and cruelly commands that Nais be entombed alive as a wedding gift.

### Nais

Mentioned as a rebel whom Deucalion praises; Phorenice sentences her to be built into a granite throne as punishment for her loyalty to Deucalion.

### Ylga

Pleads for Deucalion's life but is harshly rebuked and threatened by Phorenice, then dismissed from the circle.

### Zaemon

Referenced as the source of Deucalion's secret commands from the High Council; his curse on Tarca is recalled by Phorenice.

## Key lines

> Kneel, you without beard, and do obeisance to the only Goddess, or by the old Gods I will make myself her priest and butcher you!

A man in the crowd threatens Deucalion, demanding he worship Phorenice or face death.

_Shows the enforced worship and mob pressure surrounding Phorenice's deification._

> I am like a young bird in the nest that has suddenly found its wings. Wings have so many uses that I am curious to try them all.

Phorenice compares her newfound power to a bird testing its wings, eager to explore all possibilities.

_Reveals her ambition and delight in her absolute authority._

> You shall build me up the pretty body of Nais beneath a throne of granite as a wedding gift. And you shall do it too with your own proper hands, my Deucalion, whilst I watch your devotion.

Phorenice commands Deucalion to entomb Nais alive under a stone throne as a cruel wedding present.

_Illustrates Phorenice's ruthless jealousy and tyrannical control over both Deucalion and Nais._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_continent_se/chapters/x-a-wooing
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_continent_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_continent_se/chapters