Many thanks to Patricia Bing-Grant for commissioning this episode of The Dark Lord Of Derkholm! This is a really fun book and you can tell how much I like it on account of how I sound like I'm on death's door but I wanted to podcast anyway.
So, it turns out that Barnabas is actually doing everything he can to fuck up works, by order of Querida. She's hoping that if Mr. Chesney's plan goes badly enough, he will decide that continuing these pilgrim tours isn't actually worth it. It's a solid plan, and I get why she's only told a couple of people, but it sucks to see our friends running their butts off to fix problems that cannot be fixed.
Also, it's pretty satisfying to see Scales show up and scare the shit out of all the troops so that they actually follow instructions and get moving. There is, however, a really unfortunate sexual assault included in the story that doesn't serve any purpose at all so far as I can see. Didn't care for that.
Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!