Quote:
I've actually stopped reading The Family up until that moment.  |
But Cesar taking Lu's virginity was one of the best parts, Arinna. It established the entire course of the story
The first time I read it, Rodrigo's involvement in Cesar's deflowering of Lu creeped me out. Not because it was his idea for Ces to do it, but because he participated in it by guiding Ces' hands over her naked body giving her pleasure and then watching them. But after reading it through again and thinking about it, it didn't feel like Rodrigo was being voyeuristic. Lu asked him to be there and even though Ces, at 17, had already been with many women, he didn't know anything about pleasing a woman. When they'd both undressed, Ces jumped on Lu and scared her, so Rodrigo stepped in to teach Ces how to please a woman and treat her with tenderness.
If Rodrigo hadn't taught Ces how to truly MAKE LOVE to her, I doubt Lu would've fallen in love with him - or vice versa - because the experience wouldn't have had triggered those feelings for them. It would've just been sex and Lu would've been scared and probably resented the whole experience.
I think it's really really easy for some people (not us shippers
) to just focus on the sex or the incest, but to do that misses the point and the depth of what was happening. Rodrigo intended for Lu to bond so strongly to Ces that he'd always have her primary loyalty. He knew that the man who took a woman's virginity assumed a powerful position in her life.
But what Rodrigo didn't think about was how taking Lu's virginity would affect Ces! He'd only thought about it affecting Lu. After they'd made love (to the point of exhaustion
), Lu thanked Ces and told him she loved him more than anything. Ces didn't say anything, but the way he looked at her startled Rodrigo, because it was the look of a man utterly and completely lost in love with a woman
Two of my favorite lines from The Family summed it up perfectly: Love EMPOWERS a woman, but IMPERILS a man. Lucrezia loved with a heart full enough to tame the wildest beast, so without knowing it, she became the WHIP.