Red River: Vol. 11

by Chie Shinohara

Synopsis
Yuri, a teen of the twenty-first century, has been transported to ancient Anatolia as part of a scheme by the evil Nakia, Queen of the Hitties. Only the intervention of Nakia's stepson, Prince Kail, saved Yuri from the Queen bloodthirsty intentions. As an unintended consequence, the people of the kingdoms of Anatolia are now convinced that Yuri is the incarnation of the great war-goddess Ishtar.

But even a goddess has no immunity from persecution when she's falsely accused of the murder of the Hittite king. Forced to flee to Alinna, Yuri must deal with treachery, abduction by the Egyptian military commander Ramses, and someone's tragic self-sacrifice. And in the midst of all this turmoil, Yuri's potent feelings for Prince Kail, ever fraught with uncertainty, are shaken to their very foundations!

Review
This was actually a very good, very sad volume. Yuri runs away, in an attempt to escape Nakia's forces surrounding Alinna, and stupidly gets kidnapped by Ramses. This distracts Kail, who now runs after Yuri to rescue her. While all this distraction is going on, Ursula, the false-Ishtar-turned-maid, decides that she believes in the dream of a peaceful empire enough to sacrifice her own life for it. When she confesses, she also implicates Nakia, but I guess we'll see if anything comes of that. When she was executed, even I admit that I felt sad.

But also, Yuri is kidnapped. Again. And almost raped. Again. And she needs to be rescued. By Kail. Again. This is getting a bit predictable and tiresome. The kidnapping thing is stupid enough, but it'd be nice if she could rescue herself for once. I think it was set up this way so that Ursula could turn herself in without Kail or Yuri knowing, and most likely, stopping her. But what a ridiculous way to distract the characters. Couldn't the author have thought of something other than the kidnapping trope?

Also, Nakia sacrificed Urhi to save herself, but this volume ends on that cliffhanger, so we'll have to wait and see what becomes of that. I suspect it's not that easy, though.

Final thought: I'll rip apart some more.