King's Warrior Read-Along: Chapter 18
I have never been happier to see a Friday in my entire life. It’s been a rough week for us, friends - what with ER trips, doctor visits, and sleepless nights. I hope your week is going better than mine. I’m glad that if we HAVE to be sick, we’re all sick this week though, hopefully we’ll get a break for the actual holidays!
Nathalie is doing better. We have meds here for her if she gets bad again, but today has been better. She slept well through the night last night, so that's good. Leiana and I both have nasty sore throats today, though. Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes, I am hopeful that we are over the worst of it and on the road to recovery. Despite the scary ER trip and being sick, we have a lot to be thankful for around here: thankful for doctors and medicine and being close to an ER, thankful for friends and family nearby who have blessed us with help and encouraging comments, thankful that Brantland is continuing to be healthy and is an extremely cheerful baby, thankful that Derek is also continuing to be healthy, thankful that it's just a sore throat/croup and nothing worse.
Only three chapters and an epilogue left to go! The month has really flown by, I can’t believe our read-along is almost over.
Preparing for battle. Arnaud seems to know what he’s doing, though he’s playing it a bit close to the vest. Good thing for him, his people trust him.
Fortress Hill. I’ve gotten some negative comments about this aspect of the story. But I love Fortress Hill. Probably because it’s based on a real place that I love dearly, even though I’ve only been there once.
Anyway, Fortress Hill is based on a place called “Arthur’s Seat” in Edinburgh. When I was there, I climbed up it with some friends. I didn’t make Fortress Hill as tall as Arthur’s Seat, but that’s where I got the idea. Legend has it that Arthur’s Seat is where Arthur was crowned king. Hence the legends surrounding Fortress Hill about King Artair.
After climbing Arthur’s Seat I wrote an essay about it - thought I’d share a bit of it here:
The climb had not been easy, and it had taken the better part of two hours to reach the top, but it had been more than worth it.
“Look!” the girl said, smiling, “We have climbed the mountain to seek out the sky!”
On this quest of utmost importance they had all begun to wax a bit poetic. At long last, as the sky began to darken, they climbed up the final treacherous bit of rocky path and stood staring down at Edinburgh like heroes at the top of the world. As she looked around, the girl recreated the scene in her imagination, as it must have looked so many years ago. She could see the horses prancing at the base of the top of the mountain; they were decked out in their very finest. All the lords and ladies were assembled down in the shallow valley watching as Merlin raised the golden circlet high into the air. Arthur, the boy king, knelt before him. She imagined how he must have felt: nervous and afraid, proud and humble, excited and apprehensive. She imagined the words that might have been said, how Merlin would have reminded the people that this was the man who had managed to pull the sword from the stone in that mystical place called Stonehenge. She did not know if that would have been the name it bore in those days, but she liked to believe that the great sword of Arthur had once been imprisoned in a rock in the middle of a young and whole Stonehenge, back before time had worn away at the structure. Then Merlin lowered the crown onto Arthur’s head and declared him the king of Britain and the gentry cheered as the young man stood up and faced them.
“Yes,” the girl murmured, “That is how it must have been.”
With a shake of her head, the horses and nobles and even the young king disappeared. Merlin, however, remained a moment longer. His wise old eyes held a twinkle in them, and his lips seemed to smile slightly. He nodded to himself, as though he was glad to find someone left in the world who still bore the legend in her heart. Then he too disappeared into the darkness of the late afternoon grayness, and the three explorers began the long journey home.
The battle begins. Not much to say about this other than, perhaps, “FINALLY!” haha
“Something twinkled deep in Brant’s dark eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitched in something very like a smile. Then he winked...” For those of you speculating that Brant is often silently laughing at his own little inside jokes... well, you have no better proof than this line right here. Kiernan needed to be shocked into silence (and Kiernan needed to know that Brant was capable of such stern leadership - but that’s all I’ll say about that) and Brant complied brilliantly with both necessities.
Q&A
Abbey wants to know: Do you have any backstory about Scelwhyn’s parenting skills or how the four sisters were raised?
Hmmm, that would be fun. I don't have a whole lot of back story on the wizardesses written out - I have some ideas in my head, and thoughts about Scelwhyn and his wife and how they met... but nothing written down. The only glimpses we get of it are in Second Son, and all four sisters are pretty much "full grown" at that point (except Zara).
Discussion Questions: (nothing too in depth today, as it is the beginning of the weekend...)
- Any favorite moments or lines in this chapter?
Have a lovely weekend, dear Reader!