King's Warrior Read-Along: Chapter 6
Good evening, and welcome back to the King’s Warrior Read-Along. Today our little company is learning what a benefit it can be to travel with Brant.
“...Brant did not seem inclined to say anything more.” If there is a line in the book that depicts Brant to a “T,” it’s this one. He spends much of the story annoying all the other characters (and sometimes the reader) by being so close-mouthed. Of course, some of this is because that is who he is... and some of it is because his author still didn’t know exactly what was going on with this character who had taken over her story!
Brant’s explanation. There’s a lot going on here. I may not have known who, exactly, Brant was at this point, but I did know a few things: 1. I wanted Arnaud to be “cool” - and having him and Brant be old friends, and having Brant respect and love Arnaud would help with that, 2. Brant has ties to the Dark Country, and 3. Brant wasn’t going to tell anybody one word more than he wanted to, but it’s not because he’s being ornery, he just knows how much is at stake, and sometimes ignorance is the best protection a person can have.
Did you catch that there’s something going on with Darby here? I wonder what that is all about?
The reunion. Someone in the group has a sense of humor, with the whole hiding their faces bit. Not sure if that was Kamarie or Brant’s idea, but I love that neither Arnaud or Zara has the need to see their daughter’s face to recognize her.
“my old friend.” There is history here, strong and deep.
Brant’s reaction to the word “prophecy” is interesting, don’t you think? Especially since, a moment later, he is taking its words quite seriously, and talking about sending an emissary to the dragons... especially if the dragons don’t exist anymore... or do they?
“They are generally peaceful.” I’m not sure I would find that particularly reassuring. Not when we’re talking about the probably safety of my only child. But it’s so like Brant, I can’t help but chuckle a bit.
“I forget that you know more about the secrets of Aom-igh than most.” Ooh, intrigue! Foreshadowing.... or... um... back-shadowing? One of the two.
“It is closer than you think.” and “Who else from the royal family is there?” If nothing else, you gotta love Brant for his perceptiveness, and for apparently knowing rather a lot about the niceties of dealing with dragons (if you’ll pardon my use of a favorite title).
Leila. In the original version, Leila was introduced as Kamarie's aunt in the first chapter. She was the one who had given Kamarie her rather unique horse, and Kamarie was convinced that Leila possessed “magic” of some kind, though she didn’t really believe in magic. I edited a lot of that out as unnecessary, later, and I think it worked better not to mention her until later in the story - even though she does ultimately have an important role to play, she really didn’t need to be introduced in the first chapter.
Discussion Questions:
- We get a lot of interesting Brant-related info in this chapter. Now that you know him a bit better, what do you think of Brant?
- Did you catch that something a bit odd was going on between Darby and Brant? Any thoughts on that? (If you’ve already read the book, no spoilers!)
- What did you think about Brant’s reaction to the prophecy?
- How about Brant knowing that Oraeyn is carrying King Llian’s sword? Or apparently has knowledge of how to find the dragons? Or that he believes Queen Zara also has this knowledge?
- How’s your Christmas shopping going?
Tomorrow our travelers begin to see some real excitement and adventure! Can’t wait to see you all back here tomorrow evening!