Fire - Kristin Cashore [66]
‘Rose,’ Fire repeated, woodenly.
‘No one knew of them but four in the family: Nash, Clara, Roen, and I. Brigan kept her quiet to keep her safe. He wanted to marry her.’ Garan laughed shortly. ‘He was an impossible romantic rockhead. Luckily he couldn’t, and keep her secret.’
‘And why was that lucky?’
‘The son of a king and a girl who slept with the horses?’
It seemed to Fire it was rarely enough one knew a person one wished to marry. How unjust then to meet that person, and be kept from it because one’s bed was made of hay and not feathers.
‘Anyway,’ Garan continued. ‘Around that time Cansrel convinced Nax to throw Brigan into the army and send him off to the borders, where presumably Cansrel hoped he’d get himself killed. Brigan was angry as a hornet, but he had no choice but to go. Shortly thereafter it became clear to those of us who knew Rose that he’d left part of himself behind.’
‘She was pregnant.’
‘Precisely. Roen arranged for her needs, everything secret of course. And Brigan didn’t get himself killed after all, but Rose died giving birth to the child; and Brigan came home, all of seventeen years old, to learn in one day that Rose was dead, he had a child, and Nax had named him Commander of the King’s Army.’
Fire remembered this part. Cansrel had convinced Nax to promote Brigan far beyond his capability, in the hopes that Brigan would destroy his own reputation with a show of military incompetence. Fire recalled Brocker’s pleasure and his pride when Brigan, through some impossible feat of determination, had turned himself first into a credible leader and then into an uncommon one. He’d mounted the entire King’s Army, not just the cavalry but the infantry and bowmen. He’d raised the standards of their training and raised their pay. He’d increased their ranks, invited women to join, built signal stations in the mountains and all across the kingdom so that distant places could communicate with each other. He’d planned new forts with vast grain farms and enormous stables to care for the army’s greatest asset, the horses that made it mobile and swift. All to the effect of creating new challenges indeed for the smugglers, looters, Pikkian invaders - and for rebel lords like Mydogg and Gentian who were forced now to take pause and reassess their own small armies and dubious ambitions.
Poor Brigan. Fire almost couldn’t fathom it. Poor heartbroken boy.
‘Cansrel was after everything of Brigan’s,’ Garan said, ‘especially as Brigan’s power increased. He poisoned Brigan’s horses, out of spite. He tortured one of Brigan’s squires and killed him. Obviously we who knew the truth of Hanna knew not to breathe a word.’
‘Yes,’ Fire whispered. ‘Of course.’
‘Then Nax died,’ Garan said, ‘and Brigan and Cansrel spent the next two years trying to kill each other. And then Cansrel killed himself. Finally Brigan was able to name the child his heir, and the second heir now to the throne. But he did so only among the family. It’s no official secret - much of the court knows she’s his - but it’s continued to remain quiet. Partly out of habit, and partly to divert attention from her. Not all of Brigan’s enemies died with Cansrel.’
‘But how can she be an heir to the throne,’ Fire asked, ‘if you’re not? Nax was your father, and you’re no more illegitimate than she is. Plus, she’s female, and a child.’
Garan pursed his lips and looked away from her. When he spoke, it wasn’t to answer her question. ‘Roen trusts you,’ he said, ‘and Brocker trusts you, so you needn’t worry your monster heart. If Roen never told you about her grandchild, it’s because she’s in the habit of never telling anyone. And if Brocker never told you, it’s probably because Roen never told him. And Clara trusts you too, because Brigan trusts you. And I’ll admit Brigan’s trust is a strong recommendation, but of course, no man is infallible.’
‘Of course,’ Fire said, dryly.
One of Fire’s guards brought down a raptor monster then. It fell from the sky, golden