Leaving behind his guard to keep watch over the monster woman, Brigan followed his mentor away from her house, mindful to match his pace to that of the turning wheels on Brocker's chair. Whatever the older man intended to tell him, he was choosing to withhold it for the moment.

Brigan glanced sideways at the man he had come to see as his mentor, who had helped him strengthen the guards in his mind until they were virtually impenetrable, and wondered whether he was as taken in by the monster as his son clearly was. Even Roen couldn't seem to escape her hold, and Nash. Well, Brigan preferred not to think about his brother for the moment as the king was one of the reasons that he considered bringing the woman to King's City against his better judgment.

Or perhaps Brocker would warn him of that; perhaps he knew the monster's plans and would help him avoid following through on his orders.

It was not until they were in the former commander's study that Brocker spoke. "Close the door." Brigan did as he was told and then turned back to Brocker whose face was suddenly hard, his eyes unyielding. The light through the window lit the gray in his hair and added to the severity of his expression.

"Your mother told me Fire saved your life. She risked her life and that of her beloved horse to save many of your men. And this is how you show her your thanks? With barely concealed hatred?"

Shame burned the back of Brigan's neck at the reminder but he refused to lower his gaze. "It was quite an act but I refuse to forget that her father nearly destroyed this kingdom. Even yet, it remains on the brink of collapse. It seems everyone else could do with a bit more skepticism when it comes to his daughter or has her beauty ensnared you too?"

Anger flashed across Brocker's face and his knuckles went white as he clutched the arms of his chair. For a moment, Brigan thought he would launch himself from it.

"Your judgment is clouded," his voice rose barely above a whisper.

"Nash is out of his mind over her. If he gets his way, then I've been tasked with delivering this kingdom right into her hands. And what happens to me when she realizes that I stand in her way to the throne, just as I did Cansrel's?"

Brocker looked away. "That won't happen. She's already chosen you."

Brigan frowned, not following his mentor. The only thing he had sensed from her was indignation and at times fear. Now that he thought of it, not once had she turned her full power on him or even probed at the barriers of his mind, which would have allowed him to have some sense of her intent. If his mind had turned to her on several occasions over the last month, it was not because of any feeling that she had planted. "Chosen me for what?" he demanded, though his confidence in his stance was wavering.

It occurred to him that Brocker need not have brought him all the way back to his house and his study to remind him that Fire had saved his life a few weeks ago. It was no secret. In fact, the story was practically legend, and all of his men and women and Archer had been there to witness it. Something else was on the man's mind.

"Distrust is not necessarily a bad thing in the Commander of the King's Army but hatred is dangerous and blinding." The formal commander's voice had lost some of its hardness, and he sighed. "Still, you could not have known what she did."

An odd, unsettled feeling began in Brigan's stomach as Brocker paused. What had she done that had so completely won Brocker's trust? A secret that he could not risk being overheard?

Brocker's hands fell to his knees, which he rubbed as if they pained him. His gray eyes were tired and sad when he turned them back on his protege. "None but Fire, Archer, and I know this and I tell you now because King's City is dangerous and she will need someone who she can trust and who can trust her. I must have your word that you will protect her. And you must swear not to reveal that you know this of her."

For a moment, Brigan struggled with himself and then trust won out. His mentor had never led him astray and his council had always been sound, even if not immediately clear when it was given.

"I swear on my honor that I will do all that is necessary to ensure her safety without revealing what you will tell me."

The older man nodded. "For all of your resentment, you of all people should know that a child need not follow in the footsteps of her father. You have this proof three times over since not a single one of your siblings has turned out to be Nax." Seeing the look on Brigan's face, he added, "Not even Nash."

"Fire killed Cansrel. She deceived him into believing his starving leopard was harmless and then watched as it ate him. Then she killed it and his entire menagerie. She knew what was at stake, and she used her father's unconditional love for her to murder him before he could kill you. Do you know what that did to her? For nearly her entire life she used her powers only to learn how to be in control of them, to protect others from herself. And then when she did use them, she committed an act so unnatural that it seemed to confirm the very nature she had struggled so long to deny."

Brigan's hand fell unconsciously to the hilt of his sword, as if to steady himself.

"I perhaps wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but Cansrel loved Fire without reservation. Her greatest joy was his. Still, she was not blind to his nature."

How many times had he himself thought of killing his own father? Of stopping the rampage of destruction before it destroyed his mother and his siblings? And if Brocker's account was true, she had done it to save him. A man she had never met. A man who had been aggressive, unyielding and hateful of her at their first meeting.

The weight of shame and regret lowered his head. "Thank you. For trusting me with this secret."

Brocker waved his hand impatiently. "You will keep her safe? I know Archer is exceedingly jealous, but I don't doubt there is a strain of truth in his story about Nash's infatuation with her."

"His jealousy does not deceive him."

Brocker shook his head. "Brigan, she is powerful, but she is frightened. That is a volatile combination."

"I know. I should get back. She will be done packing."

He saluted his mentor in parting and hurried back to his soldiers and the probably now waiting Fire.

Indeed, they were all waiting outside. All but her lover, Archer.

Fire clutched her saddle bags tighter to her chest as he approached her house. She was dressed sensibly for riding and even though her hair was bound up, she could not conceal her brilliant green eyes. Unbidden, a memory of them flashing at him in anger for hurting her crossed his mind.

His tumbling thoughts made his instructions on their next move more terse than he meant them to be.

With a salute his soldiers fell in around him, and among them, Fire.

He wondered if she ever planned to tell him that he owed her his life. Twice over. And his oath to Brocker now meant he could never thank her.

Another regret. His stomach was growing heavy with them.