The Briar King

"The Briar King" is first novel of four in the series The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, by writer Greg Keyes.

Plot summary

The first book in the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series. It starts with the defeat of a race of demons called Skasloi at the hands of the Born Queen, Virgenya Dare and her magic imbued warriors. The story then jumps to about 2300 years later to the third daughter of the King of Crotheny and the direct descendant of the Born Queen, Anne Dare, where she discovers the grave of Virgenya Dare.

Meanwhile, the King's Holter, Aspar White, encounters strange tracks in the forest and the dire predictions of the enigmatic Sefry that he doesn't want to believe seem to be coming true. Stephen Darige, a nobleman's youngest son, promised to the church, is en route to study at the Monastery D'Ef. He has an uncanny ability with old languages and is extremely knowledgeable about history. His meeting with the Holter in the King's forest after being rescued from bandits by the him, set the stage for a wonderful trio that is completed when Winna, Aspar's lover, joins them on their quest.

In Crotheny dark forces are moving. The king's younger brother Robert is set to usurp the throne and his twin sister Lesbeth is murdered by Robert himself in jealousy over her impending marriage. The king on advice of his brother whom he doesn't suspect of any foul play, sends his wife, Queen Muriele together with his two eldest daughters, Fastia and Elseny, to a fortress in the countryside for their own safety. With them goes Neil McVren, a warrior of true and honest heart who swears service and allegiance to Muriele. His unvoiced love for Fastia though, may yet cause conflicting loyalty for the young knight. Unbeknownst to anyone, even the king, Muriele conspired with her lady-in-waiting, the coven trained assassin Erren, to send the wayward Anne to the same convent to train in the arts of magic, politics and stealth. With Anne goes only her maid and best friend Austra.

Many forces are moving to see the line of Virgenya Dare destroyed, including the Kept, the last of the demon Skasloi Lords who, unbeknownst to any but a few, is in captivity in the dungeons below the castle at Eslen. Forces in the church also move to destroy the king and may have an even darker agenda. When these forces force a confrontation with Stephen concerning a forbidden scripture, the Briar King is accidentally summoned and loosed upon the world.

At the same time, in the same night, assassins are dispatched to kill the queen and her three daughters. Neil McVren, unable to save both queen and love, must watch as Fastia and Elseny are both killed and only with the unlooked for help of Stephen, Aspar and Winna save Queen Muriele from death. The Briar King is awakened though and in awe the survivors watch the towering figure stride towards the forest.

The convent where Anne is studying is attacked the same night but by the sacrifice of the Mother Superior and her Sisters, Anne and Austra escape. They are ultimately saved in the woods outside the convent by Cazio, a remarkable swordsman and his mentor z'Acatto. Before she fled the convent, Anne is told by the Mother Superior that she must live and reach Eslen at all costs and that the fate of the world depends on her being Queen in Eslen.

And back in Eslen, the king is set-up and killed by his own brother Robert. But William manages to give Robert a killing blow just before he dies himself.

Muriele, back in Eslen, consults the Kept from whom she gets the most terrible curse imaginable to cast on the murderer of her husband. She does not know that it was Robert and that he is also dead. The curse however is more powerful even than death and by casting this on Robert, Muriele inadvertently and unintentionally breaks the Law of Death.

The Briar King ends with the awakening of Robert, now a form of undead, which also explains the title of the next volume, The Charnel Prince.