Brisingr Spork Chapter 24: Whispers In The Night
Whispers in the Night spork
Last chapter Roran and Katrina got married. This chapter opens up with Roran waking up alone in bed.
Roran spots Katrina watching the stars by the entrance to the tent and goes to join her. They have a quiet moment together, then Katrina mentions that the constellations are shaped differently where they are.
Constellations don't really change shape, but stars will disappear and new stars will show up depending on how far north or south you go, so I'm going to assume that's what she's talking about. I'm going to ignore the question of whether they've actually gone far enough south for them to not recognize any of the stars. What kind of constellations do they even have?
Starlight gleamed in her eyes as she twisted in his arms and gazed at him.
That sounds nice. I don't think stars are actually bright enough for this to work though.
Katrina's been thinking about their future together, and asks Roran how he plans to care for her and their child.
“Is that what worries you?” He smiled. “You won’t starve; we have gold enough to assure that. Besides, the Varden will always see to it that Eragon’s cousins have food and shelter. Even if something were to happen to me, they would continue to provide for you and the baby.”
That's not really a long term plan; Katrina kinda points this out, so he answers again, saying that he'll fight to defeat the empire so they can live peacefully in Carvahall again. She then points out that an army camp isn't the best place to raise a baby.
“We cannot run away and hide from the Empire, Katrina. Unless the Varden win, Galbatorix will find and kill us, or he will find and kill our children, or our children’s children. And I do not think the Varden will achieve victory unless everyone does their utmost to help them.”
Yeah, because Galbatorix has been doing his absolute best to destroy the dwarves and elves and Surda these past hundred years...
He's also missing Katrina's point, so she spells it out for him, saying she'll leave the army after she gives birth. Roran isn't happy about this, so Katrina reasons with him.
“It’s not safe here. If it were only the two of us, I could accept the danger, but not when it is our baby who might die. I love you, Roran, I love you so much, but our child has to come before anything we want for ourselves. Otherwise, we do not deserve to be called parents.”
That's a pretty responsible outlook actually. They have another moment together before Roran agrees. He tells her she should leave now so its easier for her to travel. Good advice, but she wants a midwife she can trust, and the magic users in the camp will help her if she has problems, which is fair enough.
“As soon as our child is born, you will go to Aberon, not Dauth; it is less likely to be attacked. And if Aberon becomes too dangerous, then you will go to the Beor Mountains and live with the dwarves. And if Galbatorix strikes at the dwarves, then you will go to the elves in Du Weldenvarden.”
Might as well go straight to the elves then.
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
“What?”
“I’ll just have to ensure we kill every last one of Galbatorix’s soldiers, capture all the cities in the Empire, defeat Murtagh and Thorn, and behead Galbatorix and his turncoat dragon before your time comes. That way, there will be no need for you to go away.”
This is what actually happens, which I feel ruins this whole chapter. At the very least, it downgrades this chapter to nothing but filler. If you ignore that though, then this chapter didn't feel absolutely terrible. Maybe because it's too short for Paolini to have enough room to ruin things.
Next up we have Orders by Predak. Then we have Footprints of Shadow, by myself.