Teak brown from the southern sun, short cropped hair the smoldering red of mahogany, Brier Iron-thorn had come to Tentir by a long, hard road. She was older than most cadets, more experienced, and mistrusted by them for her sudden change of houses at the Cataracts. Before that, no one had believed that such a thing was possible. Not from the Caineron. Not against the will of its lord. But here she was, even more an outsider than Rue. If anyone could show these smug Riverlanders a thing or two, it was Rose Iron-thorn's hard, handsome daughter.
– Rue's narration, To Ride a Rathorn, "Chapter I: An Unfortunate Arrival"
Brier Iron-thorn, daughter of Rose Iron-thorn is a Knorth randon cadet at Tentir. She is the five-command of Jame's ten-command, tall, competent from growing up among the Southern Host.
Jame regards Brier, like Marc almost as part of her conscience — if either disapproves of her actions, she knows she's got it wrong.
Brier is handsome, with dark, teak skin, mahogany-red hair, and cool green eyes.[5] Also, like most Kendar, she is very strong, knocking out one of Jame's teeth during Tentir testing.
Biography
Rose Iron-born's daughter Brier was born in Kothifir. She was born a Caineron yondri, as her family had been for generations.[6] She is a descendant (great-granddaughter) of Marc of Kithorn, who was a Caineron yondri for many years.[7]
Brier grew up among the Southern Host, and fought with the Host against the Waster Horde, witnessing Pereden's fall. She broke her ancestral binding to the Caineron Lord Caldane and accepted a binding to HighlordTorisen after the Battle of the Cataracts, thought it meant leaving her lover Amberley. As a Knorth, Brier went to Tentir, and was made the Five of Jame's ten-command, though she was formerly a ten-commander. After their year after the college, the ten-command was assigned to Kothifir. In Kothifir, Amberley attacked Brier in a game of kouri, and Brier's injury gained her much support among the Knorth.[9]
References
↑Seeker's Mask, "Part IV: Restormir", VIII — "The Knorth was laughing. 'Wise Brier-rose. You and Marc should get along splendidly.' "
↑The Sea of Time, "Chapter XXII: The End of Many Things", III — " 'Sweet, sweet Brier Rose. You always have to be right, don’t you?' "
↑The Gates of Tagmeth, "Chapter II: Departure", V — " 'From what I hear, Iron-thorn filled the role of master-ten, second-in-command to you, both at Tentir and Kothifir. That will now be made official.' "
↑Seeker's Mask, "Part III: The Riverland", IX — "Two years ago, when she had turned seventeen, he had at last given Brier her chance as a randon candidate—if she passed his private initiation."
↑Seeker's Mask, "Part III: The Riverland", IX — "Under the helm of mahogany hair, the Southie's expression hadn't changed: as always, that hard, handsome face might have been carved from teak and those green eyes from the same malachite as the stud in her left earlobe."
↑Seeker's Mask, "Part IV: Restormir", II — " 'I'm sworn to your brother now, lady,' the other said stiffly. 'But my family has been Caineron yondri for generations.' "
↑Bound in Blood, "Chapter VIII: Glass of a Different Color", I — " 'I wonder how my great-granddaughter Brier is doing.' […] 'Wait a minute. Brier Iron-thorn is your kin?' 'Not exactly, since we only trace bloodlines on the mother's side.' "
↑The Sea of Time, "Chapter XIII: Dreams and Nightmares", III — "She was only five or six, as far as he could tell, crowned with a helmet of dark red hair."
↑The Sea of Time, "Chapter XIV: Winter Solstice" — " 'Five told us it was a private matter, but how could we forget what they did to her during the games?' […] Even those cadets who had formerly shunned her had been outraged by Amberley’s attack on Brier Iron-thorn […] In her more cynical moments, she thought that it was the best thing that could have happened to the former Caineron in terms of gaining support with her new house."
