Drusus Firesong

Drusus is the oldest son of Bhimar and Tanith Firesong, older than Draco by nearly twenty minutes and born in the second year of the reign of King Ruslar. He grew up with a calm temperament and was always more disciplined than his younger twin.

When Drusus was sixteen, he developed an eye for Nisha, the daughter of Rhosyn, a captured servant. She and her mother had been brought to camp by Bhimar when Drusus and Draco were a year of age, and they had played together as children. Under Bhimar’s advice, Drusus continued to be kind to Nisha, courting her, and a year later, the two were wed.

It was only after the wedding that Drusus turned cruel. Ever seeking his father’s favor, he beat Nisha to bring her in line and to make her a wife more like Draco’s obedient mother. She quickly became subdued, and they lived like this for several years.

When Drusus was thirty, his wife was allowed to be unbound and sent on a mission. Nisha returned with a five-year-old girl named Nia, who Nisha swore to make obedient. Drusus didn’t like Nia, however. Nia never became subservient, and Drusus and Draco both found themselves tormented by the child who managed to force her way into archery lessons and win herself a horse. Drusus realized the girl was going to be trouble when his father gave Nia a nickname, She Who Rides and Shoots Like a Man, and betrothed her to Drusus and Draco’s younger brother, Eskander.

Drusus was forty-one when the trouble he foresaw came to be. It was the day Eskander and Nia wed, and when Drusus awoke the next morning, Nisha was gone. So were Nia, Eskander, and even Tanith.

While Draco raged, Drusus worked with his father. It was only a few months later that word came that Nisha was to marry a Ranger from Linwood named Aeron Windrunner. What excited Bhimar, however, was when word came that a sorceress named Agrona and a Ranger and Shadow Walker named Arya were both to be present at the wedding. With a talisman and spells from his father, Drusus went to the wedding and captured both of them, returning them to his father’s camp.

Late that winter, long after Arya and Agrona had been rescued, Bhimar told Drusus to take a new wife. Eskander had long ago shown himself to be loyal to Nia and to her cause. Draco was dead. The only hope of an heir was for Drusus to take another wife, a younger wife. Drusus led a raid two weeks later, on the first day of spring, across the border to Rose Hollow.

There, Drusus made contact with his grandmother’s cousin and learned that she had married the cousin of Artunis, one of Ruslar’s generals. He also learned that they were loyal to Tesni. As he sat in the corner of their tavern, however, he saw Rangers and Shield Maidens come in, two of them trainees. He thought, at first, to take the Ranger protégé, but during the raid, he changed his mind at the last minute and took the Shield Maiden trainee, named Sigrid, forcing her into marriage that night. He also slipped her a potion to ensure that she would get pregnant.

After a week, Drusus thought that he had tamed Sigrid, but she disappeared. While preparing to go on another raid, either to take her back or to take another woman, Drusus made use of a servant girl. He was surprised, then, to wake up to find Sigrid had returned and was throwing the servant out of the tent and threatening her with bodily harm should she ever sleep with Drusus again. He was even more surprised when she whirled around on him, laid down new rules, and proceeded to give him a black eye. She also announced that she was definitely pregnant, and that she would stay with him because her goddess, Fayera, wished it.

A month later, Drusus went with Sigrid, at Bhimar’s orders, to Halmar. Along the way, he realized that he had fallen deeply in love with her, and she with him. The two agreed to a new plan of action, and Drusus finally realized that he did not support his father in his heart.

After they returned from Halmar, Bhimar sent Drusus and Sigrid to Fannar. This time, however, Drusus chose to take a route other than the one his father gave them, instead going through Linwood so that Sigrid could see her aunt.

In Fannar, they stayed a week longer than planned to be there for the marriage of Sigrid’s older sister, Astrid, and Drusus managed to gain favor with Sigrid’s father and grandparents. They returned, then, to Linwood, to the Ranger camp, where Sigrid’s aunt, Vígdís, was staying, along with other Shield Maidens. They brought the rest of the Shield Maidens of Fannar with them and learned that Bhimar had taken over Seos in their absence. They also gained confirmation that Bhimar intended to have them killed.

They made the decision to stay in Linwood, but Drusus took one more trip back to Seos. This time, he went through the shadows, guided by his young sister-in-law, Nia. There, they encountered Bhimar’s top assassin, Ratan. Though Nia killed Ratan, Ratan managed to strike both of them. With Drusus unable to walk, he waited while Nia left to get help. She did not return, however. Instead, her uncle, Finn, came through the shadows, guiding Nia’s horse so that Drusus could ride the horse as Finn guided both through the shadows.

Drusus and Sigrid chose to make their home in Linwood from then on, and Drusus bonded with Eskander once again. Yet another surprise was waiting for them. A week after Finn had brought him home, Drusus learned that his grandmother, long thought dead, was actually alive, and he and Eskander met with Ruya, embracing her with open arms.

When Bhimar invaded, Drusus and Sigrid went with the others to Yewsel, and it was there that their daughter, Shula Isolde, was born. Drusus marvelled at his new daughter and knew that he would never let anything happen to her. He did not like the idea of both him and Sigrid being in battle, but he also knew that they would need every available fighter.

The same day that Shula was born, Aeron asked to see him, as well as Ruslar's daughter Nasrin, the guard Adir, and Tesni's son Eogan. Aeron had twin daughters of his own, but he did not want to arrange their marriages yet. Still, he needed to secure the line of Seos with an established line of succession, and knowing this, Drusus informed Aeron that the reason Bhimar had long sought the throne was that Bhimar's father had been the older brother of one of Ruslar's ancestors, but had been put aside because he had been born to a concubine, while Ruslar's ancestor had been born to the queen.

After thinking things over, Aeron betrothed Nasrin to Adir. Further, he named Eogan as his heir, and should both Aeron and Eogan fall in battle, Drusus would become king of Seos, with Nasrin out of the line of succession because she had joined the Saryameta'a.

While they were in Yewsel, the Shifari Sarnai arrived, having escaped Bhimar's clutches along with a poet named Kavi. She revealed to Drusus and Eskander that she carried their sibling. Drusus and Eskander both gave their blessing on Sarnai's marriage to Kavi, though, for it the poet that she was in love with. All they asked was for the chance to know their younger sibling.

During the Battle of Hearts, Aeron was killed, and Eogan was made king, with Drusus as his advisor. Despite this position, though, Drusus regularly took his wife and daughter to Fannar each summer due to Sigrid's battles with heat sickness. By the time Drusus saw his king married, their family also included a son, whom they named Draco after Drusus's late twin.