Keeper of the Lost Cities Forgotten Secret #1 Bronte and Kenric

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

I have included all of my past comments on this Forgotten Secret.  I want all of my thoughts in the same post, and it will be easier for me to find what I need if I separate the Forgotten Secrets into separate posts.  I will indicate any additional thoughts by adding comments in brackets.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 The Forgotten Secrets:

Page 197   "You have more experience with everything, Bronte.  You can't always claim seniority.  Plus, you were away working on the mysterious investigation you refuse to tell us about."

I continue to wonder what Bronte's investigation was. 

[It's apparent from this secret that Bronte knows about the plague that affects the gnomes.  Kenric apparently doesn't, at least not at this time.]

Page 197  "Where's the gnome you hailed Elwin about?"  Kenric frowned.  "How did you—"  "Elwin alerted me right after he spoke with you.  I've asked all the physicians to contact me if they ever hear any report of a sick gnome—and thankfully Elwin remembered."

[Yes, Bronte knew.  He then takes Kenric's memory, which is how it ends up in Kenric's cache.  Bronte is keeping the secret of the plague to himself.]

Page 199   "It's been about three hundred seconds," Kenric announced several minutes later.

This is a huge clue about Kenric.  Sophie counts the seconds, and so does Kenric.  This means that Sophie and Kenric share an odd habit.  Sophie shares an odd habit (tugging out her eyelashes) with her mother, so now we know that she shares an odd habit with Kenric, who is likely her father.

[I left an "out" when I wrote this, saying that Kenric is "likely" her father.  For some time, I have been completely 100% convinced that Kenric is Sophie's father.  I don't see how this series can be going in any other direction.  There is just too much for it to mean anything else.]

Page 206   Councillors weren't allowed to date or marry or have families of their own because it could bias their decisions.  But Kenric had asked Oralie to resign with him so they could be together—and Oralie had refused.  Not because she didn't love him.  Because she needed to stay on the Council.  Partially for her own ambitions.  And partially so she'd be in a position to protect Sophie.

[When Kenric was also on the Council, Oralie's only reason to remain Councillor was for Sophie.  She resisted her feelings for Kenric only because of Sophie.  Now that Kenric's gone, Oralie is on the Council for Sophie, but she also a Councillor because she doesn't have anything else.  She cannot resign for love, because there's no one.]

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 More on the Forgotten Secrets:

I mentioned in my previous post how Kenric counts the seconds at one point during this memory.  Counting the seconds is one of Sophie's two odd habits.  She pulls out her eyelashes like her mother, Oralie, and she counts the seconds like her father, Kenric.

Page 196:   "King Dimitar brought it to our attention.  He claimed we've been allowing the humans to expand into this land, even though it's supposed to be a Neutral Territory—and unfortunately he's right."

Kenric points out the cause of the pollution, a nearby human city that cannot be relocated.  He also mentions that Dimitar said that he will consider the Neutral Territories to be up for grabs if the humans are allowed to remain.  Bronte tells Kenric that he has no idea what they might be dealing with, and Bronte refuses to explain.  However, Bronte acts like the ogres are to blame at first.  Later, he says that it isn't what he feared and that the pollution was caused by human chemicals.

Page 205:   "There is a lot to monitor, Kenric.  We can only keep track of so much."  "Then we should ask for more help."  "From whom?"  Kenric dragged a hand down his face, leaving streaks of mud.  "I... have no idea."

Interesting.  Kenric starts to give a response, then he changes his response to "have no idea."  What was he going to say?  I think he was close to making an accidental slip, like perhaps a reference to his Black Swan activities.

Forgotten Secret #1 is the only secret that was placed in Kenric's cache by someone else.  Bronte kept the secret about the ogre plague to himself and washed Kenric's memory of it.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories