Son Ward

Summarize the introduction to this story.

Page 1 — Shain is the king’s Master Falconer; he was called in to the king, and the king chose him to be the heir to the throne after he dies; Shain accepted, but wasn’t happy about it; he wants to rebel against the idea; the king’s nephew was there and could possibly cause problems

1

Summarize Shain’s background?

Page 16 — His great-grandfather betrayed the king and let assassins in the castle to kill the king; the king was well guarded, and didn’t die; Consequently, Shain’s great-grandfather had to clip his favorite falcon’s feathers so he couldn’t fly again and he was banished from the castle

16

Why is Holim such a threat to Shain?

Page 20 — He is the king’s nephew and wants to be king; he killed his brother so he could easily kill Shain; there’s also speculation he hurt his uncle the king

20

Describe Shain’s attitude about being king. Why?

Page 26 — Grumpy; negative; he’d rather be out with his birds; he feels out of place in the castle

26

What characteristics does Shain have that the king has chosen him for?

Page 40 — Loyalty; love for what he is dedicated to; strong and can withstand Holim

40

How do those qualities make him a good king?

Once Shain has accepted his role as the king, he will give all that he has to serve and be a good ruler; has confidence not to let Holim manipulate him and is strong so fight off Holim

Describe Trygve and why it is strange the king would tell Shain to trust him?

Page 47 — He is the castle cook and we found out he is the king’s counselor; he is also Tok’s brother; he’s an old man full of wisdom and authority

47

Do you think Shain should trust Brindel? Why, or why not?

Page 62 — Listen to your child’s answer

62

What attitude did Shain begin to have in this chapter?

Page 68 — He started to embrace his new life and realized he needed to get the guards’ respect and approval

68

What is holding Shain back from embracing the kingship?

Page 76 — He’s worried he will fail; he is short-sighted and can only see one path to earning back the respect for his family

76

What will the scuffle between the guard and Holim’s mercenaries hopefully do?

Page 85 — Discourage the mercenaries and Holim from trying to take the kingdom

85

How could the scuffle possibly backfire and work against Shain?

Page 94 — One of the guards was injured badly. If he dies, the guard will blame it on Shain

94

Why does it show good character of Shain to work with Karth and seek out Trygve’s counsel in this chapter?

Page 95 — He is showing humility which is exemplary of a good leader

95

Now that we know Holim a little better, describe him.

Page 100 — He’s the nephew to the king; he wants the throne; uses his charisma to manipulate others to get what he wants; he’s selfish, devious, a liar, seeks power instead of seeking to do good

100

Summarize Trygve and Tok’s history;

Page 112 — they are foster brothers; Trygve’s father was the king’s cook and when his father died, Trygve became the cook but he was young so the king had a noble family take care of him; this family was Tok’s; Tok’s father led an important battle against robbers and won; the king was grateful and promised to take care of his family since he died soon after; the king did, but the next king wasn’t aware of the deal and Tok and Trygve lost everything and they had to move to a small house in the village; their mom lived with them then died at a young age due to the loss she had throughout her life

112

What did the king mean when he said, “he has changed his love “on page 123?

Listen to your child’s answer

Why can’t Shain take the man who attacked him prisoner?

Page 129 — Holim will kill his father

129

Describe the shift in Shain and how it came about?

Page 136 — He began to take on the responsibility of being king; he was attacked on the way to visiting his father and he lived; the guards went on strike until there was a coronation; three guards became friends to Shain

136

How has Karth been a good friend to Shain, specifically in this chapter?

Page 147 — He helped him put his father’s affairs in order; he accompanied Shain to his father’s and buried him while Shain retrieved what he needed from the house; he took the box and let Shain run ahead to see what was going on with the King; he warned Shain about Holim’s reinforcements and helped him come up with the good idea to have the king sign a declaration to remove Holim from the castle

147

Who was the person who wounded Shain off the path when he was traveling to his father’s?

Page 160 — Holim in a disguise

160

Why does Shain think some guards have changed their loyalty?

Page 164 — The guard stopped Holim from killing the king and didn’t hurt Shain or Karth

164

What decision did Shain need to make during the battle in this chapter and what did it mean?

Page 174 — Whether or not to go to the mews and save the falcons; he didn’t, he stayed to fight for the king and the kingdom; it means Shain has accepted his new responsibility and has given up his old dream

174

Why did Shain release Tok from the army?

Page 180 — The army had been divided and needed to be rebuilt with a new leader

180

How did Shain convince the people to love him?

Page 182 — They saw his loyalty and love for the king as they fought Holim and army

182

Did you agree that Shain became the person he wanted to become?

Listen to your child’s answer. Why, or why not? Listen to your child’s answer

What did you like most about this story?

Listen to your child’s answer