Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

gestured airily for the guards to lock the door behind him. Once that was done, James used his own security codes through his comm implant to shut down the security camera in the ceiling. He didn't want any witnesses to this conversation. James had been quietly picking up all sorts of useful security codes when no one was looking. He never knew when he might need to do something he couldn't afford Finn to find out about. It made him feel disloyal, but he had to look out for his own survival—because no one else would. And right now, there were things he needed to say to his putative brother Douglas.
    "I saw Treasure's body," James said conversationally. "You really did a job on her, Brother. Can't say I'm terribly upset. She was always too loud and too obvious—and frankly, she scared the crap out of me. But even so, that was rather over the top. What is the matter,Douglas , can't you get on with any of the wives we choose for you?"
    "What do you want, James?"
    "I want you to behave,Douglas . I want you to be a good little boy. Happy as I am to see you once and for all removed from the public eye and favor, your continuing bad behavior has a nasty habit of rubbing off on me. And I can't allow that. I'm going to be King, Douglas, and I won't have you spoiling it for me.
    In fact, if you do anything further to embarrass me, like pleading not guilty at your trial, for example, I will personally see to it that those you care for are made to suffer. Your father William is still under arrest at House Campbell. He can always be made to pay for your disobedience."
    "Your father," saidDouglas . "Interesting. You didn't say our father. Just one more indication that you're not really my brother. And this pathetic attempt at blackmail and intimidation only confirms it. The real James had far too much style, and pride in himself, to stoop to such tactics. So what are you, some actor Finn hired, and coached to play the part? I don't suppose it matters, really. I've had my fill of you, James.
    Or whoever the hell you really are."
    He surged up from the floor impossibly quickly, catching James off guard.Douglas hit him once, with professional skill and personal venom, and James was unconscious before he even knew what was going on.Douglas caught the body before it could hit the floor, and stood very still for a moment, listening. But either the guards hadn't heard anything, or James had bribed them to ignore any suspicious sounds of violence.Douglas smiled fleetingly, and then lowered James carefully to the stone floor. He then stripped James of his clothes, and exchanged them for his. With the cloak's hood pulled well forwards, he should look more than enough like his supposed brother. He propped James up against the wall, with his head turned away from the door. Good enough to fool a quick glance.
    Douglastook a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then knocked imperiously on the door. It opened immediately, andDouglas swept out, head down, hood well forwards. He growled something at the guards, and kept going. His back tensed, his muscles crawling in anticipation of a shout or a blow, but all he heard was the sound of the lock turning in the door behind him.Douglas allowed himself a smile. He'd been waiting for someone to make a slip, and knew his moment had come when James boasted about turning off the security camera in the cell. Amateur night…
    Douglaspulled James's hood a little further forwards, and strode swiftly through the palace corridors, doing his best to radiate Back off and don't talk to me through his body language. It seemed to work.
    People bowed and curtseyed to him as he passed, and no one tried to talk to him. Physically, Douglas and James were very similar, and everyone just reacted to the familiar clothes and attitude, and not the man within.Douglas made his way unchallenged through the palace and out onto the private landing pad at the back of the building. He chose the fastest pleasure craft on the pad, opened the locks with his voice override (Finn apparently hadn't got around to deleting it—very lax), and then he took off without bothering to file a flight plan. No one challenged him. Royalty had its privileges.
    He pushed the craft as fast as its engines would allow. He needed to put as much distance as possible between himself and Finn. He knew where he was going; he'd had a lot of time to think about what he was going to do once he broke out of the palace, and James's threats had only furthered