Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

But I give you my word: this really is James, restored to us at last! Have you no welcome for your brother?"
    All eyes turned onDouglas again. He looked at James. This was what it was all about. He'd been brought here just to answer that question, because his answer would decide how his own people would judge him. If he publicly accepted this man as his brother, he'd be trapped into playing Finn's game. And James, as the older brother, had a better claim to the throne than he did. If he denounced the man as an imposter…Douglas was pretty sure that Finn wouldn't have come this far without putting together some pretty intimidating evidence. AndDouglas would be seen as a fool or a liar, ready to say anything to hang on to his throne. Finn, and Anne, had him exactly where they wanted him.
    Except they'd miscalculated. They'd assumed his time in seclusion had broken him, and it hadn't. He'd been asleep for a long time, but now he was awake again. He might have lost his best friend and his true love, but he was still the King, and he still took his duties seriously. His Champion had revealed himself as a threat to his people, and his family, and Douglas had always been ready to fight to the death for both.
    Of course, he couldn't do that now. He'd been very cleverly isolated. Better to play the part they expected, and have them continue to underestimate him, until he could take back the high ground.
    SoDouglas smiled happily, if a little vaguely, at the man who claimed to be his brother James, and walked forward with an outstretched hand. They shook hands firmly, while the cameras whirred loudly and everyone applauded. James impulsively pulledDouglas forward into a hug, and they held each other close. It was a very touching scene, and the media pack just loved it, the floating cameras fighting it out for the best angles. Douglas kept his smile going, and let James hug him, but he felt nothing at all—except, perhaps, just the briefest of guilty thoughts. If by some dark miracle this really was James, the man who should have been King, then perhaps Douglas would be able to step down from the throne after all, and escape from all the strains and pressures of a job he'd never wanted anyway. Let James be King. Let him deal with the Church Militant, and Pure Humanity and the Terror… It was only a brief thought, the very briefest of temptations.Douglas had always known his duty, even when he was just a Paragon. He'd fought to protect the people all his life, and he wasn't about to hand their fate over to this… stranger.
    James finally releasedDouglas from the hug, and they stood face to face, smiling at each other. James's mouth went all wobbly, and he had to reach up to knuckle a manly tear from the corner of his eye—
    another nice touch that the media just loved to pieces.Douglas could feel Finn's and Anne's eyes on him, and he kept his face carefully vague and vacant. James turned back to the reporters, and made a big point of declaring that he was sure his younger brother had no idea of what had been done in his name; that he was entirely positive King Douglas knew nothing of his years of imprisonment, or the imminent death sentence from which Finn had so valiantly rescued him. Of course, until James raised the point, no
    one there had thought that at all, but now suspicious eyes turned toDouglas , clearly considering just how much he could or should have known. He had to have known something, people would say.
    James smiled warmly atDouglas , and said, "We must work together, Brother, in this time of crisis."
    AndDouglas kept on smiling, and said, "Yes, of course, Brother." James then turned the full force of his personality and charm on his audience, saying all the right things in a firm and resonant voice, andDouglas could feel everyone comparing him unfavorably with his brother. More and more, the reporters were being seduced by James's manner and rhetoric, and embraced him as though he were the Second Coming of the blessed Owen—particularly when he vowed to do everything in his power to find an answer to the coming Terror. So when James also spoke out in favor of Pure Humanity and the Church Militant, those hardened cynical reporters happily went along with every hateful thing he said.
    I don't know who the hell you really are,Douglas thought behind his pleasant smiling mask, but that clinches it. James never helieved in any of that shit. He had more sense, more conscience… and he never followed anyone's