Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising
hidden silos without his permission. The Landsgraves might think they owned him, but the Barons would soon learn better when they had to come cap in hand to the Lord Darius for grain to feed their troops ... He chuckled coldly, and then quickly composed his face into calm inscrutability as Sir Blays approached him. Darius looked surreptitiously about for Guillam and Bedivere, but there was no sign of them.
'Sir Blays, my dear fellow,' said Darius, bowing formally. 'I trust you are enjoying my hospitality.'
'Your wine's lousy and the company stinks,' said Blays. 'Still, when you're dealing with traitors, you learn to ignore things that would normally sicken you. I take it you've noticed Harald's growing popularity?
Courtiers who'd normally run a mile to avoid him are fighting each other for the chance to shake his hand in public.'
'Dear Harald does seem to be doing rather well,' murmured Darius. 'Possibly because he's been a little over-generous in his offers of patronage. Still, let him promise what he likes. It keeps the courtiers happy, and we can always put things right, later.'
'You mean the Barons will put things right, Darius.'
'Of course, Sir Blays. But of course.'
'Something's worrying your guests,' said Blays suddenly. 'Something that's got them so scared they daren't even discuss it here. Have you any idea what's got into them?'
'Curtana,' said Darius flatly. They don't believe it's been stolen, any more than you or I do. No, my dear Blays, they're afraid that John and his pet Astrologer now have the Sword of Compulsion, and are planning to use it against them, setting geas after geas upon them until they're nothing more than slaves, with no will of their own.'
'It's possible, I suppose,' said Blays carefully. 'How about you? Do you think John has the Curtana?'
Darius shrugged. 'What does it matter? If he has, there's nothing we can do about it. If he hasn't, then he's defenceless against us. Besides, I've no doubt the sword's powers have been greatly exaggerated over the years. All magic fades, in time.'
Sir Blays shook his head. 'Legend has it that Curtana derives its power from the Demon Prince himself.
If that's so, then the Curtana is once again one of the deadliest weapons ever to be wielded in the Land.
If by some chance the King really hasn't got it, we'd better find out who has, and quickly. John might hesitate to use the Curtana; there are a great many others who wouldn't.'
'That's a problem for another day,' said Darius. 'In the meantime, the longer the Curtana stays missing,
the better; its main value to us is as a weapon with which to isolate King John from his Court. The more scared they are of the King, the more likely they are to side with us.'
Sir Blays smiled cynically. 'It won't be that easy, Darius. It's not enough for these sheep to be scared, they have to be pushed into action. And to do that we have to be able to offer them some kind of protection against both the Curtana and the Royal Guard.'
'You really think they'll be a problem?' Darius frowned thoughtfully. 'With Lord Vivian as High Commander of the Guard ...'
'The Royal Guard will still support King John,' said Blays flatly. 'They're loyal to the King himself, almost fanatically so. The other guardsmen might or might not obey Lord Vivian rather than the King; more likely they'd hang back and wait to see which way the wind blows. No, my dear Darius, we need a weapon strong enough to ensure our safety against all attacks, no matter which quarter they might come from.
Luckily, there are such weapons available to us, now that the Armoury has been reopened.'
Darius looked sharply at Blays. 'You're talking about stealing the Infernal Devices.'
'Exactly.'
Darius stared into his wine glass. 'Curtana's bad enough, Blays. I don't think I'd trust any man who wielded one of the Damned blades. Those swords are evil.'
'It's a little late to be getting particular, Darius. Look around you, out of all the Castle barely three hundred people have turned out to support us openly. There should have been five times that number.
Even with all that's happened, most of the Court are still loyal to the King. Or at least, they're more frightened of his wrath than they are of ours. We're going to need every weapon we can lay our hands on, and that includes the Infernal Devices. It's too late to get soft now, Darius.'
Darius raised his glass and drank steadily until it was empty, still not looking at Blays. When he finally lowered
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