Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

well be right,' said the King. 'But I'm not running until I have to. Sir Guillam may be unbeatable with a sword, but let's see how he fares against a couple of crossbows.'
    He gestured to the two waiting guardsmen, who stepped quickly forward, loaded crossbows already in their hands. At the King's nod they moved a few feet apart, to be sure of catching Guillam in a crossfire, and then each man nestled the heavy wooden stock of his bow comfortably into his shoulder, and took careful aim. Guillam shrieked when he saw them, and without any warning turned and ran for the far door at the end of the Hall. He lashed out viciously at those courtiers who didn't get out of his way fast enough, and unarmed men and women fell in bloody heaps to mark his passing. And then two bowstrings twanged as one, and Guillam was slammed violently against the right-hand wall. He whimpered once, quietly, and then his sword fell from his limp fingers, and he hung still and silent from the two heavy steel bolts that pinned him to the wall.
    Julia burst into Darius's private chambers just in time to see the huge bookcase swing slowly open, revealing a concealed passage. Darius stood beside the bookcase, waiting impatiently for it to open wide enough for him to enter. Cecelia clung frantically to his arm, sobbing uncontrollably with shock and panic.
    Gregory turned to face Julia, sword in hand. She hesitated in the doorway, sweeping her sword back and forth before her. She'd easily outdistanced the guards, weighed down by their heavy armour, and Julia quickly realised that they weren't going to catch up in time to help her. She smiled grimly; at best the odds were only two to one against her. Gregory hefted his sword and glanced back at Darius.
    'Get Cecelia out of here,' he said quietly. 'I'll hold them off.' Darius tried to force his bulk into the slowly widening gap between the wall and the bookcase. Cecelia pressed close beside him, sobbing and clinging tightly to his arm as though for comfort. Darius pushed her away, but she only tightened her grip, wedging
    them both into the narrow gap. There was a rising clatter of approaching feet, and then the first of the guards burst into the room, followed quickly by a dozen more. Gregory moved forward to block their way. His sword trembled in his hand, but in his eyes Julia could see a determination to sell his life dearly.
    He grinned mockingly at the guards and then glanced back at the bookcase, just in time to see Darius draw a dagger from his sleeve and stab Cecelia again and again until she let go of his arm and fell limply to the floor. Gregory screamed her name, threw his sword away, and ran over to crouch beside Cecelia's unmoving body. Darius disappeared into the concealed passageway, and the bookcase slowly closed itself behind him. By the time the guardsmen got to it, the gap was once again too narrow to let them pass. They couldn't even stop the bookcase closing.
    Julia approached Gregory cautiously, her sword held out before her, but he just sat on the floor, cradling Cecelia's body in his arms. Her eyes stared wildly, and blood seeped steadily from her tattered bodice, staining Gregory's tunic where he held her to him. He looked up at Julia, and she realised sickly that the young guardsman was crying.
    'There wasn't any need for this,' said Gregory. 'No need for this. Cecelia? Cecelia, love?'
    Julia sheathed her sword. 'Come on,' she said gruffly, 'leave her. There's nothing you can do for her now.'
    'Cecelia?'
    'She's dead, Gregory.'
    He didn't hear her. He just sat there, rocking Cecelia in his arms, and crooning to her as though she was a sleeping child. The tiny bells on her dress chimed, quietly, with every movement. Tears ran unheeded down Gregory's cheeks, and his eyes saw nothing, nothing at all.

    The quietly crackling fire was warm and comforting, but Julia was too tired even to hold out her hands to the leaping flames. Exhaustion had crept up on her in the short time it had taken to walk from Darius's Hall to the King's private chambers, and now a harsh persistent pain beat dully in her back and legs, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes from closing against her will. Julia tried to sit up straighter in her battered, over-stuffed chair, and knuckled her bleary eyes. It would be only too easy just to lie back and doze off in the gentle warmth of the fire, but she couldn't let herself rest. It had been a long hard day, and it didn't seem to be finished with her