Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

air vents, and they go on for miles. I'd no idea so many of the interior walls were hollow.'
    'But that means he could be anywhere,' said Julia. She stared quickly about her, and shivered.
    Harald shrugged. 'Just another rat in the walls. We'll get him, Julia, never fear. The guards are searching the tunnels for him even now. We'll have him by morning.'
    'How's Gregory?' asked Julia suddenly.
    Harald and John looked blankly at each other.
    'Who?' said Harald.
    'Cecelia's lover.'
    'Oh, him.' Harald frowned. 'Hanged himself in his cell, poor bastard.'
    'I never liked him,' said Julia. 'But somehow I felt sorry for him. He wasn't a bad sort, at the end. He deserved better than Darius and Cecelia.'
    John shrugged. 'I've no doubt he would have killed any one of us, if the Barons had ordered it. He was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.'
    'And he loved the wrong woman,' said Julia.
    'Yes,' said Harald. 'I suppose he did.'
    'I'm tired,' said Julia. 'Unless you want me for anything else, I'm going back to my chambers to get some sleep.'
    'I'll walk part of the way with you,' said Harald.
    Julia looked at him. 'All right,' she said finally. 'I think I'd like some company.'
    She levered herself up out of her chair, and Harald was there to steady her as she swayed tiredly on her feet.
    The King nodded benignly. 'Get yourself some rest, my children, you've earned it. It's been a long hard day for all of us.'
    They were almost at the door, when the King suddenly stirred in his chair.
    'Julia . . . Bodeen was a friend of yours, wasn't he?'
    'No,' said Julia. 'I didn't really know him at all.'

Chapter 7
    THE LONG NIGHT
    Darkness lay across the Forest Land from boundary to boundary, complete and unbroken save for an uncertain pool of light surrounding the Forest Castle. Demons moved silently through the smothering dark, sharpening their claws on the decaying bark of dying trees. No sun shone, and though a moon sailed endlessly on the night skies, its light was foul and unhealthy. Plants died for lack of sunlight, and wildlife either starved or fell prey to the demons' never-ending hunger. Snow and ice covered all the ground, and the freezing air drew the warmth from everything it touched. Men barricaded themselves and their families inside whatever shelter they could find, and prayed for a dawn that never came. Cold and dark and utterly merciless, the long night held dominion over all.
    A new sound suddenly rang forth in the Darkwood, a deep sonorous tone like the peal of a huge iron bell. The sound grew steadily louder, building into a mighty roar that reverberated through the long night, shaking the ground and the trees, and challenging the silence. Demons snarled and shuddered and tried to flee, but the unrelenting sound came from everywhere and nowhere, and there was no escaping it. And then the great bass roar climaxed and fell silent as space itself ripped open, and a blinding silver light poured out into the darkness. Prince Rupert and his party had finally come home.
    Rupert stared dazedly about him as he floated down from the shimmering silver tunnel, and staggered slightly as the ground rose up to slam against his feet. He was sure he'd spent no more than a few seconds in the tunnel, but in that brief moment the world had moved on, and everything was changed. A familiar stench of decay and corruption filled his nostrils, and the horrid numbing oppression fell upon him like an old familiar cloak. He gripped the unicorn's reins tightly as he stared wildly around, convinced the Warlock had bungled the spell and dropped them back in the Darkwood they'd just passed through, but then the last of the guards landed safely on the uneven trail, and the silver tunnel snapped together and disappeared, taking its brilliant light with it. Abandoned in the unrelenting dark, Rupert's eyes went automatically to the only remaining light — the dim wavering glow surrounding Forest Castle.
    For a moment Rupert hurt so badly he couldn't breathe, and he shook his head in wordless denial. He'd made it to the Dark Tower in time; there was no way in which the long night could have reached this far into the Forest. But there before him stood the Castle, shimmering whitely under a thick blanket of snow and ice and hoarfrost. Long jagged icicles hung from every window and turret, and the moat seemed no more than a single great slab of ice. Torches flickered at regular intervals along the battlements, but their dirty yellow glow did little