Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

Infernal Devices: Rockbreaker, Flarebright and Wolfsbane.
    Rupert glanced at the King, who had still made no move to enter the Armoury. His face was tight and drawn, and beads of sweat showed clearly on his forehead beneath the crown. Rupert looked quickly at Harald, but his brother's placid mask was firmly in place, showing nothing but a polite, patient interest.
    And perhaps it was only Rupert's imagination that made him see an extra, hungry gleam in Harald's eyes.
    Rupert looked back at the unlocked, inviting doors, and then stepped forward and pushed open the left-hand door. It swung smoothly back under his hand, the ancient counterweights barely whispering despite their long years of neglect. The Seneschal was quickly at his shoulder with a flaring torch as Prince Rupert entered the Armoury of the Forest Kings.
    The great hall stretched away before him, its boundaries lost in the gloom beyond the torch's light. To his left and to his right and straight ahead stood blades he'd heard of all his life but never expected to see.
    Rupert moved slowly forward down the narrow central aisle. Swords and axes and maces filled the weapon racks and hung proudly on the walls, their richly worked metal and leather scabbards still perfectly preserved by the Armoury's spells. Hanging beneath a simple brass plaque bearing its name was
    the great broadsword Lawgiver, wielded by seven Forest Kings in succession, until the blade finally became too battered and nicked to take an edge. Not far away stood the slender silver blade named Traitor, wielded by the infamous Starlight Duke during his short-lived usurpation of the throne. And more, and more ... A sudden, overwhelming sense of history and ages past rushed over Rupert like an endless wave as he slowly made his way to the rear of the hall. The Forest Kingdom was a great deal older than most people realised, or cared to remember.
    Many of the weapon racks lay empty and abandoned, their blades gone to arm those who presently defended the Castle against the demons. Other swords had been left behind, having seen too much wear and tear to be useful as anything more than objects of ceremony and history. But still there were thousands upon thousands of weapons, waiting patiently in their racks for the day they would once aguain be drawn in defence of the Forest Land. Some blades Rupert recognised by name or reputation, while others had passed out of history completely. More than once Rupert found himself staring at some nameless sword, and wondering what tale of triumph or tragedy lay locked within the enigmatic blade.
    But even though he'd never seen them before, he knew the Infernal Devices when he came to them.
    They stood together in their own little alcove, three huge longswords in chased silver scabbards. Their foot-long hilts were bound with dark, stained leather, and from the size of the scabbards the blades had to be at least seven feet long, and six inches wide at the crosspiece. Rupert stood before them and knew why his skin had begun to crawl outside the Armoury. The swords stank of blood. As quickly as he recognised the smell, it was gone, leaving Rupert to wonder if perhaps he'd only imagined it. The blades stood before him, cold and majestic, apparently no more dangerous than any other word. But still Rupert felt a deep-rooted sense of foreboding, as though close at hand some ancient and awful creature was stirring uneasily in its sleep. He shook his head angrily to clear it, and reached for the nearest blade. The Seneschal quickly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.
    'I wouldn't, Sire — the swords are protected. Try to touch one before the spell is removed, and we'll be carrying what's left of you out of here in a bucket.'
    'Of course, sir Seneschal,' said Rupert. 'I didn't think.' He could feel his face burning, and silently damned himself for a fool. It should have been obvious, even to him, that blades as powerful as the Internal Devices wouldn't have been left unguarded. 'I take it there is a counter-spell?'
    There is,' said the King. 'I learned it from my father, as he learned it from his. I never thought I'd have to use it.'
    Rupert and the Seneschal moved aside to let King John approach the Infernal Devices. Harald held back a way, watching closely from behind his mask of indifference. The King stood awhile before the three great swords, and then, finally, he said three words in a harsh, guttural language unlike anything Rupert had ever heard before. The