Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

it is would have to be after the crown for himself,' said Rupert slowly. 'Nothing else would be worth taking this kind of risk for. So we're looking for someone who wants to be King ... or who can't wait to be King.'
    'No,' said Julia. 'It can't be.'
    'Why not?'
    'Because ... he just wouldn't, that's why not. He turned against the conspirators who would have made him King!'
    'From what I can gather, if he had gone along with them he'd have ended up as nothing more than a figurehead for the Barons.'
    'Perhaps I'm being a little slow,' said the Warlock testily, 'but who the hell are you talking about?'
    'Harald,' said Rupert grimly. 'My brother, the Prince Harald. He always was . . . ambitious.'
    'Harald,' said the Warlock thoughtfully. 'I remember him as a boy. Big, healthy lad, very fond of hunting.
    I was his tutor for a while, but I don't recall him ever showing much aptitude for magic.'
    'There you are,' said Julia quickly. 'Our traitor has to be a pretty powerful magician.'
    'Not necessarily,' said Rupert. 'They never did find the Curtana.'
    'The Sword of Compulsion!' said Julia. 'Of course, that was what the King intended to use against the demons in the first place.'
    'Exactly,' said Rupert. 'Only it went missing during the conspiracy. The Landsgraves swore they never had it, and I'm inclined to believe them. I've seen the wards that protected the Infernal Devices, and they were specifically keyed to the Royal line. Anyone not of the Royal line trying to take the swords would have been killed instantly. It seems only logical that the Curtana would have been protected in the same way.'
    'So whoever took the sword had to be a member of the Royal family,' said the High Warlock slowly.
    'Yeah,' said Rupert. 'My father, Harald, or me. Now I was away when the sword disappeared, and it doesn't make sense for the King to have taken it, so that only leaves . . . Harald.'
    'That doesn't make sense either,' said Julia stubbornly. 'If he had the Curtana, he would have used it by now. He certainly wouldn't have gone out to face the demons without it.'
    Rupert shrugged. 'Maybe there's some reason why he can't use the sword yet. Look, it has to be Harald, there's nobody else it can be.'
    'No,' said Julia. 'I don't believe it.'
    'You mean you don't want to believe it,' said Rupert. 'From what I've heard, you and Harald got pretty close while I was away.'
    'And just what is that supposed to mean?'
    'You know damn well what I mean.'
    'Don't you shout at me!'
    'I am not shouting!'
    'Shut up!' roared the High Warlock, and glared impartially at both of them until they fell silent. 'Worse than bloody children, the pair of you. Now is it too much to ask, or could we please concentrate on the matter at hand? Namely, the sleeping bloody dragon!'
    'Sorry,' muttered Julia, and Rupert mumbled something conciliatory. The two of them traded apologetic glances and smiles as the Warlock turned away to study the sleeping dragon. He stood glowering a moment, and then stretched out his arms before him. A faint shimmering glow fell from his hands, only to fade away before it reached the dragon's scales. The Warlock scowled, and tried again. This time the glow was much brighter, but it still couldn't reach the dragon. The High Warlock muttered something extremely vulgar under his breath, and raised his arms above his head in the stance of summoning. A brief crimson glow flared around his hands and was gone, and a vivid crackling flame was suddenly dancing unsupported on the air before him. It sank slowly towards the sleeping dragon, and then flared and sputtered, bobbing back and forth on the air as though pressing against some invisible barrier. The
    Warlock spoke a few words in a strange, fluid language that echoed disturbingly on the still air. His face was beaded with sweat, and his hands shook, but still the flame hovered in mid-air, unable to move any closer to the sleeping dragon. The High Warlock braced himself, and spoke aloud a single Word of Power. His mouth gaped wide in agony as for a moment a brilliant light roared up around him, and then it was gone, and the crimson flame sank slowly down and into the dragon's gleaming scales. The air in the stable felt suddenly different, as though a barely felt tension had just snapped, and disappeared. The dragon stirred fretfully, and then his great golden eyes crept open, and he lifted his massive head up out of the dirty straw. Julia threw her arms around his neck, and hugged him