Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

out.
    Julia moved away from the throne, and then looked up to find Harald standing before her. She couldn't seem to work up the energy to hit him.
    'What do you want?' she asked tiredly.
    'Julia ...' Harald hesitated. 'Do you really love Rupert?'
    Julia shook her head slowly. 'I don't know. Perhaps. Why?'
    Harald shrugged. 'I don't know. Look, Julia, this marriage is going ahead whether we want it or not. I don't expect you to love me, girl, but am I really such a bad match? I'm not an ogre, you know. Well, not all the time, anyway.' He waited to see if she'd smile even a little, but she didn't. Harald sighed, and shook his head. 'One way or another, Julia, you will be my wife. Get used to the idea. I'll talk with you again, later.'
    Julia watched him leave the Court. Her head spun with plans to escape from the Castle, but once outside the walls, there was nowhere to go. By all accounts the Forest Land was overrun with demons. If the dragon had been strong enough to go with her . . . but he wasn't. His wounds still hurt him, and he slept most of the time. Julia swore quietly to herself, but she knew she couldn't just go off and abandon him.
    Or Rupert, for that matter. Julia scowled. It was all Rupert's fault anyway. If he hadn't brought her back to this Castle and then abandoned her, to go haring off to be a hero again, and get himself killed ...
    Julia squeezed her eyes shut, and dug her nails into the palms of her hands. She wouldn't cry in front of the King, she wouldn't . . .After a while, she opened her dry eyes and stared unseeingly at the empty Court.
    Wherever you are, Rupert, be safe. And get back here, fast.
    King John watched the Princess leave, secretly admiring her calm and poise. He waited until the double doors had closed behind her, and then slumped exhausted in his throne.
    'That has to be one of the longest sessions we've ever had,' said the Astrologer, lowering himself carefully on to the top step of the dais.
    'Right,' said the King wearily. 'I swear this damn throne gets more uncomfortable every day.'
    'At least you get to sit down,' said the Astrologer wryly. 'I've been on my feet for the past ten hours. My back's killing me.'
    The King chuckled sympathetically. 'We're getting too old for this, Thomas.'
    'Speak for yourself,' said the Astrologer, and the King laughed.
    They sat for a while in friendly silence, watching shadows gather in the silent Court. Light spilled through the gorgeous stained-glass windows, and dust motes swirled lazily in the golden haze. The King tugged thoughtfully at his shaggy grey beard, and glanced at the Astrologer.
    'Nice act you put on for the Landsgraves, Thomas.'
    'Thank you, John. I thought it went rather well.'
    'Did you have to make Bedivere crawl like that?'
    Thomas Grey frowned. 'Come on, John, the man's a killer. The Barons knew that when they sent him.
    He would have killed you.'
    'I know,' said the King shortly. 'But no man should have to crawl as he did. It made me feel . . . dirty. '
    'Look,' John, we spent most of last night working on this. The only way to keep the Barons in line is to make them more frightened of us than they are of the dark. Now how am I supposed to scare them if I don't use my powers? It's not as if I hurt the man, John, I just forced him to do what he should have done anyway.'
    'And the lightning bolt?'
    'Mostly illusion. There was enough power there to knock him cold, but that's all.'
    'You're missing the point, Thomas. The whole reason for drawing the Curtana was to prove to the Barons and the Court that we're not helpless against the dark, that we do have more powerful weapons we can use against the demons. After what you did to Sir Bedivere, no one's going to give a damn about the demons. They'll be too busy worrying about whether the sword's going to be used on them.'
    'Damn,' said Grey. 'I'm sorry, John, I didn't think . . .'
    'As it is, it's touch and go whether we dare draw the Curtana now, never mind the Infernal Devices. If the Barons even suspect we intend drawing those swords as well ...'
    'We'll have open rebellion on our hands. I do take your point, John, but we've got to have those swords.
    The darkness will be here soon, and we can't afford to rely on the High Warlock. We can't even be sure he'll come.'
    'He'll come,' said the King. 'You know he'll come.'
    There was an awkward silence. Grey cleared his throat uncertainly. 'I know how you feel about him, John. But we need him.'
    'I know.'
    'Maybe he's changed. He's