Forest Kingdom Trilogy 1 - Blue Moon Rising

several hundred years, it used to be called the Sword of Mercy. It was presented to each Forest King at his coronation, as a symbol for justice tempered by compassion. And then James the Seventh came to the throne. He took the Curtana and set a touchstone within its hilt, a sorcerous black gem that enslaved the minds of all who beheld it. Legend has it that the Demon Prince himself gave King James the stone, but records of that time are scarce. It was a time of murder and madness, in which the Curtana became the Sword of Compulsion; a symbol of tyranny. No one has drawn that blade since James was overthrown, but even sheathed, it's said that the sword has an aura of blood and death and terror. I've never seen the Curtana, Julia, but I don't think I'll have any problem recognising it.'
    The Seneschal turned away and glared at the waiting guards, who were peering into the darkness ahead and hefting their swords warily. 'And now, if you've run out of questions for the time being, Princess, I think we should press on, before those Neanderthals start carving their initials into the woodwork.'
    He paused just long enough for each guardsman to light his lantern, and then strode confidently forward into the gloom of the right-hand corridor. Damn the man , thought Julia as she and the guards hurried to catch up with the Seneschal. There's a lot to be said for bravery and heroism, but this is getting out of hand. First he tells me horror stories about previous search parties that never came back, and then he goes marching off into the dark without even bothering to send in a few scouts first. Julia scowled, and shook her head. I should never have let them take away my sword . . .
    The party's footsteps echoed hollowly back from the dust-covered walls, but even that small sound carried in the quiet. The guards huddled together and held their lanterns high, but still the darkness pressed hungrily against the sparse pool of light the lanterns cast. In the constant gloom it was hard to judge distances, and Julia began to wonder if the corridor had an end, or if the damn thing just went on for ever. She looked back the way she'd come, but. the original junction was already lost to the darkness. There was a faint scurrying sound on the edge of her hearing, but no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't seem to place where it was coming from. Probably rats, she thought, hefting her dagger. After thirty-two years, they probably think they own the place.
    'How can anyone lose a whole Wing?' she asked the Seneschal, more for the comfort of the sound of her voice then because she cared about the answer.
    'It seems one of the Astrologer's spells went wrong,' said the Seneschal absentmindedly, while studying a map in the light of a guardsman's lantern. 'No one's quite sure exactly what he was up to, and since he's still too embarrassed to talk about it, the odds are we'll never find out, but apparently there was a massive explosion, and then in the space of a few moments all the doors and corridors that used to lead to the South Wing suddenly . . . didn't. Those people who were in the Wing were able to get out, but nobody could get in. Legend has it that there were a few people unaccounted for, who never got out.'
    'What a horrible thought,' said Julia, shivering despite herself.
    'If you don't want to know the answers, don't ask the questions,' said the Seneschal testily. 'Now quiet, please, I'm trying to concentrate.'
    Julia swallowed an angry retort, and the Seneschal went back to frowning over his map. The air grew steadily more stifling and oppressive as the party pressed on into the darkness, and Julia glared about her as the faint scuffling noises seemed to hover at the edge of the lamplight. The guards heard it too, and one by one they drew their swords. It's only a few rats, Julia told herself sternly, but her imagination conjured up images of people watching from the darkness. Men and women, grown strange and crazy in their isolation. Children, who'd never known any other world than the South Wing. Julia took a firm grip on her dagger. Even rats can be dangerous , she thought defensively.
    And then Julia stumbled and almost fell as the floor lurched violently and dropped away beneath her.
    The corridor walls seemed to recede into the distance and then return, sweeping in and out in the space of a moment. Her sense of left and right and up and down reversed itself and then spun her dizzily round and round before snapping