Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

was right there with you. You know, you've done very well,
    Viktor. I had you fed enough poison to kill a normal man twice over, but still you clung stubbornly to life.
    What a strong constitution you have.'
    'Then it was poison!' said Heather. 'But how? I checked the
    food every way I could, and Argent tasted the food himself . . .'
    She stopped, and looked past Dominic. The others did the same. Standing just outside the Crypt doorway stood Robert Argent. He stared calmly back at them.
    'My own dear traitor,' said Dominic. 'My very own personal spy in your ranks. He kept me informed of your every move, and poisoned your food. Rather a nice touch, that, I thought. Who would ever suspect the food-taster of being the poisoner?'
    'I don't believe you,' said Heather stubbornly. 'I watched him eat the food and swallow it. He couldn't have faked it!'
    'He didn't,' said Dominic. 'Why should he? What harm can poison do to a dead man?'
    He gestured languidly with his left hand, and a great bloody wound appeared on Argent's chest. The sides of the wound were raw and livid, but no blood ran. Argent's face never changed. He looked as he always did: calm, resigned and very tired. Jordan looked at Argent, and his mouth went dry. There was no way Argent could have survived a wound like that. He was a lich, a walking dead man. All this time he'd been working with a dead man. Somewhere in the back of Jordan's mind a crazy little voice wanted to scream and jabber, but he fought it down. He'd already faced ghosts and monsters and Reality gone wild. He could cope with a lich. He had to. Even if it was a man he'd fought beside, and trusted, Roderik looked at Argent, his face twisted with grief. 'Robert . . . why didn't you tell me? I would have helped you. I would have found . . . some way to help you.'
    Argent said nothing. Dominic smiled. 'I killed him several months ago. It was quite easy, really. He didn't suspect a thing until it was too late. My sorcery holds him at the very point of death. As long as I keep on renewing the spell, he'll stay alive. Of course, if I should happen to forget . . . It's the perfect form of blackmail, really. I have complete control over him. It's a pity I can't use the technique more often, but the sorcery involved is very draining.'
    'You miserable bastard,' said Jordan. Dominic raised a mocking eyebrow. 'You're a fine one to talk, Viktor. Before we came down here, I had my people search your quarters thoroughly. Just on the off-chance we might turn up something interesting. And just guess what we found in your wardrobe.'
    'What's he talking about, Viktor?' said Roderik. Jordan said nothing.
    'Oh go on,' said Dominic. 'Do tell us why you decided to kill your actor double.'
    Gawaine looked at Jordan in horror. 'What have you done, Viktor? Damn you, what have you done?'
    Jordan's heart warmed a little at the shock and anger in Sir Gawaine's voice, but he didn't dare let the knight see anything in his face. He shrugged coldly. 'He was plotting to take my place for real, so I killed him. We didn't need him any more, anyway.' He turned back to glare at Dominic. 'Dad never meant for you to be King. He knew you were crazy. There's bad Blood in all our family, but you're the worst, and always have been. You're not fit to be King.'
    'You're in no position to stop me,' said Dominic. 'I, on the other hand, hold all your fates in my keeping.
    You live or die according to what I decide, here and now. And isn't that, in essence, what a King's power is?' He laughed suddenly. It was a flat, ugly sound. 'Except, of course, I could always have you killed, and then bring you back again. If I really wanted to. Perhaps you'd like to beg me to save you. I'm quite prepared to listen. I'm a reasonable man. I can always use another slave.'
    Jordan's hands flexed impotently at his sides. Dominic was out of reach of his sword, and his few remaining flare pellets were in the sleeve of the shirt he'd left in Viktor's bedroom. His mind worked desperately, and he let his eyes wander round the Crypt. A flaring torch crackled quietly on the wall to his left. Jordan's gaze fell on Dominic's ruined face, and an idea came to him. Without hesitation, he grabbed the torch and thrust it in Dominic's face. The Prince screamed and fell back a step, and Jordan threw the torch at him. It hit his chest and fell away, but Dominic's robe had already caught fire. He screamed again, and beat at the flames with his bare hands, he fell back to the