Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

creatures that were chasing a weaponless guard down a corridor disappeared in mid-step. Something grey and dusty, sitting giggling over a pile of bloody bones, vanished from the entrance Hall. A vast face that had formed in the brickwork of a cellar wall became still and inanimate.
    Cracks in walls and floors flowed together and were gone, and shadows lay still and undisturbed. The Unreal disappeared, and the world became sane again.
    In the Great Hall the battling creatures vanished, and air rushed in to fill the spaces where they had been.
    The darkness overhead disappeared, and the ornate ceiling returned. The creatures of the Unreal were banished, and with them went Damon Cord, who had known all along that this would happen, and had fought with all his strength and courage to help bring it about.
    A slow, peaceful silence settled over the Hall, and the handful of survivors knelt and bowed to their new King. Gawaine took hold of the throne, and heaved it back into position over the Stone. Jordan sat down on it hesitantly, and Sir Gawaine of Tower Rouge knelt before him and bowed his head.
    'Redhart has a King again!' he said loudly. 'Long live King Viktor of Redhart!'
    And only Jordan saw the wink that Gawaine dropped him.

Chapter 8
    A Few Last Truths
    Jordan sat slumped on his throne, and watched exhaustedly as the last of the courtiers filed out of the Great Hall. If he'd known being made King would involve all these bloody ceremonies, he'd have thought twice about it. Jordan usually enjoyed a good ceremony, if only for the theatre of the occasion, but it felt rather different when you had to sit to attention all the way through it, for hours on end. It's all very well them wishing good health to his majesty. They're not stuck on this bloody throne. I bet I end up with piles. What moron came up with the idea of a throne made of marble, anyway?
    He sighed, and knuckled at his bleary eyes. It had been a long day, and it showed few signs of getting any shorter. For all practical purposes, he'd been the rightful King from the moment he made his oath to the Stone, but both law and tradition had to be followed exactly if he wanted the support of his people.
    First, he'd had to summon the entire Court, so that the nobility could make their individual oaths of fealty to the new King. A few people had been conspicuous by their absence. Jordan had ordered them banished, and wasn't surprised to learn that they had anticipated this and were already well on their way.
    Apparently they had been close associates of either Lewis or Dominic, and didn't trust in Viktor's forgiving nature. Jordan didn't blame them. The ceremonies had dragged on and on, and in the end Jordan had stopped trying to follow them. Instead, he dozed with his eyes open, and smiled and nodded when he felt like it. Which wasn't often. If the three Princes had had to put up with this all their lives, it was no wonder they'd gone crazy.
    But finally the ceremonies had ground to an end. The Hall was quiet, the courtiers were gone, and only the really important people remained. Jordan sat up a little straighter, and tried to settle his crown more comfortably on his head. The damn thing was heavier than it looked, and was giving him a headache. Sir Gawaine stood at his left, beside the throne. Jordan's first act as King had been to make Gawaine his Champion. The courtiers had taken one look at the murderous axe in Gawaine's hand, and had hurriedly agreed that this was an altogether excellent idea.
    Count Roderik stood directly before the throne. He'd said no more than the bare minimum necessary all through the ceremonies, which hadn't surprised Jordan at all. What Roderik had to say, and no doubt there was a great deal of it, could only be said in private.
    Beside Roderik stood Count William and his wife, the Lady Gabrielle. Jordan had been keeping a careful eye on the ex-Regent. If there was to be any real threat to his succession, that was where it was going to come from. William had established a nice little power base for himself as Regent, and it was just possible he might not want to hand it over. Particularly to a man he'd already declared to be unfit to rule.
    But so far he'd minded his manners and said all the right things in all the right places. Jordan smiled slightly. One of the first things he'd done had been to split up William's troops, and put them under the command of men loyal only to the King. Just in
    case.
    And finally, standing at the