Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

thoughtfully. It wasn't difficult for him to read the tension and frustration in Gawaine's stance.
    The knight wasn't necessarily lying to him, but there was certainly a great deal he wasn't prepared to say straight out.
    'You swore an oath to protect Prince Viktor,' he said suddenly. 'You even followed him into exile from the Court, and followed him back to Castle Midnight when most of his other supporters wouldn't. Now you're risking your life to help put him on the throne. What's he really like, Gawaine? Roderik's been giving me Viktor's life history till it's coming out of my ears, including everything he's said and done from the cradle onwards, and everyone he's ever known, but I need more than that. What kind of man is Viktor?'
    Gawaine looked at Jordan for the first time. His gaze was steady, but tired. 'Viktor ... is the best of a bad bunch. Lewis is vile, Dominic is insane, and Viktor has been badly used. His brothers plotted against him, the woman he loved betrayed him, and he's spent most of his life trying to be something he was never suited to be. You keep calling him a villain, but he isn't. He's done . . . deplorable things, yes, but only because in some matters he is too weak and easily led. As the son of a minor Lord or Baron, with lesser responsibilities and burdens, he might have done quite well. But he never had the strength of character or purpose to be a successful Prince of Redhart. He lacks the pragmatic, ruthless nature that such a position demands. Of the three Princes, Viktor is undoubtedly the most human. He's made fewer enemies than anyone else at Court, but then he's also achieved the least. He's brave enough, when he has to be, and I've taught him everything I know about the sword and the axe. He's killed seven men in duels, and I've never once known him back down from a quarrel.'
    Jordan shook his head. 'Weak, easily led, lacking strength of character . . . and this is the man you want to make King?'
    Gawaine shrugged. 'The way things are, he'll either be King or he'll be dead, and all his followers with him. And as King, he should be ... better advised.'
    Jordan looked at him narrowly. 'You're being very careful with your words, Gawaine, but you're still not telling me what I need to know. Do you like him, Gawaine?'
    'I'm his friend, I suppose. He listens to me sometimes. He has a good side, a noble side; I try to encourage it, when I can. I swore to his father that I would protect Viktor as best I could, for the rest of my life.'
    'Why?' said Jordan. 'What made you swear such an oath to King Malcolm?'
    Gawaine looked at him steadily. 'You ask too many questions, actor.'
    'Yeah, I know. One of these days it'll get me into trouble.' Jordan grinned at him easily. 'Just doing my job, Gawaine. If you're uncomfortable, we'll change the subject. What do you know about that barrow over there? Are there any local legends about it?'
    Gawaine studied Jordan for a disturbingly long moment. There was a cold calculation in his eyes, and Jordan carefully kept his smile open and disarming. Gawaine finally turned away to look at the barrow, and Jordan breathed a silent sigh of relief. For whatever reason, it was clear the knight wasn't prepared to talk about his oath, or the reasons behind it. It was also clear to Jordan that if he'd tried to press the point, Gawaine would almost certainly have knocked him down. He casually moved a step further away from Gawaine, and turned his attention to the great mound of earth that marked the barrow.
    'Barrowmeer,' said Gawaine slowly. 'It's very old. Some histories claim it was here even before Castle Midnight was built on Brimstone Hill. Barrowmeer got its name from the time there was a great lake here.
    That's long gone now, together with quite a few other landmarks - wiped out during a sorcerers' war in the time of the Shadow.' His left hand made an instinctive warding sign against evil. 'The barrow is a grave, of course, but it's no ordinary grave. That mound of earth you're looking at was built to hold something evil. Originally there was a ring of standing stones around the barrow, to keep the sleeper quiet, but over the centuries they disappeared. Stone for building has always been scarce in this part of the world. Now there's just the barrow itself left to hold Bloody Bones.'
    'Who the hell's Bloody Bones?' said Jordan. 'He sounds like a pirate in a bad mummer's play.'
    Gawaine looked at Jordan, and the smile faded quickly from the actor's lips. Gawaine