Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

able to settle for being second best. Even if that meant killing the man in front of him. DeGrange grinned wolfishly. That was what had got him outlawed, all those years ago, and he'd never regretted it. The bastard shouldn't have got in his way. He winced as a familiar headache began, pounding dully in his temples. The geas was warning him. If he persisted in dwelling on his past as an outlaw, and the things he'd done, the headache would grow worse, until the pain drove him screaming into unconsciousness. He'd learned the hard way that there was no profit in trying to fight the geas.
    He concentrated on calm, neutral thoughts, with the bitter case of long practice. When all was said and done, Security at Castle Midnight was never less than interesting. On a good day he could lose himself in his work and go for hours on end without remembering he was a slave. The pain in his temples slowly began to subside, and DeGrange sighed heavily. He drank his wine, hardly noticing the taste. He was getting maudlin again. It was the approaching autumn that did it. He'd always loved riding through the forests in the fall, the changing leaves hanging round the trees like bronzed tatters ... he missed the forests. He hadn't been able to set foot outside Castle Midnight in seven years.
    He looked about him, taking in the bare walls of his study. It wasn't a large room, but it was warm and comfortable and private. He'd lived in much worse, in his time. He called it his study, but actually it was his bedroom and living room as well. No sense in wasting precious space on a slave, after all. It wasn't as
    if he was going to object. The room would have been too small for two people, but there was only DeGrange. There had been a woman once, who'd warmed his heart and given him a reason for living, but the King's men had cut her down when they stormed his camp. If she'd lived, she would have been twenty-nine this year. DeGrange hadn't found anyone else after her. The geas saw to that. A close personal attachment might interfere with his duties.
    DeGrange shook his head slowly, tears burning unshed in his eyes, gripped again by a familiar feeling of utter frustration. He was trapped and he couldn't escape and he couldn't even strike out at his jailors.
    DeGrange threw his glass aside, and his hands clenched into fists. He struck out at the tabletop before him, slamming his fists against the unyielding wood over and over again. When he finally stopped his hands were bruised and bloody and the warning headache throbbed fiercely in his temples. He hated himself for his weakness, but he hated Count Roderik more, and finally that hatred gave him the strength to regain his calm again. One day the geas might relax its grip on him, if only for a moment, or Roderik might make some foolish mistake, and when that chance came DeGrange was determined not to miss it.
    There was a peremptory knock at his door. DeGrange quickly thrust his bloody hands out of sight under the table. The door swung open, and Count Roderik walked in without waiting to be asked. The door was never locked; DeGrange wasn't allowed a key.
    'What can I do for you, my lord?' said DeGrange. His voice was carefully calm and polite.
    'The Regent's summoned Lewis, Dominic and Viktor to a
    special audience at Court,' said Roderik. 'Why didn't you warn me about this?'
    'It's the first I've heard about it, my lord.' DeGrange frowned. 'I should have heard something . . . either this was a very sudden decision, or he's discovered that I'm your man first, and his second.'
    'Lewis and Dominic weren't at Court when the actor and I got there.' Roderik paced back and forth in the small room. 'They should have got there first. What's keeping them?'
    'I can venture an educated guess,' said DeGrange calmly. He loved to see Roderik getting rattled. 'Lewis and Dominic's private troops have been jockeying for position in the Castle for days. If the Regent's troops weren't there to enforce the peace, there'd have been open fighting in the corridors by now.
    Presumably Lewis and Dominic are waiting till the last possible moment to leave their own areas, while their troops make sure it's safe for them to walk to Court.'
    'Yes. That makes sense.' Roderik stopped pacing, and looked steadily at DeGrange. 'What do you think of the Great Jordan, now you've had time to think about him?'
    'He's arrogant and conceited, like all actors, but that's not exactly a handicap to impersonating a Prince.
    He's