Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

Viktor. This was long before Viktor took up with Elizabeth, of course, but even then it was clear he needed someone to look after him and keep him out of trouble. Dear Viktor's always been too impulsive for his own good. But for a man like Gawaine to agree to act as his guardian ... It was a mystery then and it's a mystery now why he agreed to do it.'
    Jordan frowned. 'And nobody knows what Gawaine wanted to see the King about in the first place?'
    'No one has ever got a word out of him or Emma or the King. So it must have been something pretty important, mustn't it?'
    'All right,' said Jordan. 'That's muddied the water nicely. See if you can be a little more helpful about Count Roderik.'
    'I don't trust him,' said Heather. 'But then, nobody does. He was supposed to be in line for the Regency, a few years back, but there was a big scandal about his dealings with the grain merchant Robert Argent, and the King refused to have anything to do with him after that. No one was ever able to prove anything against him, but everybody knew. He was ostracised at Court for simply ages. I mean, it was bad enough for him to be cheating over the grain prices, but to be caught at it ... If it hadn't been for his Blood and position, he'd have been a laughing stock. As it was, he was left very much to himself.
    People had been looking for a good excuse for years. Everyone expects a little intrigue at Court; it adds spice to what would otherwise be very boring occasions, but Roderik's obsessed with intrigue for its own sake. He's never happier than when he's making plans to stab someone in the back, or throw them to the wolves.'
    Jordan raised an eyebrow. 'And this is the man Viktor trusts to run his conspiracy for him?'
    'For the moment, his interests and Viktor's are the same. And he is very good at conspiracies. He's had a lot of practice.'
    'All right, tell me about Argent. He's a grain merchant, and he's had dealings with Roderik in the past, at least one of which went spectacularly wrong. What's his connection with this conspiracy? What does he hope to get out of it?'
    Heather looked at him pityingly. 'God, you're dense sometimes. Dealing with Roderik the last time pretty much wiped Argent out. This is his chance to rebuild his fortunes. With a sympathetic King on the throne, all kinds of juicy contracts could come his way.'
    Jordan smiled slightly. 'You're right, that was an obvious one.'
    'Besides,' said Heather, 'Roderik and Argent have been friends for years. He's one of the few people Roderik knows he can trust. And vice versa, of course.'
    'All right, one last name, Heather. Tell me about Brion 1VG range.'
    Heather frowned unhappily. 'He's been Head of Castle Secur-UV for seven years now, and as far as I know he's done a very Mood job. It's not easy keeping things under control in a Castle like this at the best of times, and when the Unreal starts playing up, it can be a nightmare. Even with the Steward to deal with he worst cases of the Unreal, there's still a lot of general chaos creeping out of the woodwork. This Court loves its intrigues, but It's hard to keep secrets in a Castle where the walls literally do have ears on occasion, and ghosts walk through locked doors
    whenever they feel like it. So any man who can do a good job
    of Security under conditions like that has to be respected. And yet . . . I don't know anyone who feels comfortable around
    DeGrange. I mean, he was an evil bastard in his day, one of the worst outlaws Redhart's ever known, and he only does a good job here because the geas says he has to. And now Roderik says control of the geas has passed to him. I don't think I like that. If Roderik can mess about with the geas and get away with it, so could anyone else who knew how. And we wouldn't know till it was too late.'
    'It would need someone with power,' said Jordan thoughtfully. 'The Monk, perhaps?'
    'Or Dominic,' said Heather. 'He may be crazy, but he's been studying sorcery for years. He doesn't use it much in public, but everyone knows he's got the power.'
    'Great,' said Jordan. 'Just great.'
    'Anything else you'd like to ask me?'
    'No, thanks. I think I'm confused enough for one day. Though I would like to know why the High Warlock made that axe for Gawaine ..."
    'Simple enough, your highness,' said Gawaine, behind him. 'He was my father, and he was proud of me.'
    He handed Jordan his glass of wine, and gave another to the Lady Heather. He then took up his position at Jordan's side again, staring