Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

else's humour.
    His hand dropped towards his swordhilt, but stopped a few inches short. He was in Dominic's territory now, and he daren't risk an open attack, even with the Monk at his side. On his own ground Dominic was too well protected by his sorcery. Not to mention his Blood. Lewis turned his attention to the spy, and his stomach lurched. The man had no face. The eyelids were sealed seamlessly shut, and below the blind eyes there was only a blank expanse of smooth skin, with no trace of mouth or nose. He stood very still, waiting for Dominic's orders.
    'This isn't how he usually looks,' said Dominic casually, 'but I'm not quite ready to trust you with his identity yet. That would require a great deal more commitment on both our parts than I think we're ready to give. But I assure you he is one of Viktor's
    inner circle, trusted by everyone, and privy to all their secrets. Aren't you, my dear traitor?'
    'Yes, Prince Dominic' A flat mouth opened in the blank face like a wound. The voice was flat and expressionless, with no trace of character in it to provide clues as to the spy's identity. Lewis frowned.
    'No offence, Dominic, but how do I know this . . . person really is who you say he is? He could be anyone.'
    'No offence taken, dear brother. I've brought him here to tell you things, things only an inner confidant could know. Tell him, traitor.'
    'Viktor is ill, and has been for some time,' said the faceless man. 'He is being slowly poisoned, and is growing steadily weaker, despite everything his supporters can do. Of late, he is unable to leave his chambers without help.'
    'He seemed strong enough this evening, in Court,' said Lewis sourly.
    'There is a reason for that,' said Dominic, 'but I don't think I'll share that with you just yet. I have to keep some secrets to myself.'
    Lewis sniffed. 'All right, I'll accept the spy is genuine. I'd heard about Viktor's illness from my own confidential source. But can you trust this spy? Traitors are notoriously unreliable.'
    'He obeys my every whim,' said Dominic flatly. 'Traitor, put your hand into the water, and leave it there.'
    The faceless man walked over to the swelling wall and thrust his hand into the water up to the wrist. He stood there unmoving, and Lewis's hackles rose sharply as he realised what was going to happen. Even as the thought crossed his mind, the dark shadow of the shark appeared in the distance. It moved rapidly forward, jaws agape for the tasty morsel of flesh that hung unmoving in the water before it. The faceless man didn't move an inch. At the last moment Dominic gestured sharply, and the traitor pulled his hand out of the water. The shark's jaws snapped together a fraction of a second later, and water splashed down on to the dark green carpet as the shark turned sharply aside. It swam back and forth for a while, and then
    disappeared back into the depths. The faceless man moved back to stand beside Dominic, who patted him lightly on the arm, as a man might reward a dog that had performed some simple but amusing trick.
    Lewis's breathing began to return to normal. He didn't give a damn whether the traitor lived or died, but the inhuman control it must have taken for him to just stand there while the shark approached ... A sudden thought came to Lewis, and he looked sharply at his brother.
    'This spy of yours, is he Unreal?'
    'Yes and no,' said Dominic, smiling. 'Really, Lewis, you can't expect me to tell you all my secrets. Do I ask you about the Monk? All you need to know is that my spy belongs to me, body and soul. He will do anything I require of him. Anything at all. Now then, Lewis, I think we finally come to the crux of your visit. You have come here, not for the first time, to propose an alliance between us against a common enemy. To be honest, I don't see that anything has changed since your last visit. We both want the same thing, and neither of us is likely to step aside for the other.'
    'Even so,' said Lewis, 'we still have common cause for the moment. If we can't get to the Stone, we can at least work together to make sure no one else can. There'll be time to worry about each other once we've taken care of the competition.'
    'I think you overestimate the strength of your position,' said Dominic calmly. 'To put it bluntly, dear Lewis, you don't have anything I need. My support among the Blood is far greater than yours, my troops are well armed and well trained, and I have my own spy in Viktor's inner circle. You have the Monk,