Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

Its great mouth chomped hungrily in anticipation. Jordan dropped his sword and stumbled back a step. The redcap pulled the blade out of its body and threw the sword to one side.
    Cord's mallet whistled through the air, and the redcap was off and running again.
    Cord chased the thing round and round the room while Jordan got his breath back. The redcap scuttled under chairs and over tables, hiding in every possible nook and cranny, trying always to make it to the door or to the wainscotting, but somehow Cord was always there first to drive it back. Once Jordan could have sworn the creature actually ran up one of the walls and headed for the ceiling before Cord intercepted it, but by that time he was so confused from trying to keep track of it that he couldn't be sure what he'd seen. All he was sure of was the rising cost of damaged furnishings.
    Fire, thought Jordan desperately. Cord said the redcaps hated fire. He palmed one of his flare pellets, and was surprised at how few he had left. He'd have to be careful how he used them until he had a chance to make some more. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, waited for his chance, and then nicked the wax coating of the pellet with his fingernail and threw it at the redcap. The pellet broke open on contact with the redcap's chest, and burst into flames. The redcap howled with pain and fear, and tried to beat out the flames with its bare hands. Cord's mallet swung down and round while the creature was distracted, and sent the redcap flying backwards into the suite's main fireplace. The tiny creature slammed into the blazing logs and coals and shrieked horribly. For a moment it scrabbled helplessly among the flames, and then it exploded into a dirty smoky gas that shot up the chimney and disappeared. The last echo of its screams died away, and the suite was suddenly quiet, save for the crackling of the flames in the fireplace. Cord reversed his mallet and leant on it, grinning at Jordan.
    'Nicely done, your highness. I was wondering how long it would take you to lose your temper and blast the little swine with your fire magic. And now, if you'll excuse me, I must go. The Steward needs me.'
    And he was out the door and gone before Jordan could even think to mention the mess Cord had made of the suite. He'd seen battlefields that were less messy. Jordan sighed, and shook his head resignedly. At least the bedroom door had been shut, so he still had somewhere intact left to sleep. He retrieved his sword and sheathed it, thought about starting to clean up the mess and thought better of it, and then spun round suddenly as he heard the door open behind him. It was only Cord, frowning slightly. Jordan took his hand away from his sword.
    'Forgot to ask while I was here, Sire - have there been any outbreaks of the Unreal in this part of the Castle? We've had sightings practically everywhere else.'
    'Nothing here,' said Jordan. 'Apart from the redcap.'
    'No unusual visitors in the past hour or so?'
    Jordan decided not to mention the Monk. Things were complicated enough as they were. 'There was a young boy who'd got separated from his mother, but that's all. One of my guards is looking after him.'
    'Oh yes?' said Cord. 'That wouldn't have been Wee Geordie, by any chance?'
    'That's right. Do you know him?'
    'In a manner of speaking.'
    'Good. I sent him over to the Steward. Maybe you can help her find the lad's mother.'
    'I already know where she is, Sire. In the Castle cemetery. She and Wee Geordie have both been dead these past two hundred years. You should feel honoured, Sire; Wee Geordie doesn't show himself to many people. He's one of the rarer ghosts in Castle Midnight. Quite well documented, though.' Cord frowned, his scarred face set and grim. 'He was nine years old when he died. Now he's spent two centuries wandering through the corridors, lost and alone, searching for his mother. Poor soul.'
    Jordan looked at Cord blankly. 'But he was real, solid ... he held my hand.'
    Cord raised an eyebrow. 'This is Castle Midnight, your highness.'
    'Of course,' said Jordan quickly. 'I've been away from home too long, that's all. Everything's fine here now, Cord. You can go.'
    Cord bowed formally and left, closing the door quietly behind him. Jordan sat down heavily on the nearest intact chair, shaken at how close he'd come to giving himself away. Of course the real Viktor wouldn't have been surprised about the ghost; he'd probably grown up surrounded by the things. The Great