As I made my way out of the building I could feel the writhing of my cheekbones and teeth under my skin and struggled not to turn, enter the room and drag the sword away from the Duke. The vampire desired it more than blood and it was only this thought and the vampire’s natural inclination of self-preservation that stayed my hand. I knew that I was probably more than capable of killing everyone, including the men and women of the Order and while normally inclined for such bloodshed, my vampiric instincts were also trying to make sense of everything.

  Alexi and Viconia had not gone far, and judging by their expressions they, and anyone else within earshot had heard a majority of what had occurred. Viconia looked ready to storm into the priory with Dragonbane in hand and deal with the three noble’s in her own manner, and while Alexi was smiling there was a shadow behind it.

  “It went well I take it?”

  “Define ‘well’?”

  “You didn’t kill anyone and you haven’t been arrested, so I would consider that a victory.”

  As I stepped out into the sunlight, I tried and failed to ignore the collection of people crowding just outside of the priory’s gatehouse. Many had gathered to see what would result from the arrival of the duke and his entourage and the fact that the Order had changed commanders but at that moment I felt bitter and on edge. “How much of that did you hear?”

  “Enough that I want to know why you haven’t killed them.” Viconia growled. “Want me to?”

  “As satisfying as it would be, I don’t think it’ll solve anything.” I replied.

  Alexi nodded, his cheerful expression at odds to the chill of his tone. “Kaius is right, and from here we need to tread very carefully. This is now the battlefield of politics and we are very much at war.”

  “Glad to know that I’ve gotten myself into a fight that I am utterly inexperienced in.”

  “You did well.” Viconia’s voice was just as cold as Alexi’s and they both shared a mutual nod of agreement. “They were baiting you and you didn’t take it.”

  “I think you scared them Kaius.”

  Moving through the crowd that parted as we left the priory, I glanced at Alexi and saw that he was being serious for once. “How the hell did I scare them?”

  “Believe it or not, but you can be extremely intimidating sometimes. You have this way of staring at people that makes you look like you are going to… I don’t know, rip them apart and eat them or something.” Only Viconia would have seen my sudden apprehension but Alexi was too busy looking ahead to see my surge of unease. “It will be useful with dealing with de’Leorion and his ilk. Trust me, I know all about their kind and they are petrified of someone like you who has gotten to where he is by skill and talent instead of birth.”

  “As long as they don’t see how terrified I am then we will be fine then.”

  Both he and Viconia laughed lightly but none of us were in pleasant moods. “We need to take this very carefully. You are a threat to them, and while I don’t know what they hope to accomplish, having the likes of Cedrccer here means it isn’t going to be good.”

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  “I told them that the Relics are locked in the undercroft and the door is broken.”

  “Good.” He nodded. “I’ll tell the others to keep their mouths shut.”

  Stopping in place in a portion of the tents that was for the moment quiet and lacking people, I gave him a pointed stare. “I half expected you to want us to throw our support behind the Duke.”

  Alexi chewed on his lip and carefully looked around us. “Before he arrived yes, that’s exactly what I would have advised but something’s wrong with this whole situation.”

  “Besides the fact that the Sword is… tainted somehow?” Viconia’s expression was that of someone sucking on a piece of lemon and the fact her hand was on Dragonbane told me all that I needed to know.

  “Glad I’m not the only one that could feel that.” Rubbing at his face for a moment he used the metal creases of his gauntlets to scratch under his jaw. “But that’s not the only problem. Most of the knights that arrived here are from the Host of the Horn, and Cedrccer is one of their Knight-Captains. He’s not someone we want to get on the bad side of and their order is not what you would consider to be a typical one.”

  “How well do you know him?”

  “Well enough to say that if you shake hands with him, ensure you count your fingers afterwards. The man is a snake in every sense of the word and is one of the most renowned tournament fighters in High Rock and Hammerfell. He’s got more victories under his belt than I do and that’s saying something, but most of those victories have been in suspicious circumstances. Three years ago in Daggerfall he was proclaimed tournament champion after two of the finalists came down with bouts of food poisoning and another suffered an accident when his opponent used a tipped lance by mistake. That’s only one tournament out of many and the rest of his Knights aren’t much different.”

  “So, we’re in deep shit?”

  He nodded, only once but once was enough. “Very. The Host of the Horn are a band of thugs and legitimised strongarms. Oblivion take them, they are known for extortion, among other things...”

  “We’re going to expect to see the like here?”

  “Indeed. There’s enough of them that they equal our number of knights. Unfortunately, there are going to be many in our ranks that will obey and join them. After all, de’Leorion is a Duke, and now our commanding officer.” He paused, his face going slack for a moment before having another, closer look at the tents around us. “We will need to be very, very careful from this moment onwards. No talk of murder or anything that can be used against us. They will be looking for every opportunity to remove you and the threat that you represent and we can’t afford to give them the opportunity.”

  “Agreed.” All of my fears, concerns and anxiety was churning through my stomach and I almost felt as though I was going to vomit. “Why can’t things be as simple as going to battle?”

  “The world would be less interesting.” Viconia chuckled under her breath, one of her deep, husky laughs that never boded well for anyone. “Looks like some of our new acquaintances are getting settled in.”

  Following the direction of her gaze, I saw a pair of knights being escorted by their Men-at-arms and others who were obviously their personal servants moving about as though taking in the sights. Their laughter was loud over subdued nature of the priory and the unusual lack of construction going on and my annoyance grew as they seemed to enjoy the sport of mocking everyone they came across.

  There were not many people in the tents at the moment, most were crowding around the larger concentrations of the new arrivals but around a corner a familiar figure appeared and I felt myself grow tense with recognition. Of all the individuals capable of further complicating things, Detane was on top of the list.

  As one of the members of our group who wasn’t a knight, Man-at-Arms or directly affiliated he had been absent for most of the morning and in fact this was the first time that I had seen him since our brief chat the day before. As he always did he was moving about with a purpose and ignoring everyone and anything in his way as though they were insignificant, at least until he turned the corner and caught sight of the Knights.

  Of the reactions that was typical of the short Breton, freezing in place for a moment before turning as quickly as he had appeared was not what I was expecting, and was unusual enough that it caught the attention of the two knights. It was also impossible not to notice their moment of recognition, their conversation stopping in mid breath as their expressions turned to shock.

  “You there! Hold!”