CHAPTER 17
Departure and ArrivalOne day Bladud was called to the private chambers of Hudibras. The great king had recently been in failing health and increasingly left the business of governing the country in Bladud’s hands. This had not eased the tension between the two brothers, but Bladud seemed determined to work with Liel and overcome his enmity. While Liel pretended to a co-operativeness he did not feel, Yaruk, in the background, studied his every move like a cat watching a mouse.
‘How can you possibly trust him?’ he would ask Bladud, despairing of his friend’s good sense.
‘I don’t,’ Bladud replied simply. ‘But I will not take the throne over the dead body of my brother.’
‘But you are giving him powers that one day he may use against you!’
‘He is more likely to do so if he has c
