Everliving Kings (the Heroes of Darkness Saga) by JD Ravynsmoon

him are Celts, they have their own Gods and don’t give a damn about yours, that won’t stop them.”
    Brewer nodded but went on, “True but we do have Friar Tuck here with his mystical prayers, I am sure we can hold them off for a bit.”
    Brother James crossed himself and lifted his eyes to the heavens before grumbling something about being a man of god and not magic under his breath.
    Undaunted by the holy man’s reaction the Sheriff went on. “Perhaps we can send Sir Robert and Brother Tuck out to slow them down.”
    Sir Robert quickly agreed but Brother James had a handful of reasons why that would be both dangerous and foolhardy. Anya raised her left hand to silence the bickering and said, “That would be risky, go on.”
    The Sheriff nodded before continuing. “Se cond, I have a mercenary army of some fifty thousand French knights on the way here as we speak.”
    At that the room exploded in questions and exclamations.
    “What!?”
    “…lost your mind!?”
    “Dear God save us!”
    “Really? How soon?”
    “Is that a lot?”
    Anya smiled and nodded at Julnar before as king, “Will your King not notice a foreign army land on his shores?”
    “If Prince John gave a hoot for tactics or wa rfare he probably would. Lucky for us he cares far more for drinking himself stupid and where to put his winky next then the current events of the kingdom.”
    Julnar looked up with a frown and said, “Winky?”
    Anya next to her leaned over and whispered an explanation in the girl’s ear causing her to flush red in the face and simply say, “Oh.”
    Impervious to the distraction the High Sheriff continued, “With good weather in the channel and good winds from Calais they should land on the southern coast in a few days. I however did not want to rely solely on Prince John’s reaction, in the off chance he were sober enough to be offended, so I invited him here.”
    Although surprise made its way around the table, it was the Sheriff’s own brother who spoke first. “Are you mad? What the devil would you invite that drunkard here for? You know as well as I that he is unstable and dangerous!”
    The Sheriff smiled in response, “Yes I do. I also know the best way to keep a child entertained is to provide…gifts and games and…well distractions. He will be in the company of the Archbishop himself and…”
    Once more the room was abuzz with concerns, “What?”
    “Here?”
    “How does that help?”
    “To what end?”
    The Sheriff held up his hands to still the w aters, “Gentlemen, ladies please allow me to finish. I plan on holding a grand tournament! Games of skill, games of chance, feasting, drinking, axe throwing contests, tests of strength, archery and jousting! A grand time for all of our noble and Royal guests!” he said throwing up his hands as if that explained everything.
    The table guests exchanged confused glances until the Vampire spoke up. “But Sheriff, you left out the best parts of the Vampire v shifter-wolf battles, the blood, the screaming and the death all around! If you were planning on leaving all of that out I think you underestimate how hard it will be to avoid.”
    The Sheriff just smiled and shook his head at the sarcasm. “No not at all my lady. Just as Holy sanctuary will stay the hand of Lord Rathbone and his dogs, so too will a royal festival. And of course to top it all off we will have a formal grievance presented to both the King and the Archbishop discrediting Lord Rathbone and saving the fair Lady First!”
    Bishop Brewer frowned and shook his head still not convinced that his brother’s plan was a sound one. “And just how do you expect the word of a Vampire girl to mean more to Prince John than that of his richest land baron?!”
    The Sheriff had expected this argument and leaned back in his chair with a smile. “Because my dear brother, we have proof Lord Rathbone hired fifty thousand French knights to depose the Prince Regent and name himself King.”
    Anya cut him off