Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers (16 page)

'Oh, don't worry,' said Keera. 'Amongst the Jilith, that is considered the height of good manners.'

'Don't tell him that,' muttered Sebastian. 'None of us will get a wink of sleep tonight.'

'I heard that,' said Max primly; and Sebastian and Keera shared a mischievous laugh.

'So,' said Cal, a little louder than seemed absolutely necessary, 'what's in this mysterious lost city we're seeking?' Sebastian glanced up in surprise, the spell broken. He shrugged. 'Blessed if any of us know,' he said. 'It's just that Thaddeus Peel asked us to find it.'

Cal's eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'Who's Thaddeus Peel?' he asked.

'He's . . . the man who sent us on this mission. A powerful man in Ramalat. He wants to know all about the lost city.'

'Well, why doesn't this Thaddeus Peel come and find it for himself?'

'He was . . . well, he's just not the adventuring sort. He asked us to come and look for it – and bring back proof of its existence.'

'Why would he want you to do that?' asked Galt, mystified.

'Well, he's heard people talking about it since he was a small boy. So he put together this expedition. You see, he thinks it could be worth his while.' He lowered his voice as though somebody might be listening in. 'There could be treasure,' he said.

The warriors looked back at him blankly.

'What's that?' asked Galt.

'You know – gold . . . silver . . . precious jewels?' They still looked bemused.

'What use would they be?' asked Cal.

It suddenly struck Sebastian what nonsense he was talking. The Jilith had no currency and therefore no use for any of the treasures that most of the world held in such high esteem. Give a Jilith man a handful of diamonds and he'd most likely use them as decorations to braid his hair. Hand him a bag of gold coins and he'd probably use them as ammunition in his slingshot. He certainly wouldn't have any other use for them. Sebastian considered what they might prefer.

'There might be other things,' he said. 'You know, like Joseph found? The globe with the little houses inside?'

Galt smiled. 'Oh yeah, now you're talking!' he said. 'I wouldn't mind one of those. I once asked Joseph if I could borrow his for a bit, but he just said no. He's very mean with it. We
could
find a really big one' – he extended his huge arms as wide as they would go – 'with
big
houses inside it. Then if he asked me if he could borrow mine, I'd just say no!' Cal looked at him in a pitying sort of way. 'And if we found one like that, how do you suppose we'd get it back?'

'Hmm . . .' Galt lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

Sebastian leaned back and then noticed that Keera was looking at him with interest.

'The world you come from,' she said. 'It must be very different to ours.'

Sebastian considered for a moment. 'Yes, I suppose it is,' he agreed.

'These . . .
treasures
you speak of. They mean something in your world?'

He nodded. 'Where I come from, a man's importance is measured by the amount of treasure he has,' he explained. 'If he has enough gold and jewels, he can have whatever he wants. A fine palace, land, slaves . . .'

'Slaves?'

'People who must do his bidding, bring his food, clean his house. That sort of thing.'

'Take my word for it,' said Max wearily, 'you've already got one of those.'

'But you are a slave too,' Keera told Sebastian.

'I am?'

'Yes, because you must do the bidding of this Thaddeus Peel.'

'Er . . . well, he
is
paying us to do this.'

'Paying you . . . how?'

'With money. Gold coins.' Sebastian studied her baffled face for a moment. 'It's hard to explain,' he said.

'And you have a lot of this . . . money?'

'Oh no, hardly any. But of course some people have money beyond imagination. In a place called Keladon there was a king – Septimus – the richest man in the known world. He had vast palaces, armies, stables, gold, jewels, you name it . . . He was a mighty man indeed.'

'Until you killed him, young master,' said Max, from behind a bush.

Keera's eyes narrowed. 'You killed this king? Why?'

Sebastian frowned. 'It's complicated. He shouldn't really have been king. He was supposed to be minding the throne for his niece, a young woman called Princess Kerin, until she came of age. But he plotted to have her killed. And I . . . I wished to protect her. So I helped lead an uprising against him.'

Keera looked at him and her eyes seemed to burn, such was their intensity. 'You loved this Kerin,' she said. 'I can tell from your voice.'

Sebastian felt himself reddening. 'Oh no, not really – though I was quite fond of her—' he said.

'You were mad about her,' said Max. 'You were like a great lovesick ninny wandering about the place!'

'I was not!' protested Sebastian. 'He's exaggerating,' he told Keera.

'Hardly. You were like a big moon-faced twerp. When she threw you over, you acted as though you were mortally wounded. I almost expected you to start writing poetry about her.'

'Will you belt up?' snarled Sebastian. 'Just get on with your supper and keep your snout out of this.' He turned back to Keera, aware that, by his feet, Salah was shaking with silent laughter. 'You'll have to forgive him,' he said. 'He's always lived in a fantasy world – you can't trust a thing he says.'

'I think he speaks the truth,' said Keera; and she could not conceal the disappointment in her voice.

'It's all in the past,' Sebastian assured her. 'I don't even think about her now.'

Galt suddenly clapped his hands together. 'You'd roll it,' he said.

Everybody looked at him.

'What are you blathering about?' snarled Cal, who couldn't seem to take his gaze off Keera and Sebastian.

'The big globe. You'd just roll it along the ground. You'd have to be careful it didn't smash on rocks or anything, but—'

'Joseph's globe has a flat bottom,' said Cal. 'It wouldn't work.'

'Oh, yes.' Galt frowned and thought for a moment. 'A raft,' he said. 'We could build a raft and float it downriver.'

'But we'd be heading
up
river,' said Cal flatly.

'Huh?'

'If we were going back to the village, we'd be heading upriver, wouldn't we? How would we get a raft to go upriver?'

'Couldn't we paddle really, really hard?' suggested Galt.

Meanwhile Keera hadn't quite finished questioning Sebastian. 'So even a Chosen One can be unlucky in love,' she observed. 'Was this Princess Kerin the only one you loved, or were there others?'

'Umm . . . well . . .' began Sebastian. 'I suppose . . .'

She took hold of his hand. 'And do you think you could ever feel the same way about another woman?'

'Oh, I already do,' he assured her.

'Really?' She looked delighted.

'Yes, her name is—'

'I think you can safely let go of her hand now,' said Cal, staring across the fire at Sebastian.

Sebastian looked down in surprise. 'Oh, but . . . she was holding
my
hand,' he assured Cal.

'I don't see much of a difference. It seems to me that you need to learn your place, and not go chasing after Jilith women!'

'What?' Sebastian stared at him. 'I'm not chasing after anyone! I was just trying to—'

'I can see what you were trying to do. But you need to remember that Keera belongs to me!'

Now it was Keera's turn to look indignant. 'Is that so?' she said. 'Well, it's the first I've heard about it.'

'Oh, come on, you know how I feel about you.'

'I am aware of that, yes. But you must also understand that I have never felt the same way about you. To me, you're a good friend, nothing more.'

'Oh, you say that
now
! But everything was different before this . . . this jumped-up fancy pants arrived in the village.'

'Jumped-up fancy pants?' cried Sebastian. 'Well, I've been called a few things in my time, but—'

'Cal, you know the prophecy,' said Keera, her voice as cold as a field of Golmiran snow. 'Sebastian was sent by Okrin to help us. He and his companions have rid us of our greatest enemies.'

'Yes – with the help of the entire tribe. And at the cost of eight lives.'

'That doesn't matter. He fulfilled his part of the prophecy and it's up to me to fulfil mine. After everything he's done for our village, how can I not give him whatever he asks of me?'

'Yes, but hold on,' said Sebastian. 'I wasn't—'

'You shall never marry him!' roared Cal.

'Look,' reasoned Sebastian, 'I don't even want to—'

'My father has said that we
must
marry!' said Keera. 'Would you have me defy Maccan as well?'

'You will wed this preening fool over my dead body!' yelled Cal and he got to his feet, reaching for his sword.

'Preening fool?' gasped Sebastian. 'Well, that's just—' He broke off as something occurred to him – something so obvious he was amazed it hadn't come to him before. He pointed at Cal.

'You . . . snake in the grass!' he cried. 'That's why you sent me into the jungle on my own. You knew it wasn't a rusa I'd be going up against. You knew it was a gruntag. You hoped I'd be killed and then you'd no longer have a rival!'

'Nonsense,' said Cal; but he didn't sound too convincing.

'You expect me to believe a seasoned hunter like you could mistake gruntag poo for rusa droppings? You knew exactly what you were doing. Oh yes, you thought I'd wander in there and be torn limb from limb.' Now Sebastian got up from his seat and reached for his own sword. 'I ought to teach you a lesson you'll never forget.'

'You're welcome to try, elfling,' snarled Cal, stepping forward. Behind him, Galt threw aside what was left of his food and started up. Max came trotting back to stand by Sebastian. Keera and Salah sat regarding the scene in silent horror. In the brief silence that followed, the crackling of the fire seemed very loud.

And then there was a sudden blur of motion whirling through the air from one side of the fire to the other. Sebastian received a powerful punch in the face that tipped him back over the tree trunk he'd been sitting on and left him lying with his skinny legs sticking up in the air. A fraction of a second later, Cal received a kick in the stomach that sent him sprawling into Galt and the two of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

The blur came back to earth and into focus. Cornelius stood there, hands on hips, glowering around at his fallen companions.

'What was that for?' gasped Sebastian. He was trying to get himself upright, but in his current undignified position it wasn't easy. In the end, Keera and Salah pulled him back up so he was sitting. 'What . . . what do you think you're doing?' he spluttered.