Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools

by Philip Caveney

  Tench shrugged. T did as my sovereign commanded,' he said. 'Now, are you going to go down those stairs quietly, or would you prefer to go down them with a sword in your ribs?'

  Cornelius looked thoughtful. 'Well, let me see now. What would be preferable?' He deliberated for a moment, then allowed his eyes to widen as though a thought had just occurred to him. 'Wait,' he said. 'I've got a better idea.' He pointed at Golon and then at Tench. 'What about if we all go down the stairs together? The three of us.'

  'Together?' growled Tench. 'How do you propose we do that?'

  'Like this,' said Cornelius. And made his move.

  CHAPTER 23

  BREAKING OUT

  Sebastian had been on the edge of dozing off when he was suddenly shaken fully awake by a fearsome crash, mingled with yells of surprise. He jumped up off the wooden bench and ran forward to peer through the bars of his cell. The crash was followed by a series of thumps, grunts and bellows, as three men came tumbling down the flight of stone stairs into the cellar. Sebastian recognized Golon and two uniformed soldiers, one of whom was very small.

  'Cornelius!' he yelled.

  But the manling was in no position to answer right now. He was clinging onto the right wrist of the other soldier, trying to hold back the sword that was clutched in the man's huge fist, as the three figures rolled over and over in an ungainly tangle of limbs. Finally they thudded down onto the hard floor of the dungeon. Golon landed first, face down, and gave a final grunt of pain as the larger of the two soldiers came down on top of him, with Cornelius crouched on his chest. Now Sebastian could see that the other soldier was Captain Tench and that he was trying his very best to kill Cornelius.

  But the struggle didn't continue for long. Cornelius pulled back one fist and struck Captain Tench hard across the chin. The man's body went limp and he collapsed back onto the unconscious figure of Golon. Cornelius stooped down and snatched up the keys from the jailer's belt. Then he hurried across to Sebastian's cell.

  'I don't know,' he said. 'I leave you alone for one night and look what happens.'

  'The princess,' began Sebastian. 'She was helping me with a disappearing trick and—'

  'I know all about it,' Cornelius interrupted him. T heard it from one of the men on the gate.' He began to sort through the keys on the bunch, trying them one by one in the lock on the cell door. He had to stand on tiptoe to do it. 'Looks like we were right to have misgivings about King Septimus,' he said.

  'You're injured,' observed Sebastian, looking at the crust of dried blood on the little warrior's shoulder.

  Cornelius nodded. 'The king organized a small ambush for me,' he said. 'Twenty Brigands against one Golmiran.'

  Sebastian smiled. 'Pretty much equal odds then,' he said.

  Cornelius gave a nod of satisfaction. He tried another key and this one slotted into the lock with a satisfying click. He turned the key and the well-oiled door swung silently open. 'Come on,' he said. 'We need to get out before somebody notices what's happening down here.'

  'What about Max? They're planning to have him roasted tomorrow.'

  'Really?' For a moment Cornelius looked quite pleased by the idea. Then he shook himself. 'We'd better collect him, I suppose. We'll go by the royal stables on our way out and see if there's any sign of him.' They started towards the stairs. Cornelius stooped, picked up Captain Tench's sword and handed it to Sebastian.

  'What about the princess?' asked Sebastian grimly.

  'What about her?' Cornelius looked up at him, his face expressionless.

  'Well, she's been kidnapped, hasn't she? We have to help her.'

  Cornelius shook his head. 'Right now I'd say our priority is saving our own skins. She could be anywhere.' He fixed Sebastian with a hard look. 'She could be dead.'

  Sebastian stared down at him in shock. The thought hadn't even occurred to him. He was going to say something else, but Cornelius had started up the stairs and there was no real option but to follow him. As they reached the open doorway at the top, a soldier appeared carrying a tray of food. He was

  probably bringing Golon his supper. He saw the two men approaching and stood there staring at them, unsure what to do. But Cornelius didn't hesitate. He ran forward and slammed into the man's legs, tipping him off balance. Sebastian, following on Cornelius's heels, grabbed the man by his shoulders and pulled hard, ducking under him as he fell. The man, still holding the tray of food, tumbled over Sebastian's back and went somersaulting down the steps to join the two unconscious men below. He struck the ground in a scatter of broken crockery and didn't move.

  Cornelius led the way out of the dungeons and along the corridor beyond, his sword held ready to meet anybody who opposed them. But it was late and there didn't seem to be anybody about. They made it out to the main hall of the palace itself, and it was then that Cornelius remembered the heavily armed guards who were standing on the other side of the main door.

  'There's two soldiers out there,' he warned Sebastian. 'You take the man on the left, I'll take the one on the right.'

  They approached the door. Sebastian took the handle in one hand and prepared himself to fling it open; but then he paused at the sound of a familiar voice. He glanced at Cornelius in surprise.

  'That sounds like Max,' he whispered.

  They listened intently and could just make out the words through the thick slab of wood.

  ' . . . and I tell you, you must let me enter. This is a matter of the utmost importance.'

  'Allow a buffalope into the palace?' cried one of the guards. 'The king would have our guts for garters.'

  'Not when he hears what I have to tell him. It's about the princess.'

  'Go on, clear off, before I put a spear in you!' growled the second guard. 'We're not going to take orders from a filthy beast of burden.'

  'I don't much care for your tone!'

  Sebastian and Cornelius looked at each other. Cornelius nodded and began to count.

  'One . . . two . . . three!'

  Sebastian wrenched the door open and they both jumped out, taking the guards by surprise and punching them to the ground before they even had a chance to react. Max stood there in open-mouthed surprise, looking down at the two unconscious men.

  'Well!' he complained. 'They were being rather rude, but I can't help feeling you overreacted.'

  'Never mind about that,' said Cornelius. 'Here, Sebastian, grab their weapons. We may have need of more than one sword apiece.'

  Sebastian crouched down and helped himself to the nearest guard's sword and scabbard. 'What was this news that was so important?' he asked Max, as he buckled on the belt.

  'Princess Kerin,' said Max. 'She's been kidnapped.'

  'I could have told you that,' said Sebastian.

  'Yes, but I spoke to her just a little while ago.'

  'What?' Sebastian looked at Max incredulously.

  'It's true, I swear! I talked to her. She was in the back of a cattle wagon.'

  'Max, are you sure?'

  'Of course I'm sure. She's been taken to Brigandia to be sold as a slave.'

  Cornelius remembered something. 'Shadlog's teeth!' he said. 'I passed such a wagon as I came in! The two men driving it looked like Brigands – the officer on duty remarked upon it. But they were carrying a pass marked with the king's seal.'

  'What more proof of treachery do we need?' cried Sebastian. 'Cornelius, we have to go after her.'

  Cornelius gazed up at Sebastian thoughtfully, as though considering the request. Then he shrugged. 'I suppose you're right,' he admitted. 'Though it seems to me we'd do far better simply to get as far away from here as possible.' He sighed. 'They have a bit of a start on us, but it shouldn't be too hard to overtake them on the plain and deal with them.' He thought for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. 'Well, come on, we'd best get moving.' He ran towards the hitching post at the edge of the courtyard where Phantom still waited and swung himself up into the saddle. He indicated Captain Tench's equine.

  'I trust you
can ride?' he asked Sebastian.

  'No problem.' Sebastian moved to the captain's mount. He hadn't ridden in ages, but he figured he'd be all right. He pulled his lanky frame up into the saddle and patted the equine's neck. 'We should still stop by the stables. We'll need to grab some water – and there's a couple of other things I need to get from my caravan.'

  'Well, we'd best be quick,' Cornelius warned him. 'It won't be long before somebody raises the alarm.'

  'How will we get past the guards at the gate?' asked Sebastian.

  'A good question. I haven't quite figured that out yet. It was an easy enough matter to get in, but once they see you, we'll most probably have to fight our way out.'

  Max shook his head. 'There's too many guards,' he said. 'They'd drag you down by sheer force of numbers. No, you get off to the stables and grab the provisions. Leave the gate to me. Just let me have a few moments alone with those buffalopes who operate the machinery. And when you come, come quickly.'

  Sebastian and Cornelius looked at each other doubtfully but Max was already trotting away along the approach to the palace.

  'What do you suppose you're going to do?' hissed Sebastian; but Max didn't hesitate and within a few moments he was out of earshot.

  'What do you think?' asked Sebastian.

  'I don't know,' admitted Cornelius. He hefted a sword and swung it around his head a couple of times, the razor-sharp blade hissing on the air. 'Whatever happens, we'd best go prepared for the worst,' he said. 'Come on!'

  And the two men galloped off in the direction of the royal stables.

  Max turned the bend at the end of the avenue and saw the massive wooden gates up ahead of him. Guards were ranged in their posts along the length of it, but he was glad to see that they all seemed to be sleeping.

  He saw the two huge buffalopes standing in position, harnessed to the machinery that operated the gates, and he felt a wave of pity for them. They had probably lived most of their lives chained here. When he had first arrived at Keladon, he'd spoken to them in the human tongue and they had ignored him completely It was only afterwards that it had occurred to him that they'd probably have reacted if he'd spoken in buffalope. After all, these were manual labourers; they probably weren't the brightest sparks in the campfire. It was years since Max had said anything in his native tongue, but he thought that he could probably manage to make him?self understood. He hoped so, anyway. Because he had a plan . . .

  He slowed to a walk and sidled carefully up to the buffalopes, noting as he did so that their keeper was asleep on a blanket only a few steps away. The buffalopes were dozing on their feet, but they both opened their eyes as Max approached them.

  Max opened the conversation with a snuffling grunt, which in buffalope meant, Greetings, brothers.

  'Hello,' said the first one grudgingly; his companion just grunted.

  'I bring you glad tidings,' said Max.

  'Oh yes,' said the first buffalope. 'Don't tell me, we're going to get a day off from operating these flipping gates.'

  'Er . . . no, it's not that. I bring you the word of the great god Colin.'

  Their eyes lit up. Now he had their undivided attention. He had counted on them being devotees of the buffalope god, and it had paid off.

  'What does Colin say?' asked the second buffalope eagerly.

  'He wants all his followers to rebel against humankind,' said Max.

  'What?' The first buffalope looked puzzled. 'And how exactly are we supposed to do that?'

  'By doing the exact opposite of what they tell you,' said Max.

  The two buffalopes exchanged puzzled looks.

  'Why does he want us to do that?' asked the first buffalope.

  'It's a test of your resolve. He says that only buffalopes who obey him to the letter will be allowed to join him in Buffalope Paradise – the Great Wallow in the Sky.'

  'You're sure this is the word of Colin?'

  'Oh, absolutely. He came to me in a vision and he said, "Max, your job will be to spread the word." So here I am.'

  'What did he look like?' asked the second buffalope.

  'Oh, quite regal really. Big curling horns. Very nice features. You could see he comes from an impeccable background.' Max glanced nervously over his shoulder but there was no sign of his friends yet. 'And he was shimmering with this strange light all around him. And through his nose—'

  'The world, hung from a silver ring.' The first buffalope sighed. 'Blimey, I wish I'd seen him.'

  'Oh, you will! Once humankind is overthrown he's planning to reveal himself to us all.'

  'Really?' The second buffalope looked eager. T can hardly wait.'

  'Yes, well, how about a little practice?' suggested Max.

  'Umm . . . OK,' said the second buffalope.

  'Right, pretend I'm your master. I'll give you an order and—'

  'We do the exact opposite,' said the second buffalope. 'Yes, I think we can handle that.'

  Max glanced over his shoulder and saw to his alarm that two riders had just appeared at the end of the avenue.

  'Right, first of all make sure those gates are properly closed!' he said.

  'Which means—' said the first buffalope.

  '– that they should be open!' concluded his companion.

  Dutifully the two buffalopes began to walk to their left, causing the huge wooden cogs to start turning. The gates slowly began to creak open.

  The sound served to rouse the beast-master from his sleep. He stared at the two buffalopes for a moment, then glanced suspiciously at Max. He lifted his head, looked towards the gates and then came fully awake.

  'Stop that!' he shouted at the buffalopes. They glanced at each other but continued with what they were doing. The gates continued to swing open.

  'You stupid brutes,' growled the beast-master. He got to his feet, grabbed a leather riding crop that hung from his belt and started to beat the buffalopes across the back with it. They winced but kept on opening the gates. 'Stop it!' roared the beast-master. 'Shut those gates!'

  Max frowned. He felt terribly guilty for causing the buffalopes such discomfort but these were desperate times. He lowered his head and pawed the ground. The beast-master stopped what he was doing and looked at Max warily.

  'What do you think you're doing?' he snarled.

  'Getting ready to knock a big stupid bully off his feet,' said Max in the human tongue; and he charged, lowering one horn to get it under the man's legs. He flipped his head upwards and the beast-master was thrown through the air with a bellow of fear. He came down heavily onto a stack of barrels, causing one of them to split open. He slumped unconscious amongst the wreckage. The noise of the collision had woken some of the other guards. They were getting to their feet and looking in dull surprise at the ever-widening gates of the city.

  'What the—? Shut those gates!' roared the ruddy-faced officer, the man who had admitted Cornelius a little while earlier. But the buffalopes redoubled their efforts and the gates swung even wider. The officer was going to shout something else, but he suddenly became aware of the thudding of hooves behind him and turned just in time to see two equines bearing down on him, one tall and majestic, the other tiny but galloping for all it was worth. The officer fumbled for his sword, but then they were past him and racing out into the night.