Free Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools by Philip Caveney

camp for one more night and finish their journey the following morning.
     
The copses of trees had grown steadily more widespread as they'd journeyed through the day, until now they were following a path that led through what was little short of woodland. They came to a large clearing and saw what had to be the most welcome sight of all. A stream was meandering through it, the first water they'd seen since they'd started across the plains. Sebastian brought the caravan to a halt and Cornelius pulled up alongside him, an accusatory expression on his baby face.
     
'What did you say to her?' he hissed angrily, but Sebastian ignored him. He jumped down from the caravan and unhitched Max, who made a beeline for the stream and began to drink deeply.
     
'Now who says you can't trust Berundians?' asked Sebastian, slapping him playfully on the rump.
     
Max lifted his head briefly, water dripping from his mouth. 'Yes, but we didn't find it till we were nearly in Keladon,' he retorted. 'And stop trying to divert attention from the fact that you have made a blunder.'
     
'Thanks for the sympathy,' muttered Sebastian.
     
Cornelius appeared from around the back of the carriage. He was slotting together a series of jointed metal pieces, which fitted into a set of leather compartments in his belt. As Sebastian watched, he assembled a beautiful miniature crossbow.
     
'Had this made for me by a master craftsman in Golmira,' he said. 'No good for hunting javralats but great for food on the wing.' He pointed up at the restless black shapes moving in the trees.
     
'Supper,' he announced. 'You get a fire going, I'll pick off a couple of those beauties. They look like they should make good eating. We might try tasting some of that fruit too. It would make a welcome change from meat.' He looked up at Sebastian again. 'The princess seemed very upset,' he whispered. 'I tried calling in to her several times along the way but she didn't even deign to answer me.'
     
'Look. Forget about it,' snapped Sebastian. 'I really don't want to talk about this.'
     
'Suit yourself.' Cornelius wandered off into the trees, looking up at the branches above him, which were silhouetted by the red light of dusk. Sebastian, meanwhile, inspected the wound in Max's flank, which looked sore but not infected.
     
'No need for mulch tonight,' he said, with forced jollity. 'The grass here looks pretty tasty.'
     
Max sighed. 'The condemned beast ate a hearty meal,' he muttered and moved away from the stream to browse on the lush grass beside it.
     
'Oh come on,' said Sebastian. 'It might not be as bad as all that.' He looked thoughtfully towards Princess Kerin's carriage, where a dull wash of yellow light glowed from under the curtained doorway.
     
Up in the trees there was a sudden swish of air and a black shape plummeted from the topmost branches to hit the ground with a thud.
     
'Looks like your supper's sorted out,' observed Max.
     
Sebastian hurried to the wagon to fetch some kindling. He was hungry again and the big birds would take some time cooking.
     
A short while later Sebastian and Cornelius were sitting at the campfire, watching the carcasses of two plump birds turning on the spit and dripping fat into the flames. They had tried a couple of pieces of the crimson fruit as an appetizer but it tasted rather sour and they had quickly abandoned the idea of a healthy alternative to meat. There was still no sign of Princess Kerin, and Cornelius was beginning to worry about her. He kept throwing nervous glances towards her carriage, then looking accusingly at Sebastian.
     
'She must be starving in there,' he said. 'One of us should at least try and persuade her to come out for some supper.'
     
'Be my guest,' said Sebastian quickly. 'I've already felt the sharp edge of her tongue, thank you very much.'
     
'Yes, but look, it's your fault she's in there.'
     
'Oh? How do you figure that out?'
     
'Because you questioned her ability to be Queen.'
     
Sebastian