Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers Read Online Free PDF Page B

captain!'
     
'Shadlog's beard! Keep your voice down, you great oaf! I've told Keera I'm a general, just like this General Darvon that everybody's so stirred up about. That way she'll feel more confident about me training the villagers.'
     
'It doesn't matter how trained they are,' protested Sebastian. 'If they're outnumbered twenty to one they'll be slaughtered.'
     
'In a stand-up fight, yes,' admitted Cornelius. 'That's where we need a really great bit of strategy.'
     
Sebastian and Max looked at him expectantly.
     
'I'm . . . working on it,' he said. 'Now' – he got to his feet and nodded to Sebastian – 'you get some more sleep. You'll find that each day now, you'll manage to stay awake a little longer. You've been very lucky, my friend. I saw them take out that arrowhead – it was right next to your heart.' He held his forefinger and thumb slightly apart. 'That close.' He looked at Max. 'Come on,' he said. 'We'll let him sleep.'
     
'Very well.' Max gave Sebastian a mournful nod. 'Goodbye, young master, I'm pleased you're not dead. I'll see you later.'
     
Max and Cornelius left the hut, and within moments Sebastian was asleep and dreaming. He dreamed that he was sitting on a great golden throne, in the centre of a huge marble palace. Below him he saw Keera coming slowly up a long flight of steps, holding a jewelled casket out in front of her, her brown eyes gazing up at him in utter devotion. She knelt before him and held out the box like an offering. He took it from her, placed it on his lap and opened it. Inside was an ancient scroll. He took it out, unrolled it and studied its contents, realizing with a dull sense of surprise that it was a list of his father's jokes, written in elegant calligraphy.
     
He looked back down the steps to see that behind Keera were lots of people in animal skins, who he presumed were the rest of the Jilith tribe. They were all kneeling and looking up at him expectantly. He recognized others too. There was King Septimus glowering up at him in silent hatred; there was Leonora watching him knowingly with her pale yellow eyes. There was Jenna Swift and Queen Kerin and lots of other faces he never expected to see in this strange place.
     
They all seemed to be waiting in silence.
     
So he read out the first joke – the one about the man who had a little mutt that chewed somebody's hat. He came to the punch line, paused for dramatic effect and then delivered it clearly. He waited for the laughter and applause. He waited and waited but the crowd were just looking at him blankly. And that was when he felt the big beads of sweat break out on his forehead.
     
He tried the next joke. And the next. Nobody laughed. Not a titter. Not a chuckle. Just silence and those terrible bemused faces.
     
And though he knew he was asleep and dreaming, he couldn't seem to make himself wake up, no matter how hard he tried . . .
     

C HAPTER 5
COME TO THE FEAST
The days passed and Sebastian was finally strong enough to get up and take his first brief forays outside, seeing the village for the first time. He discovered that it was composed of around twenty small round huts and several oblong communal guesthouses, one of which had been allocated to him and Cornelius. The jungle had been systematically cleared for a good distance all around the encampment so that there was no cover where enemies could hide. In and around the huts, the Jilith worked, played or just sat and passed the time.
     
They were a handsome people, with olive skin and dark hair. The men sported beards, which they kept neatly trimmed, and wore rough animal hides. Though they had no armour and their weapons were crude things, they were clearly capable of defending themselves. Sebastian noticed that whatever they were doing, they kept their swords, shields and spears within reach. Keera had told him that parties of Gograth might launch armed raids on the camp at any time. It had been a while since the last raid and everyone was on edge,