He smiled at Sebastian. 'Ah, Mr Darke. I trust you are well.'
'Well enough,' said Sebastian. 'No thanks to you.'
'Oh, come along, you don't harbour a grudge, do you? I was only looking after my interests.'
'As you still are.'
Malthus smiled thinly and gave a polite bow. 'Her majesty will see you now,' he said and ushered Sebastian inside, closing the door behind him.
She was standing in front of the marble fireplace, dressed in one of the beautiful brocaded gowns she had recently taken to wearing. Her face was dusted with white powder, her long hair tied up in an intricate bun, and he thought that she seemed so much older than when he had last seen her. She smiled at him, but it was a polite, reserved smile.
'Sebastian,' she said. 'You are quite healed, then.'
He went down on one knee and bowed before her. 'I am the better for seeing you,' he said.
'Ah, ever the charmer. And how is Cornelius?'
'Nearly mended. He'll be out any time now.'
'I'm pleased to hear it.' She gestured to him to sit in a nearby chair. She chose another a short distance away. They sat looking at each other in silence for a moment. It felt decidedly awkward, as though they were meeting for the first time. Finally the queen spoke.
'Sebastian, the kingdom of Keladon wishes to express its gratitude to you for the services you have rendered to us. It is my intention to give both yourself and Captain Drummel the freedom of the city and the annual sum of three hundred gold crowns to be spent on whatever is your wish.'
He stared at her. She sounded so cold and aloof, as though she was speaking to a stranger.
'The money is to be paid on—'
'Why are you talking to me like this?' he interrupted her. 'We're friends, aren't we? After everything we've been through together, I would have thought that we could at least talk to each other like normal people.'
'I think I am speaking normally. Now, the money is to be—'
'Forget the money! I'm not interested in money! I came here because I wanted to tell you what was in my heart.'
She shook her head. 'Sebastian,' she said quietly, 'I know that you once had feelings for me—'
'What do you mean, "once"? Nothing's changed . . . has it?'
She studied her feet for a moment. 'Alas, everything has changed. I'm Queen of Keladon now and must behave like one. I can no longer act on whims and fancies.' She lifted her gaze to look at him. 'Sebastian, the adventure we had will always be with me. But now my duty is to my people. I told you, what seems like an age ago, that my first real act as monarch would be to marry Prince Rolf of Bodengen.'
'Yes, but that was before . . . before we . . .' Sebastian got impulsively up from his chair and moved towards her. He kneeled before her and took her hands in his. 'You don't love him,' he said. 'I know you don't. You're doing this because of a royal duty. But I believe that you care for me.'
'No.' She shook her head. 'I don't. You are mistaken.' But tears glittered in her eyes as she said it. 'You must understand, my life is no longer my own. It belongs to the people of Keladon, the people who fought – and in some cases gave their lives – so that I could sit upon the throne. By making this alliance with Bodengen, I will be ending centuries of bloodshed between our two kingdoms.'
'But what about you? What about your happiness? And mine? Don't we deserve any?'
She was trying hard to maintain her dignity. 'Sebastian, ask whatever you wish and if it is in my power, I shall grant it. But not that. I cannot give you that. I'm sorry.'
He let go of her hands and got back to his feet. He felt crushed, desolate. He walked across the room and stood looking moodily into the empty hearth. 'Then do not ask me to stay here and watch you throw your life away,' he said. 'I will leave . . .'
'No, Sebastian, stay here. You can make a good life for yourself. You'll meet a nice girl who you'll fall in love with—'
'I thought I already had.' He glared at her. 'But somehow it got complicated.'
'Well then.' She thought for a moment. 'The offer of money still stands. I wish to reward you for what you have done. Won't you at least allow me to do that?'
He shook his head. 'Please arrange to have the money sent to my mother in Jerabim. I have no need of it.' He bowed politely and then turned towards the door.
'Sebastian!' For a moment her regal poise slipped and she sounded like the girl he remembered. 'Please, tell me that you don't hate me.'
He looked at her long and hard, and for a moment he forgot who she was. 'Oh, Princess,' he said, 'I could never do that.' He felt his own eyes filling with tears and hurried to the door. He glanced back once and saw that she was sitting in her chair, her head bowed, her shoulders moving gently up and down. Tears were making lines in the white powder on her face.
He wanted so much to go back to her but knew in that moment that he could not. She had shut herself off from him and would never allow him to get close again. He closed the door and walked quickly away.
He went to the royal stables, looking for Max; and was surprised to find that Cornelius had discharged himself from the hospital and was sitting on a hay bale, chatting to the buffalope. Sebastian paused for a moment outside the stall, listening to their conversation.
'Did you see those soldiers go flying when I slammed into their shields?' asked Max. 'It was incredible. They should call me Max the Mighty.'
'Well, you should have seen my Golmiran death roll on the staircase. I don't like to boast, but it was a personal best. I still haven't worked out how one of them managed to wound me.'
'Maybe you're a bit out of condition.'
'Nonsense! Why, I'm in my prime. Once this wound finishes healing up, I'll be ready for just about anything.'
'What about more adventures?' asked Sebastian, stepping into the stall.
Cornelius grinned. 'Why not?' he said. 'It's getting a bit too quiet here for my liking.'
'Oh, I don't know,' said Max. 'Let's not be hasty. The food here is excellent – they really know how to look after you.' He gave Sebastian an enquiring look. 'How did it go with the queen?'
Sebastian sat down on a bale and tried not to let his disappointment show. 'Not great,' he admitted. 'She's going to marry Rolf of Bodengen.'
'I see,' said Max. 'Well, no, not exactly a result.' He thought for a moment. 'Maybe she'll keep you on as her "bit on the side".'
Sebastian glared at him. 'I hardly think either of us would be happy with that arrangement.' He looked at Cornelius. 'You knew this would happen, didn't you?'
The little warrior shrugged. 'I . . . suspected as much. Sebastian, you have to understand, she's the queen now. There are all kinds of things she'll have to do. I'm sure she cares for you but, let's face it, you're just—'
'A jester. And once again, it would seem, an unemployed one.'
'I'm sorry, my friend, but I'm afraid only fairy stories have happy endings.'
'Hmm. Well, it's not all bad news. She's giving you a gift of three hundred gold crowns a year.'
Cornelius stared at him. 'You are joking,' he said.
'No, I'm deadly serious. We both get the same. Except I don't want mine. I've arranged to have it sent home to my mother.'
'A wonderful gesture.' Cornelius thought for a moment. 'My parents are already disgustingly rich, so there's not much point in me making a similar arrangement.'
'Did she mention giving me anything?' asked Max hopefully, but the two men ignored him.
'So,' said Sebastian, 'there's not much point in hanging around here. I have no wish to see her marry that slope-headed oaf.'
'Absolutely not,' said Cornelius. 'Which brings me to some rather interesting news.' He paused for a moment and looked around, as though nervous of being overheard. 'You left the hospital well before me, but you remember the old fellow in the bed next to me?'
'Vaguely He was in a bad way, wasn't he?'
'Yes, he'd been wounded in the final battle at the palace. Nathaniel, his name was. I could see that he w
asn't going to last very long, so I spent quite a bit of time talking to him. He'd been an adventurer when he was a young man; spent most of his life in the port of Ramalat on the east coast. He'd been planning to head back that way for one last adventure, but realized now that he would never see it again.'
'How very sad,' said Max. 'I wonder if they'll be bringing round some dinner soon—'
'Shush!' said Sebastian. 'Go on, Cornelius.'
'Well, in his final hours, when he knew it was all over for him, he gave me something.' Cornelius glanced round again, then reached into his tunic and pulled out a folded piece of yellow parchment. He opened it and passed it across to Sebastian. It was clearly ancient, mottled by the passing of time. It appeared to be some kind of a map.
'What is it exactly?' asked Sebastian, turning it this way and that to try and catch the light. 'This brown ink is so faded, I can barely read it.'
'It's not ink,' said Cornelius. 'It's written in blood. And it's a treasure map. It shows the location of the lost treasure of Captain Callinestra.'
'Captain who?' asked Max.
'Callinestra!' said Sebastian. 'Surely you've heard of him? Father used to tell me stories about him when I was little. He was this legendary pirate king who was said to have amassed an incredible treasure and hidden it in a secret location. But . . . I always assumed it was just a story.'
'Not according to Nathaniel. He told me that when he was a youngster, he was cabin boy on the captain's ship, the Ocean Star. It seems that he was entrusted with the map when the ship was finally overrun by a band of rival pirates. Nathaniel escaped, but the captain and all his crew perished.'
Max sniffed suspiciously. 'If he had the map all that time, how come he didn't go back for the treasure himself?'
'He did. He tried three times over his lifetime, and each expedition was hounded by ill-fortune. On his third attempt he barely escaped with his life. He was planning to have one last try when he was injured in the battle for the palace. He knew his time had come and he must have decided that somebody else should have a chance at it.'
'Huh.' Max tossed his head contemptuously. 'He was probably stark staring bonkers. Most likely drew the map himself. I wouldn't have any faith in an old scrap of paper like that.'
Sebastian looked at Cornelius. 'But you believed his story?' he asked.
The little man nodded. 'Every word,' he said.
'Well, that's good enough for me,' said Sebastian. 'We'll leave just as soon as you're completely healed.'
'Just a minute!' said Max. 'I don't understand. You've just turned down the offer of gold crowns, so clearly money doesn't have that much interest for you. So why go chasing after treasure?'
'For the adventure,' said Cornelius. 'The thrill of finding something that nobody else has ever found.'
'Yes, but let's not be too rash about this. I mean, we're onto a good thing here, we don't want to just throw it away . . . do we?'
Sebastian smiled. 'Don't worry, old friend. If you'd rather stay here, I'll understand.'
Max looked at him for a moment and then shook his head. 'You know I can't do that. I promised your mother I'd look after you.'
'She'd never know,' Sebastian told him. 'You could just settle down here, eat everything in sight and get nice and fat.'
Max sighed. 'It's an inviting prospect, sure enough,' he said. 'But, no, I suppose I'd better come with you. It's going to involve travelling on water, isn't it? Buffalopes don't like water.'
'Buffalopes don't like a lot of things,' murmured Cornelius.
Sebastian handed the map back to him. 'Here, keep this safe until we're ready to leave,' he said. 'Judging by the look of you, I'd say a few more days should put you right.' He glanced at Max. 'As for you, I'd advise you to eat every last scrap they give you. Once we're on our way, the food isn't going to be quite so plentiful.'
'It's marvellous, isn't it?' said Max disgustedly. 'No sooner do you get comfortable in one place than the young master has a desire to move on again. Honestly, sometimes I could just spit, I really could!'
At that moment the gates at the top of the stables opened and the ostler came in carrying buckets of food.
'Oh goody,' said Max, cheering up considerably. 'Din-dins!'
EPILOGUE
It was time to go. Max had just eaten his final leisurely meal at the royal stables and now he was being harnessed once again to Sebastian's caravan. Cornelius had saddled up Phantom and filled the saddlebags with provisions for the long journey.
There was to be no ceremonial send-off, no bands playing, no trumpet fanfares, all of which suited Sebastian fine. He was glad to be getting away because later today, he had been told, Prince Rolf of Bodengen was due to come visiting; and Sebastian knew that he could not bear to stick around and watch that.
He was just about to climb up into the seat of the caravan when Cornelius gave a polite cough. Sebastian turned to see somebody approaching: the cloaked and hooded figure of a woman.
She removed the hood from her face and Sebastian and Cornelius went down on their knees.
'Would you leave without saying goodbye?' she asked reproachfully.
Sebastian frowned. 'I thought we had already done that,' he said. 'And you shouldn't be out by yourself. It's dangerous to go without an escort.'
'I thought this occasion was worth the risk,' she told him. 'You know that you are all very special to me.'
'Clearly not special enough,' muttered Sebastian.
'Don't be bitter,' she told him. 'It doesn't suit you.' She indicated that he should stand and she came closer until she was facing him. 'I have made arrangements for your mother to receive the yearly payment of gold crowns. A trusted messenger has already left with it. Now you need have no worries on her behalf. She will have enough to live out her life in luxury'. She reached under her cloak and handed a heavy cloth bag to Cornelius. 'And here is a full year's payment, Captain Drummel. For services rendered.'
'Thank you, your majesty,' said Cornelius, bowing low. 'I am grateful for your kindness.'
She looked at Sebastian. 'And since you would take no reward for yourself, I have something else for you.' From around her neck she produced a pendant hung on a leather thong. It was beautifully worked in gold and precious jewels and was fashioned in the shape of an eye, with a glittering blue pupil. She reached out and hung it around his neck.
'This amulet,' she said, 'is supposed to keep the wearer safe from harm. It has been in my family for generations. It is really only supposed to be given to members of the royal family, but I think in this case we can make an exception.'
Sebastian lifted the amulet in his fingers and examined it. 'You are kind,' he said.
'I don't suppose it's worth asking where you are bound?'
Max opened his mouth to reply but snapped it shut again as Cornelius elbowed him in the ribs.
'We're not sure ourselves,' Sebastian told her. 'We're simply going wherever the wind takes us.'
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools Page 28