Read Online The Dragons 3 by Colin Thompson - Free Book Online Page B

had shrunk back to their normal sizes and were now busy making plans for the invasion of Avalon. The first thing Brassica had done was change his name again. He had just seen the word brat in a dictionary so he was now called Ruthra, which was sort of like Arthur backwards if you couldn’t spell properly.
    â€˜I did try Ruhtra,’ he said, ‘but no one knew how to pronounce it. And see, once I am returned to my rightful title of King, I’ll change it back to front again and make that little scumbag Arthur call himself Ruhtra. So I shall be Arthur once more and no one will be able to say his name properly.’
    â€˜Aren’t you going to kill him?’ said Princess Floridian.
    â€˜Yes, but not until lots of people have made him feel really stupid because they can’t say his name properly,’ said Ruthra.
    Sometimes you are such a stupid little boy , the Princess thought, but we won’t worry about that until we’ve got you back on the throne again.
    â€˜You could call yourself Hurrat,’ said Rampart. ‘That’s got all the Arthur letters in it. That’d be good. It sounds like hurrah.’
    â€˜Yes, but it also sounds like her rat ,’ said Ruthra.
    â€˜I like it,’ said the Princess. ‘Her rat.’
    â€˜I think I’ll stick with Ruthra,’ said Ruthra/ Brassica/Brat/Ex-Arthur Pendragon, ‘though I reckon Thumbscrew would be a good name.’
    â€˜Yes, but that’s my name,’ said Thumbscrew, a wide, chunky neanderthal covered from head to foot in greasy dreadlocks. 32 ‘So if you want it, you’ll have to kill me first.’
    â€˜Well, umm, I have to admit that it suits you much better than it would me,’ said Ruthra. ‘You are very lucky having such a wonderful name.’
    Thumbscrew grunted.
    They were sitting around a big table with some of the most dangerous people in the Diabolical Islands. There were pirates and renegades, ex-dictators and con men, vegans and cat lovers. In fact, whatever evil thing you could think of, there was someone who had done or was planning to do it. They were all armed to the teeth, except for those who had no teeth who were armed to the gums, except for those who had no gums and just held their weapons in their hands, except for those who had no teeth, no gums or no hands, but still looked very dangerous.
    â€˜Why should we leave the comfort and safety of these islands,’ said a one-legged tyrant called One-Legged Tyrant, ‘to go and help you?’
    â€˜You must know that Avalon is one of the wealthiest countries on Earth,’ said Princess Floridian. ‘When we kill that wimp Arthur and restore the great Ruthra to the throne, all that wealth will be ours, and when I say ours I mean everyone who fights with us.’
    â€˜How do we know you’re not just saying that?’ said One-Legged Tyrant.
    â€˜Have you heard of the Golden Turnip?’ said the Princess.
    â€˜Well, of course, but everyone knows it’s just a legend like El Dorado, the city of gold, or the Holy Grail or that place where you never grow old.’
    â€˜Shangrila.’
    â€˜Yes. They’re not real,’ said someone else and most people agreed.
    â€˜But that’s where you’re wrong,’ said the Princess, realising there were probably enough people in the room who weren’t sure and who could persuade most of the others.
    â€˜Take Shangrila,’ she said.
    â€˜That’s the most unlikely one of all,’ said One-Legged Tyrant’s brother No-Legged Tyrant, who was sitting propped up in a box on the table.
    â€˜How old would you say I am?’ the Princess asked.
    â€˜Fifteen?’
    â€˜Fourteen?’
    â€˜Seventeen?’
    â€˜Thirty-seven,’ said Blind Pew, who was sitting in the corner facing the wall and was not actually blind.
    â€˜I am eighty-seven,’ the Princess lied. ‘I was born in Shangrila and only left there