The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (51 page)

Fabian’s voice
broke and his face wore the agonised look she had seen before.  Mistral
had no need of his aura to know the pain he was feeling.

‘Mistral, as
soon as I saw you walk into the tower room I knew I had made a terrible
mistake.  I never dreamed he would send you.  Can you ever forgive me
for nearly causing your death?’ 

His expression
was distraught, pulling unbearably at her heartstrings.  She immediately
moved closer and kissed his lips gently. 

Fabian
sighed.  When he spoke again his voice was controlled once more.

‘When Leo sent
you away to consider the Contract we argued.  I was adamant that I should
travel alone to head off Eximius.  It didn’t matter to me that he would
realise that I had been spying on a Council member and was passing information
to the Ri.  What do I care if he throws me off the Council?’  

Anger
reverberated in his voice.  He paused and drew in a deep breath to regain
control again.

‘However, he
eventually convinced me that you three were more than capable of being simple
messengers.  So, I reluctantly agreed to his plan but made him swear that
should you fail to convince Eximius to stay on the Isle under no circumstances
were you to travel to The Desert Lands to fight.  Looking back, I can see
that Leo agreed to this too readily just to silence me.  He had already
made up his mind to order you to The Desert Lands “
by any means necessary
”
if it came to it ... although I’m certain he never envisaged that you would
hitch a ride on Mage Grapple’s warship full of his elite warlocks,’ he smiled
and lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair from her face.

‘So you didn’t
know about the proviso in the Contract to send us to The Desert Lands?’ 
Mistral asked, remembering how stricken Fabian had looked when Leo had outlined
the second part of the Contract. 

Fabian shook
his head bitterly, ‘I was astounded when he immediately went back on his
word.  I realised that I had severely underestimated how ruthless my
brother truly is.  And in doing so I endangered all of your lives.  We
argued for most of the night.  Terrible words were said on both our
parts.’  Fabian paused, his face strained.  ‘But however driven Leo
is by his own ambitions I cannot place the blame solely with him.  I was
blinded by my own selfish wants too.  My desire to keep Leo and Eximius
apart and yes, you were sadly right, the chance to see Emiror again.’

Mistral felt a
spike of pain at the mention of his feelings for her.  Past or not, it
still hurt to know he had thought of someone else like that.  Fabian held
her more tightly, wordlessly reassuring her.

‘I had been
such a fool!  Leo delayed me longer than I wished with our argument and
when I finally left the Valley you were far ahead of me.  I rode hard,
determined to catch you up and convince you to turn back.  I was prepared
to lie, tell you that Leo had sent me with news that the mission was cancelled,
anything to stop you going on the cursed suicide mission I had unwittingly sent
you all on.  I missed you at Nevelte and it took me another day to catch
up with you and when I did – well, you weren’t in the mood to be persuaded,’ he
paused, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

Mistral
cringed, recalling vividly how she had screamed at him in the meadow.

‘I’m sorry I
lost my temper at you,’ she muttered, embarrassed. 

Fabian ran a
finger along the underside of her jaw, his eyes serious.

‘You have
nothing to apologise for.  Actually, you did me a favour.  Your words
rang true, in the most part anyway.  You made me face some truths that I
had been hiding from for a long time.  I am the one who has the apology to
make for placing you in such unnecessary danger.

‘I spent the
whole night thinking about what you had made me face up to and by dawn I knew I
had to tell you everything.  Because of me Leo had trapped you into an
unpaid, unachievable Contract.  You had been lied to and used.  I
felt that you deserved to know the truth – about Leo, Emiror, Mage Grapple –
everything to do with the whole sorry mess.’ 

‘When we woke,
we thought you’d left us,’ she whispered, abashed at how easily she had
believed that he would do something like that.

‘I went
hunting.  I wanted to cook breakfast before I explained myself. 
Experience has taught me that moods are often improved by a full stomach,’ he
paused, a small teasing smile playing across his lips.

Mistral pulled
a face at the thinly disguised jibe about her temper but said nothing.

‘When I caught
up with you, it was too late.  The wolverines had already made short work
of the twins and were about to do the same to you.  I couldn’t believe
that I had, once again, inadvertently placed your lives in jeopardy through my
actions.  If only I had spoken with you the night before instead of
waiting until the morning it would all have been different!  You three
would have been safely heading back to the Valley and I would have gone on
alone to meet Eximius.’

Fabian gazed
at her, regret etched on his pale face.

‘Even if you
had told us the truth, I don’t think it would have changed anything,’ she said
softly. 

Fabian sighed
resignedly, ‘No, perhaps not,’ he agreed and hesitated, as if undecided how to
phrase what he wanted to say.  ‘I am ashamed that a part of me was glad
not to tell you the truth.  I didn’t want you to hate me any more than you
already did.  I didn’t know why I should even care what you thought of me
– but I wanted,
needed
, you to think well of me,’ he shook his head,
frowning at his own weakness.

Mistral
touched his face, stroking her fingers slowly along his cheekbone, tracing the
hollows of his cheeks, marvelling at the feel of his skin giving way to the
roughness of his unshaven jaw.  Fabian reached up and took hold of her
hand, caressing her palm with his lips.  Mistral closed her eyes with the
shiver of pleasure that ran down her spine.

‘I never hated
you,’ she breathed. 

He raised his
eyebrows sardonically, ‘Really?’ he murmured.  ‘You never found me –
annoying?’

Mistral
smiled, ‘Well, maybe just a little at first,’ she admitted.  ‘But I don’t
think I was ready to accept what I really felt for you, so it was easier to be
angry with you.’

Fabian sighed,
‘We have wasted so much time already, and believe me, I am an expert at
squandering time on lost causes and lies.

‘Mistral,’ his
voice was suddenly serious.  ‘I refuse to waste this chance.  There
is, I think, but one life and I am unwilling to let another moment of mine pass
without the person I love in it.  So, if you can find it in you to forgive
my abrupt announcement tonight after such a long absence, I wonder … would you
consider spending your life with me?’

Mistral’s
heart gave a huge boom and stalled.  The silence lengthened and she
realised that she had no words to express the emotions she was feeling. 

‘I’m terrible
at this,’ she finally muttered, dipping her face down to avoid his eye contact.

‘Please don’t
be embarrassed,’ he spoke softly, lifting her chin gently with his hand and
forcing her to meet his velvet gaze.  ‘I want us to be completely honest
with each other.’

Mistral took a
deep breath, exhaling slowly to calm herself.  How did anyone do
this?  Blithely announce their innermost feelings and expose their soul to
another?  What exactly was she afraid of?  Being vulnerable, of
course, and … rejection.  But Fabian had been brutally honest with her
tonight, did he not deserve the same from her? 

Noises outside
brought her whirling thoughts back to reality.  Footsteps, laughter, and
the odd snatch of song drifted up to them.  People were leaving The Cloak
and Dagger and heading back to the dorms for the night.  Mistral hadn’t
realised it was so late.

Fabian sighed
and began to sit up, dusting hay from his shirt.  Released from the warmth
of his embrace Mistral shivered at the sudden cold. 

‘I think I
will stay in The Cloak and Dagger tonight,’ his voice was even as he stood up,
but he did not look at her.  ‘It’s too late to ride out to my house.’

Mistral
realised that she had no idea where he lived, this virtual stranger that she
was prepared to pledge her lifetime to.  She was suddenly struck by a
thousand questions she wanted to ask him.  She watched him walk over to
the ladder and a panicky feeling that she would never see him again swept over
her.  Her heart beat double-time with a rush of adrenalin, making her body
shake with more than cold.  Making a sudden decision, Mistral leapt to her
feet and ran across the loft, catching his hand as he reached out to take hold
of the ladder.

‘Of course I
love you,’ her voice was imploring, her eyes holding his, filled with urgent
emotion.  ‘I think I always have.’

Fabian looked
at her wordlessly for several long seconds and she gazed back, lost in the
fathomless depths of his ebony eyes, astonished that she had actually spoken
those words out loud.  Then, slowly, he smiled and his face blazed with
the same glorious look of triumph that she had seen earlier.  Drawing her
into his body he held her so close so that she felt the long sigh of
satisfaction leave his body.  Mistral felt a powerful burst of happiness
and smiled into the cotton of his shirt.

‘Let me walk
you to the dorms,’ he whispered huskily.

Fabian climbed
quickly down the ladder and waited for her at the base, pulling her into his
arms before she reached the bottom and swinging her lightly to her feet. 
This time she didn’t mind. 

They stepped
out into the dark December night together.  It had started snowing and
already a soft white blanket had formed on the steep paths and rooftops. 
Fabian looked up at the sky, laughing happily.  Huge white flakes floated
silently down, settling gently on their heads and shoulders.  Mistral
watched his upturned face, the snow catching in his black tangled hair and long
eyelashes.  When he turned to look at her his raven eyes were glowing with
an inner fire, his whole face so beautifully alive that it made the breath
catch in her throat. 

‘Please stay
with me,’ she begged, the words tumbling out before she could stop them, then,
catching the expression that flickered across his face, quickly added.  ‘I
didn’t mean!  Oh, what I meant was – there’s just so much I want to ask
you –’ her voice faded and she felt herself blushing again. 

Fabian placed
both his hands onto her shoulders and gazed sincerely into her eyes, ‘We have
all the time in the world – for everything, and I have no wish to damage your
reputation.’

Mistral
blinked once and then laughed, ‘I’m training to be an assassin, and you’re
worried about my reputation?’

Fabian paused
and his face relaxed into an easier expression then he laughed too, ‘I realise
that I may sound a little old fashioned, but,’ he fixed her with his black
intense stare, instantly knocking all rational thoughts from her mind.  ‘I
want everything to be perfect.  I will not ruin this.  You are too
important to me.’

He kissed her
lightly on her forehead, his warm breath caressing her cool skin.  Mistral
closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation until a sudden thought struck her and
her eyes flew open, meeting his dark gaze.

‘In the
interests of openness and honesty,’ she said and arched an eyebrow.  ‘What
exactly were you talking to Golden about in the tavern tonight?’

Fabian groaned
quietly.  He had obviously been hoping that she wouldn’t ask that
question.

‘If you must
know I was trying to subtly enquire about you, but I didn’t get very far. 
Golden is only interested in talking about herself.’

‘About
me?  What about me?’ she demanded, suddenly suspicious.

‘Only the
usual,’ Fabian was suddenly evasive.  ‘How you were ... what you had been
doing.’

Mistral sensed
a lie, ‘Honestly?’

Fabian sighed
exasperatedly and studied the sky for a long second, ‘Alright, I admit
it.  I was trying to find out if you were with anyone or not.’

‘Oh!’ 
Mistral was so surprised at such an unimaginable notion that it took her a
moment to realise that he was waiting for a response, his face composed into a
mask of polite indifference.

‘No!’ she
exclaimed.  Dropping her head with embarrassment she added in a quieter
voice.  ‘There’s never been anyone ... until I met you.’

Mistral felt
rather than heard his sigh, as though something he had suspected had been confirmed. 
She raised her head to look into his face.  He was gazing up at the
snow-filled sky again and she could only see the underside of his jaw.  It
was rigid with tension.

‘What?’ she
was alarmed by the anger in his expression.  Was Fabian dismayed at her? 
Would he rather she had been with half the Valley? 

‘Perhaps you
would prefer me to be more like Golden?’ she snapped when he didn’t respond.

Abruptly his
expression softened and his lips brushed her top of her head with a kiss.

‘No,’ he
murmured into her hair.  ‘I wouldn’t change a thing about you.  It’s
me I’m dismayed at, for selfishly tying you to a worthless rogue like me.’

Mistral
laughed and tilted her head to look at him, ‘Worthless?  Hardly!  I’m
a half-breed assassin while you are the eldest son of one of the most
influential sorcering families on the Isle!’

‘When you put
it like that, we’re perfectly suited,’ Fabian smiled, his eyes glowing again.

Mistral
shivered, despite the heat of his gaze.  The snow was falling faster now,
the air thick with flakes.  Fabian drew her back into the warmth of his
body and they resumed their walk towards the dorms, not rushing despite the
cold.

‘If you don’t
mind me asking,’ he began conversationally.

‘I don’t,’ she
smiled.