The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (66 page)

‘Try this
crossbow,’ Fabian muttered, passing a short-stocked crossbow to Phantom. 
‘It has a very powerful range.’

Phantom
murmured his thanks and took the crossbow.  Throwing his brother a
meaningful look he indicated with his head towards the door.

‘We’ll go pack
our bags and get ready,’ said Phantasm, diplomatically leaving Mistral and
Fabian alone in the cellar once more. 

Mistral waited
until she heard the twins’ footsteps on the wooden floor of the house above
them before she turned to Fabian and gazed beseechingly at him.

‘Please,
please don’t be angry with me any longer,’ she begged, looking at his taut
expression.  ‘I couldn’t stay here while you went out!  I would go
insane with worry!’

Fabian’s face
instantly melted into a softer expression and he reached up to stroke her
cheek, ‘You would be worried ... about me?’ 

Mistral nodded
mutely, her eyes bright with unshed tears, ‘Of course I would!  I love you
Fabian!  How could I sit around here knowing that you were risking your
life for me?’

Fabian sighed
and pulled her into his arms, ‘Of course I’m not angry with you.  And,
much as it pains me, I do realise that I can’t be there on every Contract that
you take.  But, and this is a very large but, I simply cannot abide the
thought of deliberately placing you in danger.  It goes against every
instinct in me.’

Mistral turned
her face into his shirt and began to cry, ‘I’m so selfish –’ 

‘No you are
not!’  Fabian exclaimed, frowning down at her.

‘I am!’ 
she sobbed.  ‘You’re so patient with me!  And I – I shouted at you
when all you wanted to do was try to protect me –’

Fabian
suddenly bent his head and kissed her until her tears stopped and she returned
his embrace, winding her fingers through his hair to pull him even closer. 
Reaching up to gently unlock her hands Fabian broke away and gazed down at her.

‘Now I’m the
one being selfish,’ he laughed shakily.

They gazed at
each other for a long moment, oblivious to the biting cold of the cellar and
the muted sounds of the twins moving about in the room above their heads. 

‘We had better
get ready,’ Fabian finally said, releasing her and reaching down to collect the
saddlebag of weapons he had packed.

‘Wait!’ 
Mistral said abruptly, fighting the sudden impulse to lock the cellar door and
trap them both down there.  ‘You’re not going to stop me from coming here
are you?  Just because you don’t trust me to be alone with you?’

Fabian
immediately dropped the saddlebag to the floor and took hold of her
again.  He looked into her eyes and smiled at the anxiety he saw there.

‘I would never
wish to prevent you from coming to your own home,’ he said softly.  ‘Which
reminds me.  I have something for you.’

Reaching into
his pocket, Fabian pulled out the iron key to his house and held it to
her.  Mistral frowned at the key in his hand.  Even in the gloom of
the cellar she could see that it looked different, newer. 

‘I had a copy
made at Toothe and Nayle for you.  I thought it might make you feel more
disposed towards a second year’s training if you knew you could come home
whenever you wanted to.’

Mistral slowly
took the key from his hand and stared at it, fresh tears splashing down onto
the gleaming new metal.

‘I know it’s probably
not the best gift you have ever been given, but I had hoped for a more
favourable response,’ Fabian murmured in a bemused tone.

Mistral looked
up at him, her face filled with intense emotion, ‘You’re wrong.  This is
the best gift I’ve ever been given.  Apart from you that is –’ 

Flinging her
arms around him Mistral began to kiss him with sudden need, only breaking off
when Fabian abruptly pushed her away.

‘Stop Mistral
... please.  This is going to be the longest year of my life if you keep
doing this to me.’

Mistral stared
wordlessly back at him, the strain in his voice only serving to fuel the fire
raging inside her. 

‘I think we
had better get on with the hunt,’ he muttered, taking hold of her hand and
pulling her firmly towards the door.

Feeling
slightly dazed, Mistral allowed herself to be led up the stairs.  She
slipped the new key to her home into her pocket and smiled.

They left once
Mistral had packed up her saddlebag and strapped on her various weapons,
sliding her borrowed knife into her belt last of all.

‘Care to do
the honours?’  Fabian asked with a smile, closing the door behind
them. 

Mistral
grinned and fished her new key out of her pocket.  It fitted perfectly
into the lock and turned with an oiled snap.

‘I declare
this house locked,’ she announced, pocketing her key with a flourish.

The snow lay
thickly across the yard and the surrounding mountainside, reaching to Mistral’s
ankles when she walked over to the stables.

‘We’ll have to
travel carefully,’ Fabian said looking out the snow covered landscape and then
up at the sky.  ‘But I don’t think there’s going to be any more snow
today.’

Mistral
followed his gaze and looked up at the sky.  It was covered in a thin
layer of pearly grey cloud that looked as though the sun would burn it away
before noon, promising a bright afternoon.

They tacked
the horses and led them out into the yard.  Cirrus was excited by the snow
and circled nervously, causing Mistral to hop around on one leg while she tried
to pull herself into the saddle.  Spirit was no better, fidgeting
anxiously and champing on her bit while Fabian held her tightly and mounted.

‘I’m so glad I
bought a calm one,’ said Phantom smugly while he mounted his statue-like horse.

They left the
yard and rode single file along the narrow trail leading from Fabian’s
house.  There was no wind and the warm breath from the horses’ nostrils
rose in misty plumes, enveloping them in a soft white cloud.  After a
short while the trail widened out, allowing them to ride side by side and talk
more easily.

‘Where do you
think the others slept last night?’  Mistral asked Phantasm.

Phantasm
frowned, ‘Well I’m fairly sure that Xerxes would have led his group straight to
the nearest village and drank their tavern dry.  I think Cain and Saul
will have done the same and I have to say that I don’t really care where
Golden, Columbine, and Konrad ended up sleeping last night.’ 

Mistral
nodded, feeling relief in her brother’s words.  She’d felt guilty about
waking up in a warm bed, imagining the others shivering in The Velvet Forests
in their cloaks. 

‘If it wasn’t
for Konrad we wouldn’t have the extra worry of those elves trying to use us as
target practise, so I really hope he froze on the mountainside
somewhere!’  Phantom added bitterly.

‘Drows are cold-blooded,
so I doubt it,’ Fabian muttered quietly, peering down at the snow around them
as he rode. 

‘Are
they?’  Mistral grimaced.  ‘He’s well-suited to Columbine then,
because she looks distinctly amphibious.’

‘Yes,
gargillians are cold-blooded too, and you’re not far off the mark with your
complimentary description of her.  Gargillians are descended from
reptiles.’ 

‘Oh! 
I’ve always wondered what those weird ridges were on her back!  They were
scales!’

‘When did you
see those?’  Phantom asked, looking disgusted and fascinated at the same
time.

‘I told
you!’  Mistral exclaimed.  ‘Or I tried to tell you, but I think your
more sensitive-natured brother stopped me from telling the full story.  I
walked in on her in the showers once, but I don’t think she knew I’d seen her
or I’m sure I’d be missing a couple of limbs.  Anyway, never mind how much
she hates me, there’s something I’ve never fully understood and I’m sure you’ll
both have a theory on it.  Why does someone as perfect as Golden hang around
with a revolting creature like Columbine all the time?’

‘Oh, Mistral
that’s so simple.’  Phantasm sighed then gave her a half-smile.  ‘But
I suppose someone like you just won’t see it.’

‘Someone like
me?’ 

‘Yes, someone
like you.  You’re so open Mistral.  When you’re happy it’s obvious,
the same when you’re angry,’

‘You can say
that again,’ muttered Phantom and Fabian laughed quietly.

‘In short, you
are guileless – which is a compliment!’  Phantasm added quickly, seeing
the look on her face.  ‘You don’t need to cheat, lie and stir up trouble
to fulfil some sadistic desire.  In fact, you’re the complete opposite of
Golden.’

‘And much more
beautiful,’ added Fabian softly, still examining the ground in front of them.

‘Of course she
is,’ Phantasm agreed smoothly.  ‘Golden always needs a mirror to reflect
her beauty back to her and Columbine has been her personal, walking, talking
looking-glass for the last year.  Golden physically needs constant
adoration to re-affirm her belief in her own perfection, without Columbine or
some other victim in her thrall she would quite literally wither and die. 
Nymphs feed from the worship of their admirers in much the same way that drows
feed off misery.’

‘I always
suspected that she wound Columbine up to make her hate me even more, but I
could never work out why.  You’re saying she did it for no reason other
than for her own amusement?’  Mistral asked incredulously.

‘Definitely,’
Phantasm nodded.  ‘Inciting Columbine into lashing out at you in fits of
jealous rage would have fed Golden’s ego, the same way she tried to make Master
Sphinx jealous.’

‘You think she
wanted Leo to attack you in a fit of jealousy?

‘Not so much
attack me, but make him possessive and force him into making a commitment to
her.  If he had flung me out of the Valley in a fit of jealousy too it
would have just been a bonus to her.’

‘Or it could
be that she just couldn’t resist you – mind you she’d have to fight off
Mistress Eudora first!’  Phantom added with a grin.

Fabian laughed
in a slightly too knowing way and Mistral shot him a suspicious look.

‘Tell me that
sad old trollop hasn’t been trying to help you out of your clothes as
well!’  she demanded sharply.

Fabian lifted
his gaze from the snowy ground and looked at Mistral, his face amused, ‘She has
a certain reputation,’ he confessed.

‘Hopefully not
earned with you!’  Mistral cried, looking aghast. 

‘Never in a
million years,’ said Fabian, now laughing openly.  ‘Mistral, are you
jealous?’

‘No!’ 
she snapped then frowned.  ‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe ... ridiculous isn’t
it?  But I’ve never felt like this before.’

‘I think I
preferred it when you just wanted to kill things all the time,’ muttered
Phantom, looking uncomfortable at the turn in the conversation. 

‘It’s quite
natural, you’ll settle down as you get used to your new life,’ Phantasm said,
gazing at her calmly, completely unabashed by the subject.

Mistral sighed
and thought about the long year looming ahead of her.  In so many ways she
couldn’t be happier with the way her life had changed, yet she felt that her
life with Fabian wouldn’t truly begin until she had successfully mastered
Sight.  An icy sliver of panic slid into her stomach.  Just how long
it would take her to develop her skill beyond just being able to read auras?
 Would it take a whole year?  Or, heaven forbid, even longer? 
The thought of waiting longer than a year made her feel suddenly
claustrophobic.  She drew in a sharp breath, trying to calm herself.

‘Is something
wrong?’  Fabian asked, his brow creasing in concern.

Mistral looked
at him, gazing into eyes she knew better than her own. 

‘It’s just
next year –’

Fabian held
her gaze steadily, ‘I will be with you Mistral.  It will pass and we will
be together, I promise.’

Mistral gazed
back and after a moment she nodded.  Feeling slightly reassured she
dragged her mind back to the hunt.  Fabian had only agreed to her hunting
on the condition that she didn’t leave his side and go charging off into the
forests on her own.  Mistral smiled to herself and mused that staying by
Fabian’s side all day could barely be considered a hardship or even require any
effort on her part at all.  In truth, it was the only place on the Isle
she ever wanted to be.  The rest of the plan remained the same.  They
would track the wolverine pack and locate them, then scout around for good
vantage points for the twins to shoot from.  Finally, she and Fabian would
return to the forests and flush them out to the waiting twins.

‘Did you bring
some poison?’  Mistral asked, beginning to think through various hunting strategies.

‘Yes, one I
brew myself from hemlock and bryony berries.  It’s extremely potent so we
must be careful when we handle it.  I was thinking that we could dip the
caltrops in and set them where they are likely to tread.  It wouldn’t stop
them immediately, but it would slow them down once the poison began to take
effect.’

Mistral
nodded, ‘I was thinking something along the same lines –’

While Mistral
and Fabian discussed their ideas for the hunt, Phantom turned to look at his
brother.

‘See?  Made
for each other.’

‘Hmm, maybe …
but do you think he knows that she sleeps with a knife under her pillow?’ 
Phantasm muttered back.

‘So does
Fabian,’ cut in Mistral, giving them both a cold look.

‘You’re right,
they are made for each other,’ muttered Phantasm once Mistral had safely
resumed her conversation with Fabian.

They reached
the wide meadows that bordered the southern edges of The Velvet Forests by
midday and halted to rest the horses and eat the food that Mistral had packed
for them.

‘There is always
the unconsidered factor of the other apprentices hunting in the same area,’
Fabian murmured to Phantasm while he scanned their surroundings for any signs
of either the elves or the wolverines.