The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (37 page)

‘I don’t care what he
wants!  Where has he got her?’ 

‘I cannot See … he is being very
careful not to think of their location –’

‘Damn him!  I will kill him
for this!’  Fabian wrenched his hands through his hair, his expression
wild.

‘The half-nymph is there … and
filled with hatred … she is amused, she has been imbued with control over a
spell the Count has cast … she plans a torture –’

‘What!  How?’  Fabian’s
face contorted to something beyond agony.

‘Visions of you … dead … in a
lustful embrace with another … betrayal … rejection … they plan to break her
mind and make her incapable of denying her gift any longer.’

The Divinus finished speaking and
Fabian stared at him in silence.  All his frustration and helpless rage
abruptly drained away to be replaced by horror at the realisation that he was
powerless to prevent them from hurting her.

‘The Rochforte cousins! 
What are they thinking?’  Fabian cried suddenly, hope flaring in his eyes.

The Divinus’ papery face creased
into a deep frown.  Fabian watched with barely controlled frustration when
the Divinus nodded slowly, as though listening to someone speaking closely in
his ear.

‘The Count has coached them well
… they think only of their plans and not the location … they are filled with
vengeful thoughts … much greed and ambition … Etienne desires the half-nymph –’

Fabian snorted with disgust and
began to pace the room in long, angry strides, ‘I don’t care about that!’ he
snapped savagely.

‘I can only tell you what I
hear,’ the Divinus sighed softly.

Fabian spun on his heel and
stared at the shrunken figure before him.

‘I apologise,’ he said
tersely.  ‘I am not ungrateful – please continue.’

The door opened and Leo entered
quietly, ‘A search has begun.  Saul took her dog and found tracks in the
forest, we should follow them.’

Fabian immediately began to
stride towards the door.

‘Wait.’  Leo called quietly
and turned to the Divinus.  ‘May I respectfully ask for you to travel with
us Divinus?  We will need your Sight.’

The Divinus remained motionless
on his chair, his milky gaze fixed on Leo’s unmoving face, ‘Your soul,’ he
murmured softly.  ‘It’s very recesses are filled with unresolved anger and
pain.  You must reconcile those issues before you can ever hope to assume
this role.’

Leo remained silent.

‘I See … everything,’ the Divinus
sighed. 

A heavy silence spread over the
room while the Divinus sat motionless on his throne.  Fabian gritted his
teeth in frustration.  He should be gone, not standing here waiting for
some unspoken conversation between Leo and the Divinus to reach its conclusion.

‘Yes, I See.  Your intentions
are pure,’ the Divinus finally murmured with a satisfied sigh.  ‘I will
travel.’

Fabian let out the breath he had
been holding and wrenched the tower room door open, running down the stairs and
along the corridor to the next flight, oblivious to everything except the need
to find Mistral.  He was quickly at the stableyard without noticing the
journey or the audience that awaited his arrival.

‘Mage De Winter!’  Xerxes
called loudly.

Fabian strode silently past
Mistral’s brothers, all mounted and waiting at the stableyard entrance. 

‘We wish to ride with you.’ 
Xerxes persisted.

Fabian glared at them, the reason
Mistral had ridden from the Valley enraged and utterly unprotected.

‘No.’

He lead Spirit from her stall,
already tacked and ready for travel.  Without looking at the others he
whistled for Prospero and swung himself into the saddle.

‘Mage De Winter.’

Cain’s voice dragged Fabian’s
gaze to meet his. 

‘Please let us ride with
you.  We didn’t understand –’

‘Perhaps you didn’t need to
understand!  Was being your sister not enough?  I neither need nor
want your help and Mistral has no need of you for brothers!’ 

‘We’ve let her down.  She’s
our sister.  Let us make it right.’  

Fabian glared at Cain then turned
to Saul, snapping coldly, ‘I need to see the tracks.’

Saul nodded and Fabian
immediately kicked Spirit into a gallop, clattering out of the stableyard and
across the village square.  After a moment’s hesitation Saul urged his
horse after him.

‘What do we do now?’  Xerxes
demanded in exasperation.

‘You ride with us warrior. 
The Divinus has need of protection.’

They turned to see their Training
Captain striding into the stableyard with the ghostly figure of the Divinus
drifting silently beside him.

‘Yes Captain.’  Xerxes replied
quickly and dismounted to assist Leo in preparing a horse for the Divinus.

They rode swiftly out of the
Valley, galloping towards The Velvet Forests where Saul had found the tracks of
three horses riding in from the north.  The fragile looking Divinus rode
astride a solid cob, controlling the animal with barely a touch on the reins,
his sightless eyes gazing straight ahead of him.

They quickly caught up with
Fabian and Saul at the edge of the forests.  Saul had dismounted and was
pointing out the tracks he had found. 

‘Here.’  Saul
muttered.  ‘Two sets of hoof prints join a third and then a fourth is led,
not ridden – you can see they bear no weight –’

‘She was abducted less than an
hour from the Valley.’  Leo hissed.  ‘How did this happen!’

‘Because we let it.’  Fabian
said harshly.  ‘Every single one of us.  You and I, we were too
concerned with our own pride to even notice when she left.  And her
brothers are far from blameless.’

Saul frowned at the tracks on the
ground, ‘The trail leads north.’ 

Prospero was sniffing one set
interestedly.  He whined and sat down, fixing Fabian with his pale
stare.  Fabian regarded the dog for a moment then nodded.

‘Then we follow them.  Find
her Prospero.’

Prospero bayed loudly and plunged
into the forests, heading north.

They rode hard, galloping
wherever they could through the dense trees, all the time listening to the
Divinus’ high, sighing voice reciting the thoughts and emotions in Mistral’s
mind.  Fabian’s face became a burning mask as the thoughts the Divinus Saw
became increasingly more agonised.

‘Golden is a bitch!’  Cain
muttered under his breath to Xerxes. 

‘I agree, and one I am glad I
never had the pleasure of!’

They both glanced at Leo. 

‘What was he thinking?’ 
Cain said, shaking his head in disbelief.

‘I don’t think he was using his
mind brother.’

They rode for long periods in
complete silence, pushing their horses relentlessly through the night. 
Continually heading north without any real conviction other than Prospero’s
sense of smell that it was the right direction until the Divinus suddenly
stiffened.  His blind eyes widened while he listened to something only he
could hear.

‘The Rochforte cousin … he is
bored … he is tired of waiting and is restless … he has begun to explore his
surroundings.’

‘What does he see?’  Fabian
demanded urgently.

 ‘A portrait … faded to
almost nothing, but Etienne is intrigued … he is staring at the eyes … they are
black and he is amused by the likeness … it is your father Mage … he sees you
in your father’s portrait –’

Fabian drew in a sharp breath,
‘They are in my house at the Council!’

‘Less than a day from here if we
ride hard!’  Leo shouted and urged his horse into a flat-out
gallop.  

‘I just hope we’re not too
late.’  Phantom said to his brother.

‘Mistral is strong.’
 Phantasm replied confidently, but his expression was tense.  They
had all listened in silent horror to the emotions Mistral had been forced to
endure by Golden’s merciless torture. 

The High Moors lay before them in
an undulating sweep of brown and green, veiled by a damp early morning mist
that hung in the air, soaking their hair and cloaks as they galloped.  The
horses were nearly spent and the ground heavy, but the warriors gave fierce
encouragement with heels and hands, urging them on.

‘If she breaks … what
then?’  Xerxes muttered to Phantasm.

‘The Rochfortes will move on the
Council using Mistral as a talisman, a symbol of their power.  The Council
are weak without Mage Grapple.  They’ll capitulate easily in face of a
full-blooded Rochforte aided by a Seer.  A rush election will be held and
the warlock army will switch allegiance before Mage Grapple sets foot back on
his Isle.’

‘And the Ri?’ 

‘A shameful collection of
half-breeds to be cleansed from the face of the Isle by the new regime.’

Xerxes scowled, ‘Not good.’

‘No.’ Phantasm agreed shortly.

‘I just hope Mistral finds the
mettle to keep it together.’

‘I think lesser people would have
broken by now.’

Golden had gone again on one of her
unexplained long absences leaving Mistral alone in darkness.  She curled
up on the cold stone floor, too exhausted to sleep and too dehydrated to
cry.  Her mind felt raw, her body weak, wracked by being forced to reveal
every hidden doubt, jealous thought and darkest fear by the endless images of
Fabian dying, dead … betraying her. 

The door opened again and Mistral
barely flinched when Fabian strode into the cellar, this time wearing an
expression of desperate anxiety.

‘Ah, hello again Fabian. 
But which one are you?’  Mistral asked with a weary smile.  ‘Are you
the one that dies horribly before my eyes or the one that tells me he doesn’t
love me?  Oh, are you that one who wants Golden and insists on showing me
how much –’

‘No, I am the one that is taking
you out of here,’ he said flatly, striding across the cellar to slash the ropes
from her wrists and ankles before gathering her into his arms.

‘This is a new one.  Very
clever.  Lull me into a false sense of hope.’  Mistral
murmured.  ‘I’ll give you this Golden, you’re getting better.  This
one actually has Fabian’s scent –’

He swept her up a flight of dark
stairs and through a series of rooms.  Peeling wallpaper and torn
furnishings passed by Mistral in a blur as Fabian carried her through the house
he had grown up in.  Suddenly there was fresh air and Mistral inhaled
deeply, the cool night air smelling so good after the musty airless cellar.

‘Is this this how it works? 
Give me something nice and make me grateful?’  she murmured against
Fabian’s neck.  ‘You know what, I quiet like this one.  He’s warmer
than the others and doesn’t smell of ozone.  It’s just a shame I know he’s
been with you.’

‘Who are you talking to
Mistral?’  Fabian asked in a troubled voice.

‘Golden of course.  She’s
telling you what to do and say isn’t she?  I know … I know you’re not
really here, but it’s getting harder to tell now.  Oh Fabian!  I
think they might be getting to me!’  Mistral was suddenly hysterical,
struggling wildly against his grip with tears pouring down her face.

Fabian held her firmly and looked
down into her eyes, ‘It is me.  You’re safe now.’

‘No!’

He reassured her over and over
but she continued to stare fearfully at him, shaking her head frantically and
crying.  Fabian’s reassurances grew increasingly desperate at her
continued distress, forcing him to finally beg in a voice hoarse with emotion.

‘What can I do to convince you?’

Mistral stared at him with
wide-eyes, the vaguest glimmer of hope in them more painful for him to see than
the despair of before.

‘Tell me ... tell me the one
thing I know you will never say to me.’

He frowned at her then his face
cleared and he smiled so beautifully that she knew it was him, even before he
opened his mouth and spoke the words she knew he would never say.

‘I have given up on you gaining
Sight.’

She stared at him, tears
trickling slowly down her cheeks, ‘Fabian?’

Wordlessly, he bent his head and
kissed her. 

Mistral was dimly aware of being
carried along an avenue of tall houses and of turning into the entrance of one
of them.  She fell asleep in Fabian’s arms while he carried her up the
steps and through the front door.  Waking briefly with a burst panic at
the sound of murmured conversations going on around her, Mistral instinctively
tightened her grip on him while she stared around in confusion at her strange
surroundings.

‘Don’t leave me!’

‘I won’t, I swear.’  Fabian
reassured her softly.  ‘I’ll be right here.’

Mistral closed her eyes slowly,
letting sleep drag her exhausted mind back down into oblivion.

‘She’s not going to let go of you
is she?’  Phantom said quietly. 

Fabian didn’t reply but lowered
himself slowly down onto a velvet sofa and settled Mistral across his lap.

‘How long do you think she’ll
sleep?’  Phantasm asked, frowning at her sleeping form.  ‘We could do
with some information.’

‘Physical injuries heal quickly
Sheldon, others take time.  You know that from being bullied at that awful
Council School!  Now come away and let the poor girl sleep!’

‘Yes mother.’  the twins
intoned and obediently left the room. 

‘Now, what can I have prepared
for you Mage De Winter?’ 

‘Thank you, nothing.  I will
eat with Mistral when she awakes.’

Taking this as her cue to leave,
Melsina De’ath nodded and ghosted silently from the room after her sons.

Mistral woke with bright sunlight
shining into her face.  She groaned and opened her eyes a fraction,
blinking at the intensity of the light.

‘Ow!’ she mumbled, dragging her
hands from around Fabian to rub her eyes.  ‘Why is it so bright?  Has
Serenity put another damned window in this room or something?’

‘You’re not in the Infirmary, for
once, Mistral.  This is the De’ath household.’