The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (63 page)

‘Stop right there Fabian.’ 
Mistral said quickly.  ‘I’ve already promised to just go along for the
ride.  Well, obviously I’ll have a go at anything that crosses my path,
but I won’t be stupid!  I’ll stick by the twins.  And let’s face it;
we’ve got Grendel with us!  The harpies are going to smell him before we
even get into The Emerald Forests, so –’

‘Mistral!’  Fabian snapped
angrily.  ‘It is taking nearly all of my will power to let you do this
without me!’  he closed his eyes and drew in a breath.  When he
opened them again the anger was gone, leaving in its place a raw agony that
tore at her heart.  ‘Please promise me you will leave Columbine for
another day, when we are together.’  

She remained silent, trapped,
while Fabian’s eyes travelled slowly over her face, finally coming to rest on
her impatient gaze, fixing her with a coal black stare that never failed to
steal every thought from her mind and leave her utterly powerless to his
will. 

‘My sun rises and sets with you
Mistral.’

Fabian’s softly spoken words
belied the strength of emotion shining in his dark eyes.  Spellbound by
the intensity that suddenly flowed between them Mistral gazed silently back,
her stupefied mind floundering for the right words, or any words, to somehow
express to him that she felt the same.

‘I –’ she began and faltered,
frowning and biting her lip as she struggled to shape her emotions into
coherent speech.  They seemed too vast, too overwhelming to be confined by
mere words.  She smiled suddenly and lifted a hand to touch his face,
marvelling at the feel of his skin beneath her fingers.  She traced the
line of his jaw to meet his lips and stretched up to kiss him, trying to convey
the depth of her emotions in that one simple action.

‘My soul lies with you
Fabian.  I think it always has.’

He closed his eyes and sighed
deeply, holding her tightly against him, ‘I would also quite like to have the
casing that goes with it, if you don’t mind.’

‘You could have that any time you
want.’  Mistral smiled and wound herself sinuously around him, tilting her
face up to his.

Samson’s rasping voice abruptly
filled the tent, rupturing their private moment.

‘I would apologise but I
won’t.  Quite frankly, it’s not natural for a married couple to behave
with such passionate impropriety.  Please hurry up Mistral or we’re going
to be late!’  

‘I suppose I ought to get Cirrus
ready.’  Mistral tore herself away, giving Fabian a look that could have
set the tent on fire.

Fabian watched her leave before
meeting Samson’s amused gaze with a shrug, ‘What?’

Samson laughed and shook his
head, ‘Fool.’

Mistral halted outside the tent
and closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath to clear her mind.  Exhaling
slowly she opened her eyes and immediately grinned to see Xerxes watching her
with a sour expression on his face.

‘Looks like you’re going to be
the one watching today brother.’

‘Don’t joke with me
Mistral!  I’m not in the mood!’ 

Mistral grabbed Cirrus’ tack and
stalked past him, her icy glare speaking volumes.

‘Ignore him.’  Phantasm
murmured, strolling up alongside her.  ‘He’s just sore about not being
selected for this event.’

‘And with us for sending his
brother off on a wild goose chase.’  Phantom added, appearing almost
soundlessly on her other side.

‘In fact.’  Phantasm
continued in a thoughtful voice.  ‘You could say that this festival has been
a pride-denting affair for Xerxes, what with being outperformed by Grendel in
the nymph stakes and losing in every event so far.’

‘And Xerxes is not famous for his
ability to lose gracefully.’  Phantom pointed out helpfully. 

Phantasm sighed, ‘Which is such a
shame, considering that he appears to be rather adept at it.’

Mistral walked to the horse
enclosure with the twins, laughing at their acerbic comments.  They paused
at the fence and looked over at the small herd of horses.  Cirrus was
grazing contently a short distance away from the rest of the horses but Mistral
was not fooled by her horse’s apparent relaxed mood.

‘Well, here we go again.’

Throwing Cirrus’ tack to the
ground she vaulted over the fence and pushed her way through the horses to reach
Cirrus.  She stretched out a hand for his mane, cooing soft words of
encouragement.  He took one look at her and promptly cantered away. 

Biting back swearwords, Mistral
played the game until Cirrus finally submitted to being caught.  By the
time she had persuaded her bad-tempered horse to stand still long enough to be
groomed and tacked then have his battle armour buckled on, the twins had both
long since prepared their quiet horses and were talking with Cain at the edge
of the enclosure.

‘This is a new one I’d like you
all to try.  One dip of your bolts should do it.’  Cain instructed
and handed out small black bottles of poison.

Phantom gave his bottle a dubious
shake and watched the murky liquid swirl, ‘Have you tested it?’

‘Oh yes.  It’s potent enough,
drops knuckers in seconds.  I distilled it from the quills of a venomous
species of a
telerix.’

‘A what?’  Phantom lowered the bottle to frown at Cain. 

‘A hedgehog to you brother.’  Phantasm said with a smile. 

‘Here, try not to drink it won’t you.’  Cain passed a bottle to
Mistral when she finally hauled Cirrus over.  She shot him a contemptuous
look and stowed the bottle carefully away in the top pocket of her jerkin.

‘Are you ready yet?’ Samson asked, striding over to retrieve his own horse
from the enclosure.  ‘I want to work out a plan before we leave.’

‘Great, more talk.’  Mistral muttered under her breath and gazed
longingly over to where Fabian was engaged in a conversation with another of
the Ri warriors from Samson’s camp.  She had hoped to spend some more time
with him before the hunt. 

‘Do try and concentrate Mistral.’  Phantasm swung himself into the
saddle and gathered his reins, all brisk efficiency.  ‘There’ll be plenty
of time for your Mage later.’

‘Unless, of course, Columbine achieves her heart’s desire and finally
manages to see you off once and for all.’

‘Oh do shut up Phantom!’  Mistral snapped, pulling herself up onto
Cirrus’ back.  ‘We all know that’s not going to happen.  She’s more
likely to have become a harpy snack by now!’

‘You don’t really mean that Mistral.  I know that you dream of
exacting bloodthirsty revenge on the poor creature.’

‘You have no idea what I dream of!’  Mistral retorted, privately
hoping that he really didn’t have any idea of what she dreamt of, because it
certainly wasn’t Columbine.

‘Oh really?’  Phantom leaned over to fix her with his inquisitive
green gaze.  ‘And now you’re so going to have to tell me.’ 

‘Can we focus please?’  Samson cut across them in a frustrated
voice.  ‘Or is it normal for you to bicker like children instead of
preparing to hunt a highly dangerous predator?’

They all spun round to look at him.  Noting guiltily the exasperated
expression on his scarred face they were instantly contrite but before any of
them could utter an apology, Grendel appeared.

‘Normal.’  Grendel grunted, swinging his battle axe enthusiastically
by his side. ‘But it’s only to be expected.  Apprentices.’  he spat
on the ground. 

‘What?  Still no horse brother?’  Phantom said acidly.

Grendel’s ugly face creased into a heavy scowl, ‘Get a new joke blondie.’

‘When you get a new face –’

‘Enough!’  Samson bellowed.

‘Sorry Samson, I’ll make sure they behave from now on.’  Mistral
quickly leaned over to tighten Cirrus’ girth to hide a grin when Phantom pulled
a face at her.

Samson glared at them all in silence for a moment then shook his head and
laughed, ‘No, I apologise.  I think I can just about remember how it feels
to be young.  And it’s wrong for me to assume the role of leader.  We
should vote on it.’

Grendel growled and ran a finger along the blade of his axe, ‘Better you
than that reckless would-be Seer.’

‘I am not reckless!’  Mistral retorted hotly then paused.  ‘Oh,
hang on.  Maybe I can be a bit impulsive –’

‘Hmm, and in view of that revelation I think my brother and I will vote for
you Samson.’  Phantasm looked pointedly at Mistral.  ‘Mistral? 
Your vote?’

Mistral smiled sweetly at Samson, ‘Experience gets my vote any day.’

‘Are you calling me old?’

‘No!  Just ... experienced-looking.’

Samson eyed her innocent expression mistrustfully, ‘I’m beginning to see
how you went through three Training Lieutenants in your first year.’

‘It’s a gift.’  Phantom smiled and gathered his reins in one hand,
holding Cirrus with the other to allow Mistral to fasten her crossbow across
the pommel of her saddle.

Phantasm spoke, his quiet voice taking control instantly, ‘Please outline
your plan Samson.  I assure you that we are perfectly receptive to
whatever ideas you may have.’

Samson blew his cheeks out and regarded their carefully composed faces,
‘Why do I suddenly feel like the unsuspecting supply teacher to an unruly
class?’

Mistral grinned at him, ‘Come on Samson!  Surely you can handle three
apprentices and one half-troll with the intellect of a stone block!’

‘Easy sister!’  Grendel growled.

‘Right!’  Samson cut across them in a decisive voice.  ‘We arm up
with crossbows, bolts pre-dipped in poison.  I take point and track.
Phantom, Phantasm?  You’ll be flanking Mistral armed with crossbows. 
Grendel?  I want you to bring up the rear.  Whatever prey comes our
way, we do not split up.  Is that understood?’

‘Yes Samson!’ they chimed obediently.

‘We hunt in silence.  If we need to communicate we use the Ri
code.  Remember to aim for the eyes and if they get too close for bolts,
use swords.  No heroics with daggers please!’

‘No talking, aim for the eyes.  Got that.’  Mistral nodded.

‘No dagger heroics.’  Phantasm reminded her sharply. 

‘Whatever –’

‘Are you going to be difficult today Mistral?’ 

Mistral pouted, ‘Might be.’

‘Good luck.’  Grendel grunted to Samson and hefted his battle axe onto
his shoulder. 

Samson closed his eyes and shook his head, ‘Let’s just get going –’

Mistral laughed and kicked Cirrus on, cantering away along the avenue of
tents.  The twins quickly caught her up, leaving Grendel pounding along in
their wake.  Behind them came the rest of the Ri, still calling helpful
advice. 

‘Brother.  I will ride with you.’   Samson held his horse
back, waiting for Fabian to mount his restless mare.  

Pulling Spirit sharply under control, Fabian whistled for Prospero and rode
alongside Samson at a steadier pace.  They rode in silence until Fabian
eventually spoke in a tense voice.  

‘I have a favor to request of you brother.’

Samson nodded and raised his eyes to regard the same thing as Fabian;
Mistral laughing with the twins.

‘We have known each other a long time Fabian,’ he said quietly.  ‘I
cannot tell you how surprised I was when Gleacher sent word through the Agents
of your wedding.’

Fabian smiled briefly, ‘Did you expect to be stood around my funeral pyre
before such an occasion arose?’

‘Something like that.’  Samson gave a short laugh.  ‘But I could
see why you felt the need to marry her.  I think she would be the type to be
lost easily without being tied.’

‘I disagree.’

Samson frowned, ‘She is willful and seems to have a natural ability to
attract trouble.  She must take some handling and I confess, despite her
obvious appeal, I don’t envy you.  I’m not sure I would have the
patience.’

Fabian smiled, ‘It is a little like trying to hold burning sand sometimes.’
 

‘But are the blisters worth it?’

‘I treasure every burn.’  Fabian replied solemnly.

Samson laughed, ‘Ask your favor brother.  You know I will do my utmost
to fulfill whatever you require from me.’

‘Then I ask for you to keep her safe for me while I cannot.’

‘Of course I will.’  Samson immediately replied.  ‘But I have to
say that I might be surplus to requirements.  She has the twins, who never
seem to leave her side, and that half-troll would be a force to be reckoned
with.  I would not wish to offend any of them by suggesting they were
incapable of dealing with Columbine.’

Fabian did not respond immediately and they rode in silence past rows of
tents, now mostly empty with the bright morning sunshine already making it too
warm to stay inside.  A group of elves rode past them at a canter, talking
excitedly about the hunt while they headed along the path leading out of the
Vale.

‘I do not expect you to understand.’  Fabian finally continued in a
low voice when the elves had passed them by.  ‘But Mistral … she means
more to me than my own soul.  She completes me.  To watch her
willingly ride into danger, yet be forbidden to protect her because of Bryden’s
damned rules is almost more than I can take!’  Fabian’s voice had risen in
anger, the frustration he was feeling plain on his face.  ‘It is tearing
me apart brother!’