The Seer (70 page)

‘But I thought
he only dreamt of Contracts?’

Phantasm’s
question broke across her yearning thoughts.  She met his curious look
briefly then dropped her gaze.  ‘They’ve changed recently,’ she muttered.

With the
uncanny perceptiveness that both he and his brother possessed, Phantasm
immediately grasped the reason for her tears, ‘Mage De Winter will not repeat
his father’s mistakes Mistral.  He will be a good father.’

Mistral gazed
out of the open window at the moonlit village.  She could just see the
rooftop of the small house Fabian had rented for them to live in while she was
pregnant.  ‘I know he will.’

‘Go back to
sleep, I’ll stay with you for a while.’

Phantasm swung
his legs up onto the bed and lay back, placing an arm around while she curled
by his side.  Listening to the quiet sound of his breathing she closed her
eyes and let her thoughts join those of her Mage once more.

To her
surprise, the dreaded two weeks of Fabian’s absence didn’t exactly fly by but
they did pass more quickly than she had anticipated.  It finally stopped
raining and, faced with the empty void of her first Sunday without Fabian,
Mistral decided to ride out and visit the centaur tribe. 

‘We’ll come
with you.’  Phantasm said, rising from the sofa to fetch his cloak. 
‘I wanted you to spend the day speaking French.  We can practise on the
ride.’

‘I’ve never
had so much fun in my life.’  Mistral grumbled and bent to lace her boots
up before sitting up again quickly with a grimace of discomfort.  She
gazed meditatively down at her boots, wondering how on earth she was going to
do them up.

‘What’s wrong,
forgotten how to tie a bow?’  Phantom frowned from the armchair he was
lounging in while he waited for her to get ready.

‘No,’ she
snapped and swung a leg up onto the sofa, reaching down to try and tie them
from a different angle.  ‘Damn it!’ 

‘Oh!  I
think I see what your problem is!’  Phantom laughed.  Unfolding
himself elegantly from the depths of the armchair he strolled towards her with
an irritating smirk on his face. 

Mistral glared
at him with an expression somewhere between anger and misery while he knelt and
quickly tied her laces.  How was Fabian going to feel about having to
practically dress her every morning before they left the house?

‘There we go,
all dressed and ready!  Now would you care to stand by yourself or would
her ladyship be requiring a pulley to help her from the sofa?’

Mistral
launched herself off the sofa and flung out a hand to cuff him around the side
of the head.  Laughing, Phantom nimbly dodged her slap and was out of the
door before she could catch him.

‘I’ll kill
him!’  Mistral fumed to Phantasm.

‘Dans le
français s'il vous plait Mistral.’  Phantasm replied primly and held the
door open for her while she called him every name she could think of, in
French.

‘Not bad
pronunciation … content needs a little work though.’  Phantasm remarked
and slipped his arm through hers to walk along the street towards the
stableyard.

The ride
through the forests was the highlight of Mistral’s long fortnight.  To be
out in the fresh air and away from the Valley where everyone seemed to want
something from her was pure bliss.  She said nothing at all for the entire
journey and, despite Phantasm’s earlier threat to make her converse in French,
he left her in peace and appeared content to gossip with his brother. 
Mistral gazed around happily at her surroundings; everywhere she looked was
lush and green, bursting with new life.  Shafts of warm sunlight pierced
through the gnarled branches of the oak trees, creating glistening halos around
the twins’ blonde heads; her guardian angels.

Prospero
appeared thrilled to be out of the Valley too.  The hunting dog was in his
element, plunging enthusiastically into the bracken to flush out unsuspecting
rabbits and even a wild pig.

‘Missed one
there Mistral.’  Phantom remarked, nodding towards the tusked creature,
grunting with fear while it fled for its life from Prospero.

Mistral
ignored him.  She had finally gone off roast boar, much to the relief of
the twins who were heartily sick of having to eat the strong-tasting meat while
she was staying with them. 

The twins fell
silent when they approached the centaurs’ tribal home, pulling back to allow
Mistral to ride slightly ahead and greet the centaur on lookout.  She
recognised the bay centaur from her previous visit and greeted him politely as
she approached.

‘Hello Storm.’

‘Hail Seer, we
have been expecting you,’ the centaur replied in a deep voice.

Mistral
repressed a sigh.  Of course they had.  No doubt Imperato had been
reading the stars like some kind of celestial noticeboard for the last two
weeks.  She realised that Storm was gazing expectantly at the twins,
waiting for her to introduce them.

‘Oh, sorry,
that’s Phantom and the one on the right is Phantasm, but don’t worry if you
can’t tell them apart, it’s taken me over two years to work it out. 
Phantom is slightly more irritating and Phantasm is bossy,’ she added
helpfully.

‘Hail to the
Gemini.’  Storm bowed his head in a formal greeting to each of the twins
in turn who nodded respectfully back. 

Mistral didn’t
know why she was surprised that Storm knew of the title bestowed on the twins
by the nature of their gift; they seemed to know everything, which made her
suddenly think of something she should really ask Alyssa.

‘You are
welcome in our tribal home.  Please follow me, Alyssa is waiting for you.’

Mistral
gritted her teeth, of course she was; surprise parties must be a real flop
around here. 

Ease up a
bit Mistral!  You look like you’re chewing on a wasp!

Forcing a smile
onto her face, Mistral followed Storm into the tribe’s settlement.  They
crossed the open space where the centaurs ate together and approached one of
the larger huts set back beneath the fringes of the forest.  Storm didn’t
speak but dipped his head briefly and backed away, leaving Mistral and the
twins standing on their own outside the hut.

Er, do we
knock?

‘No need
brother, I’m sure they already knew we’d be standing here at precisely this
time.’  Mistral muttered caustically and right on cue, the door opened to
reveal Alyssa, smiling warmly at her.

She looks
just like you!  Well, from the waist up anyway …

‘My
daughter!’  Alyssa greeted Mistral in her husky voice and opened her arms,
after a moment’s awkward pause Mistral stepped forward to endure a hug.

Put some
feeling in it Mistral! 

Mistral patted
Alyssa on the back a couple of times then broke away with what she hoped was a
pleasant smile on her face.

‘You look
well.’  Alyssa smiled proudly down at Mistral’s growing shape.

‘I feel
great.’  Mistral replied in an insincere mutter then turned to flap a hand
in the direction of the twins.  ‘Phantom … Phantasm –’

‘The Gemini.’
 Alyssa smiled shyly at them.  ‘I am honoured to meet my grandson’s
godfathers.’

Wasn’t there
anything the centaurs didn’t know?  Mistral rolled her eyes and determined
to make it a short visit.

At Alyssa’s
insistence they stayed to share a midday meal with the tribe.  Imperato
and the twins seemed to be getting on … well, Mistral mused to herself with an
ironic smile; as much as anyone could get on with her serious-minded
father.  She made an effort to listen to their conversation with a view to
joining in, but after only a few moments felt her eyes begin to glaze over and
swiftly gave up before she actually fell asleep.  Realising that she was
going to have to make conversation with Alyssa, Mistral heaved a martyred sigh
and turned to face the centaur that was her mother.

‘Um,
Alyssa?’  Her mother she may be, but Mistral drew the line at calling her
parents by anything but their given names. 

‘Yes my
daughter?’ 

‘Centaurs
carry their young for eleven months don’t they?’

‘Yes.’ 
Alyssa smiled.  ‘You are wondering how long you will carry for?’

Mistral
nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the wooden platter of food in front of
her.  The conversation had already wandered too far into the realms of
embarrassing; eye contact was out of the question.

‘I cannot say
how long you will carry for.  You are unique, as is your child.’

Giving another
mute nod Mistral sighed inwardly.  Had she really been so stupid as to
expect a straight answer from a centaur?  Something practical, like a
number of months maybe?  It wasn’t as though she was asking for a precise
date and time … just a rough idea would have done!  But, oh no, it had to
be some enigmatic answer like “only the stars will tell”.

Will you
stop rolling your eyes!  You look like you’re having a fit of some sort!

Mistral
complained about the centaurs for the entire ride back to the Valley.

‘They’re just
so
indecisive
!’

‘Abstract
maybe, but not indecisive.’  Phantasm argued mildly.

‘And boring!’

‘Serious,’ he
corrected. 

And so it went
on with Phantasm fending off every accusation Mistral threw until she’d run out
of failings to list and was resorted to riding in a huffy silence, much to the
twins’ relief.

During the
following week Mistral attended two more meetings, both of which were capped
off with another request from Mage Grapple to read Bellicose La Monte;
something she was extremely unwilling to do and if it hadn’t been for the reassuring
presence of the twins Mistral doubted she’d have summoned the courage to even
try.  Both times he had been hunting.  Mercifully Mistral had
withdrawn from his thoughts before he had actually caught his intended
victim.  The only comment Mage Grapple made on her chilling revelations
was to thank her for her time before abruptly exiting the room.  The twins
told her later that they recognised the locations she described in her visions
as places in the Council stronghold.  Bellicose’s new hunting ground.

When she
wasn’t helping Nereus with the first years, she was either suffering a French
lesson with Phantasm or enjoying the rare pleasure of taking Cirrus out for a
ride.  The only downside was that one of her brothers insisted on
accompanying her, when all she really wanted was some solitude. 

‘Of course,
you could always apply to be a Training Lieutenant when you’ve finished paying
off your apprenticeship.’  Cain mused.  ‘The experience you’re
gaining now will stand you in good stead.’

They were riding
across the meadows, idly watching Prospero bounding happily through the long
grass chasing rabbits. 

‘No thanks,’
she replied shortly.  ‘I’m fed up with the Valley.’

‘I must admit,
it’s pretty overcrowded at the moment.’  Cain agreed.  ‘It’s all the
warriors coming back to vote this weekend.  Xerxes is almost beside
himself with excitement.’

‘What, at the
vote?  Has he got a bet on who wins?’ 

‘No! 
Well, yes, of course he’s got a bet on who wins, but that’s not why he’s
excited.  It’s all the extra warriors, new business and all that. 
He’s been running games in The Cloak from lunchtime till midnight all week!’

‘At least
someone’s enjoying the campaign.’  Mistral said bitterly.  ‘If I see
one more poster with Mycroft’s face on it think I might actually be sick!’

‘No, you’re
past that stage now.’

‘Well, I feel
a relapse coming on then!  Especially when I see Malachi skulking in
corners, spreading his poison to anyone that’ll listen!’

Cain looked up
interestedly, ‘Has he got anything up his sleeve before the vote?’

Mistral
frowned, ‘Not that I’ve Seen.  Whenever I read him he’s just full of
disdain for Leo and Mycroft’s campaigns.  I never seem to catch him
actually thinking about his own plans to be Divinus.  He’s either being
extremely clever with his thoughts, or he really doesn’t have a plan.’

‘I suppose he
could be disciplined enough only to think about his plans at times when he
knows you’re occupied; the Council meetings are hardly secret are they?’ 
Cain said thoughtfully.  ‘Anyway, if he does have a plan of some sort,
it’ll become clear on Saturday night when they make their final
speeches.’ 

‘Fabian should
be back by then.’  Mistral sighed and gazed longingly over at the forests,
now heavy with foliage. 

‘Well he’ll
certainly notice a difference in you.’  Cain smiled down at her growing
midriff. 

‘I know! 
How can two weeks make such a difference?’

‘You’re five
months pregnant now Mistral.  There’s no hiding it any longer.’

‘I haven’t
been hiding it!’  She snapped. 

‘No, of course
not.’  Cain smiled at her baggy shirt and gathered his reins up, preparing
to turn around and turn back towards the Valley. 

Mistral
quickly reached over and touched his arm, ‘Actually, Cain?  While we’re
alone, er, there’s something I wanted to ask you, about the baby that is –’

‘Yes?’

‘I felt this
really weird sensation today, like a pain, but less, more just a really
uncomfortable fluttering –’

‘You felt him
move!’  Cain grinned.

‘Was that what
it was?’  Mistral looked displeased.  ‘Well he can stop doing it!
 It was really strange!’

‘Sorry to tell
you this Mistral, but he’s only going to get more active.  Wait till he
starts kicking!’

‘What?’

Cain laughed
and shook his head at her, ‘I really wonder at you sometimes.  In so many
ways you’re the most self-sufficient person I’ve ever met, but in others you’re
woefully unprepared for life!’

‘Blame my
parents.’