The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (15 page)

‘Yes,’ said
Phantasm shortly.

‘I wouldn’t
miss it for the world!’  Phantom said and grinned up at her.  ‘Master
Sphinx is going to hit the roof!  First fighting in the Arena then leaving
the Infirmary against his specific instructions only to carry on fighting in
The Cloak and Dagger ... I bet they’ll be able to hear him shouting in the
village!’

Mistral
stopped climbing and turned sharply to face him, ‘How did you know about Leo’s
instructions?’  she demanded with a frown.

‘Walls have
ears,’ Phantom shrugged lightly.

‘You two are
so low!’  Mistral exclaimed angrily and continued up the stairs.

‘Lower than a
pair of knucker’s –’

‘
Mistral
!’ 
Caleb’s voice rang out from below them.  ‘Get down here now!’

‘What does he
want?’  Mistral muttered, turning and shoving her way between the twins to
make her way back down the stairs.

Caleb was
stood in the Entrance Hall, his face a dark mask of fury.

‘In the office
–
now
!’ 

Mistral
stalked past him down the corridor and through the open doorway of the small ground
floor office that Gleacher Shacklock used. 

Caleb entered
the office behind her, slamming the door and striding over to the desk. 
He sat down heavily in the chair and scowled angrily at her.  A tense
silence fell in which Mistral glared defiantly back at him.

‘Just what do
you think you are playing at?’  Caleb demanded in a furious tone.

‘Me?  Oh
I don’t know!  Maybe just defending myself from that psychopathic stain
you laughingly call an apprentice!’  Mistral exploded, throwing her hands up
in the air in frustration. 

She couldn’t
believe that she was the one getting all the blame.  Too angry to stand
still, Mistral began to pace back and forth, shaking her head in anger at the
injustice of it.

‘This is
exactly why I hate female apprentices!’  Caleb raged in a disgusted
voice.  ‘Too temperamental!  Always falling out and causing trouble!’

‘Well let’s
make your life a bit easier shall we?’  Mistral spun around to face
him.  ‘Just run along and recommend to Leo that I get the boot and I’ll be
out of your hair for good!’

Caleb’s eyes
bulged as he leapt to his feet and leaned across the desk towards her.

‘That won’t be
necessary.’

Mistral jerked
around to see the cold face of Leo Sphinx glaring icily at her from the
doorway.

‘Thank you
Caleb.’  Leo dismissed his Lieutenant curtly. 

Caleb shot
Mistral a fuming look and stamped angrily from the office, slamming the door
behind him.

Leo walked
around to take a seat at the desk and gazed at her steadily, ‘Would you care to
tell me why you saw fit to disregard my orders?’ 

Mistral took a
deep breath and fought to control her temper.  Shouting at Caleb and
demanding her expulsion was one thing, but Leo Sphinx definitely wouldn’t stand
for that kind of behaviour.

‘I needed to
have a word with Columbine about her attacking me during training,’ Mistral
said tersely.

Leo leaned his
elbows onto the desk and regarded her coldly over the top of his clasped hands,
‘Columbine has explained the unfortunate accident to me.  She firmly
believes that you two were supposed to be drilling together.’

‘Like hell we
were!  I was working with Golden when Columbine just waded in and attacked
me with a quarterstaff!’

Leo stared at
her coldly while she glared back, breathing heavily.

‘That’s as may
be, however it still doesn’t excuse the fact that you deliberately left the
Infirmary against my instructions and went straight to The Cloak and Dagger to
begin a brawl with another apprentice.’

Leo paused and
a nasty silence fell.  Mistral cringed inwardly as his words sank in; Phantom
was right, it didn’t sound good put like that.

‘I appreciate
that not all apprentices are going to become best friends, however I do expect
you all to behave with respect towards one another; a quality you appear to be
sadly lacking in.  Now, talking of qualities, I would like to ascertain
whether or not you have managed to waste the only thing keeping me from
throwing you out of the Valley.’  Leo rose from the chair and strode to
the door.  He paused for a moment then opened it and looked out into the
corridor.

‘I thought as
much.  In here if you please.’

Mistral’s eyes
narrowed when Phantom and Phantasm slunk guiltily into the office.

Closing the
door behind them Leo, returned to the desk and resumed his seat.

‘Please read
Phantom for me,’ he instructed coldly.

Mistral stared
at him blankly for a second.  He gazed coolly back at her.

‘When you are
quite ready,’ he prompted.

Drawing in a
deep breath Mistral turned to face Phantom, giving him an apologetic look she
began to focus on the air around his sleek blonde head.  Narrowing her
eyes against the fresh explosion of pain in her throbbing head, Mistral forced
herself to continue until a fine shimmer slowly appeared around Phantom’s
head.  The pain was so great that it took all of her willpower to maintain
the vision long enough to be able to repeat what she could see to Leo.

‘I see lots of
bronze, some white and amethyst,’ she forced the words out through clenched
teeth, fighting against the bursting agony building up in her head. 

‘For those of
us without your obviously miraculous gift, would you care to explain what that
actually means?’  Leo asked in a condescending voice.

‘Bronze
signifies my guilt and remorse for being caught hanging around outside my
Training Captain’s office, the white shows that I am fearful of the
consequences of my foolish actions and amethyst reflects worry; for the same
reasons.’  Phantom said quickly with a worried glance at Mistral’s
pain-filled face.

There was a short
pause while Leo stared dispassionately at Phantom, ‘Thank you for speaking on
her behalf, it is just a shame you cannot seem to control some of her other
actions so easily,’ he said with icy sarcasm.  ‘I think that a weekend
spent working in the Infirmary will be sufficient punishment for your behaviour
today,’ Leo abruptly switched his piercing gaze back to Mistral.  ‘And you
will pay Floris for the table you destroyed – now go!’

Mistral was
out of the door first, staggering slightly along the corridor and holding her
head in her hands.

‘It feels like
it’s going to burst,’ she moaned quietly, allowing Phantasm to steer her into
the deserted Main Hall. 

Phantom
dragged three chairs up to the fire and sat Mistral down on one of them before
taking a seat next to his brother.  They both leant forward with their
hands clasped between their knees, staring at her with concerned expressions on
their pale faces.

‘You ought to
go back to the Infirmary Mistral,’ Phantom began in a worried tone.

‘I am,’ she
muttered.

‘Good,’ he
said, looking slightly surprised.

‘For the whole
weekend … according to Leo,’ she finished heavily.

Phantom sighed
and glanced over at his brother for help but Phantasm just shrugged and shook
his head.

‘I hate the
damned Infirmary!  It’s so boring!  Why can’t he make me muck out
pigs again or something?’  Mistral suddenly flared.  She lifted her
head out of her hands and stared angrily into the fire.

‘Because
Master Sphinx will always make the punishment fit the crime,’ said Phantasm quietly. 
‘You deliberately disobeyed his orders by leaving the Infirmary so he is
punishing you by making you spend your free time there this weekend.’

Mistral blew
out her cheeks in exasperation, ‘Suppose going back for a drink at The Cloak’s
out of the question,’ she said broodingly.

Even though
her headache had vanished by the next morning, Mistral arrived at the Arena
after breakfast to find out from a smug looking Caleb that she was banned from
training by Master Sphinx “for the good of her health” and had left
instructions that she begin her duties in the Infirmary instead.  Mistral
was just trudging resignedly down the stairs to the ground floor after dropping
all her weapons off in her room when Phantom and Phantasm flew down the stairs
behind her, hastily strapping on their armour.

‘Sword work!’
 Phantom explained breathlessly as he rushed by.  ‘Forgot our armour
–’

Mistral
watched them go with a sour expression on her face.  She could see the sun
shining brightly through the open doors in the Entrance Hall.  She was
missing a morning drilling swords in the spring sunshine to disembowel newts or
perform some other equally foul task for Serenity in the Infirmary.

She walked
moodily along the corridor that led to the Infirmary and shoved the double doors
open, stepping inside the brightly lit room and sighing heavily, she looked
around for Serenity.

‘Good morning
Mistral!’  Serenity called brightly, poking her head out of the Apothecary
stores.  ‘How would you like to learn how to stitch a sword wound?’

Mistral looked
up, ‘I would actually,’ she said surprised at her own enthusiasm. 

‘Good, because
poor Brutus here thought he could train without armour in this morning’s sword
practise and well, let’s just say that his brother taught him a lesson he won’t
forget in a hurry.’

Mistral looked
across at the row of neatly made beds to see Brutus sat up in one of them
looking furious with his hand pressed against his side.

‘I’ll kill
him,’ he muttered angrily to Mistral when she walked over to stand beside him. 

‘Who,
Xerxes?’  Mistral asked distractedly while she lifted his hand and peered
curiously at the wound.  It wasn’t very deep but would definitely need
stitching.

‘How many
brothers have I got Mistral?’  Brutus demanded, looking at her
angrily.  ‘Ouch!’

‘Sorry, did
that hurt?’  Mistral said absently and prodded her finger into the wound
experimentally. 

‘Yes it
did!  Mistress Lightwater!  I really don’t want the unqualified
junior stitching me up if you don’t mind!’  Brutus called loudly.

‘Don’t be so
squeamish Brutus!’  Serenity chided, appearing out of the storeroom with a
bowl of water and a small canvas pouch.  ‘Now Mistral, first of all you
need to clean the wound –’

Mistral
followed Serenity’s instructions, ignoring Brutus’ repeated demands for some
“qualified” medical attention she cleaned and neatly stitched his wound.

‘Very good,
you have a natural touch!’  Serenity said, admiring the row of tiny black
stitches.  ‘Have you a Healer in your family?’

‘No,’ said Mistral
and put the needle and silk back into the small pouch.  ‘But I have had to
stitch myself up on a couple of occasions.  If I’m going to have a scar I
prefer it to be a tidy one.’

‘Is it
straight?’  Brutus asked, peering anxiously down at his side and examining
her handiwork.  ‘You know what Mistral, that’s not bad,’ he said in a
surprised voice. 

‘Well, take it
easy for a couple of days and you’ll be fine,’ said Serenity, carrying the bowl
of bloody water away.

‘Of course,’
promised Brutus, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up.  He
watched Serenity vanish into the store room before turning to Mistral. 
‘Are you in The Cloak at lunch time?’  he asked in an urgent
whisper. 

Mistral
shrugged ruefully, ‘Suppose so, you know me … a fight a day, and all that.’

Brutus laughed
quietly and quickly stopped, pressing a hand against his stitches with a pained
expression. 

‘Why?’ 
Mistral asked, ignoring his look of pain.

‘Oh right,
yes!  Hunt – after training.  We’re going to plan it at lunch time …
see you there?’

‘Definitely!’
said Mistral with a grin.  ‘I need to kill something after the week I’ve
had!’

Brutus began
to laugh then stopped with a wince.

‘See you later
Brutus.’

Mistral
watched him walk gingerly from the Infirmary and shook her head, remembering
Leo Sphinx’s words to them at Registration … “You will begin by trying to kill
each other” …
well he wasn’t wrong about that
, she thought
darkly.   

Mistral spent
the rest of morning performing revolting tasks in the Apothecary stores. 
Half of the tonics and potions in there seemed to be made entirely of the
intestines of small rodents and reptiles.  She stirred a large vat of
boiling toad livers and privately swore never to take any tonic that Serenity
offered her, no matter how ill she was.

It was with
relief that Mistral escaped from the Infirmary at lunch time.  Before
hurrying down to The Cloak and Dagger she stopped off at her room to collect
her swords, crossbow, knife belt and dagger then chucked her jerkin and cloak
into her saddlebag for good measure.  Slinging it over her shoulder she
left her room, feeling absolutely no guilt at the prospect of not returning to
the Infirmary for the afternoon shift.  It was Saturday and training
finished at lunch time, why should her Infirmary duty be any different?

Mistral
entered The Cloak and Dagger to find the apprentices all gathered around their
usual three tables.  Collecting a tankard of ale from the bar Mistral
apologised to Floris and promised to pay him for the table as soon as she
could.  Floris grunted in a non-committal way; he had probably seen more
fights that she’d had hot dinners but Mistral didn’t particularly want to be
barred from the only drinking establishment in the Valley and was careful to
appear suitably apologetic.

‘Really sorry
about the table Floris,’ she repeated when she paid for her drink and turned to
walk over to join the other apprentices.

‘Just take it
outside next time.’ 

Mistral nodded
thoughtfully and began to fondly imagine drowning Columbine in the water trough
in the village square.