The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (59 page)

‘No! 
Never!  I will never leave you Mistral!  I swear it.’ he brushed away
her tears with his thumbs and kissed her gently.  ‘I’m so sorry.  I’m
being an idiot, I know.’

Without
missing a beat he swept her into his arms and carried her along the corridor
and up the stairs to the dorms.  Kicking her door open he laid her gently
onto the bed then knelt on the floor beside her.

‘Forgive me,’
he began in a tortured whisper.  ‘You must understand that Phantasm knows
me of old, or rather, he knows the old me.  He is very protective of you
Mistral.  He wanted to be sure that I had changed and wouldn’t hurt you …
any more than I already have, that is.

‘I lived a
hundred lives before I found you, and none of them were good.  Ungrateful
son, runaway, warrior, thief, mercenary, spy, assassin ... you name it and I am
sure I have probably carried out a Contract on it.  Phantasm is
right.  You deserve so much more than me but I am selfish enough not to
let you go –’

The expression
of utter bleakness on Fabian’s face was more than Mistral could bear.  She
slid from the bed onto his lap and wrapped her arms tightly around him, fresh
tears pouring down her face. 

‘Never let me
go Fabian!  You are everything to me!  I don’t care about your
past.  I only care that you are here with me, right now.’

He leaned his
forehead gently against hers so that their faces were almost touching. 
She could feel every warm breath and the gentle rise and fall of the chest that
held the heart she loved.  They stayed there, silent and unmoving until
Fabian abruptly rose to his feet, lifting her easily into his arms. 
Sitting down on her bed, he gently settled her next to him and stretched his
long legs down the length of her narrow bed while she curled up against him.

‘Phantasm is
very fond of you Mistral,’ Fabian said softly.  ‘He has no wish to see you
hurt again.  I am not sure you comprehend the true depth of loyalty the
twins have for you.  I know you bicker and fight with them like brother
and sister, but you must see that is what you are.  You share skills so
rare and yet so similar that you are almost fated to be bound to one
another.  I do not think I have ever heard of three such strangely gifted
apprentices coming through the Ri at precisely the same time.  It’s no
wonder Leo is in such a state over the possibilities.  The potential you
three hold is practically limitless –’

‘I don’t want
it,’ she stated flatly, adding more softly.  ‘I only want you.’

He sighed and
gently stroked her hair, ‘I know you have made a sacrifice for me by agreeing
to stay for a second year, and I am more grateful than you will ever know that
you love me enough to try and stay alive for a while longer.’

He paused and
Mistral tilted her head to look up at him to see him smiling wryly at
her. 

‘You’re worth
it I suppose,’ she shrugged, masking the relief of her singing heart to see him
smiling again. 

He bent his
head and kissed her, a feather-light touch lingering against her lips. 

‘You know
you’re not leaving me alone tonight,’ Mistral murmured, shifting into a
slightly more comfortable position.

Fabian sighed,
‘This is not quite how I imagined our first night together would be.’

‘You’ve
thought about that?’  Mistral asked, grinning wickedly up at him.

‘Hmm, but I
don’t think that it would be wise to discuss my thoughts on that particular
subject right now.  Instead let me tell you about my Qualifying
week.  It was an exceptional display of alcohol-fuelled shambolic
behaviour, not on my part of course.’

‘Of course,
I’m sure you were a paragon of virtue,’ Mistral agreed with a smile.

‘Of
course!  However, there was one particularly wild night when I may have
got into just a bit of trouble with our Training Captain at the time, a
foul-tempered half-minotaur called Simian.  He made Leo look like an angel
I can tell you –’

Mistral
listened to Fabian telling stories with a smile on her face so large that it
threatened to permanently stretch the muscles beyond repair.  There was no
place on the entire earth that she would have rather been than there in that
bare, cold cell of a room, held in Fabian’s warm arms and listening to the
sound of his voice.  They talked endlessly, long into the night.  The
village clock chimed midnight, and then hourly, utterly unnoticed by either of
them until Mistral eventually drifted into the most blissful sleep cradled in
Fabian’s arms.

On Sunday
Mistral found the twins picking morosely at plates of cold meats in the
Refectory.

‘Even
Bernadette can’t ruin a lunch of cold meat,’ she said brightly, sitting down
beside them.  ‘What’s wrong with you two?’

Peering
closely at the twins, Mistral could see dark circles under their eyes and
Phantom had the unmistakable greenish tinge of a bruise marring the ivory skin
of his cheek. 

‘Things got a
bit out of hand last night … apparently,’ Phantasm murmured, rubbing a hand
over his face.

‘You weren’t
drinking cider again were you?’  Mistral asked with a roll of her eyes.

The twins
pulled identical faces of disgust and pushed away their plates of food.

‘I think I’m
going to be sick again,’ muttered Phantom faintly and closed his eyes, pressing
a hand to his forehead.

‘Now I’m
really intrigued!  What did I miss?’  Mistral cried, reaching out to
grab a chicken leg from Phantom’s abandoned plate.

‘Shh, not so
loud,’ whispered Phantasm with a pained look on his face.  ‘I have the
most appalling headache.’

He abruptly
stopped talking and laid his head down on his arms.

‘Sorry
Phantom, but it looks like the burden of telling the tale has fallen to you,’
said Mistral giving him a sympathetic look.

‘Fine,’ said
Phantom with his eyes still closed.  ‘But could you please finish that
chicken leg first?  Watching you eat it is really not doing me any
favours.’

Mistral tore
the last of the meat from the chicken leg and tossed the bone down onto Phantom’s
plate. 

‘All done,’
she said with a smile and leaned forward on her elbows to fix Phantom with an
expectant gaze.  ‘I’m listening.’ 

Phantom glared
at her, ‘You know, I’m beginning to regret all the times I’ve pestered you for
details you didn’t want to give.’

Mistral gave
him an ironic grin, ‘Hmm, it is making quite a refreshing change.  Come on
brother.  Spill the beans.’

‘Well, after
you slunk out of The Cloak and Dagger at an outrageously early hour last night,
leaving me alone at the bar,’ Phantom paused to give her a reproachful look,
‘Floris produced a bottle of the most foul liquor I’ve ever had the misfortune
to experience.  It smelt like something they use in the tannery –’

‘Tasted like
it too,’ Phantasm added in a muffled voice, still cradling his head in his arms
on the table.

Mistral
laughed, making Phantom wince again.  ‘Fabian told me about this
stuff.  Floris calls it his ‘Qualifying Week Special’ or something. 
He makes it to a secret recipe apparently.’

‘Well I hope
he takes the secret to the grave with him, because I never want to taste that
stuff ever again!’  Phantom said fervently.

‘Did it have a
pickled baby basilisk in it?’  Mistral asked curiously.  ‘Fabian said
that theirs did, and when you tipped the bottle up to drink you had to touch
the basilisk’s nose with your lips.  It’s called “kissing the snake”.’

‘Oh no,’
moaned Phantasm from the table top.  ‘I’d forgotten about that.’

‘So, anyway,
to get back to the story … who hit you?’  Mistral asked, indicating the
bruise on Phantom’s face.

‘No-one,’ he
said, looking pathetic.  ‘I fell off my chair during a mammoth game of
cards.  You know, I’m sure Cain cheats.  No-one can get cards that
good on every hand.’

Mistral
laughed, ‘You fell off your chair?  Sounds like I missed a good night!’

‘You snuck out
early this morning.  Have you been out of the Valley all day?’ 
Phantasm asked, lifting his head fractionally from his arms to give her a
bleary-eyed look.

Mistral
nodded, her expression slightly guarded.  She was still angry with Phantasm
for being so rude to Fabian but didn’t want to talk about it in front of
Phantom.  She and Fabian had crept from her room at daybreak and ridden to
his house to spend the morning in front of the fire on his sofa and do nothing
but talk and enjoy simply being alone together. 

‘Where is Mage
De Winter now?’  Phantom asked, gingerly probing the bruise on his
cheek. 

Mistral
sighed, ‘Gone.  The Council beckons.  So now all I’ve got now is you
two and some dull strict instructions from Fabian to have an early night in
preparation for tomorrow.’

‘Wise man,
your Mage.  Right, talking of tomorrow, Cain told me there’s a schedule on
the Contracts Board about next week – I’ll go have a look.’  Phantom rose to
his feet with a groan and walked slowly from the Refectory.

A silence fell
while Mistral looked around the Refectory at the other apprentices sat poking
disinterestedly at plates of food.  No-one was talking much and they all
looked very sorry for themselves.  Except Golden.  She was laughing
and chatting animatedly to a green-faced Columbine, drawing pained looks from
everyone within earshot of her piercing peals of laughter.

Phantasm
turned his head on his arms to look at Mistral, ‘Say it.’

‘I think you
had better do the talking actually,’ she replied coldly.

He raised his
head from his arms, his expression a hundred shades of contrite and defiant, ‘I
was rude to him, I know.  But Mistral!  The things that he has
done!  He has a past so dark he makes Konrad look like a saint!’

Mistral glared
at him, ‘And you think any of that matters to me?  What am I?  An
angel?  The past is exactly that Phantasm.  Past.  And it’s best
left there.’

‘I didn’t want
to see you hurt!  I –’ he hesitated then sighed.  ‘You’re like a
sister to me Mistral.’

Mistral met
his emerald bright gaze and her anger instantly faded, ‘Oh, don’t get soppy on
me brother or I will have to kill you,’ she warned with a half-hearted scowl,
adding more gently.  ‘You really don’t have to worry about me you
know.  I can look after myself.’

‘I don’t think
you can where he is concerned.’ 

‘Then it’s a
good job I’ve got you two looking after me for another year isn’t it?’ 
she responded flippantly.   

‘You’ll always
have us Mistral.’

Mistral rolled
her eyes, ‘Don’t depress me Phantasm –’

Their
conversation was cut short by the return of Phantom, clutching a piece of
parchment in one hand.

‘Here we go,’
he said in a suddenly business-like voice.  ‘One itinerary from
hell.  Monday morning promises the delights of Unarmed Combat/Close
Quarters.  Ugh!  I hope I don’t get Grendel –’

‘Or Golden,’
added Phantasm wrinkling his nose in disgust.  ‘She’s a nightmare to work
with.  She tried to tickle me last week.  Inappropriate doesn’t even
come close!’

‘I hope I get
Columbine,’ said Mistral with feeling.

‘And in the
afternoon we’ve got Sword Work.  Ha!  No problems there,’ Phantom
continued.  ‘Tuesday.  Hmm, let’s see.  Right, in the morning
its Longbow and Crossbow –’ Phantom looked up from the parchment to give
Mistral a worried look.  ‘Can we do some work during lunch tomorrow please
Mistral?’ 

‘No problem.’

‘Thanks! 
Right … Tuesday afternoon we’ve got Throwing Knife and Dagger … in partners …
full armour needed there then.  Wednesday is easy!  Listen to
this!  In the morning it’s Basic Medical Care and then Poisons and
Antidotes in the afternoon.’

‘Again, I hope
I get Columbine to use as a tester for the afternoon,’ muttered Mistral.

Phantom
ignored her and continued to read off the list, ‘Thursday looks good. 
We’re out all day night.  It’s a survival skills test taking us straight
into the final day.’  Phantom paused while his eyes skimmed over Friday’s
details.

‘What is
it?’  Phantasm asked, looking at his brother for the first time.

‘A hunt,’ he
said looking slightly perplexed.  ‘We could all hunt before we even came
here!  I don’t really see what will be so difficult about that one. 
It’ll be a test of tracking and stealth, obviously, but I fail to see how
bringing down a couple of deer will Qualify us as warriors –’

‘Does it
specify what we have to hunt?’  Mistral asked, peering over the top of the
parchment.

‘No.  It
just says “Prey to be announced at breakfast on Thursday”.’

‘There you go
then,’ said Mistral with a note of satisfaction in her voice.  ‘They’ll be
bringing something really good in for us to hunt.  I hope it’s a
dragon!  I’ve always fancied a go at one of them.’

Phantom went
white, ‘You don’t think they’d do that do you?’

‘No Phantom
they won’t,’ said Phantasm in a weary voice.  ‘The only dragons on the
Isle are in the Northern Range and they’re all protected since overenthusiastic
people like Mistral tried to hunt them to extinction.’

‘Still, I bet
it’ll be something good,’ said Mistral with an excited gleam in her eye.  ‘Right,
I think you two need something to sort you out!  Wait here while I go and
raid Serenity’s storeroom.  She’s got this great tonic that sorts out
anything!’

Phantom put
down the parchment and watched her go with a thoughtful look on his face, ‘I
know you disapprove of Mage De Winter but you have to admit he does put her in
a good mood, which makes our lives a lot more pleasant.’

Phantasm
lifted his head from his arms and looked broodingly at his twin, ‘She
thinks
he makes her happy, but so does the prospect of hunting a dragon.  Mistral
just doesn’t know when something is too dangerous for her to handle.’

Breakfast the
next morning was a subdued affair with none of the apprentices managing to eat
much.  The tension in the room rose noticeably when Leo Sphinx and his
Training Lieutenants entered, immediately ending what little conversation had
been taking place.

He walked to
the end of the Refectory and stood in front of the counter, facing them all
with a cold, hard look on his face and deliberately drawing out the long moment
of heavy silence before he spoke.

‘Today your
Qualifying week begins.  I hope that you are all sufficiently recovered
from Saturday night’s disgraceful behaviour!’

‘What d’you
reckon he did on the Saturday before his Qualifying week?  Polished his
armour?’  Phantom muttered to Mistral under his breath.

‘I expect more
from my warriors than drunkenness and gambling!’

‘Hmm, like
having affairs with them.’  Phantom whispered.  Mistral stifled a
laugh, causing Leo to glare icily at them for several long seconds.

‘I will be
overseeing today’s assessments and there will be no second chances.  This
is no longer training!’  Leo paused to sweep the room with his cold stare
once more.  ‘I will see you all in the upstairs Training Room in ten
minutes.’

Mistral
frowned and glanced out of the window at the clear sky.  The snow that had
fallen the week before was still clinging to the roofs and edges of the paths
but the Arena was clear.

‘He doesn’t
want Golden to catch a chill, how thoughtful,’ said Phantom in a simpering
voice.

‘Or he doesn’t
want unexpected onlookers,’ said Phantasm with a meaningful look at Mistral.

‘For your
information Fabian is at the Mage Council this week,’ she said in with a
haughty lift of her chin. 

‘Good, because
you’re rubbish when he’s watching,’ said Phantom and immediately ducked as
Mistral’s hand whipped out to cuff him around the head.

Leo and his
Lieutenants left swiftly and the room was suddenly alive with noise and
activity.  The sound of nervous conversations mingled with the squeal of
benches scraping the floor as the apprentices hurried to leave and get up to
the Training Room.

Mistral,
Phantom and Phantasm shared a long look. 

‘Ready?’ 
Phantasm asked.

Mistral rose
to her feet, ‘As I’ll ever be.’  

‘Let’s get
this over with,’ said Phantom with a determined look on his face.

They reached
the third floor and entered the vast torchlit room with a mixture of
trepidation and excitement.  Columbine bared her teeth at her from the
other side of the room and Mistral grinned back, feeling adrenalin start to
pulse through her. 

‘Oh, you’ll
get yours, I’ll make sure of it,’ she muttered under her breath.

They joined
the other apprentices sitting with their backs against the far wall to watch
Leo walk into the room followed by Caleb, Barak and Cyrus.

The three
Lieutenants remained near the door but Leo strode into the centre of the
room.  Mistral watched Golden’s face as Leo called up the first pair of
apprentices, noting that she looked distinctly smug. 

‘Seen Golden’s
face?’ she muttered to Phantom.  ‘Bet she thinks this one is in the bag
already.’

Phantom looked
over and made a disdainful sound at the back of his throat, ‘Bet she had her
assessment on grappling last night –’

‘Oh
please!
’ 
Phantasm hissed reprovingly. 

Konrad and
Xerxes were the first to be called up.  They walked calmly to the centre
of the floor and faced each other.  Leo called for them to begin,
immediately both apprentices started to circle.  Each mimicked the others’
stance, crouched forward with arms slightly raised, looking for an opening to
deliver the first move.