The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (8 page)

He turned to
face them and Mistral was struck again by the peculiar notion that he was
actually seeing her with his blind eyes.

‘You know, of
course, that you are all gifted?’ he asked softly.

‘Yes Divinus,’
Phantasm replied promptly.  ‘Since we were young my twin brother and I
knew that if we worked together we could combine our thoughts to influence
others to our will.’

The Divinus
nodded, ‘I See you ... you are Gemini … your skills are already well established
and will only grow stronger with training.’  he turned his strange gaze to
Mistral.  ‘Your brothers are perceptive, they see more than they say, but
they do not know everything about you apprentice.  And I do not think that
you do either ... tell me what I cannot See.  Do you know the true depth
of the skill you possess?’

‘I – I can see
auras –’ Mistral stammered slightly, over-awed by the intensity of his blind
gaze. 

There was a
short pause and Mistral glanced anxiously at the twins – she hoped that the
Divinus was not about to ask for a demonstration.

The Divinus
closed his eyes and frowned, the thin skin of his brow creasing into brittle
furrows.  ‘There is more, I think –’ his eyes flew open suddenly,
startling Mistral.  ‘What blood do you have?’ 

‘I – I don’t
know,’ she muttered, grimacing as she felt the twins stiffen slightly with
interest.

The Divinus
clasped his hands together and moved lightly away from them.  He walked
slowly around the Training Room with his head bowed in thought then returned to
stand before them with an oddly resigned expression on his face.

‘And so,
finally … it is time,’ he murmured softly to himself.  ‘Are you aware that
true Seers are incredibly rare?’  

Mistral almost
jumped when the Divinus spoke directly to her, ‘Er, no,’ she replied, looking
confused.

The Divinus
nodded slowly and turned his unseeing gaze up towards the vaulted ceiling,
‘Many so-called Seers are in reality only capable feeling others emotions; much
as you can already with your ability to read auras.  But to be able to See
beyond that … to hear the very thoughts in another’s mind ... that is true
Sight.’ 

Flicking his
blank gaze back to meet hers, the Divinus tilted his head to one side and
regarded her intently, ‘There is something in you ... it could be the Sight ...
but only time will tell.  Go now apprentices, your Training Captain awaits
you in the Main Hall.’ 

The Divinus
drifted away from them and the three apprentices quickly left room.  Once
they were in the relative privacy of the corridor the twins looked at Mistral
with frank curiosity.

‘Some time,
Mistral, you really are going to have to tell us just where you were raised,’
said Phantom in a soft voice.

‘Hmm,’ said
Mistral evasively.  ‘Not now though.  I don’t think Leo’s the type to
appreciate being kept waiting.’

They reached
the Main Hall and entered to meet the intrigued gazes of the gathered
apprentices.  One of the Training Lieutenants was speaking in a loud,
harsh voice and Mistral quickly slid into the nearest seat to avoid further
stares.

‘Breakfast is
available in the Refectory from six, lunch at twelve and dinner is served at
six.  Training is from eight till noon each day with an hour for
lunch.  Afternoon sessions finish with the sun in winter and at five in
the lighter seasons.  Training ends for the weekend at noon every
Saturday.  We begin tomorrow with unarmed combat … now, follow me and I
will show you to your allocated rooms.’

Mistral and
the twins followed the other apprentices traipsing after the burly Lieutenant
out through the door and back along the corridor.

‘Uncomfortable
with attention are we?’  Phantom asked in an amused voice.

Mistral
scowled at him.  She could tell that the twins revelled in being in the
spotlight.  They were both smiling broadly and looking extremely pleased
with themselves.

Saul hung back
from the others and fell in step beside her, ‘You missed the
introductions.  That’s Barak,’ he nodded towards the thick-set Lieutenant
leading them.  ‘He’s the most senior of our Training Lieutenants … a bit of
a thug if you ask me, mind you, the other two don’t seem much better. 
Cyrus and Caleb they’re called –’

Mistral nodded
mutely.  She didn’t care what the Lieutenants were called or how much
charm they lacked.  She only cared that they could teach her the skills
required to become a Ri warrior.

‘So – what
gift to you possess?’  he blurted, abandoning all pretence of hanging back
to fill her in on what she’d missed.

‘I can read
auras,’ she muttered uncomfortably then sighed.  People always felt
differently towards her once they knew that she could see their feelings. 
It made them feel too exposed and vulnerable around her.

Saul’s eyes
widened, ‘Remind me not to play you at cards!’

Mistral
smiled, ‘It’s funny you should say.  Phantom wants me to become his secret
weapon!’

‘I bet he
does!’  Saul laughed.

Mistral
laughed and relaxed slightly; Saul didn’t seem at all disturbed by her strange
gift. 

The rooms were
just as Phantasm had described them; stone walled square cells.  Each was
sparsely furnished with two iron beds and a deep wooden box pushed up beneath
the small window.  Mistral stepped inside the room Barak pointed her to
and threw her saddlebag onto the bed.  She looked around at the tiny room
that was her own private space and smiled, grateful not to be sharing with
Golden or Columbine, her two new best friends.

‘Bathrooms. 
Males on the right, females on the left.  There’s enough hot water for one
shower a day, so get used to being cold,’ Barak said, laughing nastily. 

Phantom and Phantasm
shared a glum look but Mistral didn’t care.  The showers couldn’t possibly
be colder than the so-called bathroom at the cottage; a barrel of water outside
that she’d had to break the ice on during winter.

The
apprentices unpacked quickly then traipsed down to the Refectory for lunch,
which turned out to be a far cry from the food they had been used to in The
Cloak and Dagger.

‘But what
is
it?’  Phantom asked for the third time, allowing the unidentifiable gruel
to slide off his spoon and splash into the bowl.

‘I’m sure I
don’t know,’ replied Phantasm patiently before gagging slightly and picking a
small bone from between his teeth.  ‘Something that once lived by the look
of it,’ he said, examining the bone interestedly.  ‘Spriggan maybe.’

Phantom pulled
a face and pushed his bowl away, ‘Well I’m not eating it.  I think we’ll
have to start doing work on the side as soon as we can and buy ourselves decent
meals in The Cloak.’

‘Can we do
that?’  Mistral asked, giving up on cautiously prodding her own bowl of
gruel and shoving it aside.

Phantasm
nodded and gazed speculatively out of the window, ‘Once we’ve gained a few
skills we can undertake low-grade work on the side.  It’s not exactly
approved of, more just an accepted way for apprentices to earn enough money to
put behind the bar at The Cloak and Dagger on a Saturday night.’

‘Or every
night if this meal is an example of things to come!’  Phantom muttered
with feeling.

‘What does
low-grade work entail?’  Mistral asked with interest.  She was
already adept at hunting and not too bad at tracking either – she might be able
to get paid work sooner than she expected.

Phantasm
grimaced, ‘The low-lying farm lands round here get infested with
knuckers.  Heard of them in the mysterious void you were raised in?’ he
asked, looking at Mistral questioningly.

Mistral
scowled at him, ‘Swamp dragons, yes, I’ve had the pleasure of dispatching a few
of the slimy worms,’ she confirmed testily.

‘Ah, so you
were actually raised on the Isle, that’s good to know,’ Phantasm murmured
loftily and pushed his own half-eaten bowl of gruel away with a shudder. 
‘Well, the farmers are always willing to pay to have their lands cleared. 
Knuckers are fairly harmless but they will attack if they feel threatened and
have quite a nasty bite.’

Mistral nodded
in agreement, she’d been bitten by a couple in her time, and they always seemed
to get infected no matter how quickly they were treated.  

‘What’s on the
agenda for this afternoon?’  Phantom asked restlessly.  He was gazing
around the Refectory with barely disguised boredom.

‘Inventory,’
said Phantasm.  ‘The Training Lieutenants will tell us if we need any more
equipment.  We’ve got time this afternoon to go down to the village and
purchase anything we need.’

‘What happens
if you’ve run out of money?’  Mistral asked in a worried voice, thinking
of her depleted purse.

‘It all gets
added to your training bill,’ Phantasm said in a bitter voice.  ‘Something
I hope to pay off quite quickly.’

‘You’ll be
hunting a lot of knuckers then,’ said Mistral with a smile.

Phantasm’s
expression grew pained, ‘Please don’t ... as if having Golden trying to romance
my ear this morning wasn’t enough to make me feel nauseated.’

‘What
is
she like?’  Phantom asked, shaking his head incredulously.  ‘She
looked like she wanted to eat Master Sphinx this morning!’

‘I don’t think
he’d mind,’ said Mistral, thinking of the way his gaze had lingered on her in
The Cloak and Dagger. 

‘Rather him
than me,’ said Phantasm with a shudder.  ‘Are we all full then?’  he
asked pointedly.

‘Oh yes, I
couldn’t manage another mouthful,’ said Phantom seriously, getting to his feet
and shooting his untouched bowl of gruel a disgusted look. 

Mistral
laughed and rose after them, joining Xerxes and Brutus as they left the
Refectory to roundly abuse the standard of food they were going to be expected
to live on. 

The three
Training Lieutenants were waiting for them when they entered the Main Hall
again.  The chairs had been removed and a long row of tables were set down
the centre of the room.  Leo Sphinx was not there.  Mistral smiled as
she caught Golden pouting sulkily when she also registered the Training
Captain’s absence.

‘Lay all your
kit and weapons on the table!’  Barak barked in a loud voice.

Mistral walked
up to a table and began unfastening her knife belt.  Laying it carefully
on the table she removed her dagger from the back of her trouser belt and set
it down too.  Next she unbuckled her swords and laid them down on the
table.  After a moment’s pause she reached down and pulled Brothertoft’s
old hunting knife from inside her boot, laying that down with less care. 
It looked decidedly tarnished next to her gleaming new weapons.  She slid
a finger experimentally along the blade, it was pitted and blunt in comparison
to her new dagger. 

‘You can throw
that away for starters,’ growled Barak.  He cast an eye over her weapons
and sneered.  ‘Double-swords?’

Mistral
regarded him coolly and said nothing, determined not about to be intimidated.

He lifted his
gaze from her sword and looked at her, his expression still jeering.  ‘A
bit over-ambitious aren’t you girlie?’

‘About as
over-ambitious as you are by trying to talk and walk at the same time,’ Mistral
retorted. 

A few sniggers
erupted from the other apprentices, making Barak’s face darken with
anger. 

‘We’ll see
what you’re really made of tomorrow,’ he growled threateningly and slammed her
sword back onto the table.   

‘You really
know how to make friends don’t you!’  Phantom muttered to her under his
breath once Barak had passed by his weapons without comment.

Mistral
shrugged dismissively but she had to admit that Phantom had a point. 
Already today she had made a lasting enemy in Columbine and had managed to get
on the wrong side of one of her Training Lieutenants.  All things
considered it wasn’t a brilliant start to her year.

Barak finished
his inspection and strode to the front of the row of apprentices, his face set
in a heavy scowl.

‘What is it
with first years?’ he said in a loud aside to the other Lieutenants. 
‘They think they’re invincible!  Armour!’  he bellowed, turning to
face them directly.  ‘Not a single one of you has got any armour!  Do
you think that you’ll be so skilful with the sword that you won’t need
protection?  Get down to the village now and buy some!  And I advise
you to spend as much money on it as you can, whatever you choose will one day
save your life. 

‘And you two,’
he added in scathing tone, turning to look directly at the twins.  ‘I
don’t know what sunny climate you’ve come from but you’re going to need
jerkins.  We train outside most of the year round.’

While the
apprentices began to hastily gather together their belongings, eager to get
down to Toothe and Nayle before all the best armour had been sold, the twins
exchanged a pained look.

‘Oh wonderful,
another trip to Mistress Eudora’s,’ said Phantasm heavily.

‘Golden and
Eudora all in one day!’  Mistral laughed and buckled her swords back
on.  ‘You are in demand!  I’d start charging if I were you.’

‘Right, just
for that, you’re coming with me … you can hold my hand and make out that we’re
a couple or something,’ said Phantasm.  ‘That might back her off a bit ...
and you can give her that scary look you just gave Barak.’

‘No thanks,’
said Mistral quickly.  ‘I don’t know where you’ve been … besides, I can
have another look at those butterfly knives while you and Mistress You-Adore-Me
or whatever her name is get re-acquainted.’

Mistral
finished strapping her knife belt on and glanced up to see Phantasm looking
imploringly at her, his emerald eyes almost liquid with pleading.

‘Please.’

‘Don’t try
your charm offensive on me, I’m immune!  However, if you buy me a meal in
The Cloak tonight I will consent to come along and glare savagely at her … but
I draw the line at holding hands.’