The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (62 page)

Mistral glanced up at Fabian’s
face and flinched when she saw that it was devoid of any emotion.  To
someone who didn’t know him he looked rigidly controlled, but she didn’t need
to read his aura to tell that he was on the verge of losing his temper, which
usually resulted in someone losing their life.

She looked at the twins. 
Quickly catching Phantom’s attention she widened her eyes in a silent
plea. 

Mistral watched Brutus anxiously
while he continued to argue with Fabian, rising slowly to her feet to stand
quietly beside Fabian, ready to leap forwards and hold them apart if it came to
it.  She was suddenly aware of the tense stares of the others warriors
gathered around the campfire.  Most of them obviously knew Fabian well
enough to recognise that Brutus was heading for trouble.

‘– not to mention being a Mage
and being foolhardy enough to enter the Vale during The Festival of the Arcane
–’

Brutus suddenly stopped talking
and a hazy look drifted across his face.

‘Damn!  I completely
forgot!’ he exclaimed, clapping a hand to his forehead.  ‘Back soon!’ 

The other warriors shared
confused looks and watched Brutus running along the avenue of tents but Fabian
turned to Phantasm. 

‘Courtesy of you two I presume?’

Phantasm shrugged, ‘We thought it
might be prudent to remind Brutus to double-check our entries with the sylvads
at the registration tent.’

‘What?’  Xerxes exploded,
leaping to his feet and glaring furiously at the twins.  ‘You used your
gift on my brother?’

‘Come on Xerxes, surely you could
see where that conversation was going to end!’  Mistral snapped and moved
closer to Fabian, her posture defensive.

‘He was saying what needed to be
said Mistral!’  Xerxes shouted and turned to glare at Fabian.  ‘This
is our festival!  Mage rule doesn’t apply here!  And unless you’ve
forgotten, Mistral may be your wife, Mage De Winter, but she’s also an
Arcane!  She rode damned well in that race and deserves her place in the
final, as does Grendel!  And I for one am not going to be the one to tell
him he’s not competing because you wouldn’t let Mistral hunt some damned
harpies!’

A heavy silence fell while Fabian
glared back at Xerxes, his fingers curled ready to grab the dagger in his
belt.  Mistral quickly laid a restraining hand on his arm, murmuring
softly into his ear while she pulled him away from the camp fire.

‘Fabian.  Please listen to
me.  I won’t be reckless, I promise to stay with my brothers.  I
won’t even hunt, just go for the ride ... and you will be there, near enough to
reach me in a few short minutes if Columbine does dare to make an appearance. 
Please … please don’t make me ruin the festival for them.’

Her eyes roved over his face; the
familiar uncompromising set of his jaw, the fierce light in his eyes, all
making her smile with affection.  Impulsively, she reached up to kiss his rigid
lips until he relented and returned her embrace.  The sound of the twin’
voices resuming a conversation about rules eventually made him sigh and push
her gently away. 

‘I am sorry Mistral but I still
cannot allow you to go.  To watch you ride into that forest knowing
Columbine is in there and be completely unable to protect you, it would be –’
he paused and shook his head.  ‘I simply cannot do it.’

‘Yes you can.’  Mistral
insisted quietly.  ‘I watched you ride away from me to take a Contract on
Putreo.’ she watched his eyes darken with stubbornness again and reached up to
touch his jaw, stroking the ridged muscles.  ‘Do this one last thing for
me Fabian, and then I promise, I promise to fulfil my wedding vows and obey
you.’

Mistral held his gaze imploringly,
watching his eyes gradually softened to the velvet she adored.  Fabian
shook his head and abruptly laughed, his face losing all of its tension,
reminding her of the first time she had ever seen him laugh on the ride to the
River Amber, when she had fallen utterly in love with him.

‘I have a confession to make,’ he
murmured, catching her around the waist and pulling her into his embrace again.

‘Oh yes?’ she breathed, caught by
the intensity of his gaze.

‘I promised to obey you too.’

‘Really?’  Mistral’s eyes
widened at the world of possibilities that suddenly presented themselves. 

Fabian caught her look and
smiled, ‘Within reason.’ 

‘Let’s start small then,’ she
said quickly.  ‘I hunt this morning, and take part in the event this
afternoon, then we leave first thing in the morning and I do nothing but focus
on mastering my gift until I have it.’

‘Or until the winter solstice
when we gracefully admit defeat and resign ourselves to a life of Contracts,
hunting and travel on mercenary work –’

Mistral’s smile faltered as
Fabian repeated Saul’s words to her.  Noting instantly the change in her
expression, his eyes tightened. 

‘Something I said?’ he asked
softly.

‘No ... yes … oh!  Only that
is what I want more than anything!’ she admitted in an agitated voice.

‘And?’

His penetrating black gaze bored
deeply into hers, forcing the truth from her as easily as though the twins had
used their gift to make her confess in a voice small with guilt.

‘You’re not the first person to
offer me that life.’   

‘Did he really?’  Fabian
growled softly.  ‘He obviously knows you better than I gave him credit
for.’

‘No, he doesn’t.’  Mistral
corrected quickly and held his iron stare with her own.  ‘Or he wouldn’t
have even opened his mouth and wasted breath on the words.  You are the
only one for me Fabian.  You know me better than I know myself and nothing
is going to come between us!  Let’s just get today done with and then
tomorrow we leave for the Valley and I focus on mastering my gift.’

Fabian looked at her for a long
moment, holding her sincere gaze as her eyes willed him to accept the
truth.  She didn’t want Saul, she wanted him … and if that meant being a
Seer, so be it.  As far as she saw it her destiny was just another brief
stumbling block on the path of what she really wanted.  A life with
Fabian, the man gazing at her now with shining eyes of ebony and a smile she
would walk through fire to see.

‘Then let me tell you about
harpies –’

He breathed the words in whisper
more seductive than a thousand sweetly murmured promises.  Gently pulling
her down to sit beside him, he began to describe the prey she and her brothers
were to be hunting that morning.

‘They are vicious, of course, and
very similar in size and mannerisms to their other mountain dwelling cousins,
the gargoyles.’

‘Are they poisonous too?’ she
interrupted in a breathless whisper.

‘No.’  Fabian smiled at her
disappointed expression.  ‘But they are more intelligent than gargoyles
are also armed with incredibly sharp teeth and talons.  Do not doubt that
they will make a formidable prey.  They will have been caught in the
Southern Range and bought to the forests especially for today’s hunt.  The
forest is not their natural habitat so they will be nervous and more aggressive
than usual.’

‘What’s stopping them flying
back?  Will their wings have been clipped?’ 

‘No, that would be
unnecessary.  Have you ever visited The Emerald Forests during
summertime?’

‘No, only in early spring.’

Fabian nodded, ‘Well, The Emerald
Forests are more like a cave during the summer.  The hanging moss will
make it almost impossible for the harpies to fly out through the branches
overhead.  They are effectively trapped there until they find their
bearings and start to head for the edges.  I am sure they will have only
been released this morning, so they will still be disorientated.’

‘Weak spots?’  Mistral
demanded, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

‘The hide is tough, arrows and
bolts are not so effective on the body … but their eyes … that is their weak
spot –’

‘Hear that brothers?’ 
Mistral abruptly called out in an excited voice.  ‘We … er, I mean you …
need to aim for the eyes!’

‘Thanks!’  Cain called back
while he strapped on his knife belt.  ‘Are you coming then or what?’ 
he added in slightly impatient voice.

‘Of course!’  Mistral leapt
excitedly to her feet.  ‘But wait!  Am I allowed Prospero or is he
classed as an “unfair advantage”?’

‘Definitely falls into the
category of unfair advantage, mores the pity.  This is one hunt he’ll have
to sit out.’  Xerxes replied with an apologetic look at the dog, excitedly
wagging his tail at the mention of the word “hunt”.

‘I will take care of Prospero.’
 Fabian rubbed the dog’s head fondly.  ‘And I will feed him
too.  Something other than fairies.’

Mistral smiled and gave her dog a
rueful pat.  He would have been a great help during the hunt today, not
just for the harpies either.

‘Wait a minute!’  Xerxes
called loudly over the noise of warriors preparing for the hunt.  ‘There’s
a restriction on the number in the hunting party!’

Samson swore and reached out for
the parchment in Xerxes’ hand, ‘And there was me thinking we had this one in
the bag with fifteen of us going out!’

‘Yes, I think that’s the point of
the restriction.’  Xerxes said drily and pointed to the paragraph he had
been reading.  ‘We can only submit a hunting party of five.’

Mistral smiled, confident in the
knowledge that place was assured.  She had to enter or the Ri would
forfeit their right to enter the final.

‘Which must include any
competitors already eligible for the final, so that’s Mistral and Grendel in
for definite.  Which only leaves three places up for grabs.’  Xerxes
looked up to meet a host of eager stares.  ‘Er …two of which have to be
the twins, if we’re going to stick to the original plan?’  he glanced
quickly at Fabian who nodded tersely. 

‘Which only leaves one place.’
 Samson finished in a growl.

‘Um, right.’  Xerxes
swallowed and looked to Phantasm for help. 

‘Names in a bag.’  Phantasm
said quickly.  ‘It’s the only fair way.  Agreed?’

After a moment’s pause the
warriors all reluctantly gave their assent.  Phantom quickly tore up a
piece of parchment and passed around the pieces with a quill while Phantasm
emptied his saddlebag and held it open for the warriors to place their slips of
parchment into.

‘Right, I’ll put Brutus’ name in
as well, since he’s not back yet … now, someone neutral to select the names …
Mage De Winter?’  Phantasm asked politely and held the bag out.

Fabian reached into the bag and
drew out a folded scrap of parchment then passed it to Phantom unopened.

‘Samso –’

‘Ha!’  Samson’s victorious
shout rang out before Phantom had finished calling his name.

Fabian glanced up to catch
Samson’s eye.  Mistral observed their silent communication with narrowed
eyes; she may not have Prospero with her on the hunt, but it looked like she
would still have a guard dog.

Suddenly the camp was alive with
noise and activity as each warrior began to loudly offer advice on the hunt,
all competing with each other to appear the most knowledgeable on either the
prey or the terrain.

‘Arrows!  Poisoned will be
best of course!  I brew quite a nice one myself actually, definitely what
you need today!’ One warrior was insisting to Phantasm, who nodded politely and
concentrated on repacking his saddlebag.

‘Don’t be stupid Jareth! 
Arrows in The Emerald Forests won’t work!  You’ll never get a clear
shot!’  Scoffed another warrior and elbowed Jareth out of the way to take
his place beside Phantasm while he tightened the straps on his full saddlebag
with a glazed expression on his face.  ‘Throwing knives are what you need
today!  Poisoned of course –’

‘And aim for the eyes!’
 Jareth interjected, determined not to be left out.

Phantasm nodded vaguely and
caught Mistral’s amused look.  He quickly hid a grin when Jareth turned to
include her in the conversation.

‘You can behead them too!  I
did on my last Contract in the Southern Range.  Now that was a hunt to
remember!  I nearly died –’

‘I do apologise Jareth.’
 Fabian murmured, pulling Mistral away from the warrior enthusiastically
reliving his near-death encounter.  ‘But we really need to be going. 
I’m sure Mistral would love to hear your adventure another time.’

Mistral threw Jareth an
apologetic look while she was led away then turned to hiss under her breath to
Fabian, ‘Oh, thank you!  I thought I was going to have to kill him to make
him shut up!’

Fabian laughed softly and ducked
inside the tent, ‘Jareth likes to tell a tale or two.  I think he could
probably rival the twins.  Now –’ he was suddenly business-like, opening
her saddlebag and pulling out her armour.  ‘Definitely full armour today …
for you and Cirrus.’

Mistral sighed and obediently
stood still, letting thoughts of the hunt fill her mind while Fabian adjusted
the straps of her armour until he was entirely satisfied that every buckle was
securely fastened.

‘Throwing knives.’  he
ordered, passing the leather belt of sharp knives to her.  ‘Cain’s already
told me he has a special poison prepared for you all to use today.  Now,
crossbow … ah, here it is … good.  Have you got your dagger?’  he
asked, looking up and frowning at her amused expression.

‘Of course I have Fabian!’ 
Mistral laughed, tying back her hair before strapping her swords on. 
‘Please stop fretting!  You’re starting to remind me of the twins!’

Fabian didn’t return her smile
but stepped closer to take her hands in his.  She looked up to see
something alien in his dark gaze.  He looked troubled, uncertain.

‘Mistral?’

‘Yes?’

‘I want you to swear to me you
will try to restrain your reckless nature today.  If you ride off alone
and become separated from the others –’