The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (80 page)

Mistral crossed the room in three
strides and stopped just in front of him, her face consumed by intense
emotion. 

Fabian’s eyes searched her face,
frowning at her fierce expression, ‘Are you still angry with me?’

She shook her head once but said
nothing. 

His expression shifted to become
apologetic, ‘Forgive me Mistral.  I thought it best to let you calm down
before I tried to talk to you.  I intended to come and find you this
afternoon.  I even had a bath to try and impress you.’  he smiled
ruefully, explaining his damp body. 

Her eyes bored into his with
acute need.  She reached up and pressed her hands against the damp skin of
his chest, her eyes blazing as she spoke the two small words she had come to
say.

‘I Saw.’  

A small furrow of confusion
creased his brow then his eyes widened, understanding flaring in their black
depths.  For a long second they stared at each other before he gently took
her face in his hands and kissed her, slowly at first, then harder, full of
ruthless passion.

Abruptly he broke away and
Mistral’s eyes flew open, terrified that he would reject her again.  She
was instantly lost in his black stare, transfixed by the overwhelming need that
burned there. 

Wordlessly he swept her into his
arms and carried her up the wooden stairs to their bedroom. 

Afternoon slid into early
evening.  Mistral lay with her head against Fabian’s chest listening
blissfully to the steady beat of his heart.  To her horror sudden tears
ran from her eyes and splashed onto his skin.  At once he rolled to face
her, a stricken expression on his face.

‘Oh Mistral!  I’m sorry.
 I’m so sorry –’

Mistral shook her head quickly
and smiled, ‘No, you’ve made me happy, not sad.’

‘Then why are you crying?’ he
asked in a bewildered tone.

She dropped her gaze, her smile
fading, ‘Yesterday –’ she hesitated, uncertain of how to express how she felt,
then spoke in a sudden rush, the words tumbling over themselves in her haste to
get them out.  ‘When you lost your temper with me, I thought you didn’t
want me anymore, that you’d grown bored with waiting for me and ... and it felt
like last year… before you came back –’

He sighed deeply and pulled her
tight to his body, ‘I will always want you.  And, I could never, ever be
bored with you.  I would have waited forever for you.’  he paused and
gazed into her eyes with heart-breaking sincerity.  ‘Please forgive my
behaviour yesterday.  I was absolutely furious with myself for nearly
losing control and ruining everything you had worked so hard to achieve. 
I lost my temper with myself, not with you.’

Her tears forgotten, Mistral gave
him a half-smile, ‘Well, I suppose it made a change from being angry with me.’

He laughed softly.  She felt
the low rumble in his chest and smiled.  They lay like that for a while,
in contented silence until Fabian spoke again in a voice of brushed silk.

‘Tell me what I’m thinking.’
 

Mistral tilted her head to look
up at him, studying the sculptured planes of his face, the perfect bow of his
upper lip.  With no effort at all she could instantly see his aura
shimmering around him in bright pinks and golds.  Then she heard a subtle
sound, the barely heard whisper of his voice, sighing like wind through
leaves.  She listened to his thoughts for a moment then her eyes widened
and a small laugh escaped her lips. 

‘Is that even possible?’

‘Let’s find out,’ he growled,
bending his head to kiss her. 

All light had completely faded
from sky by the time they spoke again.  The room was heavy with the
shadows of dusk.  Through the small window they could see the first stars
appearing in the sky. 

Fabian sighed reluctantly and
stroked her arm, ‘I suppose we should be returning to the Valley.’

Mistral lifted herself from his
chest and sat up, yawning and stretching her arms above her head.  She
gazed down at him, her hair falling over one shoulder and a mischievous smile
playing around the corners of her mouth.

‘Oh didn’t I tell you?
 We’re not going anywhere for a whole week.  I think the Ri owe us a
honeymoon, don’t you?’

‘I think they do.’  Fabian
smiled and raised a hand to stroke the length of her hair, letting it trail
down to her waist.  ‘However, wouldn’t you rather we had a more exotic
location for our honeymoon?  It is traditional after all.’

‘No,’ she sighed, laying back
into his arms.  ‘Here is just perfect.’

By Wednesday there was no food
left in the house and they had to force themselves to go out and hunt. 
Prospero and the horses had been sorely neglected, but didn’t seem to
mind.  Several rabbit carcasses littered around the courtyard gave
testament to the fact that Prospero could look after himself.  They
saddled the unwilling horses and rode into the forests to hunt with Prospero
bounding happily alongside, pleased to have company again.  The winter day
was clear and bright, fragile wisps of cloud trailed across the pale blue sky,
the early morning sun not yet powerful enough to burn them away.  They
hunted for most of the morning, enjoying life as neither had ever known it
could be.  Easy and uncomplicated.  They talked and laughed, sharing
a touch, a kiss, a tender look.  It was past noon when they finally
returned to the house.  Mistral was telling Fabian a story, his amused
smile suddenly vanishing when his gaze fell on the horse paddock.

‘We have visitors.’

Mistral followed his gaze to see
two horses grazing in the paddock and instantly recognised them.

‘The twins are here,’ she
frowned.  ‘I wonder what they want.’

Fabian’s face was expressionless
as he dismounted and led Spirit over to the stables.  Mistral followed
him, neither speaking while they untacked their horses.  Holding hands,
they walked across the small yard to greet their visitors. 

The twins were sat at the base of
the steps leading up to the front door.  Phantasm immediately stood up and
greeted them cordially. 

‘Good day Mistral.  Mage De
Winter.’

Phantom was less composed,
muttering, ‘Oh, for pity’s sake!’  under his breath when he took stock of
her appearance.  She was wearing one of Fabian’s shirts and her hair
hadn’t been combed for days. 

‘Phantasm, Phantom.’  Fabian
eyed them coldly.  ‘What can we do for you?’

‘Master Sphinx is concerned about
Mistral’s protracted absence and has instructed that we discover the
cause.’  Phantasm responded promptly. 

Mistral was instantly aggressive,
all raised eyebrows and folded her arms, ‘Is this why you’re here?  To
check-up on me?  Who the hell does Leo think he is?  And who the hell
do you think you are?’

Phantasm said nothing but Phantom
looked slightly embarrassed.  A heavy silence fell.

‘Well now you’ve seen that I’m
still alive you can go!’  Mistral spat, radiating volcanic
hostility.  ‘Oh, and tell Leo I said thanks for his concern and I’ll be
back next week.’

Phantasm arched an eyebrow,
‘And?’

‘And what?’

‘And, do you have any other
messages?’

Mistral froze.  They twins
knew.  Of course they knew.  Serenity had already proved that she
couldn’t keep a secret.  Half the Valley probably knew by now.  She
felt her cheeks redden.  If they knew she’d finally got the Sight then
they probably also knew what she’d been doing all week.  Leo wasn’t
worried that she was ill or injured; he was worried about his pet Seer’s gift
still being functional. 

She narrowed her eyes, her voice a
furious hiss, ‘Leo wants to know whether or not I’ve kept the Sight?’ 

Phantasm gave her a reproving
look, the overbearing older brother once more, ‘His concern is entirely founded
Mistral.  Serenity said you left despite her expressed instructions to remain. 
The sudden arrival of your gift must have been quite a shock.  You should
really have remained under Serenity’s care, not ridden out of the Valley like
some reckless runaway!  What if you had fallen in the forests?  We
might never –’

Mistral wasn’t listening to
him.  Serenity had called after?  She didn’t remember hearing her, or
anything other than wanted to get here, to Fabian.  She turned to see him
stood beside her.  He was frowning at Phantasm, no longer cold but
concerned.  Mistral sighed.  Of course, he would now be worried that
she could have hurt herself riding like an idiot too.  Suddenly fed up
with the whole stupid game she held a hand up, halting Phantasm mid-flow.

‘Yes brother.  Leave off
with the whinging.  I’ve still got the Sight.’

‘Really?’  Phantasm regarded
her sceptically.  ‘So, you could tell me what I’m thinking right now?’

‘Yes, but I’d rather beat it out
of you!’ she snapped.  ‘Actually, Sheldon, I think I will, just for the
hell of it!’

Out of the corner of her eye she
saw Phantom’s face dissolve into a grin, ‘Now, now, there’s no need for name
calling.  Puddle.’

Mistral laughed and the tension
between them instantly lifted. 

Phantasm’s face blazed with
sudden pride, he reached out to rest a hand lightly on her arm, ‘Well done
Mistral.’   

‘About time too.’  Phantom
added righteously.  ‘I would hug you, but quite frankly, looking at the
state of you, I’m not sure where you’ve been.’

‘Nowhere.’  Mistral smiled
and slipped her hand into Fabian’s.

Phantom rolled his eyes, ‘Just as
we feared.’

‘Are you staying?’  Fabian
enquired, his body posture suddenly that of a relaxed host.

‘If we’re not intruding –’

‘Of course you are.’ 
Mistral cut in bluntly.  ‘But I know you’ll be going soon anyway. 
Leo wants you back with his precious update.’ 

Phantom looked up quickly, ‘And
you know this because you’ve Seen it?’

‘No.  I know this because
he’s a domineering control freak and your two are predictably trying to keep on
his good side.’

Laughing softly at their
bickering, Fabian strode up the stairs to unlock the door. 

‘I see Sight hasn’t given you any
manners then.’  Phantom sniffed.

Mistral stuck her tongue out at
him then ran up the stairs, smiling blissfully when Fabian caught her around
the waist and kissed her, murmuring something in her ear that made her laugh
before releasing her. 

‘Please forgive the intrusion
Mage De Winter.’  Phantasm apologised when he followed Mistral up the
stairs.  ‘But we were under strict orders from Master Sphinx to be
ruthless in our efforts to establish the truth, er, or words to that
effect.’ 

Fabian shrugged unconcernedly, he
was looking at Mistral, a vague smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

‘He was not best pleased about
your impromptu holiday to say the least!’  Phantom exclaimed to Mistral when
he strolled through the door.

‘Honeymoon, actually.’
 Mistral corrected primly then grinned.  ‘So on a scale of one to
ten, just how mad was he?’

Phantom pursed his lips and
considered for a moment, ‘Somewhere around a fifteen I’d say.’

Mistral laughed, ‘Did he swear?’

‘No, but he did go red and shout
a lot.’

Mistral sighed happily, ‘I almost
wish I’d been there.’

The twins sauntered over to the
two battered chairs near the stove and dropped gratefully into them with joint
sighs.  Fabian closed the door and walked across the room towards the
kitchen, carrying a pair of rabbits from their hunt.

‘I’ll skin those for lunch.’
 Mistral offered, taking the rabbits from him and sitting down at the
kitchen table.

Fabian folded his arms across his
chest and leaned back against a wooden pillar, smiling at Mistral pulling her
dagger from her belt and testing the blade against her thumb before beginning
to skin the rabbits.  Finally tearing his gaze away, Fabian looked over at
Phantasm and raised his eyebrows enquiringly. 

‘Tell me what developments there
have been with the Rochfortes.’

Mistral shook her head and
sighed, turning her attention to the task of skinning the rabbits while
Phantasm relayed the Divinus’ most recent report.  She let her mind drift,
listening more to their thoughts than the boring conversation they were
having.  Unfortunately neither the twins nor Fabian were thinking about
anything other than the Rochfortes and Mistral let her mind rove, testing her
newfound gift.  Calling up the images of each of her brothers in turn she
smiled in amusement when she found she could hear their thoughts. 

Mistral’s dagger dropped from her
hands to clatter onto the table, her eyes staring into nothingness.  A
soft sigh escaped her lips then her eyes slid out of focus and her face grew
blank. 

Fabian was instantly knelt beside
her, his dark eyes anxious, ‘What is it Mistral?  What have you
Seen?’ 

The twins leapt to their feet and
moved quietly across the room to stand behind Fabian, both gazing at Mistral
tensely.

‘The Divinus.’  Mistral
blinked and focussed on Fabian.  ‘He’s passed.’

Fabian’s ebony gaze held hers,
deep and calm.  She felt strength flowing from him, filling her with
certainty.  He was her Mage, her husband, her love.  The possessor of
her soul.

‘Then, Mistral, it is time to
fulfil your destiny.’