The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (26 page)

‘Here we go!’  Phantasm
called happily as Prospero bayed loudly and flushed a heavyset buck from the
undergrowth.  He promptly sat down and looked expectantly at Mistral.

‘Go boy!’  she shouted
joyfully.

Prospero immediately gave chase
and the hunt was on.  They urged their horses after him, crashing through
undergrowth, ducking low branches and leaping fallen logs, caught in the raw
thrill of the chase.

At midday they rode back into the
meadow to find Grendel and Saul sitting beside a couple of small deer and a
large pile of rabbits.

‘Rabbit good for lunch?’ 
Saul asked as she leapt off Cirrus and strolled over to see him.

‘I’d rather eat what we’ve caught
– look!’  she pointed smugly to the large buck and a small bear the twins
were untying from the back of their saddles.

Saul shook his head, still
smiling, ‘What is it with you and bears?’ 

‘It’s not me, it’s
Prospero!  I think he likes the challenge of something that doesn’t run
away from him but wants to go down fighting.’

Saul laughed, ‘That dog is so
perfect for you.’

‘I know.’  Mistral
smiled.  ‘Fabian chose well.’

‘I think so.’  Saul said
quietly, not looking up from the rabbit.

Mistral gave him a troubled look
and chewed her lip, undecided as to whether to broach that particular thorny
subject again.  With the same uncanny timing that had irritated her to the
point of wanting to kill him, Phantom abruptly interrupted her conversation
with Saul; however, this time she was grateful.

‘Not rabbit!’  he exclaimed
loudly while he walked over, swinging a brace of pheasants in one hand. 
‘If I eat any more of those wretched things I’m sure I’ll grow long ears and a
tail!’

‘Sorry.  But we can’t eat
the order.  Rabbit’s surplus to requirements.’

‘Rabbit it is then.’ 
Phantom sighed then leaned closer to hiss in Mistral’s ear.  ‘Xerxes is in
agony!  I think you might have to take pity on him sister!’

‘Sister?’  Mistral laughed
and reached into her saddlebag for her medical kit.  ‘Bad choice of words
brother.  I think he might be a bit sensitive about sisters at the moment.’ 

‘Good point.  Appeal to his
manly side Mistral.  He’s got a lot of pride and it’s been sorely dented.’

‘And I should feel bad about
that?’

Phantom scowled, ‘Just fix him
Mistral.  He’s boring like this.’ 

By the time Mistral had persuaded
Xerxes to admit the true nature of his injuries all of the warriors had
returned and the mound of prey had grown considerably, along with the audience
watching her treat him.

‘Is that an “L” or an “I”?’
 Mistral asked curiously while she daubed ointment onto his back, smiling
to herself at the outbreak of sniggering from Brutus and Cain.

‘I don’t know.  I can’t read
it either.  And I still don’t know which sister it was,’ Xerxes muttered,
looking slightly shamefaced. 

‘Never mind, I don’t think it
will scar.  All done!’  Mistral said brightly and patted him on the
back.

‘Ow!’

‘Sorry brother.  Momentary
lapse of concentration.’

‘I know all about that.’
 Xerxes said glumly and pulled his shirt back on.

Mistral sighed sympathetically,
trying to salve his sore male pride as Phantom had instructed, ‘Well I’m sure
you’ve learned your lesson.’

‘Yes, I’m only going to date
girls that can’t write from now on.’

‘That’s the spirit
brother.’     

They ate roasted rabbit and
argued loudly over who would hunt what to complete the long list on the
Contract.  Mistral listened to their noisy banter with a smile.  She
was having a good day, and as she gazed out across the meadow to see a bright
gold palomino cantering towards them it suddenly became a great day.

The following Saturday found
Mistral running up the stairs to the dorms with a Contract for the twins
clutched in her hand.  Gleacher had just offered it to her but it was
nothing that would interest her.  She had actually been quite surprised
that he had even considered her for the work, even more so when he suggested
that she take the Contract up to the twins and offer it to them instead,
stating that he had an urgent matter to attend to and didn’t have time
himself.  Gleacher was definitely behaving oddly.  Mistral was
convinced he must have upset Cain in some way and the sly hob was slipping the
Contracts Officer something in his tankard to make him more amenable. 

If the truth be told Mistral
didn’t really mind being a messenger for Gleacher.  She was bored with trying
to read beyond Serenity’s aura and wanted an excuse to see if the twins wanted
to skive training to go hunting.  The week had been both long and dull and
she need something to cheer her up.  After the pleasure of escaping the
Valley on the mammoth hunt of the previous Saturday then spending all of Sunday
with Fabian, Monday morning had been a bleak shock.  Fabian had left on
more business which he had been strangely reluctant to discuss and her brothers
were all out of the Valley on various Contracts, leaving her to continue with
her fruitless efforts at trying to master Sight, albeit interspersed with
vigorous sword training sessions to relieve the boredom.  But even those
had turned out to be less than satisfying.  For some reason best known to
him Leo had taken it upon himself to loom over her like a black cloud of doom
whenever she appeared in the Training Arena, preventing her from so much as
breaking sweat with his constant correction.

Mistral strode along the corridor
and reached the twins’ room.  Not bothering to knock she burst in then
abruptly froze.

‘Oh!  Sorry.  Um, I
guess I really should learn to knock.  You two are obviously having a
private moment –’ she blurted and began to back quickly out of the door.

‘Stop her!’  Phantasm
ordered and Phantom leapt across the room to slam the door, locking it swiftly
before Mistral could grab the handle and yank it open.

‘And it’s for you, not us!’ 
Phantom added sharply. 

‘What the hell do I need
that
for?’

Phantom joined his twin, both
regarding her with identical frowns.

‘Did you really think that you
would be getting married in your shirt and trousers?’

Mistral mouthed wordlessly at
him, too astounded by what she was seeing to speak.

‘I knew it!  You did, didn’t
you?’  Phantom exclaimed.

‘Just
what
do you expect
me to do with that?’ she demanded, pointing at the dress hanging on the wall.

‘Wear it Mistral.  It’s a
wedding dress.  And you’re welcome by the way.  You have no idea what
I had to do to get Eudora to make it in time.’

‘Time for what?’

Phantasm let out a long breath,
‘Your wedding.’

‘But that’s ages away! 
Fabian didn’t even mention it last weekend!’

‘It’s in about two hours
actually, so we really need to get you ready.’

Ignoring Mistral’s stunned look,
Phantasm immediately turned to his brother and began issuing orders.

‘Take her to the showers and wait
outside.  There are bars on the outside of those windows, I’ve checked, so
she won’t be able to climb out.  As soon as she’s done, bring her straight
back here and don’t let her leave.  I’ll go fetch what we need.’

Mistral felt Phantom’s hand grip
her arm.  He wheeled her about and marched her from the room and down the
corridor to the bathrooms.

‘Don’t make me come in and get
you,’ he threatened, shoving her into what had become her private bathroom
since there were no other female apprentices that year.

Mistral staggered through the
door and heard Phantom immediately begin tapping his foot impatiently outside
the door.  She stumbled over to the sink and stared at herself in the
mirror.  Her face was deathly pale, her eyes huge, the pupils dilated to
pools of black.  Her wedding was today?  Fear exploded inside her
with the force of an earthquake.  She gripped the sides of the sink,
feeling the familiar wave of claustrophobia wash over her.  Tearing her
gaze away from the frightened face in the mirror Mistral stared wildly around
the bare room, noting with a fresh burst of panic that Phantasm was right; the
windows were barred on the outside.

Forcing herself to take a deep
breath, Mistral gradually calmed down and began to think rationally.  How
bad could it really be?  A few words … then straight to The Cloak, and of
course, Fabian would be there.  The thought of her Mage gave her the
strength to get undressed and stumble into the shower.  For once she was
grateful for the icy jets of water that blasted her skin, jolting her mind into
working again. 

A few words … then straight to
The Cloak, and Fabian will be there …

The sentence became her mantra
while she dried herself and dressed.

Opening the door of the bathroom
she was instantly grabbed by Phantom and propelled back along the corridor.

‘What took you so long?’  he
complained.  ‘I’ve been hanging around the door to your bathroom for
ages!  People were starting to give me strange looks!’

Mistral nodded vaguely at him
while he pushed her back into their room and forced her into a chair. 
Phantasm immediately appeared armed with a comb and a pair of scissors.

‘Hold her down!’  he ordered
when Mistral immediately tried to get up. 

‘W-what’re you going to
do?’  Mistral quavered.

‘I’m going to sort that haystack
on your head out.’  Phantasm replied briskly. 

‘He’s been dying to do it for
ages actually.’  Phantom added.   

‘Oh this is awful!  When did
you last have a haircut?’  Phantasm demanded while he tugged a comb
through her long hair.

‘Er?  A what?’ 

‘You’ve never had one.’ 
Phantasm said flatly.  ‘Well it shows.  But why is there a shorter
piece here?’

‘Swords.’  Mistral muttered
distractedly.

‘Yes, long hair and swords kept
in a back-holster are probably not a good combination.’  Phantasm agreed
over the snipping sound of scissors.

Mistral stared in horror at the
dress hanging from a hook in the wall while Phantasm combed and snipped. 
It was pale gold, not white, for which she supposed she should be
grateful.  The thought of the looks on her brothers’ faces if she’d walked
out wearing white didn’t bear thinking about.

Walked out … Mistral realised
with a lurch that she didn’t know where their wedding was being held.

‘Where is the –?’ she swallowed
drily and Phantom looked at her in exasperation.

‘Wedding?  You want to know
where you are going to be married?’  he suggested helpfully.

She nodded faintly.

‘Well, despite the fact that your
Mage is a De Winter and should be having a lavish, two-day ceremony at the
Council headquarters,’ Phantom began in a tone that clearly suggested that
Mistral and Fabian had robbed him of some special treat, ‘for some reason Mage
De Winter thought you wouldn’t want that.’

Mistral stared at Phantom with a
dazed expression.  He frowned back, his green eyes critical.

‘And I can see why.  You’re
not coping well are you?’

She nodded vaguely and Phantom
rolled his eyes, ‘Anyway, at the risk of wasting my breath when you’re
obviously incapable of thinking, never mind listening, you will be having a
small wedding here, in the Valley.  Well, in the village square actually,’
he finished with a disdainful sniff.

‘Is Fabian here?’ she whispered.

‘Somewhere.’  Phantasm
muttered distractedly while he towelled her hair vigorously, drying off the
last remnants of her shower.

‘I think I need to find him!’ she
gasped from beneath the towel.

‘Not likely!’  Phantom
scoffed.  ‘You must know it’s bad luck for the bride to see the groom
before the wedding.’  

Mistral stared mutely, her blank
incomprehension making him realise the true extent of her ignorance. 

He frowned, ‘Have you ever
actually been to a wedding Mistral?’   

Mistral blinked, ‘I’m not sure.’

‘Not sure?  Didn’t they get
married in Nevelte then?’  Phantom persisted, an edge of impatience
creeping into his voice.  ‘You know the sort of thing.  Lots of
people watching a bride walk down an aisle towards her groom and recite vows,
promising to love and honour and all that type of thing?’

Mistral continued to stare at
him, her expression shifting to one of abject terror.

‘Best not to push that one
brother, I think it might tip her over the edge.’  Phantasm murmured.

Mistral felt pressure on her head
as Phantasm began to lift her hair and pin it into place.

‘What’re you doing?’  she
demanded in a brief return to her old self.

‘Styling your hair.  I know
what I’m doing.  Our mother had more hairstyles that we’ve had cold
showers over the last two years, so just sit still and be quiet.  For once
in your life you are going to look like a lady not the scruff bag you normally
do.’

‘Lady?’ she repeated in an
incredulous tone.

‘You better get used to
that.  It’s part of the package with Mage De Winter.’  Phantom said
casually.

Mistral looked at him in
bewilderment.

‘Too much brother.’
 Phantasm muttered warningly.

‘You don’t know do you?’ 
Phantom continued in amazement.  ‘Mage De Winter inherited his father’s
title.  He was Lord De Winter; a title your Mage chooses not to use. 
Anyway, that makes you a Lady.  Lady De Winter in fact.’

‘Going to be sick!’  Mistral
gasped and Phantom instantly produced a bowl and held it in her lap, sighing as
she retched over it. 

‘Glad I thought of that one now,’
he said in a satisfied voice.  ‘Knew you’d crack under the strain somehow. 
Phantasm thought you’d turn violent, but I thought you’d just throw up.’

‘Right, I’m done.  Now we
need to get you in that dress.’  Phantasm stood up and regarded the dress
pensively.  ‘We can’t leave her in the room alone with it.  She’ll
never get into it.  She’s probably never worn a dress before.’