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

Mistral said
nothing as Serenity set the crate down on the table and began unstacking
bottles onto the table.

‘This
morning,’ she said in a louder voice to gain the attention of the gathered
apprentices.  ‘I would like you all to correctly identify the contents and
uses of each potion in these bottles.’  she paused and smiled
kindly.  ‘I do not advise tasting as a method of identification as some
are most definitely poisonous and one or two are unfortunately fatal.’

‘Please let
Columbine fall face-first onto that one then,’ muttered Mistral moodily,
folding her arms and glaring bad-temperedly at the glistening row of bottles on
the table.

They worked in
silence for most of the morning, sniffing and pouring out miniscule amounts of
the brightly coloured liquids into small dishes and making wild guesses as to
its purposes.  The twins and Mistral had an unfair advantage over most of
the other apprentices since Mistral had been force-fed most of the potions at
some point during the year.

‘Yes, that’s
belladonna, definitely,’ said Mistral, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the
familiar smell. 

‘You sure?’ 
Phantom asked, eyeing her beadily before he scribbled the name on a label and
stuck it across the bottle.

By lunchtime
only Xerxes had been sick, having taken a bet to drink the entire contents of
one bottle that smelled distinctly of rotten eggs.

Mistral sat
through lunch, picking disinterestedly at a plate of something even the twins
couldn’t identify then dragged herself back to the Infirmary for the afternoon.

The sharp,
unsmiling features of Malachi Nox greeted them when they entered the brightly
lit room, and they immediately fell respectfully silent.  As a member of
the Magnate that only deigned to oversee second year apprentices, Malachi Nox
commanded an understandable amount of awe in the first years.  His
speciality was poisons, their subject for the afternoon. 

‘I shall be
overseeing the instruction Serenity has provided to you on the use of simple
poisons this afternoon,’ Malachi announced in cold, clipped tones. 
‘Select a bottle of poison from the tray and match it with the correct
antidote.’

By the middle
of the afternoon Mistral felt that she was going to go crazy.  She
couldn’t concentrate; the different bottles of poisons and their antidotes were
a blurred haze in front of her eyes.  With a deep sigh she turned and
stared out of the window, wishing herself anyway but where she was ... well, to
be precise, about two hours ride away in a honey-coloured mountain house. 

Gazing
wistfully out at the path that led to the North Gate Mistral was vaguely
interested to see a figure on horseback approaching.  The pale winter sun
glimmered off the gold flanks of the horse, the rider a tall dark shadow of
such heart-aching familiarity that Mistral could barely stop herself from
crying out aloud with sheer joy.

‘Master Nox!’
she cried suddenly, leaping to her feet with a pained expression on her face.

‘Yes?’ 
Malachi responded impassively.

‘I – I
accidently spilt some deadly nightshade on my shirt!  I need to go change
it!’  Mistral improvised wildly, ignoring the astounded stares of the
twins.

Malachi Nox
eyed her coldly for a long moment before nodding curtly and turning away.

Mistral leapt
from her seat and ran from the room, sprinting down the corridor and leaping
the stairs two at a time before bounding out of the Entrance Hall and running
down the path to the stableblock.  Her heart pounded as she forced her
legs to run faster.  Adrenaline and the wild urge to see Fabian seemed to
give her wings and she flew across the cobbled village square, arriving at the
stableyard to see the pale blonde tail of Spirit vanish into the gloom of the
stables.

Too out of
breath to call his name Mistral ran straight in after Spirit, leaping quickly
out of the way as the high-spirited mare kicked out nervously at the
disturbance behind her.  Fabian spun around with a startled look on his
face that immediately changed when he saw her.  Mistral flung herself
headlong into his arms, burying herself against his chest to inhale his
familiar scent.

‘I’ve missed
you!’  he laughed, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

‘How could
three days be so long?’  Mistral demanded breathlessly against his chest.

‘I don’t
know,’ he murmured, pushing her away to look into her eyes.  ‘But it was
unbearable.  Now, where are you really supposed to be at this moment in
time?’

‘Poisons, but
I told Malachi I’d spilt deadly nightshade on my shirt so I’ve got a bit of
time.’

‘Good,’ he
smiled and pulled her towards him again.

Mistral
wandered back to her Poisons assessment in a dreamy haze, smiling happily through
the process of identification and selection of the correct antidote until
Malachi finally released them all with a crisp dismissal at sunset.

Mistral
practically skipped along the corridor and flew down the stairs ahead of the
other apprentices, heading straight for The Cloak and Dagger and a table right
at the back.

‘Did she drink
some of those potions today?’  Phantom asked his brother with a perplexed
frown, watching her running towards the village.

Phantasm shook
his head bitterly, ‘Who makes Mistral behave like she’s insane?’

‘Oh, right,’
said Phantom with sigh.  ‘Mage De Winter.’

Mistral
unlatched the door to The Cloak and Dagger and rushed inside, leaving the door
to slam shut in the face of the person behind her.  Fabian was waiting for
her at the bar, smiling in amusement at her impatient entrance.

‘How was your
afternoon?’ he asked, passing her a full tankard.

‘Long, boring
… pointless,’ Mistral shrugged, ignoring the drink he had passed her and
staring instead into Fabian’s dark gaze, satiating her starved eyes on the
sight of him.  She frowned slightly.  ‘Why have I missed you so much
Fabian?’ 

‘I’m
offended!  Shouldn’t you miss the one you love?’  Fabian smiled.

Mistral pulled
a face at him and looked down at her untouched drink.  She picked the
tankard up and swirling the amber liquid irritably. 

‘It felt like
three years, not three days!  It’s not natural to feel like that,’ she
said and looked at him again with something close to fear in her eyes.

Fabian
regarded her sombrely for a long moment before speaking again, ‘Come and sit
with me.’  he took her hand to lead her to a small table. 

With his usual
unfailing politeness, Fabian pulled out a chair for her and waited until she
had sat down before taking a seat opposite her.  Mistral had to
smile.  Despite whatever supposedly atrocious acts he had committed in the
past, Fabian had the best manners she had ever seen. 

Fabian gazed
sincerely at her and reached out to take her hands before he spoke. 

‘While I was
at the Council I took the opportunity to read up about Bonding in their
Library.  I’ve never had much cause to be in there before but it was very
informative.  Apparently Bonding is not uncommon in Mages but, of course,
we call it by another name to try and appear superior to the Arcane races.’

‘You mean …
love?’

‘Love,
infatuation, obsession ... the different explanations for Bonding were endless,
but it all adds up to the same thing in the end –’

Fabian paused
to take a drink from his tankard and Mistral studied his face while she waited
for him to continue.  He looked tired; there were dark circles under his
eyes she hadn’t noticed before.

‘Fabian,’ she
frowned suddenly.  ‘If you were at the Council, how have you got here so
fast?  It’s at least a two day ride, three usually –’

‘Only if you
stop for the night,’ he smiled and closed his eyes briefly.  ‘I rode
through the night on Sunday to suffer a long, boring Council meeting on Monday
afternoon at the insistence of Eximius, then spent a few hours in the library
before leaving to come straight here.  I’m meant to be there all week
meeting some foreign delegates and I’m certain Eximius will have a few choice
words to say about my absence, but I think I’ve made my feelings plain about my
place on the Council on enough occasions for him not to be too surprised.’

Mistral said
nothing.  She knew Fabian hated to be involved in Council affairs but his
name of De Winter forced him to attend on certain occasions, usually only when
Mage Grapple demanded.  Despite his intense dislike of the Council, Fabian
still believed in the principles behind the creation of a ruling Council and
reluctantly consented to attend when his presence was unavoidable.  

Fabian looked
down at her hands where they rested in his, turning them over in his and running
his fingers lightly over her palm, tracing her life-line. 

‘Anyway,’ he
continued softly, ‘whilst the meeting was a day of my life I will never get
back again, my visit to the library was far more instructive.’

Fabian looked
up, fixing her with the intense black stare that never ceased to steal the
breath from her lungs.

‘The books on
the subject of Bonding were vast tomes that would bore even Mycroft Casterton,
but, put simply, we cannot be apart.  Apparently the agony of separating
Bonded pairs is akin to death.’

Mistral
frowned, ‘When I worked out that I had … what was wrong with me –’ she paused,
still struggling with saying the actual word “Bonded”.  ‘I spoke with
Serenity and she said pretty much the same thing.’

Fabian sighed
and smiled lightly, ‘It looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time in the
Valley over the next year then.’

‘Or I could
come and live with you,’ Mistral suggested tentatively.

‘I don’t think
that would be a good idea.  I only have one bed for a start.’

‘And how would
that be a problem?’

Fabian closed
his eyes and drew in a deep breath, opening them to give her a black look, ‘No,
Mistral.  We made an agreement.  Second year of training remember?’

‘But you’re a
perfect gentleman aren’t you?’  Mistral could hear the plaintive note in
her own voice and was horribly reminded of Golden pleading with Leo in the
hayloft.

‘I think even
my restraint would be challenged if you were there on a nightly basis!’
 Fabian snapped.

Stung by the
harshness of his tone Mistral instantly felt tears prick her eyes and looked
down to prevent him from seeing.  Immediately his hands cupped her face,
lifting it to meet his soft gaze. 

‘Believe me,
there is nothing I want more than to start out life together, but we must allow
your gift a chance to develop.’  Fabian’s eyes roved wonderingly over her
face.  He gently traced a finger down her cheek, following the trail of a
single tear.  ‘Mistral, we are destined to be together.  Nothing can
change that.  And I’m sure that even someone as impatient as you will
agree that one year of the life we are going to spend together is a fairly
small price to pay.’

A stubborn
look stole across Mistral’s face while she deliberated whether to argue with
him or not. 

He caught her
expression and smiled, ‘It is only one year Mistral.  One year.  Can
you bear to wait that long for me?’

‘Oh, I suppose
so,’ she conceded with a deep sigh.  ‘However I am going to insist that
you stay here tonight.  You look exhausted.’

‘It was a long
ride,’ he agreed, taking hold of her hands again.  ‘And I am very
tired.  So much so that I think even you would be safe tonight.’

Mistral pouted
sulkily, making Fabian laugh.

‘How is your
Qualifying week going?’  he suddenly asked, released her hands to take a
drink from his  tankard.

Mistral rolled
her eyes, ‘Well, for starters Leo is being a complete –’ she stopped herself
quickly.  Leo Sphinx was still Fabian’s brother after all, ‘–
tyrant.  He tried to make me choke Saul into unconsciousness in the
close-quarters assessment and then we only did one knife drill apiece
yesterday!  It’s a shambles.  And tomorrow we’ve got to go traipsing
off into the mountains on a two-day hunting trip for a prey we haven’t been
told about yet.’ 

‘You’ll find
out at breakfast tomorrow,’ said Fabian.  ‘It was fairly much the same
when I Qualified.  We expected intense tests that really pushed us to our
limits too and were marginally disappointed.  The reality is that you’ve
done the hard work already during the year.  Qualifying is more about
making apprentices realise that their training has been completed rather than
about being assessed.  And as for Leo,’ he paused and gave a satisfied
smile, ‘I think he’s having a few problems with his choice of female company.’

‘You could say
that!’  Mistral agreed with feeling.  ‘Golden kissed Phantasm in the
close-quarters assessment when she had him in a choke-hold.  I thought Leo
was going to erupt!’

Fabian
narrowed his eyes, ‘Leo would hate that.  Making him look foolish in front
of his apprentices is something he will not abide.’

‘I heard them
arguing about it later.  I think she was trying to make him jealous and
guarantee that he recommends her for a second year, but if she was it
failed.  You’re right about him hating being made to look foolish, he was
fuming with her!’

‘Have you ever
read Leo?’  Fabian asked casually. 

Mistral looked
at him, keeping her expression carefully neutral.  She didn’t want to
anger Fabian by confessing to prying on his brother’s emotions, but she didn’t
want to lie to either.

‘Once,’ she
admitted guiltily.

‘And?’
 Fabian prompted, looking intrigued.

Mistral
studied his face, wanting to be sure that he wasn’t angry with her before she
continued but Fabian’s expression was merely interested. 

‘He’s an open
book.  Lots of ambition and purpose, some frustration and greed – or envy,
I’d have to spend more time reading him to be sure.’