The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (65 page)

‘You don’t
know everything about me,’ Mistral said primly, sliding hot eggs onto four
plates.  ‘Now get up and fetch the bread from the stove, it’s been warming
… and there’s some cold ham on the table.’

Fabian padded
softly down the stairs, yawning and rubbing his hands through his sleep-tousled
hair.

‘Good
morning,’ he murmured, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

‘Hungry?’ 
she enquired with a smile. 

‘Inappropriately
so,’ he growled, bending his head to kiss her neck.

Mistral
laughed and Phantom rolled his eyes.

‘Let’s
eat!’  he said enthusiastically, laying the warm bread onto the table and
sitting down.

‘You know,
this is really rather good,’ said Phantasm, looking surprised. 

‘Oh for pity’s
sake Phantasm, I can cook things as well as kill them and skin them you
know!’  Mistral snapped, stabbing a slice of ham with her fork.

‘You have been
warned,’ Phantom said, giving Fabian a meaningful look. 

Fabian smiled
and shook his head, bending over his plate of food and forking up a mouthful of
egg. 

‘So what other
hidden depths do you have Mistral?’  Phantom asked when he pushed his
empty plate away a short while later and leaned back with a satisfied smile.

‘Unfortunately,
not the ability to magic an already dead Blackheart Wolverine out of thin air
and save us a long cold day hunting the damned thing,’ said Mistral
broodingly.  ‘I think I’ll wash up,’ she said abruptly and began to gather
the empty plates from the table, carrying them over to the small stone sink.

‘I suppose it
is back to reality now,’ sighed Phantasm.  ‘We need to work out a plan for
a hunt, any ideas?’ 

He turned to
look at his brother, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

‘Hmm, well one
thing does spring to mind ... what are you cooking us for lunch Mistral?’
 Phantom called over to where Mistral was stood at the sink, drying the
plates with a linen cloth.

‘I thought a
nice warming venison stew followed by a steamed pudding, maybe treacle,’
replied Mistral in a voice laden with sarcasm.  ‘Seriously, how are we
going to pull this off?’

Fabian leaned
back on his chair and folded his arms thoughtfully, ‘Let’s be sure of the
details.  Leo instructed his Lieutenants to split the pack and spread them
across the mountainside –’

‘Yes, but we
don’t actually trust those three to have done anything other than travel to the
nearest village and prop the bar up for the night,’ cut in Phantom sourly.

Fabian nodded
slowly, ‘Even if they did locate the pack the only way I could see of splitting
them is to use something they don’t have ... the Lieutenants don’t have elf
blood.’

Mistral
finished stacking the plates back on the dresser and turned to face him,
‘You’re talking about Elven Song aren’t you?’

Fabian nodded,
‘The wolverines can’t abide the sound, it literally drives them crazy. 
So, I think you may well be correct in your assumption that the pack will still
be entire.  Which leaves us with the problem of how to hunt one of them
without them hunting us.’

‘Us?’ 
enquired Phantasm coolly.

Fabian
returned his cool gaze with something more glacial, ‘There is no way I am
letting Mistral out of my sight on a Blackheart Wolverine hunt.’  then
added in a softer tone.  ‘Especially not now I know she can cook.’ 

Phantom
laughed but Phantasm stared stonily back for a long moment before finally
inclining his head in a short nod. 

‘Your
experience would be appreciated.’

Mistral wandered
back over to the table and slid onto Fabian’s lap.  Leaning into his
protective embrace she looked up at him with a smile.

‘There. 
Friends at last.  See what a good breakfast can do?’ 

‘It was a good
breakfast too,’ murmured Fabian.  ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re
welcome,’ said Mistral, rising from his lap and collecting the remains of the
ham and bread.  ‘I think I’ll make us a lunch for the hunt,’ she said
thoughtfully, walking over to the dresser.

Phantom
watched her in amazement, ‘She’s like a different person!’  he exclaimed
under his breath.

Fabian looked
at him evenly, ‘No, she’s the same person.  You’re simply seeing a side of
her that hasn’t been given a chance to reveal itself.  People can change …
when they meet the right person,’ he added softly.

Phantasm
glanced at him and Fabian held his gaze.

‘So, we hunt
the pack.  I assume you all have armour, crossbows, throwing knives and
swords with you?’  Fabian asked in a suddenly brisk voice.

‘Yes, of
course we do,’ said Mistral, dropping a cloth bundle of food onto the
table.  ‘But Leo said that bolts and throwing knives weren’t particularly
effective against them.’

‘Longbows and
crossbows are effective to a certain extent, especially if we dipped the arrow
heads in poison,’ Fabian paused and frowned thoughtfully.  ‘A good hunting
dog would be useful today.  It would easily separate a wolverine from the
rest of the pack and head it to us.  Mistral?’ he looked up
suddenly.  ‘Tell me.  Have you ever owned a dog?’

She shook her
head and looked back at him, smiling in anticipation.

‘The first
opportunity I have, I am going to buy you the best hunting dog I can find.’

‘I do hope
that’s today then,’ said Phantom, ignoring Mistral’s wide grin of pleasure.

‘Explain to me
about the elves.’  Fabian looked at Phantasm, his face serious
again.  ‘I cannot quite see why they would want to attack Ri
apprentices.  I’ve met most of the tribes in The Velvet Forests and they
prefer to keep to themselves.’

Phantasm
nodded and leaned his elbows onto the table, resting his chin thoughtfully onto
his folded hands. 

‘We ran into
them on our journey down to the Amber River and it transpires that Konrad took
a Contract on one of their tribe earlier in the year.  They were seeking
answers but I convinced them that we knew nothing of the Contract and they
eventually gave us safe passage.  Unfortunately, Konrad and Saul ran into
them during our attempt to hunt the wolverines in the autumn and the elves were
not so convinced by Konrad’s efforts to lie and they attacked us. 
Obviously, we escaped or we wouldn’t be sat here today, but Konrad and Mistral
got shot.  The fact that they didn’t just limit their attack to Konrad
makes me think that they don’t particularly care how many of us they kill
before they finally get Konrad and avenge their brother.  But, what I
don’t understand is why anyone would order a Contract on an elf.’

Phantasm
paused and looked directly at Fabian who was staring at him with a glacial
intensity.  Fabian abruptly switched his gaze away and gazed broodingly
out of the narrow balcony doors at the snow covered landscape.

‘Yes, it is
unusual.  Elves tend to resolve their own differences rather than involve
outsiders.  I think someone wanted to silence that elf ... I wonder what
he knew – ’

‘By “someone”
you mean a Mage?’

Fabian pursed
his lips and nodded slowly, turning back to meet Phantasm’s piercing green
eyes.

‘I would think
that would be most probable.  Only a Mage would pay to have another life
taken.  The Arcane races are less afraid to get their hands dirty. 
There is more to this than first meets the eye.’  Fabian fell silent and
gazed pensively out of the window again.  ‘However,’ he sighed and dragged
himself out of his reverie to look at them again.  ‘Now is not the time
for that tangled matter … so, to summarise, we have a pack of Blackheart
Wolverines to hunt with the added complication of a band of elves intent on
wiping out this year’s group of Ri apprentices.’

‘That’s about
the size of it,’ said Phantom grimly. 

‘A strategy
then,’ said Fabian briskly.  ‘Full armour under your jerkins and
cloaks.  Now, who is good with a longbow?’ 

Mistral
shrugged, ‘We can all handle a bow but I think that Phantasm is probably the
best.  He has more patience with standing still than I do.’

‘It’s just a
shame we don’t have one,’ muttered Phantasm.

Fabian smiled,
‘Not so.  I have a small selection of weapons here that includes a longbow
or two.’

‘Where?’ 
said Mistral, looking around eagerly. 

‘I’ll show you
in a minute,’ he gave her an amused look.  ‘Have you always been utterly
preoccupied by weapons?’

‘Yes,’ the
twins chorused wearily and Mistral grinned. 

‘Back to the
plan.  We will ride out and scout for signs of the pack.  Last
night’s snowfall will make our travel slower but will guarantee that any tracks
we see will be fresh. 

‘Once we
locate the pack we will position Phantasm and Phantom ready to pick them off
with poisoned arrows and bolts.  I will ride in and harry the pack with
crossbow fire and drive them towards you. 

‘The last two
times you have encountered them has been at the treeline by the meadows; albeit
on different sides of the forests.  But we know that they prefer to use
the treeline for cover and hunt in the open, which gives us a good starting
point for today’s hunt.  If I can drive them out into the meadow you
should be able to get a clear shot and we won’t run the risk of meeting the
elves in the forests.’

‘And just what
am I supposed to be doing?  Laying out a picnic?’  Mistral demanded
petulantly.

Fabian looked
at her, his eyes hard, ‘I want you to stay here.’

The twins
shared a look while Mistral swelled with anger.

‘Stay
here?’ 

Fabian nodded
and gazed levelly at her, ‘It would be the safest place for you to be.’

‘It’s my
Qualifying Hunt Fabian!  How can I not go on it?  Anyway, you seemed
perfectly happy with the idea of me hunting Blackheart Wolverines last night!’

‘That was
before I knew about the elves!’  Fabian replied sharply.

‘I think I’ll
go feed the horses,’ said Phantasm suddenly, rising swiftly from the table and
heading towards the door.

‘I’ll help
you,’ muttered Phantom, hastily joining him. 

As they closed
the door behind them they could clearly hear Mistral arguing with Fabian.

‘I know it’s
been said before, but it warrants being said again,’ began Phantom while he buttoned
his jerkin.

‘I know. 
He’s a brave man.’  Phantasm finished with a sigh.  ‘And possibly a
short-lived one.’

By the time
the twins had fed and mucked out all four horses they felt it would be safe to
return to the house.  Leaving the warmth of the stables they walked across
they yard to see the squat door to the cellar propped open.  They paused
at the top and listened to hear Mistral exclaiming in delight over something.

‘Mistral?’ 
Phantom called down.  ‘Is Mage De Winter going to lock you down there
until the hunt is over?’

‘Don’t be
stupid!’  Mistral called back in an excited voice.  ‘Come down and
have a look at this!  It’s amazing!’

Looking at his
brother and shrugging, Phantom ducked his head under the low door frame and
descended a short flight of stone steps into the cold cellar. 

The floor and
walls of the small square cellar were made of stone, giving the room a tomblike
feel.  Light from two torches hanging in brackets on the walls cast a warm
glow over rows of barrels and sacks of grain.  Several rabbits and
pheasants hung from hooks on the walls.  This was obviously where Fabian
stored food and any game he hunted. 

‘Oh!’ 
Mistral gasped rapturously.  ‘What’s this one used for?’

The twins
walked towards the sound of her voice, dipping their heads to avoid hitting the
low roof.  They could see Mistral standing next to Fabian; both had their
backs to the twins, hiding whatever was causing Mistral so much excitement. 
Phantasm peered around them and gave a whistle of appreciation.

‘It looks like
the storeroom of Toothe and Nayle in here!’

The back wall
of the cellar was hung with rows and rows of weapons.  Crossbows and bows
of varying lengths, swords, knives, plus some weapons whose purpose Phantasm
couldn’t even begin to imagine.  Mistral was holding a sturdy looking
dagger that had slots on one side much like the teeth of a comb. 

‘It’s a sword
breaker,’ explained Fabian, pointing to the slotted blade.  ‘It can be
used to capture an opponent’s blade.  Once the blade is caught a quick
twist with this will snap their sword.’

Mistral made a
happy noise and gazed at the dagger with something close to reverence on her
face. 

‘And what
about these?’  she asked, placing the dagger gently back into its holder
and reaching for a bag of what looked like toy jacks.

‘These are
caltrops,’ said Fabian, taking one carefully from the bag in her hand. 
The metal object was shaped like the child’s toy but the four points were
sharp.  ‘They are designed to be thrown on the ground.  Because of the
four-pointed structure they always fall with one point standing straight
up.  It’s a handy design for laying traps.  In fact, I might take
some with us today.’   

‘Can I borrow
this?’  Mistral asked, reaching out to grasp a curved dagger.

‘The
kukri?  Of course you can.  In fact it would be very effective on
tough wolverine hide – see how the cutting edge is on the inner bevel of the
blade?’

Mistral
nodded, running her finger down the wicked looking blade.

‘It’s designed
to have more weight at the point of the blade which will give you more power to
slice into the hide.’ 

‘So you’re
coming then are you?’  Phantom asked hesitantly.

Mistral looked
up at him and smiled innocently, ‘Of course I am!  How can I Qualify if
I’m not there?’ 

Fabian didn’t
say anything and began to lift weapons from the wall and pack them into a large
saddlebag.  For once, the twins didn’t comment.  They knew how it
felt to lose an argument to Mistral.  Taking the longbow that Fabian
passed to him, Phantasm could see that his face was rigid with tension.