‘Coming for a drink?’ Mistral asked with another sigh.
‘Love to,’ said Phantasm regretfully. ‘But our presence has been requested by Master Casterton. Care you join us?’
‘Not really.’
Catching Mistral’s glum look Phantasm patted her consolingly on the shoulder, ‘We’ll come down to The Cloak once he’s finished with us.’
Mistral nodded and watched them walk side by side up the path to the Main Building, perfectly in step, their white blonde hair gleaming in the pale spring sunshine. She knew Phantasm’s words had just been to appease her. Once Mycroft Casterton had a captive audience he would talk all night.
Sighing heavily she began to tap the blade of her sword against the outside of her boot. The twins’ obvious preference for the company of an overfed windbag over hers only added to her feeling of apathy. Since Fabian’s temporary duty as their Training Lieutenant had finished he had been obliged to spend much of his time at the Council, leaving her alone for longer than either of them liked. Mistral sighed again and gazed over at The Cloak and Dagger. She didn’t fancy joining the first years for a drink. She was beginning to understand why the two second years had kept their distance from them during the previous year. It wasn’t a status issue, more a desire not to repeat the first year again.
Whistling for Prospero who was sprawled out asleep by the fence, Mistral decided to ride out of the Valley and spend the rest of the weekend sulking alone in the small mountain house that she would one day share with Fabian. She began to walk moodily towards the Training Arena entrance with her huge dog at her heels when a voice called her name. She looked up, her face instantly breaking into a smile.
‘Brothers!’
‘Don’t tell us you’ve scared off all those poor first years already?’
Saul, Cain and Brutus were walking towards her from the stable block, all wearing identical grins and suntans.
‘Not yet! But I’m working on it!’
‘Coming for a drink?’ Saul enquired when they drew level with her.
‘Yes please,’ she grinned and fell in step with them. ‘How was the mercenary Contract?’
‘Good! We were fighting against our old friend Rufus the Red. He’d decided to try and trample all over one of his other smaller neighbours this time. It was hilarious. His soldiers were drunk and totally useless. Grendel knocked Rufus off his horse with a cracking shot from his sling – he went down like a sack of potatoes … and the language! I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to draw my bow from laughing so hard!’
Mistral laughed. Listening to their tales of the battle was better than riding out of the Valley and sulking.
‘Where’s Xerxes?’ she asked as they walked through the door of The Cloak and Dagger.
‘His new lady friend is helping him stable his horse,’ said Brutus with a roguish wink.
Mistral smiled and shook her head. Xerxes was becoming a terrible ladies man. Whenever he was back in the Valley he seemed to have different girl in tow.
They quickly settled at a table and Saul vanished to the bar to collect a round of drinks. Prospero collapsed at Mistral’s feet with a sensation similar to an earth tremor and began to snore loudly.
‘Where’s your Mage this weekend?’ Brutus asked, looking around expectantly.
‘Council.’ Mistral replied shortly. She didn’t want to talk about Fabian’s absence. The ache whenever he was away was almost unbearable.
Brutus nodded vaguely and reached out to take one of the brimming tankards Saul set on the table.
‘So, got the Sight yet then?’ Cain asked conversationally as he slipped his travelling cloak off and laid it on the bench beside him.
Mistral pulled a face at him and took a sip from her tankard.
‘Good,’ said Cain. ‘Because we’re planning a marathon card game tonight and there’s no way you’re playing with us once you get that little added extra help.’
Mistral smiled and then suddenly frowned as she caught sight of a deep stab wound on Cain’s forearm. It was too fresh to have been from the battle.
‘How did you get that?’ she asked, indicating towards the wound with her free hand.
‘Ah,’ said Cain, looking uncharacteristically bashful. ‘That is the result of a bit of high-spirits on the long voyage back.’
‘What, you’ve taken to stabbing each other to relieve the boredom of a long sea crossing? Don’t you usually just play cards and gamble?’
Cain laughed ruefully, ‘It was a game with some spriggans,’ he said by way of explanation.
Mistral shook her head and raised her eyebrows questioningly, ‘Nope, sorry, you’re going to have to explain that one to me in full.’
Cain sighed, ‘Well, a sack of spriggans is released and we all try and get as many as we can with throwing knives. We bet, obviously, on who’ll get the most. Anyway, Grendel got a bit excited and got me by mistake. I’m not sure if he’s just a terrible aim or whether that means I look like one of the nasty little gits.’
Mistral snorted into her tankard. Cain’s hob blood gave him distinctively sharp features that could possibly be likened to the pixie-like faces of the annoying small forest creatures.
‘Anyway,’ Cain continued, taking a long drink from his tankard. ‘Ah, that’s good … but, as I was saying. Anyway, will you stitch it for me? Only I don’t want to waste valuable drinking time at the Infirmary.’
‘No problem.’ Mistral responded promptly. ‘Got your kit?’
Cain nodded and reached into this saddlebag for this canvas medical kit. Dropping it on the table he laid his arm next to it for Mistral to stitch whilst drinking from his tankard with the other hand. Mistral examined the wound and began to clean it, listening to their boisterous bantering she smiled to herself. She had missed their company more than she let herself admit and it was good to have them around again.
The door banged open and Xerxes swaggered in, his arm draped casually around the plump waist of a pretty blonde. Mistral glanced over with brief interest before returning her attention to threading a needle to stitch Cain’s arm.
The blonde giggled and whispered something into Xerxes’ ear. He smiled and patted her on the behind.
‘Course I will, but off you go now sweetheart. This is a strictly men-only card game.’
The blonde pouted and glared pointedly at Mistral, ‘What’s she then? The waitress?’
Xerxes grinned, ‘No that’s Mistral. She’s more of a man than most.’
‘Thanks Xerxes.’ Mistral muttered, biting the thread of silk off between her teeth. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘It is, sister, it is.’ Xerxes turned back to the blonde. ‘I’ll see you later on sweetheart. Promise.’ he winked and watched her sway seductively out of the bar, yellow stalks of straw shining clearly in her long hair.
‘What’s that one called?’ Brutus asked with a frown and began to shuffle a worn looking pack of cards.
‘No idea.’ Xerxes shrugged cheerfully and reached for a tankard. ‘I’ve started calling them all “sweetheart”. They seem to like it and it gets me out of the problem of trying to remember their names.’
‘You’ll get in trouble Xerxes.’ Mistral warned and began to stitch Cain’s arm.
‘Probably.’ Xerxes agreed then gave her a long look and grunted. ‘So, no Sight yet then.’
‘Don’t need Sight to know what you’re thinking.’
Xerxes laughed and took a drink from his tankard.
Mistral frowned. Would having the Sight make her look different, heaven forbid, like the Divinus? She looked up, catching Xerxes’ eye, ‘How could you tell?’
‘Brutus is dealing you in,’ he replied with a shrug. ‘There’s no way any of us would play cards with a Seer.’
Mistral smiled and concentrated on finishing off the stitching.
‘There you go Cain,’ she said in a satisfied voice. ‘Another Contract, another scar.’
He examined the wound before nodding appreciati
vely, ‘Neat work. Thanks.’
‘Done any interesting Contracts recently?’ Saul asked, taking a seat next to her.
‘I wish.’ Mistral muttered broodingly. ‘Until I master the damned Sight Leo has forbidden me from doing anything vaguely challenging. So far this year I’ve done nothing more exciting than a bit of tracking, the odd knucker hunt and, oh, how could I overlook the heady thrill of helping some sad woman confirm that her husband was actually cheating on her with the saucy barmaid from the local tavern.’
Saul grimaced sympathetically, ‘Sounds dull. It must be driving you crazy.’
‘It is. But, anyway,’ she said, giving herself a shake, ‘enough of the doom and gloom. How about a small wager? Just to make things interesting?’
Xerxes grinned, ‘Now you’re talking sister.’
By early evening Mistral was half-drunk and well up in the money stakes.
‘Where did you learn to play like that?’ Cain demanded, grumpily dropping his hand of cards on the table and sliding a small pile of silver coins across the table towards her.
‘Not much else to do with my time except slaughter the first years in training then rob them blind in The Cloak afterwards, plus they don’t know me well enough to notice when I’m reading their auras!’
‘Nice!’ Cain laughed.
‘So.’ Xerxes leaned across the table with a conspiratorial look on his face. ‘Your Mage is out of the Valley till what? Middle of next week?’
Mistral sighed and nodded.
‘And the twins are where exactly?’
‘Stuck in some mind-numbing session with Mycroft “I love the sound of my own voice” Casterton. It’ll probably go on all night –’
‘So, should you accompany us on the small hunting Contract we have planned for tomorrow, it wouldn’t get you into any trouble?’’
‘Now you’re talking brother! Just tell me what and where and I’ll go get my horse!’ Mistral’s eyes glistened at the thought of some action. Fabian had been so restrictive as her Training Lieutenant she’d thought she would suffocate and she was fairly sure that he would have given the twins some “don’t let Mistral have any fun” type instructions for when he was out of the Valley. But they were busy and Fabian was away … and here was the perfect opportunity to actually enjoy herself for a change.
‘Good!’ Xerxes sat back and offered her a sly look. ‘Want to guess what we’ve been Contracted to hunt?’
Mistral blew out her cheeks and thought of all the weird and wonderful creatures that called the Isle home.
‘A hint?’ she asked finally.
‘Big.’
Mistral pursed her lips and asked hopefully, ‘Dragon?’
Xerxes grinned and shook his head, ‘Man-shaped.’
Mistral gasped, ‘A giant?’
‘Close. It’s a cyclops actually.’
‘Cyclops? Really?’ Mistral gazed at him with an expression close to ecstasy on her face.
‘You sure Mage De Winter is out of the Valley all weekend?’ Cain asked quickly. ‘Because I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be happy about this.’
Mistral frowned dismissively, ‘Let me worry about Fabian.’
‘Relax Cain!’ Xerxes cried with an expansive wave of his hand. ‘It’s a group Contract and we’re going to need all the help we can get!’
‘Where’s Grendel?’ Mistral asked, suddenly business-like as she began to mentally plan a strategy for bringing down a ten-foot tall creature.
‘Back tomorrow morning,’ confirmed Xerxes. ‘Believe it or not Grendel is hot property when it comes to Contracts. Despite his aromatic whiff his strength makes him an unbelievably popular warrior.’
Mistral laughed and took a long drink from her tankard. Suddenly her weekend was looking up.
‘Deal me in brother. I feel the need to teach you all a lesson in card playing.’
‘That’s fighting talk sister.’ Brutus warned with a grin.
‘You better make your threats to my dog.’ Mistral retorted as Prospero growled in response to the tone of Brutus’ voice.
‘Is he coming tomorrow?’ Cain asked, throwing the huge slumbering form of Prospero an admiring look.
‘Never leaves my side.’ Mistral reached down to affectionately rub her dog’s head.
By midnight they had sung all of the songs they knew, told tales and reminisced until they had cried with laughter and drunk far more than was advisable.
‘Come on, we’ll walk you back.’ Brutus offered, rising unsteadily to his feet.
‘Are you staying in the dorms then?’ Mistral asked while he helped her up.
‘No. We’ve got rooms here, but I think we could all use a bit of fresh air ... Damn! Quick! Hide brother!’ Brutus suddenly hissed when the door banged open and the blonde from earlier stormed in.
Xerxes quickly slid from sight beneath the table. The blonde had marched over, her face blazing angrily.
‘Where is he?’ she demanded sharply.
‘Who?’
‘You know who Brutus! Your stupid brother!’
‘Oh him. Er, he left hours ago.’ Brutus gave her a wide-eyed look. ‘I thought he was going to see you.’
‘So did I. But he hasn’t turned up.’
‘Oh dear.’ Brutus shrugged helplessly. ‘Sorry, but I’ve absolutely no idea where he could be.’
The blonde glared at him, ‘Really. Well, you can tell him that if he’s not round to see me straight away tomorrow morning then we are off!’
Brutus nodded, ‘Will do sweetheart.’
‘And its Marietta not sweetheart!’ she fumed and marched towards the door.
‘Knew it was something beginning with ‘M’.’ Xerxes muttered and hauled himself from under the table.
‘You’re incorrigible.’ Mistral wobbled slightly and tried to negotiate the walk to the door.
‘And that’s a big word for someone so drunk.’ Saul tucked a supporting arm around her waist and ignored the sharp look Cain threw him.
‘Probably,’ she admitted with a sigh. ‘But it beats the hell out of being bored.’
Prospero heaved himself to his feet with and padded dutifully after his mistress weaving up the pathway to the dorms, supported on either side by Brutus and Saul.
Mistral woke shortly before dawn with a dry mouth and a splitting headache. She was lying fully clothed on top of her bed with her arms wrapped around her snoring dog.
‘You smell worse than Grendel,’ she groaned when Prospero licked her face lovingly.
Hauling herself from her bed she dragged herself for a long shower and returned to her room feeling marginally more awake. She quickly buckled on her knife belt then added both swords and her favourite dagger just for good measure. Finally she was ready to go. Grabbing her saddlebag Mistral opened the door and whistled for her dog.
‘Come on boy, let’s hunt!’
Revived by the fresh morning air Mistral arrived at The Cloak and Dagger in good spirits to find the rest of her brothers enjoying a breakfast of cold meats and bread. Grendel had returned and grunted a greeting in her direction that Mistral would have struggled to understand anyway, even if it hadn’t been through a mouthful of half-chewed meat.
‘Morning Mistral!’ Cain called cheerfully. ‘Breakfast?’
Mistral wrinkled her nose at the plates of food and dropped a couple of slices of beef on the floor for Prospero, ‘No thanks. Just water.’ she reached for the flagon of water on the table and poured herself a cup.
‘Feeling a bit delicate?’ Cain grinned.
‘Nothing killing a ten-foot, one-eyed savage creature won’t sort out.’
‘Are you talking about Marietta?’ Brutus asked, winking at Xerxes.
Xerxes shook his head and sighed mournfully, ‘They always start out by being so nice and compliant and then something seems to happen and they mutate into screaming harpies! I just don’t get it. What’s up with them?’
‘You probably,’ said Mistral truthfully.
‘What’s wrong wi
th me?’ Xerxes demanded looking offended. ‘I’m an exceptional lover!’
They all laughed and Mistral groaned, ‘Please – I’m feeling sick enough as it is!’
‘And I never make a promise I can’t keep.’ Xerxes continued with an air of justification.
‘You did last night.’ Brutus reminded him. ‘You promised Marietta you’d see her later and then didn’t bother.’
‘I never specified exactly when later though did I?’ Xerxes responded defensively then sighed. ‘It is starting to bother me though. Why do they all just change into totally different people when I start dating them?’
Mistral shrugged disinterestedly and rubbed Prospero’s ears until she realised that Xerxes was waiting for a response. She looked at him incredulously, ‘You don’t seriously expect me to offer advice on your love-life do you?’
‘Why not? Mage De Winter seems to have survived you so far. You two are practically married!’
‘That’s totally different!’ Mistral snapped. ‘And also not up for discussion.’ she added quickly when Xerxes looked about to ask another question.
‘Well thanks for nothing! At this rate I’ll have dated all the girls in the village by the end of the summer.’ Xerxes folded his arms bad-temperedly. ‘Do you think they’ll let me start at the beginning again? That girl from the saddlery was quite entertaining,’ he added in a more hopeful tone.
‘I doubt it.’ Cain smiled breezily. ‘She’s going out with me again tonight.’
‘I don’t believe it!’ Xerxes gave Mistral a reproachful look, as though it were her fault. ‘Come on sister, I’m being out-dated by a cheating hob! Can’t you give me just a little inside help here?’
Mistral blew out her cheeks in frustration. The truth was out of the question. Xerxes would never accept that the girls were finally realising he was a selfish oaf with the morals of a sewer rat. There was nothing for it. She was going to have to lie.
‘Look Xerxes, I’m sure it can’t be your fault. Maybe you just haven’t met a girl capable of appreciating your many qualities.’
Xerxes grinned, ‘That’s exactly what I thought too! I knew it was them with the problem and not me. Right, I’ll just keep going till I meet the right one.’
The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) Page 6