‘Warlocks.’
‘I don’t get it, how would they know where to find me?’
‘Not you Mistral. Putreo. Warlocks are strange creatures. They can identify a Mage purely by the scent of their Craft. It’s unique to every Mage. Putreo, Golden and the cousins literally had to run for their lives and leave you behind.’
‘What about Columbine?’
‘She was not with Putreo when they fled and has not been sighted yet, although Eximius has ordered a search for her. But enough talk of yesterday, please eat something. We have a long day ahead of us.’
‘And please hurry up.’ Phantasm whipped out a linen napkin and laid it over her lap. ‘Mother doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’
‘Especially not when she’s got a new pet-project like you to be getting on with.’ Phantom added with a worried glance towards the door.
Mistral stared at him, noting the darting looks both twins were throwing the door, ‘That bad huh?’
‘You have no idea.’
Mistral sighed and reached for a cinnamon roll, ‘I think I’m going to need all the energy I can get.’
The twins watched disbelievingly as she took a large bite, spreading crumbs across the sofa in the process.
‘We would so be killed for doing that.’ Phantom muttered, reaching for one himself.
‘For less brother, for less.’ Phantasm agreed quietly and took a slice of cold meat between his fingers.
‘I still don’t get how you even knew I was in the city.’ Mistral said, wiping her hands against her trousers and reaching out for a cup of fresh orange juice.
‘Saul found your tracks and Prospero followed your scent –’ Fabian began only to be interrupted by an excited squeak from Mistral.
‘Prospero! Where is he?’
‘A dog in the house would possibly have pushed mother over the edge.’ Phantom gave her a raised eyebrows look. ‘I’m not sure anyone has actually sat on that sofa before, never mind slept on it in dirty clothes. Prospero is with the others, in the Council hospitality house.’
‘Others?’
‘Yes Mistral. We’re all here. Master Sphinx included.’
Mistral snorted into her orange juice, ‘Guilt and investment protection.’
‘Must you always be so cynical?’
‘Realistic brother.’
‘Well you can be all hard and ungrateful to us but try and say something nice to the Divinus. We’d never have found you if it hadn’t been for him. He actually travelled all the way with us, reading the thoughts of Golden, Putreo and the two Rochfortes until he picked up something that gave their location away.’
Mistral looked up, her cup of juice frozen half-way to her mouth, ‘Did he hear my thoughts too?’
Phantom grimaced, ‘Sorry.’
Mistral turned slowly to look at Fabian, her expression agonised, ‘He spoke them out loud?’
Fabian nodded.
Mistral placed the cup down on the table and stared at it, ‘So you know… you all know … what happened, what I felt –’
Fabian took her hand, ‘Please look at me Mistral. I need to see you when I say this.’
Mistral dragged her frozen gaze up to meet Fabian’s velvet eyes.
‘None of what you saw or felt was real,’ he said slowly, his black gaze holding hers with utter sincerity. ‘This, here and now, how much I love you, is real. The fact that your brothers rode through the night to find you is real. You must forget yesterday like it was a dream, because that’s all it was, a twisted figment of Putreo’s imagination moulded by his desire to conquer your will.’
Mistral looked away to stare unseeingly out of the window, her voice a strained whisper, ‘It – it was like being in my own personal hell. My every worst possible fear about you bought to life over and over –’
Fabian let go of her hands to cup her face, forcing her to meet his gaze again, ‘It was not real.’
She gazed at him, lost in the starless depths of his eyes, ‘Is this?’
‘Yes.’ he pulled her gently towards him and kissed her.
‘Mistral!’
Melsina De’ath entered the room and paused, striking a pose while she smiled engagingly. Her entrance complete, she continued to move forward with liquid grace, seeming to flow rather than walk across a room that paled before her glowing perfection. Mistral broke away from Fabian’s embrace and stared at her dumbfounded. She was the epitome of the twins, tall, slender, graceful, green-eyed, but so beautiful that it almost hurt to look at her.
‘Er, sorry about the mess Mrs De’ath, I’ll clear it up.’ Mistral mumbled, brushing ineffectively at the crumbs scattered across the sofa.
Melsina’s smile didn’t falter, ‘Please don’t worry. I have servants to clean up. Now,’ she paused and reached out a perfectly manicured hand, ‘I need to show you to your bathroom.’
Mistral threw a last desperate glance at Fabian as Melsina’s hand fastened around her wrist, hauling her from the sofa with surprising strength. Ignoring her mute pleas for help, Fabian smiled encouragingly while she was dragged across the room.
‘I’ll be right here,’ he promised.
‘Safest place to be.’ Phantom muttered while he and his brother watched Mistral being dragged from the room with identical expressions of sympathy etched on their faces.
Melsina led Mistral through a series of fabulously decorated rooms, giving her a running commentary on the designer and decorator for each before she paused briefly at a huge picture window to point out the view of the courtyard, three storeys below them.
‘Aren’t they sweet?’ she murmured with a fond smile.
‘Er?’ Mistral leaned forward to gaze down at the two bored looking lions she had noticed when she had ridden along the Council avenue previously. ‘Sort of, I guess –’
‘Oh, don’t be afraid of them!’ Melsina said quickly, turning to unleash the full force of her beguiling green gaze. ‘Leo and Delilah are perfectly well trained and wouldn’t hurt a fly!’
Mistral bit her lips to suppress the ironic laugh forcing its way out. Leo?
‘No, I’m sure they are just … lovely,’ she agreed in a serious voice, privately thinking that the poor creatures looked bored out of their minds and could do with either being released or put out of their misery.
The bathroom that Melsina showed her into was a sumptuous creation of marble and gold. The bath alone could easily have fitted Mistral, Fabian, Spirit, and Cirrus in it all at once. Mistral fought down the desire to laugh at that bizarre thought and wondered wildly if her mind had actually become unhinged by her recent experiences.
‘Now, let’s get you out of those awful clothes.’ Melsina approached Mistral with a frightening expression of intent on her face. ‘A beautiful girl like you should never wear such rags!’
‘I think I can manage!’ Mistral muttered, recoiling from Melsina’s touch. Being undressed was just the final humiliation.
‘Oh I insist.’ Melsina said firmly. ‘I will never understand the Ri’s penchant for black. Yes it is practical, but with a whole spectrum of colour to choose from they come up with black? That Eudora has a lot to answer for!’
Gritting her teeth and remembering Fabian’s instructions to accept Melsina’s hospitality gracefully, Mistral submitted to Melsina’s administrations and wondered what she would do if she knew exactly what Eudora had to answer for with regard to her sons. Phantasm still hadn’t admitted quite what he’d had to do to get her wedding dress made in time.
Sliding quickly into the bath, Mistral eyed Melsina warily while she gathered up her discarded clothes and swept from the room holding them at arm’s length with undisguised distaste.
‘Er, I need those!’
‘I’ll be back with some fresh clothes for you in a moment!’ Melsina called brightly. ‘You enjoy your bath!’
‘New ones?’ Mistral sat up in panic. ‘What’s wrong with those?’
The door closed and Mistral sank back into the foam-filled water. Sighing, s
he gazed unhappily at the huge bathroom and thought longingly of the bath at the mountain house. She would much rather be there instead of the small swimming pool she was currently submerged in. Alone for the first time since her ordeal at Golden’s hands, she felt raw and vulnerable. She needed Fabian. She needed Prospero. She needed the security and familiarity of their small mountain house.
The sound of the bathroom door opening again dragged her from wistful thoughts of home. She looked up to see Melsina gliding lightly into the room with a neatly folded pile of clothing in her arms. She set them down and walked towards her, her green eyes glittering
‘Now, let me see to your hair.’
Mistral forced herself to think happy thoughts while Melsina vigorously massaged her head and repeatedly dunked her. Spitting water, she reflected darkly that the twins really didn’t have a choice in the way they’d turned out. To call Melsina overpowering would be to call Xerxes a mild flirt.
Xerxes.
Her brothers.
Phantom said they’d ridden through the night to help find her. Did that mean they’d forgiven her? Or did they simply feel obligated towards another Ri warrior?
She sighed and promptly inhaled in a mouthful of scented water as Melsina pushed her sharply under again. Choking, Mistral was then submitted to a confusing process that left her feeling like a scrubbed hide being sent into the Valley tannery.
‘You have a very good figure.’ Melsina finished buffing her dry with a towel then stood back to regard her critically. ‘Hmm. Too many scars for something backless though.’
Mistral raised her eyes to heaven and thanked every jagged mark on her body. Thanks over, she eyed the pile of clothing dubiously. So backless wasn’t an option, but what the hell was?
Melsina approached the dreaded bundle with a smile, ‘I hope you don’t object, but I went with a contemporary blend of practical with a stylish edge.’
‘Er?’
‘Trousers darling, with a shirt, but tailored! Not that awful sack-shaped thing you were wearing, which I am happy to tell you is going to be incinerated by our cook.’
‘But I haven’t got any other clothes!’ Mistral yelped.
‘You have now.’ Melsina replied soothingly. ‘Try these on – oh, and I thought a girl as attractive as you should have some pretty lingerie.’
‘Whaterie?’
‘Here.’ Melsina held an unidentifiable scrap of something up to Mistral.
Mistral reached out to take hold of it, raising it up uncertainly and holding it in different positions while she tried to work out what it was.
‘I’ll put it on for you shall I?’ Melsina said abruptly and wrestled Mistral into possibly the most uncomfortable item of clothing she had ever worn, bar the wedding dress.
‘I can’t breathe!’
‘They do take some getting used to, I admit, but beauty is pain my dear.’ Melsina said briskly and held out a crisply ironed white cotton shirt for Mistral to put on.
‘Now these –’
The soft black trousers were similar to her Ri uniform but obviously of a far superior quality. They were also quite a lot tighter than Mistral was used to wearing.
‘Er, won’t they rip?’ she asked, peering round at how the material seemed to cling to every curve in a most disconcerting way.
‘No darling, they won’t. Well, not unless someone tries to rip them from you.’ Melsina added with a throaty laugh.
Mistral blushed and sat down quickly to put her boots on.
‘That is where I fail you.’ Melsina said regretfully. ‘I am so sorry, but I have nothing that is practical enough for you to be able to ride in.’
Mistral closed her eyes and fought the urge to whoop for joy, ‘Oh no, these will do! I am sure Ph – the twins will help me choose something more suitable when we get back to the Valley anyway.’
Melsina’s face instantly glowed with pride, ‘My boys. I do miss them you know.’
‘They speak very highly of you.’ Mistral said truthfully. They did. Only with more than a slight hint of fear as well.
‘I do wish they would meet a nice girl and settle down.’ Melsina sighed and abruptly sat down next to Mistral.
Mistral glanced warily at her out of the corner of her eye while she tied her second boot. There was no way she was up to some sort of heart-to-heart with the twins’ overpowering mother.
‘Do they have girlfriends?’ Melsina enquired lightly.
Mistral fought down the memory of Eudora’s hands reaching greedily for Phantom, ‘Er, no. Well, not that I know of. We don’t tend to talk about that kind of stuff.’
‘Oh.’ Melsina looked disappointed. ‘And you’ve never –?’
‘No!’ Mistral laughed then flinched at the suddenly flinty look in Melsina’s eyes. ‘We’re like brother and sister.’ she quickly added. ‘I – I guess that I sort of love them, but not like that.’
Melsina sighed and patted her knee gently, ‘You are a good friend to them, I can see that.’
Mistral stared down at the beautifully manicured fingernails adorned by heavy gold and diamond rings and tried to think of something she could say that would make Melsina realise what the twins meant to her.
‘They organised my wedding without me knowing. It was ... perfect.’
Melsina stared at her with bright tears in her green eyes, ‘Really? My boys? They did that? Oh! You have made me happy … my boys … a wedding! But wait! You are married to Mage De Winter? Why didn’t you say! I’ve been calling you by your first name!’
‘Please don’t say it.’ Mistral said quickly. ‘It’s really not who I am, or will ever be. I’m just me, married to him. That’s all.’
Melsina smiled wistfully, ‘I understand. It was like that for me … once.’
Mistral nodded and gazed down at her new clothes, already dreading the amused expressions on the twins’ faces at what their mother had done to her.
‘Oh! But listen to me, keeping you here when Mage Grapple is waiting for you!’ Melsina exclaimed and stood up.
‘Mage Grapple is in this house?’
‘No!’ Melsina laughed as though that were a great joke. ‘But he is waiting for you.’
Mistral followed Melsina back through the procession of finely appointed rooms, noting a couple of really tasteless portraits of the twins that she committed to memory in the hope of finding the right opportunity to tease them about in the near future, and suddenly they were walking back into the dazzling white room that she and Fabian had slept the night in.
Fabian leapt to his feet as they entered, his eyes widening involuntarily. Mistral blushed when his gaze ran over her new, too tight trousers. She glanced over at the twins and clenched her fists, waiting for them to say something derogatory, or just laugh. They did neither but studied her like an interesting specimen then nodded slowly.
‘Not bad mother.’ Phantom said approvingly.
‘But I still think she could carry a dark red. White and Mistral are not really compatible.’ Phantasm added critically.
‘There are two dark reds and one blue in the pile here.’ Melsina handed a folded pile of clothes to her sons. ‘And please don’t tell me how to dress people.’
‘Sorry mother.’ the twins chimed meekly.
‘Are you ready to meet Eximius?’ Fabian asked.
She nodded wordlessly, willing him to get her out of Melsina’s presence and into some looser clothing.
‘Thank you, Mistress De’ath , for your kind hospitality –’
While Fabian spoke to Melsina, Mistral leaned around his back and mouthed desperate instructions to the twins to retrieve her clothes from the cook before they were burned on the fire.
‘No chance.’ Phantom muttered. ‘Mother would kill us!’
‘Beside, you look quite good in those.’ Phantasm said with a shrug.
Mistral began to mouth something a lot less polite when the sound of her name being mentioned made her realise that Fabian was talking to her.
‘Oh, sorry,
just thanking the twins for … breakfast,’ she improvised quickly and fixed Melsina with what she hoped was a grateful smile. ‘Thank you for, er … everything –’
‘You are welcome my darling, and next time you are married – should there ever be one,’ she added with a quick glance at Fabian’s expressionless face. ‘Do call on me. I have a knack for organising weddings!’
‘Thank you, I’ll bear that in mind.’ Mistral murmured and followed Fabian from the room.
‘Don’t leave without us!’ Phantom whispered while he showed them out of the front door.
‘You’re not coming with us to meet Mage Grapple?’
‘The pleasure is to be yours and Mage De Winter’s alone. But we’ll be waiting to hear all about it!’ he hissed through the closing door.
Fabian didn’t look at her while they walked through the courtyard but took her hand in his, leading her past the bored looking lions. Disturbed from their sleep they raised their heads to watch them pass then yawned disinterestedly and slumped back into a heavy sleep. Fabian closed the ornate wrought iron gate behind them then turned and pulled her sharply into his arms.
‘I am filled with inappropriate thoughts,’ he growled and bent to kiss her.
‘You are my husband, inappropriate away.’ Mistral murmured against his lips and let the heat of his embrace burn away all of the dark emotions that had so nearly torn her apart in the damp De Winter cellar.
He eventually released her with a deep sigh, ‘I think we should get our meeting with Eximius finished and then go home.’
Mistral stared dazedly back at him and nodded. He could have just told her that they were going to begin a new life together in the north of the Isle running a dragon grooming service for all she cared. All she knew was that she was in his arms again and nothing was ever going to take that away from her. Tucked beneath his protection of his arm Mistral gazed at the grand houses they walked past until they reached the derelict grey mansion that had been Fabian’s prison as a child and hers for the last two days.
Fabian glanced at it briefly and scowled, ‘If you have no objections, I think I would like to sell it.’
The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) Page 30