Mistral hid a smile and asked instead where she could have a wash. Phantom indicated moodily to a wooden door set in the back wall of the cabin. Grabbing some clean clothes from her saddlebag, Mistral took herself off for a wash, leaving Cain extolling the virtues of his patented snoring cures to a stony-faced Phantom.
By the time Mistral was washed and dressed in clean clothes, Fabian, Phantasm and Grendel had returned and were unloading items from two large hessian sacks. Fabian looked up as she strolled towards him, still combing out her wet hair.
‘Good morning,’ he murmured, catching her around the waist to kiss her. She inhaled the scent of snow mixed with wood smoke on his cold skin and shivered, for once with cold. Even with a vest, two shirts and her jerkin on she was still freezing. Fabian felt her shiver and pulled her over to the fire. ‘Did you really have to wash your hair the same morning we are trekking up into the Northern Range?’ he asked with an exasperated smile.
‘Habit I guess,’ she shrugged. ‘I’ll make sure it’s dry before we leave.’ moving Prospero with the toe of her boot, she sat down on the stone edge of the hearth to bask in the heat of the fire and continue her conversation with Fabian. ‘It is colder than I thought though,’ she admitted. ‘Even if I wore my Wolverine skin under my cloak I think I’m still going to be a frozen statue by the time we get up to the dragon territory.’
‘Have no fear Mistral! We’ve thought of everything!’
At first all Mistral could see was a tall furry creature stood in the doorway of the cabin and was struck by the ridiculous notion that a yeti had burst in on them. The mass of fur parted to reveal Brutus’ grinning face. He staggered into the hut followed by his brother bearing a similar mountain sized bundle of fur in his arms.
‘It’s time to fur-up!’ Xerxes announced, dumping the huge pile of furs on the floor. Prospero leapt to his feet with a growl and stalked over to investigate. ‘This should keep us warm! Hey, get off that Prospero! It’s for wearing, not chewing!’ Xerxes dragged Prospero away from the large bestra skin he was sniffing interestedly.
‘Where did you get all that from?’ Mistral eyed a long white chimera skin covetously, privately wishing she’d been on some of the hunting trips to obtain them.
‘This is a mountain settlement Mistral! They always have loads of furs for winter hunting trips.’ Brutus pulled out a pair of suede trousers. ‘I think these’ll fit you – there’s never been a female on a dragon cull before and none of the elven women go hunting so I’m afraid you’ll have to wear men’s clothes. ’
Phantom looked pointedly at her shirt, ‘Not an issue for her, I assure you.’ .
Mistral laughed and realised that it was one of his, ‘Sorry brother, you can have it back after the hunt. Now, is that porridge ready yet because I’m starving!’
‘Nearly.’ Phantom peered into the pot and gave the contents another stir. ‘There’s a jar of honey in my saddlebag if you want some.’
‘No thanks!’ Mistral pulled a face. ‘I think it was the honey that was making me sick, whenever I think about it now I just want to throw up!’
‘Not near the breakfast!’ Phantom quickly pushed her away with an alarmed look on his face.
‘I think you should leave Prospero here for the hunt Mistral.’ Fabian said, watching the dog nosing amongst the pile of furs. ‘He would love it, I’m sure, but he may well end up as extra bait if we’re not careful.’
Mistral frowned, ‘But where can I leave him? I can’t just shut him in here can I? We don’t know how long we’re going to be up in the mountains for.’
‘Our mother will have him.’ Brutus gave his brother a sideways look. ‘She was very fond of our old hunting dog, Elspeth.’
‘Really?’ Mistral looked unconvinced. ‘She’ll be able to cope with him will she? Because he’s not exactly a lap dog.’
‘Er, you did meet Diannah last night didn’t you Mistral?’ Cain asked. ‘She was the scary-looking woman shouting at Xerxes in the middle of the tavern.’
‘Yes, yes, enough of last night.’ Xerxes interrupted with a scowl then turned to Mistral. ‘Elspeth was trained to hunt bears Mistral, she was a big dog. Prospero will be just fine with our mother.’
Mistral looked worriedly at her dog, ‘Well, if you’re sure –’
Xerxes and Brutus shared an amused look at Mistral’s ability to worry about creatures that could blatantly take care of themselves. Brutus smiled reassuringly at her, ‘He’ll be fine. Mother will enjoy the company too.’
‘Right, breakfast is served.’ Phantom announced, pulling the pot away from the fire with a flourish. ‘Get the bowls please brother.’
They sat on the floor by the fire to eat their breakfast and discuss the plan for the day.
‘Castor has sold us two bestra to use as bait and lent us a third to carry provisions.’ Fabian informed them all while he carefully unfolded an old piece of parchment and spread it out to reveal a map of the Northern Range. He placed a finger against a small ink dot on the map. ‘This is where we are now.’ tracing a finger across the parchment he followed their winding route to a small drawing of a dragon. ‘The dragon herd’s territory is here. In good weather, such as we have now, it’s a day’s hike. If we leave soon we should be able to camp safely on the outskirts of their territory this evening.’
Mistral glanced out of the window at the still black sky, ‘What time is it anyway?’ she asked.
‘Early.’ Phantom responded in a resentful tone.
‘We leave at dawn, which is in one hour Mistral.’ Fabian smiled. ‘So your brother is right, it is still early.’
‘For you anyway.’ Cain muttered. ‘Anyone would think you hibernate the way you sleep! You didn’t even stir when Prospero bit one of the Mages last night.’
‘He didn’t!’ Mistral looked appalled.
Fabian nodded, ‘Yes, Mage Powers inconsiderately moved during the night and rolled onto Prospero.’
‘Oh no! Is he all right?’
‘Looks it.’ Cain said, glancing over to where Prospero was happily chewing a manticore skin from the pile of furs.
‘The Mage not Prospero!’ Mistral cried. ‘They could have him destroyed as an illegal dangerous hybrid or something! He isn’t really a dog after all, more of a wolf really –’
‘He’s having the bite cleaned now. It was only a couple of superficial puncture wounds. Castor is there to smooth everything over.’ Fabian murmured unconcernedly and continued to pore over the map. ‘Here,’ he stabbed a finger down. ‘And here – these two positions would be ideal to place the bestra. The rockface above both points will provide plenty of places for both hunting parties to conceal themselves and has the added benefit of being sheltered from the wind.’
‘Who fetched the rope?’ Phantasm asked, rummaging through one of the hessian sacks.
‘Me.’ Grendel grunted, indicating to the huge coil wound around his chest and shoulder.
‘That should be enough to abseil down the whole damned mountain!’ Cain exclaimed. ‘You sure you’re not over doing it a bit there brother?’
‘No.’ Fabian said, not looking up from the map. ‘One of our party died on the climb down during the last hunt because the rope was too short. He fell the remaining distance and broke his neck.'
There was a brief silence.
‘Cheerful as ever.’ Cain muttered and started unpacking glass bottles from his saddlebag again.
‘No Cain, just realistic.’ Mistral snapped defensively. ‘Not everyone is a chancer!’
‘Say what you really mean Mistral! Go on! Say “like me”. You think I’m disorganised don’t you?’ Cain fired back.
‘Well now you mention it, yes! You are!’
‘Takes one to know one! At least I’m not selfish – ’
‘Selfish? Me? Er, aren’t you forgetting something? Like the fact that I got the cull for us all!’
‘Huh! No-one else would be stupid enough to come with someone as reckless as you!’
‘Reckless am I?
At least I’m not a cheat!’
‘Ah, there you have me –’ and suddenly Cain and Mistral were grinning at each other.
‘Cheating hob.’
‘Reckless ... whatever you are,’ he countered.
Phantasm sighed wearily, ‘If you’ve quite finished trading insults can we please finish planning this hunt before the moon rises, never mind the sun.’
‘Sorry brother.’ Mistral tried to look apologetic but ending up grinning again when Cain winked at her.
‘Have you found that poison yet Cain?’ Fabian asked quietly, still gazing intently at the map.
‘Yes.’ Cain was suddenly professional again, passing small bottles filled with a thick, greenish liquid out to each warrior. ‘This is the poison I mixed using gorgon blood and these ones,’ he drew out a leather box from his saddlebag and unclipped the lid to reveal a double row of dark blue bottles, ‘contain a heavy sedative. Be very careful with both! The poison is phenomenal stuff. It actually burned a hole through my troll skin mixing gloves! And as for the sedative, well, let’s just say it could knock a dragon out.’
‘That’s what we’re hoping for brother!’ Brutus laughed and held the bottle up in the firelight to examine the contents. ‘What’s in it?’
‘Trust me, you don’t want to know.’ Cain put the empty leather case back into this saddlebag. ‘Just don’t get any on your skin and for pity’s sake don’t drink any or we won’t be seeing you till spring!’
‘Don’t suppose we could give Silver and Powers some could we?’ Brutus asked hopefully.
‘Not a cat in hells chance!’ Cain retorted, fixing him with a hard look. ‘I don’t want to be tried at the Council for drugging officials, thank you very much.’
‘Still, it’s an idea –’
‘Let’s just concentrate on the route shall we?’ Cain turned to look expectantly at Fabian.
‘The route will take us through a series of short ravines. There will be some climbing but nothing too onerous, I’m certain the bestra will be able to cope.’ Fabian pressed a finger against the map again. ‘This is a good place to camp tonight, but it will be cold,’ he looked at Xerxes. ‘Are there some hide tents in that pile?’
‘Two.’ Xerxes confirmed after a quick check.
‘Good.’ Fabian rocked back onto his heels and surveyed them all with a serious expression on his face. ‘The plan. If you’re all in agreement we’ll divide into two hunting parties. Myself, Mistral and the twins will form one party with Mage Powers. Brutus, Xerxes, Cain and Grendel will form the second, accompanied by Mage Silver. I suggest that Xerxes would make an effective leader for the second party. He has knowledge of the area, is a skilled bowman and will be able to use Elven Song with his brother to communicate without Mage Silver’s knowledge. The twins and Mistral will also allow our two parties to communicate without either of the Mages’ knowledge.’
Mistral looked at him in surprise, ‘Can’t we trust Silver and Powers then?’
‘No Mistral, I do not think we can afford the luxury of trusting any Council officials until the situation with the Rochfortes has been dealt with once and for all. I would like you to read them both, but it is unlikely that either of them will be foolish enough to think of such contentious issues with a Seer in their midst. We must simply assume that they are likely to have an agenda in addition to overseeing the cull. I am sure that the opportunity this Contract has presented for our enemies to rid themselves of both the Gemini and the Ri’s Seer in one fell swoop will not have gone unnoticed.’
Mistral nodded and turned her attention back to her porridge, struck by the depressing realisation that once again, she had placed them all in danger through her selfish actions. She had been so caught up in the excitement of landing the Ten Year Cull that she hadn’t even considered the risk they were taking, and not just from dragons. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realised just how blind she had been. The Gemini and the Ri’s Seer were out in the most uninhabited range of mountains on the Isle, in winter ... to hunt dragons. And if that alone didn’t provide enough opportunities for them to die, then there was always the fact that they were barely two day’s ride from the Council where Rochforte supporters were no doubt biding their time for a chance just like this one. She groaned inwardly, imagining their glee at the news. Guess what? If they don’t freeze to death or get devoured by dragons we can have them killed and it will look like a complete accident, if the bodies ever get found that is …When would she learn? Mistral silently reprimanded herself and glanced guiltily at Fabian. His expression was set in hard lines of concentration while he outlined the route they would take into the mountains. She sighed, no doubt he would shoulder the burden of trying to protect her from everything that came their way once again; dragons, corrupt Mages, Rochforte fanatics, renegade trolls …the list was endless, as was his ability to try and die in her place. Well, not this time.
‘Fabian?’
He frowned, ‘Is there a problem with the route?’
‘No, the route’s fine … but, can we have a word?’
‘Of course.’
She stood up and walked towards the door. Ignoring the looks of exasperation from her brothers and the patter of questions that instantly invaded her mind from the twins she opened the door and stepped out into the frozen street. The predawn sky was empty of stars, a black void stretching out over the jagged peaks of the Northern Range.
Fabian stepped out behind her, closing the door he turned to look at her with eyes stolen from the black sky above them, ‘What is it Mistral?’
‘I’m really sorry,’ she whispered, starting to shiver with cold. ‘I’ve just realised quite how reckless and stupid I’ve been.’
He sighed and pulled her into his arms, ‘What have you done now?’
‘M’sorry.’ Mistral leaned into the reassuring warmth of his body and tried not to cry. ‘But the best of it is that this time it was completely unintentional.’
‘What was?’ he prompted softly.
Mistral heaved a deep sigh, ‘This Contract, I didn’t think – huh! That could be my epitaph! But I’ve only gone and sent me and twins out like bestra to the slaughter, haven’t I? And given you the job of trying to protect me … again,’ she paused and looked up at him stubbornly. ‘Well not this time. I’m not going.’
‘That, of course, would mean none of us could go. It is your name on the license after all. Now, would you like to tell your brothers, or shall I?’
Mistral scowled up at him, ‘Just get the twins to use their gift to persuade Powers and Silver to think it’s your name on the damned license and have a good time without me!’
‘Not possible, I’m afraid.’ Fabian sighed regretfully. ‘You are sadly integral to my happiness these days.’
‘Fabian! Stop laughing at me! I’m being serious here!’
Fabian smiled gently at her, ‘Mistral, tell me why we are here.’
‘Well, you lot are going to hunt dragons. I’m going to stay here to do some knitting or something –’
‘Yes, to hunt dragons, that is quite correct. And why are we hunting dragons?’
‘Er, because Mage Grapple gave Leo the Contract and I practically snatched it from his hand before he could argue?’
‘Hmm, nearly, but not quite. Try again.’
Mistral frowned up at him, perplexed by his amusement, ‘Oh for crying out loud Fabian! Is Phantom telling you what to say? Only you’re becoming nearly as irritating as him!’
Fabian laughed softly and bent his head to whisper in her ear, ‘We are hunting dragons on a Council Contract because there are no Mages in the employment of the Council prepared to take the work. If they are unwilling to travel into the winter mountains to hunt the dragons themselves, then I seriously doubt they will be keen to hunt Ri warriors engaged in that same, life-threatening pursuit.’
‘Probably not.’ Mistral agreed reluctantly. ‘But –’
‘As I said before, it has not completely escaped my attention that
this Contract presents our enemies with more than a few options for conveniently dispatching you and the twins.’
Mistral looked up again, a deep frown on her face, ‘Then why did you agree to let me take the Contract?’
‘Well, apart from the fact that you are impossible to reason with once you’ve set your mind on something.’ Fabian paused and gave her a bemused smile. ‘You may also recall that I was not exactly in a position to argue with you at the time you agreed to take the Contract.’
‘I remember.’ Mistral raised an eyebrow. ‘You were in my bad books. But I think there’s another reason too.’
‘You are right.’ Fabian was suddenly more serious. ‘Leo and I agreed that whatever attempts are going to be made against you and the twins will happen wherever you are. Look at last year! You were abducted from the forests not an hour’s ride from our house! Until this matter is concluded it is immaterial where you are, or who you are with. The threat will find you Mistral, of that I am certain.’
She sighed deeply and laid her head back against his chest, ‘Trouble always seems to find me.’
He smiled sadly, ‘Which is precisely how I managed to find you.’
Mistral looked up sharply, ‘You’re not trouble! I’m trouble! When will I learn Fabian? I keep blundering along, making the same stupid mistakes time and time again! I thought having the Sight would at least change that about me!’
‘Mistral, I spent half a lifetime waiting to find you. I am in no hurry to change you.’
Mistral gazed at him, unwilling to voice the panicked thought that sprang into her mind. Half a lifetime gone already? Did that mean she would only have half again?
Fabian’s eyes roved over the face, reading too easily the unspoken fear hiding in her eyes, ‘It is not for us to say how much time we have Mistral. All I know is that until I found you, I had not yet begun to live. My lifetime started the day you agreed to share yours with me.’
She looked at him with eyes that spoke her love louder than any words ever could, holding his deep gaze until he smiled, brushing a hand gently over her hair.
The Seer Page 19