‘Thoughts!’ Phantom replied promptly. ‘And loads of ones that really shouldn’t ever become public! It was great!’
‘And what else?’
Phantom frowned, ‘Well, there were feelings too –’
‘Exactly. There is always a price to pay. With the blessing of being all-knowing comes the curse of being all-feeling. Mistral would have to share in Golden’s rejection and misery in order to hear her thoughts, it would be impossible not to have empathy.’
Phantom scowled, ‘You can’t seriously feel sorry for Golden! It’s all of her own doing! She’s cheated and lied to get what she wants too many times to expect anyone to believe the truth when she finally tells it! Golden’s got tangled in her own web of deceit, and I refuse to feel any pity for her! And you shouldn’t waste any emotion on her either Mistral! She’ll survive, she always does!’
‘I know, and I don’t feel sorry for her … it’s just not a very satisfying kind of victory that’s all.’
‘No.’ Phantasm sighed. Opening the doors to a large mirror-fronted wardrobe he hung the dress inside and turned to look at Mistral. ‘I’m sure you’d rather have had a fight with her in the middle of the banqueting hall, or maybe on the dance floor?’
Mistral grinned, ‘Now that would have been more enjoyable use for that space! I wonder if Mage Grapple would consider inviting Golden back when I’m in fighting shape again!’
‘I doubt it, now … brother? Talking of prices to pay … we should really get the rather unpleasant duty of a visit to our mother over with before we leave. Care to join us Mistral?’
Mistral gave him an apologetic look, ‘Love to but can’t, sorry, I’ve got to pack.’
‘Of course you have.’ Phantasm murmured, looking pointedly at the huge wardrobe which was completely empty apart from Mistral’s white dress.
‘What time are we leaving?’ Phantom asked, rising reluctantly to his feet and stretching.
Mistral’s eyes grew vague while her mind connected with Fabian’s again, ‘Midday –’
‘Another long ride back.’ Phantom grumbled, then turned to look hopefully at Mistral. ‘I don’t suppose that now Mage De Winter has embraced the Craft he’d consider Casting a nice little Expediency spell on us to hurry the journey along would he? In fact, why not get him to cast one on my brother and I before we go see our mother, just to make the visit go a little faster.’
‘You can ask him if you want, but I’m not going to.’ Mistral replied shortly.
By midday Fabian, Mistral and Leo were waiting for the twins outside Melsina De’ath’s house. Leaning against the railings of the extravagant courtyard Mistral gazed at the depressed looking lions imprisoned there. Prospero whined and stared hungrily at them. A long strand of saliva dangled from his mouth then snapped and fell onto the swept flagstone pavement.
Mistral smiled and patted him on the head, ‘I know you think they look challenging Prosp, but Eloise probably has more fight in her than those two,’ she sighed and looked at Fabian. ‘They really should be released you know. It’s cruel keeping them penned in like that.’
‘They would be eaten by manticores within seconds.’ Fabian replied practically. ‘Those two have been in captivity far too long to have any survival instincts left.’
‘Like me being stuck in the Valley.’ Mistral grumbled under her breath. She was not looking forward to returning to her Valley gaol. She’d agreed to run Cain’s shop for him while he was abroad and the prospect of standing behind a counter for eight hours a day didn’t exactly thrill her.
‘Mistral?’
Leo’s icy summons dragged her from her brooding thoughts. She turned and looked enquiringly at her new Divinus.
‘I want you to read Samson, Gleacher and Bryden while we are waiting. I need an update on events in the Valley.’
Mistral nodded and gazed sympathetically into the amber eyes of one of the bored lions, knowing just how it felt; caged for others entertainment. With a dispirited sigh she released a tendril of Sight from her mind, feeling it uncurl slowly at first then with more impetus, springing eagerly away to unravel up into the late summer sky. She released a second in quick succession and after a moment’s hesitation finally unleashed the third; the one intended for Bryden. With a fervent hope not to find the Magnate member indulging his love of hot baths, Mistral sent the three strands of Sight up into the cloudless sky and across the Isle. She watched their progress in her mind’s eye, seeing the sprawl of the Council fall away to be replaced by the unbroken green blur of the High Moors. Here the tendrils gathered speed, vying with each other like racing horses to soar over The Velvet Forests, the thick canopy of green and russet flying past at a dizzying pace until they were suddenly arcing up high over the meadows and plummeting down into the Valley, instantly fastening themselves into the minds of Samson, Gleacher and Bryden Wolfsnare.
She frowned while she listened to the three different voices in her mind, her eyes roving unseeingly over the ornate courtyard before her. The deluge of information was confusing; chaotic … Samson was fighting … Gleacher too … Bryden … for once not in a bath but shooting his longbow from the open window of his tower room.
With a gasp Mistral withdrew from their minds, her eyes flying open to see Fabian and Leo looking urgently at her.
‘Well?’ Leo demanded.
‘They’re fighting! Damn it! I can’t believe I’m stuck three days ride away when there’s an almighty battle going on in the damned village square!’
‘The Valley is under attack?’ Leo’s eyes blazed. ‘Who dares invade our sanctuary?’
‘The party Christophe sent to find me! It’s not a small group but the whole damned Rochforte army! There’s a load of French mercenaries in with them too!’
Leo drew in a sharp breath, ‘We need to be there now!’
Fabian was already striding back towards the Council, ‘I will ask Eximius to cast on us.’
‘That will be difficult! He left the Council this morning to meet with Chieftain Greenoak!’
Fabian abruptly halted and spun around, his face drawn tight, ‘Then we ride with all due haste!’
‘I will fetch the Gemini!’ Leo was already pushing open the gate and striding away through the courtyard past the two sleeping lions.
‘If we ride through the night we can make it by tomorrow afternoon!’ Mistral immediately bunched her reins in one hand and grasped the pommel of her saddle with the other, preparing to mount Cirrus.
Watching her trying to haul her ungainly body up into the saddle Fabian’s expression immediately changed. Reaching up to catch her under the arms he swung her away from Cirrus, holding her close while he gazed imploringly at her.
‘Please forgive me, I am a fool.’
‘What?’ Mistral frowned in confusion. ‘No you’re not!’
‘I am. I have let stubborn pride blind me for too long.’ Fabian’s lips formed a smile but his eyes continued to gaze at her with a dark intensity. ‘I think that I allowed myself to become so obsessed with pushing you to embrace your destiny because it has allowed me to ignore my own … yes, Mistral,’ he paused and lifted a finger to press it against her lips and silence her, smiling softly at the flash of jealousy in her eyes, ‘you are my destiny and I love you with all my heart and soul, but I am a Mage. I have at my disposal the means to protect you with more than just my sword or my name. I have the Craft.’
‘Oh no, Fabian!’ Mistral cried, shaking her head quickly. ‘I would never ask you to compromise what you believe in!’
‘No, I know that you would not. But have you forgotten what the Sight revealed to you last night? It was not your destiny to halt the Rochfortes, but mine and Leo’s. Our souls can only truly be complete once we embrace the true nature of our blood; we are Mage born.’
A silence fell while she gazed into his dark eyes, the absolute conviction that lay there stilling the words of argument on her lips.
‘We need to return to the Valley by the fastest means possible, and th
at will require us to cast. Do you agree brother?’ Fabian looked up at Leo walking through the courtyard gate with the twins following behind him.
Leaving the twins to close the gate, Leo nodded curtly, ‘It is not something I wish to make a habit of, but in this instance I feel we have no choice.’
‘Then we cast together.’
Why couldn’t they have done that before we had to visit our mother? It’s been the longest two hours of my life!
Mistral looked around Fabian to see the twins stood side by side. The merest hint of irritation shone in Phantom’s eyes – it’d been his thought she’d heard. Two hours with Melsina … Mistral couldn’t imagine anything worse.
‘May I help you up?’
Fabian’s murmured question broke through her vindictive thoughts.
‘Oh, yes, right.’
Once she had been helped into her saddle, Mistral gathered up the reins and looked over at Fabian and Leo, trying not to stare but too intrigued to hide her obvious curiosity. When they had cast in the Council chamber the night before she’d been too in the thrall of Sight to notice … but now he was about to exercise his power in broad daylight, right before her eyes. A slither of panic slipped into her mind. Would he change somehow? Look, or even behave differently now he had embraced the Craft? What if he became corrupt like the Mages she had Seen the night before, only interested in satisfying their own shallow wants; could she still love a man like that?
Don’t fret Mistral. He’s still your Mage. He just might relax a bit more now he’s finally got over the whole issue of “embracing the Craft” …
Mistral’s eyes met Phantasm’s in a fleeting glance then quickly looked back to watch Fabian lock gazes with Leo. There was no sound, no murmured incantation or visible sign of the spell they were weaving but suddenly the air between them began to eddy and swirl, as though caught in one of the sudden autumn breezes that whipped the leaves up into spirals and moved them across the forest floor in tiny whirlwinds of golden brown. The spiralling air expanded out from between the brothers to envelope them all in a rush of warm air, filling their lungs with the burning scent of ozone. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, it was gone.
‘It is cast.’
Fabian’s softly spoken words held no bitterness, only acceptance. He had finally acknowledged who he truly was. Her beloved Mage was complete, and for that one simple fact she suddenly loved him more than she ever thought possible.
‘We ride for the Valley!’
Leo’s response was less reserved, kicking his grey stallion from a standstill to a canter he clattered away along the avenue of houses. The twins rode after him at a more controlled pace, leaving Fabian and Mistral alone.
‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes, but … um, Fabian?’ Mistral gazed at her Mage, his soulful eyes instantly drawing her in.
‘Yes?’
‘I –’
Consumed by an emotion she was completely incapable of putting into words, she faltered and simply stared at him in silence. He smiled and leaned forward to brush his lips against hers. He knew. Of course he knew.
The Ransacking of the Ri
The spell Fabian and Leo had cast took effect once they passed through the City gates. Looking down at the hard-packed earth passing beneath Cirrus’s pounding hooves, Mistral watched it suddenly accelerate and rush away, like a rug being pulled from under them.
Reaching over to touch her arm, Fabian looked enquiringly at her.
Can you read if I take Cirrus?
She nodded in reply to his unspoken question and he immediately reached over to take her reins. He didn’t need to say who. Gripping the pommel of her saddle for support, Mistral let her mind fly ahead of them to the Valley, the invisible strands of Sight shrinking the miles that lay between them until she was there. She closed her eyes and opened them again to See not the rolling moorland sweeping past but the cobbles of the village square, red with the blood of Malachi’s twisted fantasy.
‘I See –’
With every tendril of Sight that fastened on Mistral was afforded a glimpse of the battle raging in the Valley … villagers fleeing as their homes were ripped apart and shops ransacked by soldiers, merciless in their pursuit of the prize Christophe coveted … the door to the Cloak and Dagger, splintered and hanging off its hinges, tables and chairs overturned in a mess of broken glass and spilt liquor … and in the midst of the turmoil was Floris, swinging a heavy club at the two Rochforte soldiers threatening him with drawn swords.
‘Où est le Seer?’
Mistral repeated the words tonelessly, echoing the shouted demand that fell from the lips of every Rochforte soldier and hired mercenary.
Clovis … red-faced and shouting angrily amidst a sea of panicked horses turned out of their stalls by mercenaries searching the stables ... Serenity ... no longer the tranquil mother-figure but white-faced with fury and flinging bottles of poison at the soldiers that forced their way into her Infirmary ... Mycroft … barricaded in his tower room, vociferously lecturing the mercenaries hammering at his door on the futility of violence, entreating them to lay down their arms and seek a peaceful resolution. The axe that smashed through the door gave their succinct reply ... Bernadette ... wielding two meat cleavers and screaming like a banshee at the pair of mercenaries who dared barge into the sacred domain of her kitchen.
The fighting was fiercest in the village square. Led by Gleacher, warriors and villagers led by were battling an army of Rochforte soldiers. Samson and the apprentices were outnumbered and fighting for their lives in the Arena, only prevented from being completely overwhelmed by the might of the Rochforte invasion by the fearsome skill of the three centaurs shooting longbow from the higher ground of the paddock.
Leo listened in stony-faced silence to Mistral describing the ruthless desecration of the Valley in a flat, emotionless voice. His tension reflected in the faces of the twins, but Fabian … Fabian had eyes only for Mistral, watching her closely while her blank gaze drifted over the passing countryside, tirelessly relaying the scenes of violence and bloodshed until she suddenly swayed and nearly fell from her saddle. Fabian quickly reached out to steady her, his words spoken with a firmness that was meant for more than just her ears.
‘Enough now.’
Taking a drink from the waterskin he passed her, Mistral let him continue to lead Cirrus until she felt her strength begin to return. Gathering up the reins, she smiled her thanks and took control of her own horse once more. Looking around at the landscape rushing past she realised that they were already galloping along the cliffside path bordering The Velvet Forests; their journey was nearly over. She glanced up at the sun to gauge the time and noted with surprise that it was not yet the middle of the afternoon. The power of the spell Fabian and Leo had cast was equal to that of Mage Grapple’s.
The sound of Leo’s voice speaking made her turn to see that he had pulled his grey stallion alongside Fabian and was attempting a conversation. It was impossible for a low voice and to be heard over the rushing wind, so Leo was forced to shout, enabling her and the twins to hear every word without need of her gift.
‘Their timing could not have been less opportune! Most of the warriors are absent from the Valley on a mercenary Contract!’
‘I doubt it is a coincidence.’ Fabian’s raised voice was hard. ‘Whose name was on that Contract?’
‘Javiero Martinez. He’s a rich Spanish Mage involved in a squabble with a neighbouring land owner… nothing out of the ordinary.’
Fabian frowned, ‘Martinez? It’s not a name I know. Have you had any dealings with him before?’
‘No, and I have never heard of him either. He contacted Scrimshaw with the requirements and paid money in advance through a courier.’
Fabian’s face darkened, ‘I am willing to bet that money was Malachi’s and the Spaniard was really a Frenchman with Rochforte blood in his veins!’
Mistral could hear the twins silently agreeing with Fabian’s suspicions. A large, well-
paid Contract taking all available warriors coinciding exactly with Leo being absent from the Valley was timing too perfect not to have been orchestrated.
Fabian and Leo did not speak again. They were now riding across the meadows and would soon reach the Valley’s North Gate. Mistral glanced down at the grass rushing beneath the horses’ hooves and saw it begin to slow; the spell was starting to lose affect as they neared their destination. Battle was moments away.
They galloped their weary horses through the North Gate to silence; no shouted greeting or mournful tolling of the warning bell.
So that’s how they got in!
Phantasm’s thought did not need to be voiced. The sight of two guards lying slain by arrows at the foot of one of the huge gates spoke for itself.
Leo barely glanced at the fallen guards but spurred his horse on to gallop faster, his face rigid with fury. They could hear the sounds of battle over the pounding of hooves, a cacophony of shouts and clashing swords that sent adrenalin coursing through each of them. Mistral was prepared for the sight that met their eyes when they rounded the last bend in the path, but the others had only heard her words and not shared in her visions. Leo jerked his horse to an abrupt halt and stared down at the scene of violence in the village square. Turning sharply in the saddle he began to issue a series of curt commands.
‘Fabian! With me! We will attack from the back! Mistral! You will stay here under the protection of the Gemini! And get that dog to guard!’
When Mistral began to protest Leo cut her short with a furious glare.
‘No Mistral! Those soldiers are here to find you! Do you want every member of the Valley to have shed their blood just for you to wander in and hand yourself over?’
‘I –’
‘Shut up and stay put!’ Leo snapped, abruptly drawing his sword he pushed his horse into a gallop and thundered down to the village square and was instantly submerged in the broiling mass of the fight.
‘Please stay here Mistral.’ Fabian’s liquid eyes were beseeching, his softly spoken request exerting far more power over her than any shouted command from Leo. His lips touched hers in a feather light caress and then he was gone, galloping down to join the fray and taking her heart with him.
The Seer Page 89
