‘Now that we are all assembled, let us begin,’ announced Leo Sphinx, stepping away from the bright warmth of the fire so that he could be seen clearly. ‘There are twelve of you who wish to take an apprenticeship with the Ri and two who have been accepted onto a second and final year.’
Mistral resisted the urge to turn around and stare at the two elves. They were obviously the second years from their confident manner. She wondered what skills they possessed to have been accepted for another year.
‘Before I ask you to sign and make your commitment binding are there any question you wish to ask of me?’
Mistral blinked in surprise, she hadn’t been expecting to be allowed to ask questions and her mind instantly went blank.
‘So when do we get to start killing things?’ Xerxes asked loudly, eliciting quiet laughs from Brutus and Saul.
Leo gave a small smile, ‘You will begin by trying to kill each other.’
‘But … we do get to kill things don’t we?’ Xerxes asked, looking a little confused.
Leo favoured him with a cold look, ‘Be under no illusions apprentice. Whatever work you undertake; tracker, hunter, thief, mercenary or assassin, your life will one day become a commodity that is bought. This is the destiny of every Ri Warrior and your fate … should you choose to accept it.’
Leo paused and his piercing blue eyes swept the room.
‘Yes, this life is a choice. You have not been forced to come to this Valley and seek the training we offer or take the work that Qualification will entail. But it has been probably the only choice you have been able to make in your lives so far. Your fates were sealed before you drew your first breath; you are half-breeds … neither Arcane nor Mage … unacceptable to either. What choice do you have but to take the coin of those who have rejected you for work they will not do? I ask you to consider this: Does that make us their servants or masters?’
He let the question hang in the air. There was a long pause before he gave a tight smile and nodded.
‘That is for you to decide. Now, to business. Should you pass today’s entry requirements you will undergo one year’s training. Should you successfully Qualify at the end of that time you will be eligible to undertake Contracts. A second year’s training is given by invitation of the Magnate to a selected few –’
‘Do some fail?’ a slow, heavy voice rumbled from the back of the room.
Mistral knew without looking that it was Grendel that had spoken and resisted the urge to smile, remembering how she had asked the very same question of the twins last week.
Leo Sphinx regarded him coldly, ‘Yes, failure occurs, and it is usually fatal.’
There were a few mutterings which Leo Sphinx silenced with an icy look.
‘Some of you may possess latent skills bequeathed to you from your Arcane parent. The second year is devoted to developing and mastering such talents.
‘And finally, to the details, and you would do well to remember that it’s always about the details, in this case, money.’
A murmur went through the room.
‘Your apprenticeship is paid for by you. Once you have Qualified you will work solely for the Ri for the same length of time that you trained to pay back your debt. After such time you are free to work freelance or through one of the other Agents in the Valley.
‘Now we have dispensed with the details, let us begin your entry tests. Please sign your names before we leave the Hall.’ Leo Sphinx indicated to a long roll of parchment laid on a table at the side of the Hall.
He moved to stand beside the parchment, watching as each apprentice filed up and signed their name. Golden was first in the line, signing her name with a flourish then throwing Leo a burning look when she walked past him to wait by the door. There were a few sniggers when Grendel struggled to grasp the quill in his massive hand. Leo Sphinx watched dispassionately until the huge apprentice finally managed to scrawl his name across the sheet of parchment.
Phantasm approached the table and bent over the parchment, reading it carefully before he signed his own name with a flourish to rival Golden’s. Leo Sphinx raised an eyebrow but made no comment even though Phantasm had been the only one to read the script written at the top of the parchment.
Mistral barely glanced at the parchment before she hastily scribbled her name beneath the twins’. She was in too much of a hurry to find out what the entry test would consist of and was berating herself for not spending more time practising with her new weapons.
The apprentices waited in a silent group by the door until the second years had signed their names. Leo Sphinx dismissed them with a few words spoken too quietly for the first years to hear and the elves slid from the room with slightly smug expressions on their faces.
Leo Sphinx surveyed the group by the door, ‘Apprentices of the Ri, you will address me as Master Sphinx or not at all. Follow me to the Training Room.’ he swept past them and began to stride purposely down the corridor towards the Entrance Hall.
After a moment’s pause Golden swayed seductively after him with her ever-present companion tramping along gracelessly in her shadow.
‘All hail the Lord Leo,’ Xerxes growled and strode after their Training Captain.
Mistral, Phantasm and Phantom waited until the rest of the apprentices had left the room before joining on at the back of the line.
‘Who’s the apprentice that looks like he’d been dug up?’ Mistral asked in a low whisper.
Phantom shrugged, ‘Don’t know … we’ve not seen him around before.’
‘Steer clear of him Mistral, he’s got drow blood in him,’ warned Phantasm in a low voice.
‘Drow?’
He nodded, ‘Dark elves. Nasty pieces of work, vengeful and merciless.’
‘He’s got the right skills for the job then,’ muttered Mistral.
‘Never mind him right now, did you read the parchment?’ Phantom asked his brother in an urgent whisper while they followed the other apprentices up the stone staircase in the Entrance Hall to the second floor.
Phantasm nodded, ‘Nothing unusual; we commit to a year’s training, we do not have the right to leave but the Ri reserve the right to eject any apprentice displaying undesirable behaviour –’
‘I’d love to know what sort of behaviour can be classed as “undesirable” from someone training to be an assassin,’ interjected Mistral in an amused tone.
‘I agree, the parchment didn’t specify what this “behaviour” would have to consist of. I assume you’d have to be a really big troublemaker to actually be thrown out of the Valley –’
They reached the second floor and glimpsed a long wooden corridor with lots of doors leading off it before going on to climb another set of stairs up to the third floor.
‘The dorms,’ whispered Phantasm grimly, catching Mistral’s curious glance at the rows of doors. ‘Your charmless cell awaits your inspection after Registration.’
Mistral nodded and smiled privately at the twins’ obvious liking for luxury. She didn’t care what her room was like. She’d been more than happy sleeping on a forest floor wrapped in a wolf skin so a room with a bed in it was perfectly acceptable to her.
They reached the third floor. The sound of Grendel’s laborious breathing after the climb up two flights of stairs filled the tense silence. Mistral wrinkled her nose at the strong smell of his body odour and hoped that the entry test wouldn’t involve her being close to him.
Leo Sphinx stood waiting for them outside a heavy wooden door bound with thick bands of iron. Once all the apprentices had gathered he opened the door and stood back, gesturing for them to enter. Mistral followed the twins through the doorway into the strangest room she had ever seen. The room was roughly the same shape and size as the Main Hall but the entire floor was thickly padded with some kind of soft matting. There were no windows and the only source of light came from rows of torches blazing brightly on the bare stone walls. At one end of the room a large circular target was positioned, obviously for archery practise
. A huge mirror hung at the opposite end, so large that it filled the wall completely. Mistral stared at it in amazement. She had never seen a mirror so big. It reflected her amazed expression back at her mockingly and she quickly composed her features into something that made her look less ridiculous.
Golden gazed haughtily into the vast looking glass, checking her flawless reflection before giving a satisfied toss of her hair. Phantom caught Mistral’s eye and suppressed a grin.
Leo Sphinx strode to the centre of the Training Room followed by the same three heavily-built Training Lieutenants that had accompanied him in The Cloak and Dagger the previous evening. Whilst he stood conversing quietly with them Mistral and the other apprentices lined up against the long wall facing the open door and waited apprehensively for him to finish his conversation. Mistral cast an appraising glance along the line of apprentices. Now that she had seen the Training Room she had a pretty good idea what Leo Sphinx had in mind and was gauging her chances against the others.
Cain and the half-drow she didn’t know were both slightly built, as were the twins and Golden. Mistral didn’t think they would cause her too much of a problem. Grendel was obviously an insurmountable opponent whilst Brutus and Xerxes had elf blood and were taller and more muscular, which would pose more of a problem. Saul was taller than her too. Mistral hoped she didn’t have to face him. She quite liked him and didn’t want to ruin a new friendship by beating him up on their first day together as apprentices … and that just left Columbine. Mistral eyed the ugly apprentice and began to plan a strategy. Although shorter than Mistral, she was stocky with solid limbs that spoke of hidden strength. Sensing her scrutiny, Columbine looked up and caught Mistral’s calculating stare. At once her face twisted into an ugly snarl, baring the tell-tale greenish teeth that revealed her blood-line.
‘Ouch!’ breathed Phantom. ‘I wonder what you’ve done to deserve that!’
‘Hmm, let’s find out shall we?’
Mistral threw a quick look at their Training Captain. Seeing that he was still engaged in a serious looking conversation with his Lieutenants she seized her opportunity. Fixing her gaze firmly on the air around the wiry black hair of Columbine’s head she forced her mind to empty of all thoughts. The nervous whisperings of the other apprentices slipped away. Mistral was no longer aware of the strange, soft floor beneath her boots or the rough feel of the stone wall at her back. Her world had narrowed to exist of nothing more than the next breath she drew. Three breaths became five then seven and suddenly she was rewarded by the shimmering mist of Columbine’s aura.
A putrid green fog swirled in the air above Columbine’s head. Flecks of bright copper flashed past, startlingly bright. At the outer edge Mistral could see tongues of scarlet flickering like fire, angry and raw. She had seen enough. Blinking to break the image, Mistral immediately dropped her gaze while she thought about what she’d seen.
‘Do share,’ murmured Phantom, his green eyes glittering.
‘Columbine’s aura.’
Phantom gave her an irritated look, ‘Yes, I guessed as much by the vacant look on your face. And?’
‘Well,’ whispered Mistral, trying not to move her lips as she spoke, ‘loads of green, that’s envy or greed ... and it can be jealousy – ’
‘Ah.’ Phantom sighed. ‘That would explain her aggression towards you. She’s jealously protecting Golden from anyone she sees as a threat.’
‘She’s welcome to her.’ Mistral muttered back. ‘Then I saw copper, that’s tenacity, so she’s a stubborn – ’
‘And?’ Phantom cut across her in a terse whisper before Mistral could utter the swearword.
‘Scarlet. That’s hatred.’
‘That’s a bad mix,’ Phantom whispered and gave her a worried look. ‘You know what’s going to happen here today don’t you?’
Mistral nodded and let her gaze rest on Columbine again, ‘At least I’m prepared if I get her.’
‘There is only one requirement for each successful entrant –’
Leo Sphinx’s cold voice ended their murmured conversation. Mistral looked over at their Training Captain, now stood with hands on hips in the centre of the huge floor.
‘– and that is the merciless desire to succeed in the face of adversity.’
Mistral felt the twins tense beside her. It was as they had suspected. Leo was going to get them all to brawl. Mistral wasn’t too worried; she’d grown up fighting with the other children in Nevelte who had instinctively disliked her for being different.
‘When your name is called, step to the centre of the room. You will face one another in a bout of length determined by myself. We begin with,’ Leo held up the sheet of parchment they had all signed in the Main Hall and scanned it briefly. ‘Phantom and … Cain.’
Phantom sprang lightly to his feet and moved swiftly to the centre of the floor, greeting Cain with a polite nod of his head.
‘Brother,’ Mistral heard Cain murmur back.
‘Begin!’ Leo’s voice rang out across the Training Room.
It was a fair match; Phantom and Cain were both light and agile, moving with swiftness and grace that would have made a dancer jealous. They did each other little damage, both trying to secure a firm hold and take the other to the floor to finish the round. Before too long Leo called time on their bout and they took their positions against the wall with sighs of relief.
‘Grendel and … Xerxes.’
Mistral exhaled with relief that she didn’t have to face the might of Grendel then wondered darkly how coincidental it was that Xerxes had been the outspoken one during Registration and now he was facing Grendel.
The bout didn’t last long with Grendel effectively flinging Xerxes to the floor every time he came within his reach. Xerxes limped back to his position against the wall with obvious chagrin at the end of the bout. Mistral guessed he’d reached the same conclusion as her – that he’d just been made an example of by their Training Captain.
Golden was matched against Phantasm who was far too gentlemanly to fight with her and submitted easily.
‘Not good enough!’ Leo bellowed. ‘You allowed her to do that! Face one another again and put some intention into it!’
Phantasm smiled politely at Golden; the half-nymph gave him a smug smile and they faced each other in the centre of the floor once more. The moment Leo called for them to begin Phantasm swiftly stepped forward and wrapped one hand around Golden’s waist and the other around her shoulders, tilting her backwards and lifting her in one motion. He held her in the air for a moment then dropped her onto the padded floor. She shrieked angrily and sprang to her feet, her face no longer beautiful, but furious.
‘Enough!’ Leo shouted just as Golden curved her fingers into talons and prepared to fly at Phantasm’s face.
Golden tossed her hair and stalked back over to take her place beside a glowering Columbine. Phantasm resumed his seat next to his brother, breathing heavily.
Mistral leaned forward slightly and murmured out of the side of her mouth, ‘Nice move!’
‘She blew a kiss in my ear!’ Phantasm hissed. ‘It was disgusting!’
Phantom snorted and quickly turned it into a cough, ducking his head down to avoid Leo’s icy glare.
‘Mistral and ... Columbine!’
Mistral leapt to her feet and strode to the centre of the floor, meeting Columbine’s hate-filled look unflinchingly.
‘Begin!’
Mistral tensed, reading Columbine’s intention more easily than if she’d spoken aloud. With a snarl Columbine threw herself at Mistral, trying to wind her with the force of the impact. Mistral quickly stepped to the side and grabbed her arm. She yanked it up sharply, slamming her other hand into the side of her head at the same time to flip Columbine through the air as easily as though she were a toy. Columbine crashed down onto the floor with a grunt of pain and lay there, winded.
‘Enough,’ called Leo almost lazily when Columbine staggered to her feet.
Without casting Columbine
a second glance, Mistral turned and walked back to take her seat next to Phantom.
‘Nice work!’ Saul leaned across Brutus to congratulate her.
Mistral nodded but kept her head down to avoid the piercing gaze she could feel boring into her from Leo Sphinx.
‘Just where were you raised?’ Phantom demanded in an awed whisper. ‘I’ve never seen anyone do that!’
Mistral shook her head slightly and was saved from having to reply by Leo calling out again.
‘Brutus and ... Konrad.’
The last two bouts passed without too much event. Brutus’ bout with Konrad, the half-drow, was short. Brutus was taller and stronger than his opponent and won the bout easily. The final match was between Saul and Bali. Both were of similar builds and were well-matched but Bali displayed more experience and gradually took the upper-hand.
‘That will do,’ said Leo curtly, dismissing Saul and Bali who sank gratefully back against the far wall, both out of breath. ‘Before we continue with Registration there is one final test which you will be pleased to know will require little or no effort on your part. You may remain where you are.’
He turned swiftly and left the room, leaving them under the watchful gaze of his three Training Lieutenants.
The apprentices sat in heavy silence, broken only by Golden’s exaggerated sighs of boredom until the door suddenly opened and Leo walked back into the room. He did not speak but stepped aside to allow the figure behind him to enter.
Mistral found herself staring into a pair of milky eyes set in a paper-white face, so frail looking that it seemed impossible for the mouth to open and speak without the rupturing the fragile skin.
‘The Divinus!’ Phantasm gasped.
‘Is he blind?’ Mistral whispered, staring at the strange opaque eyes.
‘Only in the literal sense,’ murmured Phantasm. ‘He’s a Seer.’
Mistral felt a shiver run down her spine. The Divinus had the power to read the private thoughts of anyone in the room ... she looked at the shrivelled figure with renewed respect. Black robes hung from his shrunken frame like a death shroud, rustling faintly when he moved. He seemed to float into the Training Room rather than walk but despite his fragile appearance the Divinus radiated an undeniable sense of power. He paused in the centre of the room and opened his hands out in a benevolent gesture.
The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) Page 6
