The Seer (22 page)

Phantom watched her with a slightly revolted look on his face while she
stuffed the piece of meat into her mouth, ‘Recovered from your sickness then I
see?’  He picked up a knife and sliced off some meat before Mistral
demolished the entire platter.

She nodded, her cheeks bulging with meat, ‘Tell me why – ’ she began in a
muffled voice but Phantom held his finger up to his lips with a disgusted look
on his face.

‘Please no, Mistral!  Do not spray food over me!  Speak to me
when you’ve finished.’

Mistral scowled at him and forced her mouthful down with a huge swallow,
‘Tell me why Diannah had to go and why she was getting such funny stares and
why –’

Phantom held up a hand with a patronising sigh, ‘I can see you’re going to
be in one of those moods, so allow me to make a suggestion.  You eat, if
that’s what you could describe that stomach turning action as, and I shall
explain.  I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are no female elves in the
tavern?’

Mistral nodded; her mouth full of roasted meat once again.

‘Good, glad to see you are beginning to appreciate the details.’
 Phantom sniffed.  ‘Well, elves, like most Arcane races, have very
strong views on the status of the women in their societies, which is why there
were none at the Festival of the Arcane, apart from the amazons and a few
others who were, er, working –’ Phantom paused and looked slightly shifty.

Mistral grinned and quickly shoved another piece of meat into her mouth
before he noticed and got uppity again. 

‘And that’s because their presence anywhere outside of the tribal home is
quite heavily frowned upon.’

Mistral’s eyebrows shot up in an outraged expression but she was unable to
speak due to her full mouth. 

‘Yes, I’m sure you find the notion ridiculous and offensive, but try not
to.  It’s an overhang from the old days, before the Isle was made a
sanctuary for our kind.  Here, they are safe, mainly due to the strict
regulations of the Council.  I know you think the opposite, but believe me,
without Council rule the tribes would quickly destroy each other in pointless
wars.  The only thing more bent on their destruction than each other, was
humankind. 

‘When the Arcane tribes were scattered across the world they were forced to
fight for survival every single day of their lives.  Their womenfolk were
the future of the tribe you see, without them there could be no children, so
their movements outside of the tribal home were kept to an absolute minimum to
ensure that they were safe – ’

‘From what?’  Mistral mumbled through a mouthful of bread.

Phantom rolled his eyes at her, ‘I was just getting to that, there really
was no need to try and speak.  From what?  From everything that is
now kept carefully under control by the Council!  Other tribes, humans,
trolls, manticores, cyclops, giants, dragons … pretty much everything you dream
about having a go at has at one time or another preyed on the unsuspecting
womenfolk of the tribes when they were happily going about their day to day
business.  Arcanes, you see,’ Phantom paused and took another long drink
of cider, ‘like their solitude, well, you’d know all about that … but they were
always wandering off into the forests to collect firewood on their own or
something else equally mundane, without really realising the danger they were
placing themselves in.’  Phantom looked at her thoughtfully.  ‘In
fact, you’re exactly like that, I wonder if you could be half-elf –’

‘No brother.’  Phantasm leaned over, shaking his head.  ‘There
are no dark-haired elves, not even half-bred ones.’

Mistral switched her gaze to Phantasm and hastily swallowed her mouthful of
bread, ‘Is that why there were no other women at the Divinus’ funeral
banquet?’  She asked, choking slightly on the bread.

Phantasm nodded and patted her absent-mindedly on the back while she
coughed, ‘Yes, although the Divinus had not lived with a tribe or followed
their way of life for a long time, the tradition was honoured out of respect
for his elven blood.’

Mistral glanced over her shoulder at the other occupants in the busy
tavern.  None of them seemed to be paying her the slightest
attention.  ‘They don’t seem bothered by me,’ she said with a dismissive
shrug.

Phantasm shook his head lightly, his green eyes suddenly amused, ‘For a
multitude of reasons.  Firstly, you are not elven, secondly, you are Ri,
thirdly and perhaps most importantly, you are married to Mage De Winter.’

Mistral’s mouth formed a silent ‘oh’.  Fabian’s formidable reputation
now extended to protect her as well.  She looked across the room to see
her Mage still deep in conversation with Castor, his aura glowed around his
dark hair in a uniform royal blue; he was utterly focused on the subject they
were discussing.  With a deep sigh, Mistral dragged her attention back to
Phantasm to ask him the final question that had been troubling her. 

‘Oh look!  Here comes our very own man of the moment, or should I say
two moments!’  Cain cut across her in a loud voice.  They all turned
to see the tavern door opening to emit a much chastened looking Xerxes followed
by a grinning Brutus.  ‘I’ll bet Xerxes wishes it wasn’t only female
half-breeds that can’t have children!’  Cain added with a laugh.

Mistral smiled and picked up another piece of meat.  Cain had just
answered her final question. 

By the time Fabian returned to their table Mistral was full of roasted boar
and feeling sleepy.  Phantom was on his fourth tankard of cider and had
bored her rigid with a story he swore was funny but just seemed to be about an
exceedingly dull Council meeting he and his brother had attended.  Every
time he appeared to be about to get to the punch line he remembered another
part of the story and retold it from the beginning again.  Fabian stood
behind Mistral and rested his hands lightly on her shoulders; she tilted back
her head to look up at him, fighting back a yawn. 

‘Tired?’  He enquired with a smile.

She nodded and rolled her eyes meaningfully in Phantom’s direction. 
He was just starting his story again for the fifth time. 

Fabian drew her chair out, ‘I’ll take you to the guest quarters.’

‘We’ll come with.’  Xerxes quickly scurried over.

‘I think we should all go now actually.’  Phantasm said, looking at
his brother who was now telling Grendel the same story.  ‘We need to get
an early start tomorrow.’

Tomorrow … Mistral felt a burst of excitement at the thought of the dragon
hunt and her tiredness instantly vanished.  ‘Come on then!’  She said
brightly and leapt to her feet, startling Prospero who had been fast asleep
beneath the table.  ‘Let’s get an early night!’

‘That’ll make a change for you then won’t it, Little Dormir.’  Brutus
quipped, sliding out from around the other side of the table and grabbing his
cloak.

‘Little who?’  Mistral frowned, slipping her arms into the cloak
Fabian held out for her.

‘The Sleepy Elven Princess of course!’  Brutus laughed and shook his
head.  ‘I forget that you were raised in some weird parallel world, what
was it called?  Never or something?’

‘Nevelte actually.’  Phantasm corrected while he helped his brother
rise unsteadily to his feet.  ‘A tiny rural Mage settlement, well, when I
say Mage, they were barely capable of weaving a sock, never mind a spell.’

‘Ah, that reminds me Mistral.’   Phantom gazed unfocusedly at
her.  ‘What did you hear in Mage Powers’ mind today?  He looked
furious!’

Mistral glanced at Fabian, ‘Can I tell them?  Only he is a Council
Official and I don’t want to be known for using my gift just to keep the twins
supplied with gossip.’

Fabian shrugged, ‘It’s no secret.’

Phantom’s green eyes slid from Fabian to Mistral, following their
conversation like a spectator at a tennis match.

‘You’re sure?’  Mistral persisted.

‘He should learn to keep his private thoughts locked away in the presence
of a Seer.  Anything he was thinking near you is public knowledge as far
as I am concerned.’

‘Do you do that then?’  Mistral asked sharply.  ‘Hide thoughts
from me?’

‘Only when I want to surprise you,’ he smiled.

‘Oh enough!  Just tell me!’  Phantom cried desperately.

Mistral laughed at her brother’s expression of impatience.  Nothing
excited Phantom more than a salacious piece of gossip, particularly about
Council members.

‘Not in here though.’  Fabian said quietly and took her hand to lead
her through the rowdy tavern. 

Bidding Castor good evening as he passed his table, Fabian opened the heavy
door and stepped out into winter’s biting cold.  The sky was clear of
clouds and filled with thousands of tiny stars.  Mistral gazed up at them
while Fabian pulled her under the warmth of his cloak.  Imperato’s
complicated teachings about the movements of the planets drifted into her mind;
a subject too vast to be grasped within one lifetime and definitely beyond her
scale of comprehension.

Fabian followed her gaze, ‘What do you see?’  He asked curiously.

She turned her head back to look at him, her eyes wide and unblinking,
‘Stars.’

Fabian laughed and began to walk with her through the village towards their
guest quarters.   Bundled deep within their cloaks with hoods pulled
up, the warriors hurried after them.

Phantom weaved a little as he ran to catch her up.  ‘Mage
Powers?’  He prompted breathlessly, enveloping her in a cloud of
cider-scented breath.

Mistral screwed her face up and pushed him away, ‘I’ll tell you,’ she said
impatiently.  ‘Just don’t breath on me!  And if you snore tonight
you’re sleeping outside!’

‘I do not snore!’  Phantom retorted, looking deeply affronted.

‘Er, yes you do actually,’ said Cain.  ‘It took me ages to work out
what the weird noise when we were all sleeping in the dorms.  I kept
hearing this buzzing noise every night.  I thought there was a bee’s nest
in the walls or something!’

‘Mage Powers?’  Phantom repeated in a louder voice.

Mistral sighed, ‘It’s nothing too scandalous, well not on a Xerxes scale of
scandalous anyway –’

‘You can stop that right now Mistral!  I’m not being used as some new
measurement of scandal!’  Xerxes cut in.  ‘I was young … it was a
long time ago and … I’ve learned my lesson,’ he finished hastily.

‘Er ... what?’  Cain gave him a confused look. 

‘Our mother had a word.’ Brutus explained with a sigh.  ‘Well, she had
quite a few words actually, but she saved the really loud ones for Xerxes –
anyway, I think he got the message.’

‘Back to Mage Powers now please!’  Phantom demanded, slurring his
words a little. 

‘Ah yes, the helpful and polite Mage Powers.  Like I said, it was
nothing too scandalous.  He fell in love with a nymph called Calantha and
brought her to live at the Council.  She came complete with her adult
daughter, a half-breed called Golden –’

‘No!  Surely not
the
Golden?’

‘One and the same brother.’  Mistral confirmed grimly. ‘It turns out
that Mage Powers has a lot more in common with Xerxes that you’d have thought
from their meeting today because he couldn’t resist the cake and eat it
situation either and was caught with Golden by Calantha.’

Cain and Brutus burst out laughing but Xerxes merely scowled and pulled his
hood further up. 

‘Always thought he was shifty.’  Phantom muttered.   ‘Eyes
too close together –’

‘What happened?’  Brutus asked, looking intrigued. 

Mistral shrugged, ‘The usual.  Calantha
issued an ultimatum.  Powers took too long deciding so she stormed out and
promptly took up with some other low-grade Councilor.  I think he could
have coped with that but she started bad-mouthing him and her daughter to
anyone who would listen, leaving Powers no choice but to chuck Golden
out.  By then Golden’s name was mud at the Council and no-one would take
her in … well, you guess what she did then.’ 

‘Swore vengeance on him and went straight to the
Valley of the Ri to train,’ sighed Phantom. ‘That explains so much about
her!’  

‘It does rather.’  Mistral yawned, suddenly exhausted again.

‘I think we had best finish the matter there,’ Fabian said quietly. 
‘We will be sharing quarters with Powers and Silver tonight.’

They had reached the door to a long single-story building made out of heavy
black timbers like the stableblock.  He unlatched the door and stepped
inside.  Mistral looked around as she followed wearily.  The entire
log cabin consisted of one long room with a large fire set in a stone
hearth.  A cooking pot hung over the flames and Mistral could smell the
remnants of some kind of meat stew.  Two bundled figures lay asleep
directly in front of the fire.

‘Huh, looks like they bagged the best spot for the night.’   Cain
grumbled, throwing his Wolverine skin down onto the floor further away from the
two Mages.

Giving the two sleeping Mages contemptuous looks, the others followed
suit.  Prospero had no such qualms.  He padded over to collapse
heavily between the two Mages, laying his head across one of the sleeping
figures like a pillow.  The Mage swore and tried to push him off but was
swiftly silenced by a low growl and immediately lay still once more. 
Mistral grinned at her dog and he wagged his tail in response, deftly smacking
the second Mage in the face with each hearty wag.  Smiling, Fabian dropped
down against the back wall of the room.  Mistral sank happily into his
arms and was sound asleep before he had pulled the Wolverine skin over them
both.