The Seer (33 page)

Mistral nodded against his chest but said
nothing.  She knew it wasn’t the intoxicating effects of the dragon breath
that had caused her to feel such depth of emotion.  The connection had
been there before the queen had breathed on her.

‘I feared that she had crushed every bone in your
body.’  Fabian stroked a hand slowly her hair, letting it trail
wonderingly down her back.  ‘But there’s not a mark on you.’

‘No, Cain said.’  Mistral pulled her head
away from his chest and looked up at him accusingly.  ‘And that reminds
me.  I don’t appreciate you letting him examine me while I was
asleep!  It’s creepy!’

The door suddenly opened and the twins' blonde
heads appeared around the edge to gaze inquiringly at her.

 ‘Did we hear your dulcet tones
Mistral?’  Phantom enquired politely.

Mistral grinned at them, ‘Yes.’

‘We thought we’d see if you were ready for
breakfast in bed, since you seem set on not getting up this week.’

‘What!  Have I been asleep that long?’

‘Best part of two days now, you’ve excelled
yourself this time!’

‘Really?  No wonder I’m so hungry!  Oh
no!  I bet we’re snowed in now,’ she cried, leaping out of Fabian’s arms
and running over to the window to peer out at a world of whiteness.

‘Good and proper.’  Phantom sighed.  ‘We
won’t be going anywhere for at least a couple of weeks.  Xerxes is
thrilled.’

‘I’ll bet he is!’  Mistral laughed and spun
around to look at Fabian with shining eyes.  ‘Remember that honeymoon you
owe me?’

He smiled slowly, immediately softening the hard
lines anxiety had etched into his face, ‘I’ll go see Castor and enquire if he
has a house we can rent.’  

‘Make it one with only one bedroom won’t you,’ she
whispered in his ear when he bent to kiss her goodbye.  ‘We don’t want any
extra guests.’ 

‘I heard that!’  Phantom gave her a wounded
look once the door had closed behind Fabian.  ‘And what makes you think
we’d want to be in on your honeymoon anyway?’

‘You were only too happy to interrupt my first
one,’ she argued back, throwing herself back onto the bed and looking at them
with a suddenly eager expression on her face.  ‘So where’s this breakfast
you promised me then?  I’m famished!  But it better not have honey in
it!’

‘No honey, just a plate of cold meat.  I’ll
go fetch it ... Oh, and there’s someone here that’s been desperate to see
you.’  Phantasm opened the door and sprang quickly out of the way to avoid
being knocked flat by the huge form of Prospero bounding in.  He leapt
from the doorway onto the bed and promptly collapsed next to his mistress with
a groan of contentment.  Mistral patted him affectionately and then shoved
him along the bed to make room for Phantom. 

‘Come on brother; tell me all about the
hunt!  Who shot what?’ 

‘Well,’ Phantom began as he sat down beside her,
‘despite your reputation of being able to shoot spriggans blindfold, you shot
nothing!’

‘Don’t remind me.’  Mistral pulled a
face. 

‘Although we were all fairly impressed with your
decision to abandon the more traditional approach of using weapons and just
leap in there and have a go with your bare hands.  What were you planning
to do?  Get stuck in her throat and choke her to death?’

Mistral gave a short laugh, ‘I don’t really know
what I was planning.  I think the dragon breath knocked what little sense
I’ve got right out of my head!’

‘Hmm, I’ve never seen your Mage work so
fast.  He’d shot her three times before I’d even fired once!  I’ll be
amazed if she wakes up by spring!’

A shadow crossed Mistral’s face.  She didn’t
want to think of the queen lying unconscious in the winter snows.  ‘So who
got the kills?’  She asked quickly to change the subject.

‘Cain collected in the arrows, and it was a good
job Brutus took the time to initial them all because Xerxes was trying to claim
every one as his!’  Phantom laughed.  ‘Mage De Winter and Brutus were
successful with the two culled dragons … they’re out the back of the stables if
you want to see them.  Then myself and my brother can lay claim to one of
the sedated dragons, Cain and Grendel definitely took one down on their own,
and the other two had arrows from Mage De Winter, Xerxes and Brutus in them.’

Mistral smiled proudly, pleased for her brothers –
then she remembered the fallen queen and her smile faltered, ‘And the
queen?  Who shot her down?’  She asked hesitantly.

‘Hard to say for certain who’s was the one that
finally knocked her out.  She had an arrow from each of us stuck in her by
the time she hit the deck, well, three of your Mage’s actually – so it’s
probably safe to assume his were the ones that finally made her give up her
dinner.’

Mistral nodded and looked down at her dog, rubbing
his ears to avoid Phantom’s eyes.  She didn’t want to get into a
conversation about her bizarre experience with the queen.  ‘And the
journey back?’ 

‘Well, your Mage outdid himself in the brooding
and protective stakes.  We practically ran back … it was horrendous! 
I think he would’ve actually killed anyone who so much as suggested stopping
for a rest!  Mage De Winter carried you for most of the way, then Grendel
carried you down the climbs.  Luckily the bestra had survived, so we used
them to drag the two culled dragons back.’

Mistral looked up, remembering the two corrupt
Mages, ‘Did you pick up Mage Powers on the way back?’

Phantom shook his head, ‘No time.  We had to
make it out of the high mountains before nightfall, and it was starting to snow
pretty heavily by then too.  Mage De Winter refused to let Cain check you
over until we were back here.  He reckoned you’d freeze to death or
something.’

Mistral looked at Prospero again to hide the guilt
in her eyes.  She hated to think of the torment she must have caused
Fabian through her insane actions; even worse that he’d believed her injured
for the entire during of the return journey when in reality she had been
completely unhurt.

‘So just what did happen with you and the queen
then?’  Phantom demanded, fixing her with a piercing look.  ‘Cain
says you don’t have any injuries at all, not even a scratch!’

‘Er, well –’ Mistral looked up with relief as the
door opened to admit Diannah carrying a tray laden with food.

‘Good morning Mistral.  I hope you found
Brutus’ old bed comfortable?’

Mistral smiled, ‘Even more so now I know that.’

‘Bored … bored … bored!’  Phantom stared
moodily at the inside of his empty cider tankard.

‘Another?’  Brutus offered automatically.

Phantom grimaced, ‘No, sorry, but after four days
straight of cider it’s finally beginning to lose its appeal.  Is this
really how you spent every winter?  Playing cards and drinking in the
tavern?’

Brutus nodded wearily but Xerxes smiled happily,
‘Some of the time, but I managed to keep myself fairly well amused by –’

‘Oh yes, I think I’m beginning to understand
exactly how you managed to turn out quite like you have.’  Phantasm cut in
quickly. 

A heavy silence fell.  Cain picked up the
pack of cards from the table and started to build a tower with them, watched by
the twins.

‘Care to make a wager on how high he gets it
before it falls?’  Xerxes promptly asked.

‘No,’ they chorused dully.

Phantom yawned and looked disinterestedly around
the tavern.  The tribal elves kept to their own company.  Apart from
Diannah, the warriors hadn’t spoken to anyone else since returning from the
hunt. 

‘It’s no good, I am completely bored.  I’m
off to see Mistral!’  Phantom announced and stood up, grabbing his cloak
from the back of his chair.

Cain looked up from the tower of cards he was
building and frowned, ‘I’m not too sure that she and Mage De Winter will
appreciate you barging in on them.’

‘I won’t be.’  Phantasm replied smugly and
pulled his cloak on.  ‘Because Mage De Winter is sat over there talking to
Chieftain Greenoak.’

They all looked over to see Fabian, looking
unusually at ease, sat at a table with Castor.  He caught their curious
gazes and nodded a greeting, leaning back against the stone wall of the tavern
and stretching his legs out in front of him before returning to his
conversation.

‘Bless him, bet he needed to escape for a bit.’
 Xerxes sighed sympathetically.  ‘Honeymoons can be very wearing.’

‘And how many have you had now brother?’ 
Brutus asked with a grin.

Xerxes frowned, ‘Three, that I can recall … but
not with the brides though ... two were with the bridesmaids ... and I can’t
remember who the last one was with –’

Leaving Xerxes reminiscing happily about his past
exploits, the twins left the tavern.  Pulling their hoods up against the
snow they hurried down the street towards the small log cabin Fabian and
Mistral were staying in.

‘I’ve never seen snow like it!’  Phantom
grumbled, brushing small drifts off his shoulders and stamping his feet while
his brother knocked softly on the cabin door.  Prospero barked in response
but the door didn’t open.  They glanced at each other from beneath their
hoods.

‘Do you think she’s in there?’

‘Where else would she be?  There’s only the
tavern and she’s not there.  I can’t imagine she’s gone to Diannah’s for
tea.’

‘The stables?’

Phantasm shook his head, ‘I doubt it.  Unless
she’s had snow shoes made for Cirrus she won’t be able to get him out the
door!  She’s in there, probably asleep –’ he banged more loudly on the
door while Phantom wandered over to the window and wiped away the snow to peer
in. A fire was lit inside the tiny log cabin.  Phantom could see Prospero
basking in the warm glow.  Set back against the wall was a large brass bed
and sat in the middle was Mistral, cross-legged and completely motionless,
staring vacantly into space.

‘I knew it!  She’s off into someone’s
mind!  Damn it!  We’ve spent four days listening to Xerxes spout
rubbish and she’s probably spent every day getting information from the
Valley!’ 

Phantasm gave him a withering look, ‘I doubt very
much that’s what she’s been doing brother.’

Phantom ignored him and tried the handle of the
door, it was unlocked.  They slipped quietly in and stole over to the bed,
sitting down on opposite sides to wait for Mistral to come out of her
trance. 

After several long minutes of listening to
Prospero’s snores, Phantom began to grow impatient. ‘Shall we try and snap her out
of it?’  He whispered to his brother.

Phantasm shook his head, ‘No, it could be very
confusing for her.  She was like this when we were trapped in the cave and
I couldn’t break her out of it.  It’s best just to leave her.  She’ll
come out when she’s ready.’

Phantom made an irritated noise and continued to
stare silently at Mistral, willing her to hurry up.  Prospero growled when
a log shifted in the grate and woke, opening one eye to regard the twins lazily
before rolling over onto his back and immediately start snoring again. 
Phantom began to drum his fingers against the patchwork quilt, ignoring the
annoyed looks his brother was giving him.

Mistral eventually heaved a deep sigh and began to
withdraw her mind from the thoughts she had been listening to; the blood red
eyes she’d seen with her mind’s eye slowly fading to green.

Green not black.

The wrong colour.

And completely the wrong person.

‘What the hell are you two doing here?’  She
yelped in surprise and grabbed at the quilt to cover herself before realising
with relief that she was actually dressed for the first time in days.

‘Where’ve you been?’  Phantom demanded
without preamble.

‘Here!’  Mistral snapped.  ‘Not that
it’s any of your business!’

‘No, I mean just now!  Who’s mind were you
in?’ 

‘Oh!’  Mistral pulled a face. 
‘Bellicose La Monte.’

The twins’ eyes glittered with excitement. 
‘Tell all,’ Phantasm breathed, staring at her avidly.

Mistral dropped her gaze to look down at the
patchwork quilt, tracing the outline of one of the coloured squares with her
fingers, ‘It was vile,’ she said quietly.  ‘I was inside Bellicose’s mind
when the tribe went out to hunt.  They’ve reverted to their preferred diet
–’

‘The two-legged variety?’

Mistral nodded, ‘There’s a small mountain
settlement … sorry, let me start that again.  There
was
a small
mountain settlement of elves in the Northern Range.  They were a nomadic
tribe that travelled with their herd of bestra all summer then holed up for the
winter.  Bellicose and his tribe just spent the last two days clearing the
whole settlement.  There’s not a single one left alive, not even the
bestra,’ she added with a shudder.  ‘The elves couldn’t escape, they were
completely snowed in ... and they won’t be missed by anyone until the spring. 
But by then there’ll be no evidence of what happened.  The wolves will
come in and clear up after the vampires.’