The Seer (48 page)

His aura
floated obediently into view in a swirl of blues indicating focus.  She
instantly frowned, wondering what he was thinking.  At once his thoughts
whispered in her ear.  She turned her head away sharply to break the
vision and looked at Gleacher Shacklock instead.  The Contracts Officer
remained standing where he and Fabian had been talking.  His head bowed in
thought … or shame.  Mistral breathed out slowly and cleared her mind,
pushing aside her own curiosity to leave her mind free of distractions. 
His aura materialised in the air above his head in a depressing cloud of greys
and pale greens, brightened by the occasional lightening flash of amethyst.
 Mistral sighed and blinked to break the vision.  Gleacher was
depressed about the truths Fabian had forced him to reveal; the pale greens
showed his unhappiness and the burst of amethyst his concern.  She didn’t
need to read his thoughts to know it was about Leo.  Fabian turned around
and Mistral immediately dropped down to the bottom of the crow’s nest. 
Hugging her knees to her chest she prayed that he hadn’t noticed her peering
over the top.

‘The fact that
Leo is Mage born is irrelevant in this matter.’

‘It has every
relevance!’  Gleacher’s reply was sharp.  ‘The warriors already feel
that he is too much in the Council’s thrall, if they discover he is actually a
full-blooded Mage there is no way they would ever trust him.  Leo would
never become the next Divinus!  He would be ostracized and forced out of
the Ri!  I must continue to keep his secret the only way I know how and ensure
Malachi’s silence!’

‘You are
fooling yourself if you believe that ignoring Malachi’s scheming will buy his
silence!’ 

Mistral could
hear the cold edge in Fabian’s voice again; she held her breath and rose slowly
to look over the edge of the crow’s nest.  Fabian and Gleacher were
face-to-face, glaring furiously at each other.

‘Your fear of
Leo’s secret being discovered is giving Malachi power over you!  Malachi
will use you to gain the support of the warriors until he is certain of success
in the vote, then he will reveal the truth anyway, leaving you with the bitter
knowledge that your years of deceit were for nothing!  Leo is no longer
the orphan boy in need of your protection Gleacher; he’s a grown man in need of
your loyalty!’

‘The warriors
will never trust a Mage!’

‘How many
times have we fought side by side?’  Fabian argued.

Gleacher
stared wordlessly at Fabian, ‘More times than I can recall,’ he finally
admitted.

‘And, in all
of those innumerable times, did you trust me?’

‘With my
life.’

‘And yet by my
blood I am a Mage.’

Gleacher said
nothing.  Mistral watched his cold-grey eyes flicker slightly and knew
that the truth in Fabian’s words had registered.

‘The warriors
will not judge Leo on his blood but on his past actions and the promises he
makes.  He already has their loyalty and trust as their Training
Captain.  Leo will make a strong Divinus, but can the same be said of
Malachi?’  Fabian asked reasonably.

‘Malachi is
self-serving and immoral.’  Gleacher growled.  ‘I would rather die a
shameful death than serve under him!’

‘And yet you
are aiding his cause to become the Ri’s Divinus!’

Gleacher’s
rigid stance suddenly wilted, his shoulders drooping in defeat, ‘But what else
can I do?  Betray Leo by telling the truth about his blood?  He has
been like a son to me!’

‘Why should
you need to speak of his blood at all?  Let Malachi attempt to reveal the
information without your involvement; I am sure he will already have a plan for
doing so.’

Mistral felt a
pang of guilt as she realised that she hadn’t read Malachi for the last couple
of days.  She immediately resolved to read him that afternoon to keep
Fabian updated. 

‘We must
remain steadfast to Leo when Malachi does break the news.  The warriors
respect you Gleacher, if they see you appearing to support Malachi in any way
during this campaign their allegiances will change.  Would you see the Ri
ruled by a corrupt Divinus?  He would not care how many warriors he sent
to their deaths so long as there was gold in his pocket and power at his
finger-tips!’

Gleacher
stared at Fabian silently, his iron-grey gaze boring deep.  Mistral could
see the tension emanating from him; it seemed to pulse in the air around him
with a life force of its own.  She wondered how Fabian could stand such
open hostility without reacting when she realised that she was unintentionally
reading Gleacher’s aura and could see what Fabian could not.  Cursing
silently, Mistral forced her eyes to see only their two figures, not their
auras.  It felt odd to deny something so instinctive and natural, and
although she had a clear view of them both, the image felt somehow incomplete
without the addition of their auras. 

‘I ask you
Gleacher, to honour the promise you made to Elise White all those years
ago.’  Fabian’s lips barely moved as he uttered the words but Gleacher
started as though he had been struck.

‘How could you
know about that?’ 

His shocked
voice was full of disbelief.  Mistral frowned; who was Elise White? 
Frustration bubbled up, forcing her to fight back the temptation to read Fabian’s
thoughts and find out for herself instead of being forced to wait impatiently
until he voiced them.

‘I knew
Elise.’  Fabian said quietly.  ‘And I know Leo.  He may be like
a son to you but he is like a brother to me.  Tell me again Gleacher,
where do your loyalties lie?’

Gleacher
stared frozenly at Fabian for a long moment.  Mistral watched him draw in
a deep breath, nodding his head once before he finally spoke.  ‘I stand
with Leo.  Now, and when the truth about his blood is revealed by whatever
underhand methods Malachi chooses to employ.  He will be the next Divinus,
it is his destiny.’

Mistral rolled
her eyes.  Destiny again, didn’t anyone get to make choices in their
lives? 

‘Then your
choice is made.’  Fabian’s voice held a note of satisfaction.  ‘If
you have the time now, I should like to discuss with you the second matter
Mistral and I must address on this Contract –’

Mistral
listened for a few minutes while Fabian outlined his plan to draw a party of
Rochfortes close enough for her to read one of them.  Their voices faded
as they began to walk along the deck.  Denying the Sight, Mistral was
forced to merely watch them silently reach the prow then turn around and start
to walk slowly back again.  Mistral realised with a sinking feeling that
whilst they were talking and meandering around aimlessly on the deck she
wouldn’t be able to climb down without being seen.  She was stuck in the
crow’s nest until Fabian and Gleacher finally finished their conversation and
went back below decks.  She shivered, suddenly cold without the
distracting thrill of eavesdropping.  Tucking her bare feet up beneath her
she hugged her arms around her knees and decided to See what the twins were up
to instead.

Visualising
Phantasm’s more serious features first, Mistral smiled at the image of her
brother’s face, so familiar but no less breathtaking; the striking green eyes
and white blonde hair swept back from a flawless brow.  His thoughts
murmured in her ear in a gentle bubbling noise like a shallow stream over a stony
bed.  She listened carefully, her smile growing ... he was berating
Prospero for bringing a dead rat into the house … Eloise had eaten it and been
sick on the cream rug …  Mistral smothered a laugh.  She would have
to take a gift back for them as thanks for looking after her troublesome
dog.  Breaking the connection with Phantasm while he cleaned the rug,
Mistral imagined Phantom’s face; his green eyes glinting with mischief and lips
that always seemed to be curved into a smile … or sulking.  She listened
to her brother’s strangely random and disconnected thoughts and quickly
realised that he was still asleep and she was hearing his dreams.

School … I
hate school … Do we have to go mother?

Fascinated,
Mistral Saw through Phantom’s eyes as he begged Melsina not to take them to
school.  When he turned to his twin for support Mistral smiled at the
cherubic boy with sleek blonde hair that would grow up to become an incredibly
gifted and skilled warrior; the godfather of her son.  The young Phantasm
she could see was gazing beseechingly at Melsina with tears shining in his
marble-bright eyes. 

Please
mother … the other children hate us there …

Don’t you
dare to try my patience today Sheldon!  I have appointments to keep! 
You and Wesley are going and that’s final!  Now, come here … look at the
state of you!

Mistral
watched silent tears trickle down Phantasm’s face while Melsina briskly combed
his hair and brushed a speck dust from the shoulders of his pristine
uniform.  Locked into the dream, Mistral shared in Phantom’s anguished
dread at the long day of bullying that lay ahead of them. 

The scene
suddenly became vague then vanished altogether, leaving Mistral staring around
in confusion at a swirling grey mist.  Two dark shapes began to
materialise in the murk, gradually becoming clearer as they moved towards her
until she was staring into the sneering faces of two burly Mage children, their
jeering taunts echoing back through time in Phantom’s dream.

Half-breeds!

Freaks!

What
colour’s your blood?  Is it green like your weird eyes?

Let’s find
out …

Mistral felt a
rush of anger in response to the clenched fist that smashed into Phantom’s
jaw.  She tensed expectantly, waiting for her brother’s retaliation but to
her surprise none came.  The blows continued to fall, smashing into his
arms and face, forcing him to curl into a protective ball.

Wish it
brother, wish it …

Phantasm’s
whisper pierced through Phantom’s veil of pain.  He peered out from
beneath the cover of his arms to meet the emphatic green gaze of his twin.

Leave us
alone … leave us alone … leave us alone …

The thought
repeated desperately in his mind while he looked into his brother’s eyes,
staring so hard into the glassy depths that Mistral could see his own pale face
reflecting back … a terrified boy with a bruise already darkening on the edge
of his jaw.  Mistral looked out through his eyes and felt the strange
sensation of falling, tumbling helplessly into the reflected image of Phantom’s
face, sinking down into the tranquil green pools of his twin’s eyes to become
one … the Gemini …

‘You can come
down now Mistral, Gleacher has gone.’

Mistral’s eyes
abruptly eyes flew open to meet Fabian’s bemused gaze.  She stared at him,
confused by the black eyes that were looking at her; shouldn’t they be
green?  Seeing her bewildered reaction he immediately frowned.

‘Where were
you?’ 

Mistral felt
his hands grasp hers and pull her upright.  She leaned against the side of
the crow’s nest and drew in a deep breath letting the cool air clear away her
lingering remnants of her vision.  ‘I was reading the twins.  Phantom
was dreaming about being at school … they were being bullied.’

Fabian’s
expression hardened, ‘I went to the same school.  If you couldn’t trace
your name back to a Rochforte or a Noble you were given a hard time.  I
can only imagine how much the twins must have suffered because they were
half-breeds.’

‘They used
their gift to get the other children to leave them alone.  I was in his
mind when he and his brother were using it … it was … strange –’ Mistral
frowned and gazed out unseeingly out at the sea before continuing to explain
herself.  ‘It felt like when I look at you sometimes, like we’re one and
the same.’  She suddenly blushed and looked down at her bare feet,
mumbling.  ‘I know that sounds stupid.’

‘No it
doesn’t.’  Fabian lifted her chin with one hand, forcing her to meet his
eyes.  ‘I feel that every time I look at you.  I know our souls were
meant to be joined, Mistral.  We are meant to be one.’

She looked at
him, captured by the blackness of his eyes, so deep and dark, drawing her in
with their hypnotic power.  The sound of his velvet voice seemed to come
to her from a long way off.  With an effort she forced herself to listen
to what he was saying.

‘Now, I can
only assume that you obeyed half of my request not to listen to either my or
Gleacher’s thoughts since I’ve been stood at the bottom of this ladder thinking
that you should come down for about ten minutes now.’

Mistral
blinked, she’d forgotten about Fabian’s confrontation with Gleacher, ‘Oh, er,
well I didn’t listen to either of your thoughts … but you didn’t say anything
about not listening to your actual words –’

‘Very true.’
 Fabian smiled.  ‘Now please come down, you’re making me nervous.’

He abruptly
vanished from view.  She leaned over further to watch him climb swiftly
down the ladder to the deck.  Swinging her legs over the side she placed
her feet carefully on the rungs and followed him down.  He reached up and
swung her into his arms before she reached the bottom.

‘Breakfast?’ 
he suggested, holding her close.

‘Yes please,
I’m starving!’

Fabian
laughed, ‘When aren’t you these days?  I’ll ask if there’s any boar in the
kitchen.’

‘Please! 
Anything but fish –’ Mistral called as she quickly climbed down the next ladder
to retrieve her boots.  She sat down on one of the coils of rope to pull
them on and looked at Fabian curiously.  ‘Fabian?  Who’s Elise
White?’

‘She was my
nursemaid, and also Leo’s, briefly.’

Mistral caught
the emotion that flickered across his face and bent her head to lace her boots
up, ‘You were fond of her?’ She asked, trying to keep the question light. 
Fabian never talked about his upbringing.