The Seer (69 page)

Mistral began
to cry harder at the thought of the mother whose son wouldn’t be coming
home.  She hadn’t even met her son yet, but the thought of losing him was
utterly incomprehensible.

‘You know
what?’  She choked back her tears.  ‘I think I just need a few
minutes.  Go on ahead.  I’ll meet you down there.’

‘We’re not
leaving you on your own in this state!’

‘Seriously,
just let me calm down … I’ll be fine.’

‘No chance.’

Mistral
sniffed and wiped away the last of her tears, ‘I mean it.  I just want a
few minutes.  I’ll see you in The Cloak – and I’m holding you to that rash
promise of letting me have a drink.’

Phantasm
studied her carefully for a long moment before, ‘Well, if you’re sure,’ he finally
murmured and rose to his feet.

‘See you in a
bit,’ she made an effort to force a smile and must have been successful because
Phantom gave her one back, although his looked more like an expression of
pain.  The twins had attended the Council School; no doubt her vision
would have evoked some unhappy memories of their time there.

Exhaling with
relief at the sound of the door closing quietly behind them, Mistral sank back
against the chair and closed her eyes, letting her mind drift aimlessly while
she listened to the fire crackle and the logs shifting in the grate.  It
was a homily sound, soothing and peaceful; reminding her of evenings with
Fabian in their mountain house.  Calmed by thoughts of her Mage and the
life they led together, Mistral decided that she felt ready to face the twins
once again.  She opened the Meeting Room door and peered cautiously
out.  It was nearly lunchtime; she hoped the Council delegates were
suffering the dubious delights of Bernadette’s cooking, but she wouldn’t put it
past a couple of them to be hanging around waiting for her.  Becoming a
Seer seemed to have turned her into some sort of public property in the eyes of
the visiting Councillors.  Whilst her notorious bad-temper protected her
from unwanted Sight requests from fellow warriors, the Councillors had no
knowledge of her reputation and felt quite at ease making inane demands. 
Up until now she had been fairly polite in her refusals, but today would
definitely be the day that her patience would snap at the first sign of a
muttered request to find out something as pathetic as what their neighbours
thought of the expensive marble fountain they’d just installed in their
courtyard.

To her relief
the third floor appeared to be completely deserted.  Mistral stepped out
of the Meeting Room and strode quickly along the corridor, keen to get down to
The Cloak and Dagger before she bumped into any of the Councillors.  The
door to the big windowless Training Room was open.  Mistral glanced into
the torchlit interior as she passed.  The Training Lieutenant, Nereus, was
taking the first year apprentices for a sword session.  Without really
meaning to, Mistral paused to watch them.  She quickly recognised the
drill they were practising as Dante’s Offensive and Defensive Fencing Footwork
Stage One.  She smiled, reminiscing about the hours she’d spent in the
Training Room doing exactly the same repetitive drills during her first
year.  She studied the apprentices with a practised eye and frowned, they
were all making too many mistakes for her liking, and Nereus was failing to
pick up on them.  Her frown quickly darkened to a scowl when she watched
him walk right past one apprentice stood in completely the wrong stance. 
What the hell was Nereus doing?  More to the point, what was Nereus
thinking?

Mistral called
up the vision of Nereus’ aura.  It appeared above his head in a
non-descript cloud of beige, completely unremarkable in every way but for the
occasional lightning strike of bright yellow that piqued Mistral’s
curiosity.  Nereus was predominantly bored, but kept thinking of something
that made him extremely happy.  Suddenly curious, she pushed her mind to
See into his and search out his happy thought.

Mistral
blinked in surprise at the echoing emptiness of Nereus’ mind.  It wasn’t
just blank; it was completely devoid of anything, no memories, no hopes, no
fears … then in a startling flash, Nereus’ happy thought rocketed across the
emptiness.

Ah,
lunchtime soon …

Mistral
smothered a disbelieving laugh.  That was it?  His happy thought was
food?

With a
disgusted snort Mistral left the Training Room and on impulse headed straight
up the spiral staircase to Leo Sphinx’ tower room.  She banged twice on
the door and listened impatiently to the sound of footsteps approaching from
the other side.  The moment the door was opened she launched herself
through the gap and into his room, speaking before Leo had even greeted her,
let alone invited her in.

‘Nereus is
useless!  He’s not picking up on half the errors the first years are
making and they’re still only covering really basic moves!  At this rate
they’ll never Qualify!’

Leo regarded
her icily from his position by the still open door, ‘And have you barged into
my room simply with the intention of slandering my Training Lieutenant, or was
there another purpose to your visit?’ 

‘It’s not
slander!  It’s the truth!’  Mistral glared at him, hands on
hips.  ‘You must see it too!’

Leo did not
respond but stared at her expressionlessly.

Mistral’s
frown suddenly became a look of understanding, ‘Ah, of course, but you don’t
see it do you?  Because you’re too occupied with your campaign!’

Leo’s
expression hardened, ‘Are you daring to suggest that I have neglected my
responsibilities as Training Captain?’

‘No, just
passed them onto someone who’s got the brain power of a worm!’

‘Do not insult
my choice in Training Lieutenant Mistral!’

‘I’m not
insulting him, just speaking the truth!  I’ve just read him and all he was
thinking about was his lunch!’ 

‘I think your time
as the Ri’s Seer should be better occupied than reading the thoughts of the
hard-working staff!’

‘But that’s
just it!  He isn’t hard working!  And he should be!  We had
three Training Lieutenants, and they were always busy!  Now there’s only
one and all he does is go on patrol around the room staring into space or
thinking about his lunch!  Meanwhile the apprentices are happily training
away under the misguided belief that they’re actually doing something right
because he doesn’t bother to correct their mistakes!’ 

Mistral’s
outburst left her slightly out of breath and she was forced to pause and draw
in a few deep breaths to recover while Leo contemplated her silently from the
other side of the room.

‘Please calm
down Mistral, I have no desire to waste any more of my time with a hysterical
pregnant woman.’

Mistral’s eyes
widened at the insult, she opened her mouth to deliver a seething retort but
Leo cut her off with a dismissive gesture.

‘I appreciate
your concern for the standard of training that the apprentices receive. 
Now, unless you have anything constructive to say, I suggest that you leave.’

‘I do have a
suggestion actually.’  Mistral said as an idea occurred to her. 

Leo raised an
eyebrow coldly but said nothing.

‘I can help
teach the first years.’

There was a
short pause.

‘No.’

‘What? 
Am I not good enough?’

‘It’s not a
question of your level of skill Mistral, more of your temperament –’

‘My
temperament is fine!’  Mistral snapped. 

Leo raised
both eyebrows.

‘Well it’s fine
when it has to be,’ she amended with a scowl.

‘I suppose it
is to your credit that Mage Grapple has not reported you murdering any of his
Councillors during their meetings … yet.’  Leo responded acidly. 

Mistral
glowered at him. 

‘However,
despite the evidence suggesting that you may be finally learning to control
your temper, there is still the obvious problem of your condition.’

‘My
condition?’  Mistral repeated blankly.

‘I hardly
think it would be considered healthy for you to be throwing apprentices around
whilst pregnant Mistral!’

‘I know
that!  I’ve been banned from doing everything apart from lacing up my own
damned boots!  But I can still help out!  Offer guidance, correct
their mistakes –’

‘No.’

‘Oh please
Master Sphinx.’  Mistral cringed at the whining tone in her own voice and
suddenly realised how much she really, truly wanted to do this.  ‘I’m so
bored
–’

‘I am not
about to permit you to teach my apprentices your bad habits simply in order to
keep you amused!’

‘I don’t have
any bad habits anymore!  I can’t drink!  Xerxes won’t let me play
cards since I gained Sight and I can’t remember the last time I was in a
fight!  All I do with my spare time now is learn
French
!’

Leo let out an
irritated breath, ‘That may be so, however, you are still paying off your
apprenticeship.  You cannot receive a wage for any work you undertake.’

‘I don’t want
money.’  Mistral threw up her hands in despair.  ‘Just to do
something that actually interests me.’

A silence fell
well Leo regarded her with a suddenly thoughtful expression, ‘You are prone to
irrational behaviour whenever Fabian is away,’ he finally conceded.  ‘It
might actually be beneficial to occupy your time by giving you a small role to
fulfil, purely in an advisory capacity you understand.’

‘Oh thank
you!’  Mistral gasped.  ‘I’ll get started right away!  Their
footwork is appalling!’  She immediately began to head towards the open
door but Leo held an arm out, stopping her.

‘You are not
appropriately attired to teach Mistral.’

‘Oh!’ 
She glanced down at the dress Phantasm insisted she wore for Council meetings;
definitely not appropriate attire for a training session.  ‘I’ll just
borrow this then,’ she grabbed a leather jerkin hanging from the back of the
door and slipped past Leo before he could stop her again. 

Nereus
returned from his lunch to find Mistral running a training session with his
first years.  His spluttered objections were cut short by the arrival of
Leo and the twins.

‘Yes, Nereus I
have instructed Mistral to assist you, and in order to ensure that she curbs
her enthusiasm I have taken the added precaution of asking the Gemini too.’

Mistral
grinned at the twins who gave her matching looks of reproach, making her grin
widen.  By the end of the afternoon Mistral had corrected each of the ten
first years’ most obvious mistakes and had managed not to miss Fabian for a
whole three hours.

‘That was
fun!’ She exclaimed, walking happily down the path to the village with the
twins.  ‘I think there’s just enough daylight for me to get a ride in.’

‘No there
isn’t!  Do you really think I didn’t notice that you didn’t have any lunch
today?  My poor godson must be starving!  And why are you wearing
Master Sphinx’s jerkin?’

‘Ugh, yes, I’d
better give it back.  Don’t tell Fabian, will you?’

‘Of course I
won’t!  But why are you wearing it in the first place?’

Mistral
shrugged, ‘He said I wasn’t appropriately dressed for teaching.  Can’t
think why!  I can demonstrate basic footwork just as well in a dress as a
pair of trousers.’

‘I don’t think
it was the bottom half of your attire that Master Sphinx was worried about.’
 Phantom muttered.  ‘In fact, I’m surprised you can do that jerkin up
–’

‘Drink in The
Cloak then.’  Mistral said quickly and sped up slightly before Phantom
could elaborate.

 Mistral
woke later that night in confusion to find tears pouring down her face. 
She sat up and rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing and
heard again the gentle tapping sound that had dragged her from her dream.

‘Mistral?’ 
Phantasm’ voice called anxiously through the door.

‘Are you
alright?’

‘Fine!’ 
She called back in wavering voice.

At once the
door opened and Phantasm’s sleep tousled head peered cautiously around the gap,
‘You are dressed aren’t you?  Ah, of course, Mage De Winter’s silk shirt,
what else would be suitable attire to sleep in?’ Sighing heavily, Phantasm
stole softly into the room and shoved Prospero off the bed to sit beside
her.  ‘Now, care to tell me why you were sobbing loud enough to wake me
up?’

‘Was I?’ 
She asked, looking embarrassed.

Phantasm
nodded silently and placed an arm around her.  Whether it was because the
dream was still so fresh in her mind or simply because she was still
half-asleep, for once Mistral didn’t reject the offered comfort.  ‘Are you
missing Mage De Winter?’ He asked gently. 

Mistral gave a
hollow laugh, ‘Come on brother, you know I am.  But that’s not why I was
crying –’ her voice tailed off and Phantasm immediately tensed.

‘Is everything
alright with the baby?  You didn’t hurt yourself helping out in that
stupid training session today did you?’

Mistral gave a
sigh.  The baby, it was always about the baby with them these days; their
precious godson.  ‘I’m fine ... he’s fine ...
we’re
fine.’

Phantasm
relaxed slightly, ‘Then, what’s wrong?’

‘I had a
dream.’

‘Oh!’  He
was instantly alert again.  ‘Tell me.’

‘Not a
premonition, just a … a sad dream that’s all.’

‘I see. 
Well, do you want to talk about it?’

‘No.  I
can’t.’  Mistral hesitated and looked down at the wet sleeve of Fabian’s
shirt.  ‘It’s not my dream to tell.’

‘Ah.’
 Phantasm sighed in understanding.  ‘One of Mage De Winter’s.’

Mistral nodded
and felt tears trickling down her cheeks again.  Since returning from
France Fabian had begun to dream about his childhood, something he never spoke
about.  At first the dreams had focussed on the cold and distant figure of
his father.  She always awoke from those dreams with a clear sense of
determination, Fabian’s determination not to be the same towards their
son.  But more recently his dreams had centred on his relationship with
his mother.  She had been miserable; stifled by her marriage to the aloof
Lord De Winter and by her empty life at the Council.  It was obvious from
the expression on her face when she looked at the boy in Fabian’s dreams that
she loved him, but even that was taken from her by her husband’s insistence on
having him raised by a nursemaid.  Fabian could see the sadness in his
mother and with the simplicity of a child’s reasoning he thought that her
unhappiness was his fault.  It was almost unbearable for Mistral to share
in the suffering he was reliving through his dreams and not be able to offer
him any sort of comfort.  Hugging her arms tightly around her knees she
sighed, wishing she could wrap them around Fabian instead.