The Seer (76 page)

Did she even
want to?

No.

The twins were
obviously responsible for Imperato mysteriously appearing to whisk her away, no
doubt on Fabian’s instruction.  But Imperato should’ve refused! 
Wasn’t he all about destiny and being free to follow the path of your
life?  And wasn’t Fabian the path of her life?  Striding away from Cirrus
and the three centaurs without looking or speaking to them, Mistral reached
Alyssa and took the platter of food from her.  Without even saying thank
you, she turned and marched straight to the hut where she’d stayed
before.  Flinging open the door she strode in, followed by Prospero
padding along quietly at her heels.

She sat down
on the bed to share the platter of meats with Prospero, at least grateful that
Alyssa had correctly read that she wasn’t in the mood for company.  Her
gratitude abruptly vanished with the sound of the door being closed and
bolted.  Mistral stared in disbelief at the inside of the windowless hut,
lit by the glow of a single candle placed on the floor beside the bed. 
She was abruptly reminded of the oubliette she’d Seen in Etienne Rochforte’s
mind and gazed unhappily at her bleak dungeon.  The only way in or out was
through the door that was bolted from the outside, and probably guarded by one
of the centaur tribe too. 

She was
trapped.

Ah … but her
mind was not.

Finishing her
meal Mistral lay back onto the pallet bed and dropped a hand down to feel
Prospero’s comforting bulk stretched out on the floor beside her.  She
closed her eyes with the intention of reading Fabian’s thoughts, and the twins’
if she really had to.  She would find out where they were, and then she
would formulate a plan of escape.  But before the vague whisperings of
Fabian’s voice filled her ears she had fallen asleep.

Prospero
barking and the sound of the door opening woke her a short while later. 
She immediately sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, one hand
reaching automatically to her belt for her dagger with the vague notion of
holding whoever was coming in at knifepoint and forcing them to take her to
Cirrus.  The stars shining in the patch of sky visible through the open
door lit the figure stepping through the door and instantly made Mistral
abandon any ideas of dramatic knife-point escapes.

‘Are you awake
my daughter?’  Alyssa called softly across the hut.

‘I am now.’
 Mistral replied caustically.  She wasn’t sure if she was up to
enduring some kind of mother-and-daughter chat.

Alyssa walked
forwards into the circle of light cast by the candle.  She was carrying
Mistral’s saddlebag in her hands.  Mistral could see a look of sympathy on
her mother’s face and also something else, some subtle, less definable
emotion.  While Alyssa placed the saddlebag down onto the floor by the
bed, Mistral swiftly called forth the shimmering mirage of her mother’s aura,
quickly analysing the vibrant display of colours that swirled in the air above
her head.

Ah … 
guilt. 
Now that was an emotion she understood only too well … and one she might be
able to manipulate to her own ends too … Mistral smiled to herself and quickly
hid her reaction by pressing her hands to her face, as though wiping away
tears.

‘Oh, my
daughter!  Please do not cry!’ 

Alyssa’s voice
was strained; she reached out a hand to gently stroke Mistral’s head, no doubt
meaning the touch to be comforting but it was all Mistral could do not to
recoil in irritation.

‘How can I not
cry?’  Mistral demanded with genuine ire.  ‘I’m a prisoner!’

‘No!  Oh
please do not see it like that!’  Alyssa begged; her honey-dew voice thick
with suppressed emotion.  ‘It is your home!’

‘Great, I’ve
got three now.’  Mistral said sarcastically.  ‘I don’t suppose you’d
let me go and stay in one of the others would you?’

Alyssa didn’t
reply but gazed sadly down at her.

‘I’ll take
that as a no then.’  Mistral muttered angrily.   

‘I will come
and see you again in the morning.’ Alyssa said softly and bent to collect the
empty platter from the bed.

‘Wait!’ 
Mistral cried, realising that her mother was going to leave before she’d had a
chance to put her hastily thought out plan into action.

‘Yes, my
daughter?’

‘Er, is there
any chance of the door being left open?  Only I can’t stand enclosed
spaces –’

‘Oh!  Of
course!’  Alyssa’s dark eyes filled with compassion.  ‘I am afraid
that is a trait you have inherited though your centaur blood.  None of us
can bear to be constrained; it is another reason why we live so far out in the
forests.’

‘You knew this
yet you locked me in a hut with no windows and a closed door?’  Mistral
gave her a look of surprised hurt. 

‘No!  I
would never have permitted the door to be closed and locked if I had known you
suffered with our affliction!  I will ask Storm to keep guard with the
door open.’ 

Mistral cursed
inwardly, so she had a guard to deal with as well …

‘If it’s my
home and not a prison, then why am I being kept here against my will?’ 
Mistral demanded quickly as Alyssa turned to leave again.

Alyssa turned
back to look at her once more, regarding her carefully with dark eyes that were
unsettlingly familiar, ‘Imperato knows the depths of your wilful nature, my
daughter.  He fears you would try to follow your Mage.’

‘He’s right.’
 Mistral gazed wistfully out of the open door at the star-filled
sky.  ‘I would follow him anywhere.’

A silence fell
between them while Alyssa continued to gaze at her, ‘I wanted to be like you
once,’ she said softly. 

‘Like
me?  How like me?’  Mistral frowned. 

‘Free.’

Mistral looked
at her mother to see her wearing an expression of ineffable sadness.  It
suddenly struck her that Alyssa was a prisoner too, forbidden from ever leaving
the confines of the tribal home without being escorted by her Bonded
partner.  For the first time since meeting her, Mistral felt a pang of
compassion for the creature that had borne her.

‘You could
leave Alyssa,’ she found herself whispering impulsively.  ‘Come with me –’

Alyssa looked
profoundly shocked then an expression of guilt stole over her face, making her
look eerily like the face that Mistral sometimes saw in the mirror and she
suddenly realised how everyone always seemed to know when she was lying.

‘I did, once.’ 
Alyssa admitted in a shameful voice.

Mistral was
intrigued by the idea of her shy and dutiful mother once being a rebellious
run-away, it just didn’t seem to fit ... then she remembered something Imperato
had said to her at the Tournament about Alyssa having mellowed with the passing
of time.

‘What
happened?’  Mistral asked with real curiosity.

Alyssa sighed,
‘Oh it was a long time ago, when the tribe still inhabited the Persian
lands.  I was young and single, headstrong.  I wanted more than
tribal life,’ she paused and gazed out of the open door.  ‘So I left.’

Mistral stared
at her, fascinated.  She denied the ability of her gift and waited instead
for her mother to tell her own story. 

‘I could hunt,
and I knew the area I had been raised in well.’  Alyssa continued in a
quiet voice.  ‘And the solitude was all I had ever dreamed of –’

Mistral
smiled.  She may well have more in common than her mother than she had
imagined. 

‘But our shape
is not easy to conceal, I was seen by humans and forced to flee.  I
escaped them but I knew that I would be hunted mercilessly from then on.’ 

Alyssa stopped
and seemed to be lost in a memory, forcing Mistral to prompt her impatiently,
‘Did you go back?’ 

‘Oh no, I was
too proud to return!’  Alyssa gave a small smile.  ‘I kept running,
hiding, living the life I thought I wanted.  Until Imperato found me … and
then, well, everything changed.’

Mistral sighed
in understanding; the
immutable
power of Bonding.  The dull ache within her awoke and began to throb like
a half-healed wound.  Fabian had left her, again. 

‘Then I finally understood that freedom is a state
of mind, not a place.  When I returned with Imperato, only then was my
soul truly free.  The shackles of tribal life became the bonds of my love
for him.  I was no more trapped than the moon!’ 

Mistral knew that this was going to be her only
chance.  She quickly stood up and grasped Alyssa’s hands, holding them
tightly while she gazed imploringly into her eyes.  ‘Then you know how I’m
feeling right now!  I need to be with Fabian!  Every second we’re
apart cuts me like a knife!  Help me Alyssa!  Please help me to go to
him –’

Alyssa looked at her fearfully, as a reformed
addict might regard another still in the grip of their vice.

‘Please Alyssa!’  Mistral pleaded, her voice
breaking with tears that were only half-forced.  ‘Please don’t make me
suffer until he comes back … if he comes back –’

‘But where he is … there will be bloodshed.’ 
Alyssa whispered in frightened voice.

Mistral shook her head, keeping her tearful gaze
fixed on Alyssa’s, ‘I’m not going to fight,’ she lied unashamedly.  ‘I
just want to be with him and to help – I’m a good healer, they’ll need me.’

Pride flared in Alyssa’s face, ‘My mother was a
healer.’  She looked at Mistral with sudden determination.  ‘Quickly
then!  I asked Storm to leave for a while to allow us to speak privately.
There is little time left!’

‘Oh! 
Thank you!’  Mistral gasped and impulsively flung her arms around her
mother. 

Taking
Mistral’s hands in hers, Alyssa gazed down at her expressively, ‘Come back to
me soon.’

‘You have my
word.’  Mistral held her gaze sincerely.  ‘My son will know all of
his family.’

Alyssa nodded
silently, the soft candlelight catching the tears glistening in her dark
eyes.  She blinked them away, her expression suddenly tightening. 
‘Quickly now!  We must go –’

Keeping close
by Alyssa’s side Mistral crept out of the hut and gave Prospero a whispered
instruction to stalk; he immediately dropped to his belly and crawled silently
by her side.  They halted at the edge of the hut to look out across the
open expanse in the centre of the huts.  The moonlight was too bright for
them to risk crossing it.  Alyssa pulled Mistral back into the deep shadows
at the side of the hut and signalled wordlessly for her to follow.  Moving
quietly around to the rear of the hut Alyssa led Mistral along the back of
dwellings, pausing frequently to listen for any indications that their progress
had been observed.  As they crept silently past the huts and Mistral was
impressed at the stealth with which Alyssa moved, her unshod hooves making as
little noise as her own careful footfalls.

She followed
her mother closely.  The only audible sound was the hammering of her
heart, a persistent drumroll echoing in her ears.  Every time Alyssa
paused to look around and listen, Mistral tensed, expecting to hear Storm raise
the alarm when he returned to find the hut empty.  Despite her fears they
reached the edge of the circle of huts unchallenged and hovered in the shadows,
looking over at the corral where Cirrus was grazing.  Casting a quick
glance around to make sure they wouldn’t be seen crossing the final piece of
exposed ground, Mistral hurried over to the fence and called softly to her horse.

‘I will buy
you some more time.’  Alyssa breathed to her while Mistral lifted Cirrus’
saddle and bridle from the fence. 

‘How?’ 
Mistral whispered, looking over her shoulder at Alyssa while she slipped
Cirrus’ bridle over his head.

Alyssa smiled
and nodded towards Mistral’s thickened waist, ‘Call of nature my daughter,
another affliction of being pregnant.’

‘Oh!  Er,
right.’  Mistral quickly turned away to concentrate on tightening the
straps on his bridle to halt the suddenly embarrassing turn in the
conversation.   

Prospero
whined gently.  Mistral glanced down at her dog.  He was sat looking
pointedly at the circle of huts.  ‘Someone must be moving around!’ 
Mistral hissed, hastily doing up the last strap to secure her saddlebag and
hauling herself into the saddle.  ‘I’ve got to go!  Goodbye Alyssa …
and thank you!’

‘Goodbye my
daughter.’  Alyssa murmured, watching Mistral riding away through the
trees.

Mistral pushed
Cirrus into a canter.  Knotting her reins tightly so they wouldn’t hang down
and trip him, she wound her hands through the leather then clung onto his mane
for support.  Glancing down to ensure that Prospero was keeping pace,
Mistral finally let Sight reach out for Fabian, sinking into his mind so deeply
that she no longer saw through her own eyes but his.  Giving herself over
completely to the power of her gift, she let it fill her and guide her hands,
drawing her to Fabian.  She rode without thinking or feeling, her mind
immersed in another place entirely; her body a vessel left waiting for her
return, asleep in the saddle.  She did not fear for the health of her body
or the life that grew within her; the Divinus had remained in death trances for
days at a time with no ill effects so she knew her long absence would cause no
harm.

The sun rose,
arced overhead, set and rose again utterly unnoticed by Mistral.  The only
time she stirred was to halt Cirrus and allow the horse to eat and rest. 
She neither drank nor ate; she had no need of any sustenance.  Her body
existed in a fugue state while the mysterious force of Sight took
control.  At midday on the second day she left the forests and rode out
onto the High Moors beneath a wide sky of unblemished blue.  She felt
neither the warming rays of sun on her skin or the light breeze that lifted her
hair.  The eyes that stared unwaveringly ahead at an unseen destination
were misted and vague, seeing not the windblown grass of the Moors but the
start of a narrow path winding up into a distant peak of grey rock; the
beginnings of the Northern Range.