The Seer Read online

  Xerxes shrugged and avoided Phantasm’s piercing look, ‘No reason –’

  ‘Brutus?’

  Brutus sighed and lifted his eyes to meet Phantasm’s enquiring look, ‘It might be a touch awkward,’ he confessed.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Well, that’s where we were raised.’

  ‘And?’ Phantasm lifted his eyebrows.

  ‘And Xerxes may have left under a slight cloud.’ Brutus muttered quietly, ignoring his brother’s icy glare.

  ‘She must’ve got over it by now!’

  ‘Hmm, not sure about that one brother. You were caught with her sister the morning you were due to get married.’

  ‘Oh yes.’ Xerxes had the gall to smile fondly. ‘I remember her name … it was Elspeth –’

  ‘Which one? The bride or the sister?’ Cain asked with an amused look.

  ‘Erm … the bride … I think.’

  Brutus sighed, ‘The bride was Elizabeth and the sister was called Elsa … Elspeth was the –’

  ‘Are you certain?’ Xerxes interrupted with a heavy frown. ‘Only I’m sure –’ their conversation was cut short by the sound of Mistral retching violently over Cirrus’ shoulder. They waited patiently until she had finished then the twins moved closer.

  ‘Better now?’ Phantasm asked politely and handed her a skin of water.

  ‘Much, thank you,’ she took a sip of water and grimaced. ‘Did he notice?’

  He glanced quickly at Fabian, still talking intensely with Leo, ‘No … I think you’ve got away with it.’

  ‘Good,’ she sighed and took another sip of water. ‘I can’t be doing with the fussing.’

  ‘I can though.’ Cain said, looking at her with a concerned frown. ‘You’ve defeated my diagnosis Mistral. I’m sorry but I’m going to recommend a trip to the Infirmary when we get back.’

  ‘Over my dead body Cain! And if you mention this to Fabian I will tell everyone in The Cloak about your second pack of cards!’

  Cain’s eyes widened with indignation, ‘You wouldn’t! That’s half my income you’re talking about there!’

  ‘Watch me!’ she threatened.

  He held his hands up in defeat, ‘Fine! You soldier on with your mystery illness then! But don’t you dare complain when I have to tell your Mage why you’re unable to hunt dragons because you’re completely dehydrated!’

  Mistral glared at him furiously, ‘Damn it Cain!’ She snarled. ‘Don’t bully me!’

  ‘Would I?’ Cain asked, giving her his impish grin. ‘Just keep drinking water and I’ll keep quiet.’

  ‘Fine!’ Mistral snapped then turned to the twins to request water in a more polite voice.

  ‘Well, now that crisis has been managed, have we decided on a method for offing these lovely ladies then?’ Xerxes asked while Mistral took another tentative swallow of water.

  ‘Bait will be the key here. We need something that smells good to the dragons, preferably alive and willing to put itself in danger –’ a brief silence fell while everyone turned to look expectantly at Mistral.

  ‘What?’ She said, looking startled at the sudden attention.

  ‘Fancy reprising your role as living bait to a vicious wild creature again?’ Xerxes asked with a grin.

  ‘No problem.’ Mistral replied with a casual wave of the water skin. ‘Goes without saying really.’

  Xerxes smiled happily and patted his top pocket, ‘Won that one –’

  ‘Absolutely not.’

  Mistral looked up quickly to meet Fabian’s furious stare.

  ‘Uh-oh.’ Phantom muttered under his breath.

  ‘Oh come on Fabian! You know it makes sense!’ Mistral said quickly. ‘I can lead them straight to you all, it’ll save loads of time –’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘And why didn’t you tell me that you felt ill again?’

  ‘Er –’

  ‘Let’s ride on brothers.’ Phantasm said quickly.

  Mistral and Fabian were quickly left riding alone while her brothers cantered ahead to join Leo. Even Grendel upped his pace to run alongside their austere Training Captain, giving her a sympathetic grimace when he stomped past her.

  ‘Mistral, this is an incredibly dangerous Contract that you are obviously not well enough to go on.’

  ‘I am!’ Mistral replied quickly. ‘I felt slightly ill, I admit, but I’m fine now, honestly! I think it’s passing, whatever it was.’

  Fabian regarded her silently, holding the ever restless Spirit back to match Cirrus’ pace, ‘Please don’t lie to me Mistral, I can see how pale you are.’

  Mistral sighed and dropped her gaze in defeat, ‘Yes, I felt a bit rough again, but honestly Fabian, I feel better than I did yesterday! I think I’m getting over it and it really is nothing to worry about, just some stomach upset. And as for being bait, well, if you don’t want me to, then I won’t –’

  ‘No, I don’t want you to.’ Fabian stated shortly. ‘And I never want to hear your so-called brothers making the suggestion again.’

  Mistral sighed. She could hear the cold anger in his thoughts and knew she wasn’t going to get her own way this time. 'Fine,’ she sighed. ‘So what did you use as bait before then?’

  Fabian didn’t reply immediately but stared fixedly ahead at her brothers, his face set and hard.

  ‘Fabian?’

  He turned to look at her, his face utterly devoid of any emotion. The detached coldness of his thoughts was like stepping under an icy shower. She flinched. It was the mind of an assassin. Instinctively she reached out to touch him. ‘Don’t be so hard on them Fabian, they’re just –’

  ‘Completely lacking in respect for your life,’ he interrupted angrily.

  ‘I was going to say young and a bit over-enthusiastic actually.’ Mistral finished quietly. ‘A bit like the two warriors who took on a gargillian nest on their own.’

  Fabian frowned at her attempt to humour him but when her eyes met his she was relieved to see they had lost some of their coldness.

  ‘Bestra.’

  ‘Sorry?’ she said, blinking in confusion.

  ‘We used a bestra as bait in both of the last two hunts. They have a very distinctive odour that the dragons will be able to pick up from quite a long way off. It will save us having to travel too far into the Northern Range and risk being trapped when the snows come.’

  ‘Of course!’ Mistral grinned in delight. ‘Bestra can handle mountain travel easily. I’ve hunted one with the twins before. It was right up in the Western Range. We had to use climbing ropes to get up to it, but it had no trouble at all with the steepness.’

  Fabian nodded in agreement, ‘They are very agile for such large creatures. There will be a herd at the elven settlement. I am sure they will be happy to sell us what we need.’

  Mistral smiled happily and risked a glance at him again and was encouraged to see that his expression had lost some of its coldness and his thoughts were much calmer. ‘How do we prevent all of the females coming in for the bestra though? There’ll be what? Six now? And we only need to cull two of them.’

  ‘We buy two,’ Phantasm joined in their conversation, ‘and tether them at separate points to divide the females.’

  Mistral looked up to see that her brothers had pulled their horses back to join them again.

  ‘Er, is it safe to ride with you again? Only there’s a limit to how much of his Leoship’s bubbly wit and chattiness I can take.’

  Fabian stared coldly at Xerxes, ‘Safe? That depends on whether you plan to use my wife as live bait again.’

  Xerxes had the grace to look shamed, ‘Apologies for that slight misunderstanding Mage De Winter. It was really just a bit of an on-going joke about a hunt we once all went on –’

  ‘I know about the manticore hunt!’ Fabian snapped icily. ‘And I fail to see the humour.’

  Mistral caught Cain rolling his eyes and glared at him.

  Xerxes looked thoughtful, ‘Well, it was quite funny actually
–’

  ‘Let’s not go there shall we?’ Mistral said hurriedly and turned to Phantasm. ‘I think two bestra would be an excellent idea.’

  ‘Mage de Winter?’

  Fabian met Phantasm’s politely enquiring look with icy indifference.

  ‘We would all appreciate any insights you can offer on this Contract.’

  Fabian continued to regard Phantasm coldly, ‘I was Contracted with a hunting party of five to cull the adult male on both occasions. I have no experience of hunting the females.’

  Mistral sighed. Nobody did awkward quite like Fabian. She looked at him imploringly. ‘Perhaps it would be useful to hear about your experiences,’ she prompted softly.

  Fabian held her look for a long moment and then drew in a deep breath, ‘Phantasm is correct, we will need to purchase two bestra as bait in order split the females. I suggest that we divide into two hunting parties and be positioned by each bestra, allowing each party the chance to cull one dragon apiece.’

  ‘Good plan.’ Brutus murmured appreciatively.

  ‘What weapons did you use?’ Cain enquired casually.

  ‘Swords.’

  Cain looked at him with fresh respect.

  ‘However, we returned less two of our members on both occasions so I would hesitate to recommend that particular method, despite my current wish to the contrary.’

  ‘Did you mix up that poison with the gorgon blood?’ Mistral asked Cain to cover the stilted silence that followed Fabian’s barely concealed threat.

  ‘Mixed and ready.’ Cain confirmed. ‘It’s a rather nasty shade of green though. I hope it hasn’t gone off, I’ve no idea how long Malachi has had the stuff for.’

  ‘Only one way to find out.’ Brutus said cheerfully.

  In the end they agreed to Fabian’s plan of dividing into two hunting parties and using two bestra as bait.

  ‘So.’ Phantasm summarised. ‘We’ll position ourselves on higher ground and watch for the dragons, then take out one of the females with poisoned arrows.’

  ‘What about the other females though?’ Phantom asked with a worried frown. ‘Won’t they go for us when they realise what we’re up to?’

  ‘Shoot them with a powerful sedative.’ Fabian suggested then paused, adding in a voice quietly. ‘I understand Cain mixes a fairly potent one.’

  Mistral glanced at him quickly and felt her heart lift at the glimmer of amusement she saw in his eyes.

  ‘I’ve been known to whip up a bit of a good sleep aid in my time.’ Cain responded modestly.

  ‘Our old Training Lieutenants can verify that!’ Brutus laughed.

  The tense atmosphere eased with the resulting burst of laughter. Mistral heard Fabian’s thoughts lighten and smiled happily to herself. Glancing up at her laughing brothers and her silent Mage, Mistral felt again a strong sense of completeness that even the glacial presence of Leo couldn’t spoil.

  The temperature steadily dropped the further north they travelled, with a fall of snow settling on them when they camped overnight on the exposed High Moors; but the days were bright and clear, allowing them to make good time. By the morning of the third day they were once again cresting the rise that had afforded Mistral her first glimpse of the Council the year before. This time none of them even paused to glance down at the sprawling city below them. It had already become an all too familiar sight to the twins and the rest of her brothers were not given to being impressed by the achievements of Mages. Ignoring the city, Mistral gazed instead at the impressive sight of the Northern Range forming a wide arc of snow-capped peaks around the Council valley.

  She turned to Fabian, her face glowing with excitement, ‘Which part of the mountains are the herd in?’

  He nodded to their right, ‘East, far enough away from the Council to avoid any of the Councillors inadvertently becoming dragon food.’

  Mistral laughed at the mental image of the over-fed and under-exercised Councillors fleeing from a hunting dragon, ‘But, the dragons can fly can’t they? So what’s stopping them from hunting over the city anyway? Or have they had their wings clipped?’

  Fabian shook his head, ‘No, the dragon herd are perfectly capable of flight but they are essentially lazy creatures. If they have easy feeding opportunities close to home they won’t bother to make the effort to hunt farther afield.’

  ‘Ah, which is where Maldita Pickering’s herd of bonacon come in,’ sighed Phantasm.

  Fabian nodded, ‘The bonacon herd are grazed on the lower slopes. They provide a constant and unchallenging food supply which, thankfully, the dragons never seem to tire of.’

  Mistral felt disappointed. Her image of dragons being a challenging prey was starting to become slightly tarnished by Fabian’s description of them being easily appeased by having something to hunt that provided roughly the same challenge as stalking a cow.

  ‘If they breed each year why is there only a cull once every ten?’ Cain asked, breaking into her thoughts.

  ‘Dragons are usually solitary creatures. Their naturally vicious natures do not lend themselves easily to living together in a herd. As a result, they often fight and kill each other. It’s only by careful management of the number of females and males in the herd that this one has survived for so long. And of course, there is a thriving market for dragon eggs which also helps to keep the numbers down.’

  ‘Really?’ Mistral looked intrigued. ‘Why?’

  ‘Dragon eggs are used to make Enslavement Potions.’

  ‘Love potions?’ Mistral snorted disdainfully.

  Fabian smiled, ‘Yes, amongst other uses, Enslavement Potions can induce obsession and ensnare your heart’s desire, but only temporarily.’

  Mistral laughed but quickly stopped when she caught Cain’s shrewd look, ‘Don’t even think it brother,’ she warned. ‘It’s my name on that Contract and I don’t want anyone thinking I would stoop so low as to steal dragon eggs to sell!’

  ‘Would I?’ Cain cried, looking mortally offended before adding. ‘Wrong time of year anyway –’

  ‘Your attention for a moment please warriors!’ Leo reined in and turned his horse to face them.

  ‘All hail the Leoship.’ Cain muttered under his breath causing Mistral to stifle a laugh.

  ‘Do you think he wants us to charge down the hill and storm the city?’ Brutus whispered.

  ‘I do hope not.’ Phantom sighed wearily. ‘The only thing I want to storm is a hot bath.’

  ‘I expect a certain level of decorum from you whilst we are in the Council!’ Leo continued loudly. ‘You are my personal escort and as such I demand that you behave in a manner that presents the Ri in a favourable light.’

  ‘By which he means don’t take this as an opportunity to get drunk, gamble and fight.’ Xerxes grumbled.

  ‘I will require the Gemini and Mistral to accompany myself and Fabian to the Council, the rest of you are to retire to the stables and prepare for the journey.’

  ‘You know where he can stick that!’ Cain muttered sourly. ‘There’s a damned good tavern near the Council we can hole up in while he’s waffling his way to victory.’

  Mistral threw him a jealous look. She knew her year’s enslavement to pay back her apprenticeship was going to entail her having to attend lots of mundane Council meetings, but having her brothers blatantly go off to enjoy themselves while she suffered wasn’t something she’d bargained for.

  ‘Now, follow me. Single file.’

  ‘Great.’ Mistral groaned to Fabian. ‘This is going to be the longest year of my life.’

  Fabian said nothing, but something about his carefully composed expression struck Mistral as secretive. Was Fabian hiding another lie from her? She narrowed her eyes and listened to his thoughts but they revealed nothing untoward, only his usual sense of purpose and intention as he planned their visit to Council.

  They passed through the city gates under the unseen gaze of the two warlocks, inhaling the familiar burning reek of ozone Mistral felt her stomach roll over again. Sh
e clamped her lips together and held her breath until they were safely immersed in the teeming market street. Letting out the breath she had been holding, Mistral inhaled deeply and promptly gagged when the stench coming from the meat stalls filled her nostrils in a sickening rush. ‘Oh no,’ she moaned and leaned over Cirrus’ shoulder, retching as quietly as she could into the linen cloth Phantasm had given her. Hearing Fabian’s anxious thoughts fill her mind when she finished being sick she sat up and looked at him defeatedly. ‘Fine,’ she muttered weakly. ‘I promise.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘This could get frustrating!’ Phantom hissed, barely moving his lips while he stared straight ahead. ‘Can you have a complete conversation for my benefit please?’

  ‘Insatiable gossip,’ she muttered.

  ‘Still need to know!’

  Mistral sighed, ‘I’ve promised to go to the Infirmary when we get back.’

  ‘Is that all?’ Phantom sounded disappointed. ‘We were going to wait until you fell asleep and take you anyway!’

  ‘Over my dead body!’

  ‘That was the second option.’

  Their whispered argument was abruptly ended by furious glare from Leo. He urged his horse into a canter along the wide avenue of impressive houses that led down to the Council, forcing the warriors to follow suit. They reached the gates at the far end in a loud clatter of iron shod hooves on cobbles.

  ‘That’s how to make an entrance!’ Brutus remarked appreciatively when they reined in and dismounted.

  ‘Meet you in the stables in about an hour then.’ Mistral said resignedly.

  ‘No you won’t.’ Cain whispered back cheerfully. ‘Get the twins to let us know when you’re done and then we’ll come out of the tavern to meet you.’

  Mistral shot him a resentful look and shoved Cirrus’ reins into the hands of a nervous looking stablehand, ‘Guard!’ she instructed Prospero sharply then turned to Fabian, dropping her voice to a whisper. ‘Do I have to go?’

  Fabian took her hand and led her across the courtyard, ‘Yes. Try to think of the reward.’

  ‘Ah, yes … dragons.’ Mistral smiled.