The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (23 page)

Prospero’s pale eyes followed his
prize while Mistral carried it through to the kitchen.

‘I’ll make you a deal.’
 Mistral offered when he followed her over to the table, still staring
hungrily at his kill.  ‘I get the skin and you get the rest.’

Prospero promptly sat on his
haunches and panted happily.  His tail thumped the floor when Mistral
quickly skinned the mink and tossed him the naked carcass.

‘I hope that isn’t my dinner
going to the dog.’

Mistral looked up to see Fabian
emerging from the bathroom, his shirt clinging to his still damp skin. 
Wet tendrils of hair brushed the collar of his shirt.  He brought with him
the aroma of steam and clean skin, smelling better than the dinner cooking on
the stove.

Mistral forced a reply when all
she really wanted to do was stare, ‘Of course it’s not.  But dinner is
starting to smell good.’ 
Almost as good as you do.

‘I did just about manage to
survive before I met you.’  

His voice was amused as he walked
up behind her.  His lips brushed against her neck, sending a shiver
through her that had nothing to do with the sudden touch of his damp hair.

‘Come and sit on the balcony with
me.’

Feeling the sudden onset of
dread, Mistral watched Fabian walk over the dresser and collect a pitcher of
wine and two goblets.  She followed him out onto the balcony and sat,
wooden as the bench beneath her.  The moment had finally come.  She
watched him pour the wine and accepted the goblet he passed her, suddenly
desperate for liquid fortification.

Fabian placed the pitcher down
and sat beside her, smiling so sublimely that she instantly forgot her anxiety
and leaned into his embrace with a blissful sigh.  They sat, enjoying the
silence and the wine, watching the first hues of sunset colour the sky.

‘I’ve been doing a lot of
thinking over the last couple of days.’

Mistral felt herself tense. 
Here we go. 

‘
I noticed.’  she
took a large gulp of wine, trying to counteract the sudden acceleration in her
heartbeat.  She resolved not to lose her temper, no matter what it was …
well, within reason anyway. 

‘I’ve been thinking about it for
a while actually, but something Eximius said made me realise that I can’t put
it off any longer.’

This wasn’t sounding good. 
Mistral looked at him, not quite concealing the panic she was feeling, ‘You
swore not to leave me!’

Fabian looked at her steadily, ‘I
am not leaving you Mistral.  Quite the opposite in fact.’

Hope flared in Mistral’s widened
eyes, ‘We’re giving up on the whole Sight business?  I can come and live
here?  Now?  Today?’

Fabian smiled gently, ‘No
Mistral.  We’re not giving up on your future.’ 

‘Oh.’  she tried not to
sound disappointed, but she was. 

‘What I am trying to say ...
well, ask, really.’  Fabian stopped and drew in a deep breath, looking so
suddenly vulnerable that Mistral’s heart ached.  ‘Is ... would you please
marry me?’

There was a brief thunderstruck
silence while Mistral gaped at him.  In all of her wildest dreams about
Fabian she had never imagined being
married
to him.  Something so
mundane ... she could have laughed.  This was what he had been so worried
about?  The fear and trepidation she had seen in his aura, the bath, the
dinner ... it was all because he wanted her to be in a receptive frame of mind
when he asked her? 

‘I really don’t like it when you
do this,’ he muttered.

Mistral blinked and realised that
he was looking anxiously at her, so tense and uncertain.  She
smiled.  How could Fabian imagine that she could ever refuse him
anything? 

‘Of course I will marry you.’

He continued to gaze at her
silently for a few seconds then frowned.

‘I’m sorry.’  Mistral felt
her eyebrows arch of their own accord.  ‘Have I said the wrong thing?’

Fabian’s face suddenly blazed
with a glorious, triumphant expression.  He cupped her face between his
hands, kissing her joyously, her lips, her eyelids, her cheeks.

‘No, no, a million times
no.  You gave the answer I was hoping you would, but rather more easily
than I was expecting.  I thought you would argue with me.’

Laughing at his reaction, Mistral
wriggled from his embrace to look at him, ‘Argue?  About what?  How
can being married change what we already have?’ 

Fabian smiled and kissed her
again, ‘You are right, of course.  Words, ceremony, tradition … all of
that pales into insignificance compared to how I feel about you.  But I
wish you to become my wife for reasons other than convention.’  

‘Uh-huh.’  Mistral said
slowly, suddenly not liking the turn in conversation.

Fabian paused and looked at her
with a more cautious expression, as if trying to gauge how she would react to
what he was about to say.

‘Fabian, please just say
it!’  Mistral demanded abruptly.  ‘I’ve been through every possible
reason in my mind as to why I kept seeing anxiety in your aura.  I even
thought that you were going to tell me one of my brothers had died or worse,
that Emiror was back –’

Fabian suddenly leaned forward
and kissed her with a fierce passion that spoke louder than any words
could.  Her jealous thoughts of Emiror were completely forgotten long
before he released her to gaze sincerely into her eyes.

‘I love you Mistral.’

Breathless but still confused,
Mistral gazed back, ‘Is that why you’re so keen for us to be married? 
Because I love you anyway Fabian, I don’t need a ceremony to make that
happen.  ’

Fabian sighed and pulled her onto
his lap, holding her closely.  She rested her head against his shoulder,
her eyes filled with the sky, now a flaming riot of sunset colours.

‘Guillane’s words were vile, as
were his intentions.  Both of which he paid for with his life. 
However, he did bring a truth home to me.  I need to protect you with more
than my sword or even my life.  I need to give you the protection of my
name.’

Mistral’s lips formed a silent
“oh”.  She hadn’t considered that her name would change, well get longer,
since she had no last name.  A sudden thought struck her.  Would
people refer to her as
Mrs
De Winter?  She frowned.  That was
not something she would particularly relish. 

‘He also spoke about your soul,
which is something I value more highly than my own life.  I don’t know,’
he paused and she felt him shrug lightly.  ‘Maybe there is nothing beyond
this life, but maybe there is.  Who can say for sure?  I will do
nothing to jeopardise the pureness that exists within you, and if that means
you have to marry me, then so be it.’

Mistral tilted her head to gaze
up him.  His expression was determined, the black gaze she adored
resolute.  This was something he believed in utterly.  Suddenly, she
could no longer lie to him. 

‘Um, you don’t have to marry me
just because of what Guillane said.  It wasn’t that bad.’

Fabian’s eyes clouded with
confusion, ‘How could you know what Guillane said?  He spoke only in
French.’

‘I know.’  Mistral looked
down guiltily.  ‘I forced a translation out of the twins.’  

Fabian’s face instantly cleared,
‘Ah, but of course they know French.  They were educated in a Council
school.’

She looked up at him through her
lashes, ‘But not well enough to understand some of your more choice phrases,
apparently.’

‘Then let us be glad of small
mercies.  I was extremely angry.’

‘I noticed,’ she said, adding
drily.  ‘So did Guillane.’

Fabian abruptly scowled, ‘He was
going to kill you.’

‘I know.’

Fabian looked at her, his dark
eyes shining with an intense emotion, ‘But don’t you see Mistral!  If you
were my
wife
he would never have spoken to you in that way!  Your life
wouldn’t have been endangered and your reputation blackened in front of the
entire damned Council!’ 

‘Oh Fabian!  I don’t care
about my reputation!  We know the truth!  And we both know that to
call me a whore is laughable!’

Fabian’s eyes suddenly blazed
with fury, ‘But I do care about your reputation and it is not ever laughable to
insult you!  I care about everything to do with you and I will not have
anyone think less of you than you are worth!’ 

Struck by the depth his feeling
for her, Mistral reached up gently to touch his face, running her fingers
lightly over the hollows of his cheeks and tracing the rigid line of his
jaw.  She watched his gaze soften to the black velvet that melted her
heart and twined her fingers through his damp hair, pulling him to her, kissing
him with a yearning hunger.  Gently reaching up to release her hold Fabian
gazed down at her, his eyes fierce and soft all at once, betraying the complex
nature of her dark Mage.

‘We will be married as soon as I
can arrange it.’

‘And I’m going to redouble my
efforts at mastering Sight, or we’re going to end up playing cards on our
wedding night.’

Fabian smiled and took a long
drink of wine.  Heaving a deep sigh he leaned back to rest his feet up on
the edge of the balustrade.

‘I’m glad that’s over.’

Mistral glanced up at him, ‘The
Council Contract?’

‘No, asking you to marry
me.  I’ve been dreading it for days.’

Mistral burst out laughing,
‘Why?  I wouldn’t have refused you!’

Fabian sighed and stroked her
hair lazily, ‘I didn’t think you would like the idea of being tied to me for
the rest of your life.  You’re too much of a free spirit.’

‘I’m already tied to you.’
 Mistral muttered and gazed broodingly out at the darkening sky. 
‘And as for being a free spirit, there’s nothing free about me.  I’m
trapped by my stupid destiny to a gift I can’t even master.  Another set
of shackles really won’t make much difference.’

Fabian’s hand stilled on her
hair, ‘That was another reason why I knew I had to marry you.  I want to
free you from your destiny.’

Hope flared in Mistral and
promptly died again, ‘I know you’re not talking about me being allowed to give
up on Sight once I’m married are you?’ 

‘A thousand times, no, we are not
giving up on you mastering Sight.’  Fabian sighed a touch wearily.  ‘However,
if I were no longer around to care for you then the De Winter name would serve
you well.  It has certain benefits –’

‘Wait a minute.’  Mistral
interrupted, sitting up sharply to turn and face him.  ‘Firstly and most
importantly, I don’t need caring for.  Secondly, I don’t like the sound of
you not being around.  Why the hell wouldn’t you be around?  Where
are you going?  And thirdly, if you think I’m going to use your family
name like some sort of bartering system you can forget it!  I do have some
pride you know Fabian!’

‘Some would be an
understatement.’  Fabian murmured, tracing the hard ridge of her clenched
jaw with one finger. 

‘Don’t try and distract
me!’  Mistral snapped, already struggling to remain angry.

Fabian sighed and reached out to pull
her back onto his lap.  She resisted half-heartedly then gave in with an
exasperated sigh.

‘Why can I never stay mad at
you?’

‘Because I love you.  Now
please listen to me Mistral.  I want you to understand my reasons and then
I am going to ask you to promise me what I ask.

‘We know the work we do is
dangerous.  All warriors wonder if their next Contract may be their
last.  If I were to be killed I would want you to be free of that
life.  I know it’s in your blood and I’m not trying to change who you are,
but if you had my name you wouldn’t have to work, or at the very least be free
to choose the Contracts you took.’

Fabian paused and took a deep
breath, his expression hardening before he spoke again, ‘You would inherit the
De Winter estate; a house at the Council, another I’ve never bothered to look
at somewhere in the south and a frankly obscene amount of money in the vaults
at the Council.  You would be well provided for.’

He fell silent and Mistral gazed
down at her hands, held tightly in his while she waited for him to force her to
make a promise she knew she would never keep.  He began to speak again and
Mistral listened to the strain in his voice, forcing out words she didn’t want
to hear.

‘I want you to promise me that
you would use the money to live a safer life.  Sell the houses … do what
you want with them.  The entire estate would be yours, to do with what you
wish.’

Mistral sighed.  If Fabian
were no longer alive she couldn’t even contemplate living in the house they
were in now, never mind that cold, empty shell at the Council.  And as for
the money, well he obviously wanted nothing to do with it for his own reasons
so what made him think that she would?  His words echoed dully in her head
…
If I were to be killed …
If that were to happen then how could he even
expect her to want to stay alive herself?  Mistral knew with sudden
certainty that if he were killed she would take endless Contracts to blot out
the numbing pain of loss until the blessed release of taking the fated one that
bought her end. 

‘Mistral?  I need you to
promise me you would use the De Winter name to provide for you.’

Mistral lifted her eyes to meet
his sombre black gaze, ‘I promise.’

He continued to gaze at her for a
long moment before smiling sadly, ‘You really are a terrible liar.’

‘I know, and I was really trying
then too,’ she sighed and looked away, gazing up at the first faint stars
appearing in the sky.  A silence fell between them, deeper than the ocean.

‘Maybe we can reach a
compromise.’  Fabian finally suggested.  ‘Which part did you object
to the most strongly?’

Mistral switched her gaze round
to stare at him incredulously, ‘Which part?  All of it of course! 
Wait, let me revise that statement.  The rest is immaterial after you
casually talking about me happily carrying on with my life after you’ve gone
and got yourself killed!  Can’t you see?  There would be no more me
without you!’  Mistral was suddenly shouting into Fabian’s infuriatingly calm
face, angry tears spilling down her cheeks.  ‘In fact!’ she continued with
a choked sob.  ‘I think it’s time you made me a promise for a change!’