The Seer (28 page)

Mistral gave a
hollow laugh, ‘He owes money in taxes.’

‘He
did
owe money in taxes.’  Phantasm corrected then frowned.  ‘So Powers and
Silver are dead.  And now we have to break their spell on our own.’

Mistral
quickly backed away from him, ‘And just how are we going to do that?’

‘It’s a love
spell Mistral.  What do you think?’

‘I think I’d
rather die!’  Mistral yanked one of her swords out and waved it at him.

Phantasm
smiled at her reaction, ‘Calm down Mistral.  I’ve been thinking about
this.  I don’t think we’re going to have to act out a love scene to break
the spell.’ 

‘Thank heavens
for that!’  Mistral sheathed her sword again.  ‘Seeing into the minds
of two dying Mages was quite enough horror for one day.’

‘Thank you for
the compliment.’

‘Oh brother,
you know what I mean.  Fabian is ... I could never... let’s just say it
couldn’t happen.’

Phantasm gave
a short laugh, ‘Even if we pretended I was Mage De Winter it probably wouldn’t
break the spell.  We need to express genuine emotion, not a forced
imitation of love.’

Mistral
inhaled sharply.  She could feel Fabian’s desperation to reach her, his
panic reigniting her previous claustrophobia.  ‘I need to get out of
here!’ She stared around wildly at the low roof and jumbled mass of rocks
blocking their exit. 

Phantasm
stepped forward and caught hold of her trembling hands, holding them firmly in
his own, willing her to look at him, ‘Mistral, focus on me.  See me, not
your Mage.  Forget our surroundings.  Just look at me.’

She forced
herself to look into his eyes, concentrating on the ocean of calm that lay
there until she felt her breathing slow.  Gradually her panic subsided
enough for her to push Fabian’s thoughts from her mind, allowing her to think
rationally again.

‘Better?’

She nodded,
her eyes not leaving his.

‘Good. 
Now, if I remember rightly from our lessons with Master Nox, love spells are
sensory.  Words are not effective on their own; it is the intention with
which they are spoken that will break the barrier that has been created.’ 

‘So, I need to
think of … love?’  Mistral asked, feeling embarrassed.

Phantasm held
her gaze steadily, ‘Yes.  I appreciate how uncomfortable this is going to
make you feel but you must focus.  This needs to be about me as we are the
intended recipients of the spell.’

Mistral
blinked, ‘You?  And ... love?’

Phantasm
continued to hold her gaze with his own, utterly sincere and completely calm,
‘Yes.’

‘Sorry
brother.  I can’t think about you like that.’

‘Yes you
can.’  Phantasm said firmly.  ‘You love my brother and I, don’t you?’

‘Er?’

Phantasm
sighed, ‘We are your brothers Mistral.  You love us as your brothers.’

‘Oh
right!  Well, yes, of course!’  She looked at him unhappily.  ‘I
don’t have to say it do I?’

‘Have you been
listening to me?  Words are not the answer here!’  Phantasm held her
hands more tightly.  ‘Do you remember your interview with the Divinus at
the end of our first year of training?’

Mistral
nodded.  The Divinus had spoken to her about the Sight and her
unwillingness to embrace it … and he had also spoken about love.  ‘He said
there were many different kinds of love, and that I had to learn all about each
of them in order for my soul to grow, or something like that.’

Phantasm
smiled softly, ‘Which is precisely why Mage Powers’ attempt to goad Mage De
Winter into killing me out of jealousy will fail.’

‘It will?’

‘Yes Mistral,
it will.  Not all love is of the nature that you two share.’

‘So, how do we
break the spell then?’  Mistral asked in a puzzled voice.

‘Tell me
something you love about me.’  Phantasm said simply.  ‘And my brother
too, if that helps.’

Mistral’s face
creased in thought.  She loved the twins didn’t she?  Of course she
did.  For their loyalty and friendship, and also for their unwavering
belief in her ability to master a gift even she doubted was within her power
... but was that love?  Or just gratitude?  She thought harder,
trying to think of something about them that was born purely of love. 

She looked up,
her grin lighting the dark cave, ‘I love it when you put my boots by the fire
at night.  They’re always really warm in the morning.  You don’t have
to do it, but you do, and that’s what matters.’  She frowned suddenly, her
grin fading.  ‘But I don’t know what you’re going to find to love about me
brother … I’ve been nothing but trouble to you both since the day you met me.’

Phantasm
smiled and looked down their held hands, interlacing their fingers so they were
locked together tightly, ‘Trouble, yes.  I love the fact that you are
trouble, but I love more that you are a terrible liar.  It’s really quite
charming and very amusing.’

The sounds of
rocks being thrown made them both turn to look at the blocked entrance. 
Mistral cried out with joy and flung herself at the mass of rocks, throwing
them aside in her frantic scrabble to clear a hole.  ‘It’s broken! 
Quick, get shifting these damned rocks!’ 

‘Mistral!’ 
Fabian’s muffled shout sounded through the pile of rocks.

‘It’s alright
Fabian!  I’m here!  We’re both here and we’re fine!’  She
shouted back.

‘Please
remember to tell him that we didn’t have to kiss.’  Phantasm muttered
quickly and began to help move the rocks.  

A chink of
light pierced through the tumbled rocks, Mistral stopped throwing rocks to
breathe in the gust of cold fresh air that blew through.

‘Nearly
there.’  Phantasm murmured soothingly.  ‘I must confess, apart from
the glaring oversight of thinking that only a physical demonstration of love
would break the spell, Mage Powers was quite astute in his choice of
location.  Being trapped in a cave would have sent you crazy before too
long.  How did he know you are claustrophobic?’

‘I’m
not!’  Mistral retorted then met his amused look and sighed.  ‘Oh, I
know, terrible liar.  You’re right; I am a bit unnerved by enclosed
spaces.  How did you know?’

‘It’s obvious
Mistral!  You hate to be touched, apart from by Mage De Winter of course,
you can’t stand to be confined to one place for any length of time and you
sleep with the window open all year round!  I’m actually quite impressed
that you manage to wear a wedding band on your finger!’

Mistral
glanced down at the white gold gleam on her dirty finger, ‘It did feel a bit
restrictive at first, but it means a lot to Fabian.  It was his mother’s
you see ... anyway, I’ve got used to it now.’

‘Well I
never.’  Phantasm smiled to himself and hefted a rock over his
shoulder.  ‘The most selfish person on the Isle has learned the art of
compromise.’

‘Want a
compromising slap brother?  Only I’m sure that I could find the time once
I’ve dug us out of here with my bare hands!’

The sound of
Grendel dragging large boulders out of the way made them both redouble their
efforts to move the rocks.  They were nearly free.  They watched
eagerly as the patch of light grew larger until it was suddenly blotted out by
Phantom’s face.  ‘Anyone order a rescue party?’  He enquired with a
grin.

‘Oh
brother!  Am I pleased to see you!’  Mistral cried, reaching her arms
out so that he could pull her, blinking into the bright sunlight to see the
anguished face of her Mage, his arms reaching for her.  ‘Fabian!’  At
once his arms were around her in a crushing embrace.  She closed her eyes
and savoured his warm scent, letting his thoughts pour into her mind in a rush
of relief, love and sadness.  ‘Oh no, no, no,’ she whispered
quickly.  ‘There’s nothing to regret!  We broke the spell because the
twins put my boots by the fire at night and I can’t lie.’

Fabian sighed
so quietly that Mistral only felt the movement of his chest rising and falling,
‘It would not have mattered.’

Mistral drew
away from him, ‘Er, thank you, but I think it would have mattered to me! 
Apart from Cirrus and Prospero, I’ve never kissed another living soul but you
in my life.’

He frowned
seriously, ‘I consider myself honoured to be included in such a prestigious
list.’

‘Actually,
you’re at the top,’ she corrected, turning her face up to kiss him.

‘Brother –’

‘Brother.’

The twins
greeted each other with typical reserve until Phantom grinned broadly, ‘I
thought I was going to be an only twin for a while there.  ’

Phantasm
laughed and shook his head, ‘You couldn’t be so fortunate brother.’

‘Well now
we’ve got rid of the babysitters there’ll be no problem with being able to talk
freely again!’  Phantom declared brightly.  ‘Did you manage to get a
good read on both of them Mistral?’

A vision of
spinning sky and rocks filled Mistral’s mind, she shut it out with an effort
and looked at Fabian, ‘Powers was a Rochforte.  Etienne is his mother’s
cousin.  I only Saw the truth when we were already trapped, or I would
have warned you earlier.  They’re both staunch supporters of the Rochforte
cause and would do anything to see an Isle under Rochforte rule.  They’d
been planning this since Mage Pickering reported evidence of troll activity
near the dragon herd territory.  Powers was going to recommend that I, as
official party leader, investigated any caves we found.  He thought that
if he could trap me and one of the twins with a spell that could only be broken
by love then you would be provoked into a jealous fury and –’ Mistral
hesitated, unable to bring herself to say the words, ‘– and break the Gemini
gift,’ she finished quietly.  ‘Or if we didn’t break the spell, then we
would’ve simply died in there.’

‘Backfired on
a rather grand scale though didn’t it?’  Phantom said lightly, nudging
Powers’ lifeless body with the toe of his boot.

‘Definitely.’
 Brutus agreed and looked down at the corpse at his feet.  ‘At least
the other one had the decency not to leave his body lying around where we might
trip over it.’

‘Should’ve
thought of that one sooner brother.’  Xerxes said cheerfully to
Grendel.  ‘Chucking Mages off a mountainside … could become a new
sport!  Not sure how you’re going to explain this one to Mage Grapple
though, Mistral,’ he smirked.  ‘It being your name on the Contract after
all.’

‘Oh damn,’ she
groaned softly and sank her head against Fabian’s chest.  ‘Well I suppose it
makes a change me having to explain your actions.’

‘Quite the
opposite.’  Fabian said sharply.  ‘I will be speaking with Eximius
about sending a known Rochforte out as a Council representative with our
hunting party.  You will not be expected to explain anything
Mistral.  You should however, expect to receive an apology from Eximius.’

‘Has he ever
actually apologised to anyone?’  She asked curiously.

Fabian frowned
and was silent for a moment, ‘No.  However, it is a year for change.’

‘Well, unless
you want to have a bit of a bonfire now and say a few words … what would you
like to do with Powers?’  Xerxes asked.

‘We can
collect his body on the return journey.  If it’s still here.’  Fabian
said indifferently.

Xerxes nodded
unconcernedly, ‘Fine by me, got enough on my hands right now anyway … ready
brother?’  He called over his shoulder to Brutus as they both braced
themselves against the length of rope in their hands.

‘Born ready!’

‘I know,
brother, I know.’  Xerxes laughed.  ‘Ready Cain?’ He called over the
edge of the ravine.

‘First one’s
harnessed in!’  Cain’s faint response drifted up to them.

 ‘Heave-ho!’

With Grendel’s
considerable strength added to the equation they soon hauled the three bestra
out of the ravine.  Cain climbed up to join them once the last bestra was
safely at the top and they continued in much improved spirits.  The climb,
although arduous and dangerous, had actually cut some time off their journey
and the sudden removal of the taciturn Mages had lightened everyone’s mood considerably. 
Under the influence of more of Floris’ powerful liquor, Xerxes was once again
singing his favourite goblin song with Brutus and Cain joining in for the
chorus.  Mistral laughed as she walked by Fabian’s side, the fear of being
trapped in the cave completely forgotten.  She felt no shock or remorse
over the deaths of Powers and Silver; they’d both been only too happy to
attempt to engineer hers.  As far as she saw it, justice had been served.

‘Please, can
we have no more unplanned life-threatening additions to this Contract Mistral.’
 Fabian murmured softly into her ear.  ‘I don’t think I can take the
strain.’

She smiled up
at him, ‘I promise,’ she took hold of his gloved hand and slid her fingers
between his.  ‘Just a straight forward, run of the mill, boring dragon
hunt from now on in.’

By sunset they
had reached the edge of dragon territory and made camp on a flattened area of
rock at the base of high cliff.  Xerxes, Brutus and Cain were soon having
a lively argument about how to erect the two tents since there was no soil to
sink the pegs into.  In the end it was resolved by Grendel hammering the
iron pegs straight into the rock with the end of his battle axe.

 ‘Do we
risk a fire?’  Phantom asked Fabian worriedly.

Fabian
shrugged, ‘A fire will be less likely to draw the dragons in than the scent of
the bestra.  Dragons have fairly poor eye-sight in comparison to their
sense of smell.  We have camped here with a fire both times in the past
without incident.’

‘Good enough
for me,’ said Phantom and immediately began to unpack firewood from one of the
bestra.

‘Worried you
might get a bit chilly brother?’  Mistral teased, knowing how the twins
hated to be cold.

‘Terrified.’

Before long a
decent fire was burning with a couple of rabbits they had brought along
roasting over the flames.  Xerxes had begun taking wagers on the next
day’s hunt while Brutus was gathering together everyone’s arrows and engraving
their initials onto the shafts.