The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) Read Online Free Page B

they
walked across the cobbled village square Mistral glanced up at the main street
that rose steeply through the village.  Each house had a shop as its
ground floor selling a variety of strange and wonderful goods.  Her eye
was immediately drawn to the heavy wooden sign hanging over one shop that had the
words “Toothe and Nayle, Official Armourers to the Ri” emblazoned below a faded
painting of a curved sword.  Vowing to go there first thing in the morning
Mistral allowed herself to be steered across the cobbled square towards the
heavy oak door of The Cloak and Dagger.
    Inside the
smoky warmth of The Cloak and Dagger Mistral paused to let her eyes to adjust
to the dimly lit tavern.  The low, beamed ceiling and worn wooden floor
gave the room a slightly shabby but comfortable air.  Torches arranged at
infrequent intervals around the stone walls and a steadily burning fire were
the tavern’s only source of light, but that only added to the relaxed
atmosphere.  The twins walked over to the long wooden-topped bar and leant
casually against it until the barman appeared from the back room. 
Scowling and heavy cheeked, he had the permanently flushed colouring of a man
who had spent years drinking as much as he served. 
    ‘Good day to
you Floris.’  Phantasm smiled at the surly barman who merely grunted and
slung a dirty cloth over his shoulder.
    ‘Wine?’
    ‘Please
Floris.  If it’s not too much trouble,’ murmured Phantasm.
    Mistral
stifled a smile at the barman’s decidedly unsuitable name but decided from his
grumpy expression that jokes on the subject would not go down well.  She
also noted the heavy looking club hanging from a nail on the wall behind the
bar. 
    Whilst the
twins politely enquired about a room for her Mistral leaned back against the
bar and turned her attention to the rest of the room.  There were only
three other occupants in the tavern.  A pair of what were obviously elves
by their lithe build and long fair hair were playing a game of knucklebones and
a heavily cloaked figure sat alone at a table in the darkest corner.
    ‘Yes,’
murmured Phantom in her ear as he passed her a drink.  ‘You see all sorts
in here – it’s great!’
    Mistral
laughed quietly, she could tell that Phantom was the less serious of the two.
    ‘When does
training begin?’ she asked, taking a grateful sip of the goblet of spiced wine
that Phantom had handed her.
    ‘First week of
the New Year.  More people will arrive over the next week to
Register.  Its lucky you came now, you got the last single room – or you
may have ended up having to share with someone,’ he winked at her and she
glared icily back.  ‘Or maybe they would have just seen you first and
decided to sleep in the hayloft!’ he added quickly.
    Mistral
laughed, she could tell she was going to get along with the twins. 
Despite the amount they talked, they were easy company.
    That evening
they sat around a table in The Cloak and Dagger, feeling warm and at peace with
the world after eating a huge meal of venison stew and drinking far too much
spiced red wine.  Mistral plied the twins with questions about the Valley
over a long game of knucklebones.
    ‘So where are
the apprentices that were trained this year?’  Mistral asked, looking
around curiously.  There were only four other occupants, the two elves had
left but the heavily cloaked stranger was still sat alone at the back. 
The tavern’s three new arrivals were obviously newcomers like her and the twins
and kept casting inquisitive glances at their table.
    ‘They all
Qualified last week – that was a wild night I can tell you!  We couldn’t
get to sleep for the noise in the tavern, it went on practically until dawn …
anyway, once they Qualified they all signed up with the Ri’s Agent; Scrimshaw
and Scuttle – which is pretty much mandatory as the Ri need to recoup their
training costs somehow -’
    ‘Training
costs?’  Mistral interrupted sharply, she had hoped