Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy)

by Paula Flumerfelt

  Indignation filled Avian’s voice. “Excuse me, but you digressed first, okay? I just protected myself!” Huffing, she chucked her face guard at Demetri with every intention to cause harm.

  Easily, he knocked it away before it got close. “Your maturity does astound. By the way, your aim sucks and you should learn to throw harder.”

  “I’m a woman, not a machine!” Her nose wrinkled in displeasure at him telling her that she wasn’t up to par. “If you think I’m so lame, why don’t you tell Dad so he’ll tell you to force me to go pump iron or something?”

  “Never said you needed to be accurate or strong. I was just pointing it out, Avian. You really should lean to handle criticism better.” Demetri stretched his legs out.

  “I handle criticism just fine!” She threw her foil too and was nearly in tears by the time Mathieu came to her side. He had the sword thing in one hand, the face guard in the other.

  Sitting beside her, he gave her a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

  Sighing, she wiped her eyes, avoiding his gaze. “I’m fine. Sorry. I get a bit…on edge when I don’t sleep well. Nothing to worry about.” She smiled, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “Listen, I know that when I have my lunch is some of your only time off, but if you wanted to come eat with me, you’re more than welcome to…no pressure or anything like that. Just wanted to let you know…” With that, she got to her feet and put her face guard back on, ready to go round two with her instructor.

  Demetri nodded to him as he passed and patted his shoulder, silently telling him that he diffused the situation well.

  Yawning himself, Mathieu took his seat again and watched Avian. He was worried that something more was bothering the young woman, but not having known her very long made it hard for him to read her. Maybe it was just easy for her to be upset when tired. Women were weird.

  Demetri didn’t give an inch this time, unlike before when he’d allowed her to get under his guard, she now had to fight for every touch and every extra hit. Mathieu also saw that Avian had been holding back before, as well. The small speed that she had used the day before was back, keeping her feet constantly moving and her hands blurring through the air, the foil in one, the other a fist.

  The only way he could have described it to someone who hadn’t seen her was that it was like seeing a statue in the path of a storm, so sure it was going to be destroyed, and then the statue was sprinting away, not hurt in the slightest. Very deceptive. Dancing was what it also something the duo reminded him of. A well choreographed dance that they performed without a hitch.

  What does she need a body guard for? Mathieu was genuinely wondering why he was hired if she could fight like this.

  His instinct told him something was going to happen before his eyes told him what it was. And by then, his body was already in motion, as were the others. Thinking back, he figured that it happened something like this: something inside him told him that Avian was in trouble, he jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could to get between her and the stray blow, he realized he wouldn’t make it in time and something welled deep in him, forcing itself out and between the two people sparring.

  The ‘something’ was a very solid, very colorful barrier. It was made of energy if the way that it swirled and shifted was any indication.

  “What…what is this?” Avian reached her fingertips out to touch it. “It’s warm…did you make this happen?” Her gaze was locked with his, sharp and confused.

  Mathieu was shaking slightly. “I d-don’t know…I might have. I just…wanted to protect you…” He said it lamely, still a few feet from her.

  Avian lifted her eyebrow. “Can you control it?”

  The truth was, he did know what it was and he could control it normally. His panic had just loosened his hold on it. It was energy that both lived inside of him and that he drew from the world around him. Normally, he could focus it down to a small barrier between him and others if a fight got serious, but it took effort and concentration that he generally couldn’t devote while fighting. This explosive, protective nature wasn’t usual for his energy. “Eh…”

  Demetri looked between the two of them. “I think we’re done for today, Avian...” The man said. Demetri was smart enough to know when his cue to leave came up.

  She nodded in acknowledgement, her gaze not straying from Mathieu. As soon as Demetri walked away, she let her hand drop from where it had been touching the warm energy. “You didn’t answer me, Mathieu.”

  He pulled the energy back into himself and closed his eyes. “Yes, I can control it…”

  “But you didn’t mean for that to happen.” She asked, looking for clarity.

  “I panicked. My control of it isn’t always the best when I get emotional. It could tell you were going to get hurt and reacted appropriately.” He tried to shrug it off, make it no big deal.

  Avian was perhaps too smart for her own good, Mathieu decided, if the comprehending look in her eyes was as dangerous as he though.. “Then you need to practice with it. That’s what Professor tells me about my inability to keep my mouth shut. Practice.” She closed the distance between them and touched his shoulder.

  Mathieu recoiled. “You d-don’t think I’m a freak?” He’d always held onto his energy tightly, scared that the people who saw it would think he was a freak and try to abandon him, or worse, kill him. But here was Avian, hand on his shoulder after having just seen him stop a man easily three times his size without touching him.

  “Of course not! Honestly, I think it’s kind of…pretty.” She flushed and wrinkled her nose, eyes soft. “Everyone has something they’re ashamed of or something that they hide from everyone else. It happens. We’re only humans. Flesh and blood. We make mistakes, we feel ashamed. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Avian…” His eyes welled up, his hand reaching up to lay over hers. Now he was the one being emotional; he didn’t feel like an idiot as he might have if she hadn’t just lain to rest one of his biggest fears.

  She smiled. “Let’s go get something to eat. Food always makes me feel better.” She patted her tummy and he realized that she was speaking from experience: her weight was something she was ashamed of.

  As soon as she was out of her whites, he took her hand and walked beside her.

  ~*~

  After having eaten their hearts’ fill, they still had nearly ten whole minutes to just sit and talk.

  “You sure get that stuff. The academic side of it, I mean. The way you absorb information…”

  She sipped at her minty, fruity concoction. “Yeah, well. I grew up alone, reading a lot. I have a pretty decent foundation of knowledge to build from, even if what I know is completely useless. Most of what they say isn’t important anyway.” She fixed him with a look. “Mathieu, I know that in the grand scheme of things, I can’t teach you many things, however, I can teach you one thing. Ultimately, the majority of what people say is a load of crap. In order to succeed at life, you need to hear what they aren’t saying. You get it?”

  “No.”

  She sighed. “It’s like this. If some lady is talking about how much she misses her husband because he works so much and they hardly spend time together anymore, she doesn’t miss him. They fight a lot is why. She’s mad because he always escapes to work before she can win an argument. She hates that she isn’t the most important thing in his life anymore.”

  “…I wouldn’t get that at all…”

  Grinning, she thumped her glass onto the table. “Always remember, it’s the things they don’t say. It’s what they’re implying. By the way, we better get going, or we’ll be late for lessons.”

  “What classes do you have left?” Mathieu said, already forgetting what Avian had just said.

  She stood and polished off her drink. “A lovely mixture of learning about government styles and deciding what kind of ruler I’ll be along with goals I aim to accomplish, then free study, and finally more literature.”

  “That sounds horribly boring...”


  “Learning is important. And fun.” Shrugging, she smiled down at him.

  “I’m coming…” Stretching and getting up, he held his arm out. They turned towards the palace and crossed the sweeping lawn. Even in the short time that he’d been at the castle, the excessive number of windows, long hallways, and high ceilings were becoming a comfort to him. They were very beautiful and they cocooned him. Of course he still couldn’t navigate to save his life.

  Depositing her in a seat once they were in the library-slash-classroom, he smiled a little shyly and sat beside her. What the teacher said didn’t matter to him, so he watched out the window as their lunch table was quickly collapsed and cleaned away, the lawn fluffed back up.

  Rolling his eyes, he wondered how appearances of some grass can mean so much. The Professor wasn’t there. In fact, they were the only thing there wasn’t made of paper and smelled vaguely like pipe tobacco. “Where’s the teacher?”

  “She’s probably late. Pregnancy hasn’t been easy on her.”

  As if on cue, the woman Mathieu presumed was the teacher busted through the door. “Sorry!” Her hair was aflutter as she came in, coming to rest in long red curls that cascaded down her back. Her face was heart-shaped and she had kind eyes that were well-suited for motherhood. Smoothing her hands down her dress and over her protruding tummy, she swayed to the window. “So Avian, who is your little friend?”

  “This,” the brunette said grandly, “isn’t my friend. He’s my new guard. Papa hired him.”

  “Oh, a guard! How wonderful!” The pregnant woman smiled. “Well, I’m Mrs. Emers.”

  “Hello. I’m Mathieu.” He said in a bored tone. Everyone felt the need to ask who he was today instead of just leaving him to his own. It bothered him to have such attention placed on him.

  Taking a reclined position against the windowsill to alleviate the pressure on her back, she cleared her throat. “Avian. Where did we leave off?”

  “Difference between a republic and a democracy. Both are stupid.” The princess said, arms folded.

  Mrs. Emers tapped her toes lightly, a brow cocked. “What brings you to that conclusion? And where were you yesterday? Hmm?”

  Blushing, the brunette pointed accusingly at Mathieu. “It’s his fault! He…he kidnapped me! Yeah, that’s it.” She grinned as he rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I don’t like either because they’re stupid.”

  “We covered that,” The redhead teacher said. “But why?”

  Huffing, the young woman lifted her nose into the air. “Okay, so with like a democracy, everyone gets a vote, but there’s so many people that it takes forever to get anything done. If it’s a state of emergency, I want a decision made right then and there, not a year later after everyone sits around, talks about it, and pisses me off! I’m going to be a queen with intelligent advisors that will give me a five minute brief on what they think is the best course of action and why. Then, I’ll make a decision. Effective.”

  “That’s an interesting theory…”

  “And I dislike republics for the same reason because it’s the same crap, just on a smaller level.” Avian nodded factually.

  Mrs. Emers smiled. “I’m glad that you’re so opinionated. Being a leader takes resolve and determination.”

  As the teacher spoke, Avian got up and went to a group of scrolls, pulling down a slender tube of parchment and opened it, pinning it to the wall.

  Mathieu got up and went to see it. “What’s this?” It seemed both him and Avian were tuning the teacher out.

  “It’s my goal charter. Until the day I take over, I’m writing down all

  of the goals that I desire to accomplish, that I believe will better the nation.” She looked at the long list and sighed. “I’m going to be really busy when I take over…Do you think I can do it?”

  “I think you can.” Mrs. Emers was standing beside them, looking at the chart. She laid her hand on Avian’s shoulder. “These are all selfless goals, therefore accomplishing them will be important. Although important things can be difficult to accomplish, the fact that they will make things better for the majority is enough to help you through the difficulties and the trials.”

  “I’m with the teacher. I think it’s admirable that you decided to do this. It’s good. It’s really good. And it’ll help you keep your head when you’re on the throne, know where you’re going.” Mathieu smiled at her and she blushed, writing her newest declaration to open conversations with all four districts of Korinth to the list.

  “There.” She added the date to the left of it and rolled the scroll back up, stowing it away for safe-keeping.

  “So what now?” Mathieu watched his charge curiously.

  Avian turned to him, stretching. “Mrs. Emers lectures more about government.” She ran her tongue over her teeth.

  The teacher put her hand on her stomach, wincing slightly. “If it’s all the same to you two, I’m going to sit down. We can move into free study if you’d like.” She said, waddling in a pregnant fashion over to the wingback chair.

  “Sweet!” Avian went to one of the bay window and curled up on the seat. “Tell me about what it’s like.” She said expectantly, peering over his her glasses.

  “What what’s like?” Mathieu said, confused.

  “Out there.” She shrugged towards the outdoors. “I’ve only ever been up to Fallon and even then, it’s in an armored carriage. I hate those things. They’re so loud.” In an poor imitation of the engine in a motor she pretended to drive.

  Mathieu flopped into a chair, kicking his feet over the edge. It was an old habit. “Out there is…kind of like in here. I guess. People work to make a living, take care of their families, that kind of stuff. I’ve always lived in an orphanage, which is kind of like here too…kinda.”

  Laughing, she looked down at the grounds. “You’re funny. Really funny. This place is like a cage, trapped here by rules that can’t be seen to navigate. I hate it here, you know.” Avian’s eyes were now looking past the walls of the castle, at the city outside.

  Mrs. Emers looked at the clock and looked at Avian. “…Jeez. Like lazy rays of sunshine. Get out of here. It’s a nice day. Read some before you go to bed. Behave.” She tilted head towards the door, one hand on her tummy. “Go.”

  “Are you serious?” The princess asked, excited. Her face lit up and she was on the edge of her seat.

  The teacher fixed her with a look before grinning. “Yeah. I’m tired, you want to get out. We’ll reconvene tomorrow.”

  “Thank you!” Avian gave her teacher a bear hug, before she sprinted out of the room, Mathieu right behind her. “This is great! She never lets me out early. Normally, she makes me stay late.” She came to an abrupt halt. “What to do, what to do?”

  “Why don’t we go into town? It’s a really nice place, the little I’ve seen of it, anyway.” Mathieu suggested with a shrug.

  Avian bobbed her head in agreement. “Okay. We can go to this store that sells all sorts of crap. It’s pretty cool.”

  “Crap is my kind of thing.” Mathieu joked.

  She pointed towards the door. “Good, we’ll take the carriage.”

  “Wait a minutes…I thought you’d only ever gone to Fallon…” He raised an eyebrow.

  Avian wrinkled her nose slyly. “Sometimes I sneak out to go to this store, but it’s the only place in the city I’ve gone.”

  Mathieu laughed.

  The carriage turned out to be an armored, Energy Jewel ran machine that seated four people. Hopping into the front seat, Avian fired up the contraption and pulled out of the garage it was housed it. The engine roared as she drove through the city, passed the people crowded the streets and into the more industrial area. People didn’t seem to notice them mixing into the general populace, ignoring yet another carriage on the road. “You’re my protector, right? So you’ll like protect me even if I go to places like parties, right?”

  “Er…yeah, I suppose.” He said with a small frown.

  “Well, there’s this…
thing. It’s a congregation of Elise and her officials along with our ‘important’ people. I want to go. It‘s in three weeks.”

  “Um, ‘important people’?” Mathieu tilted his head, “And why would you want to go to that?”

  “There are always tensions between groups of people, or countries, and stuff. We aren’t any different. Just because we haven’t gone to war doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. I have no idea what the true political situation is like and I’m supposed to take over some day. I need to know. I need to know.” She pleaded slightly and pouted as she drove.

  “I’ve never done anything like that. I doubt I’d be suitable to go. Take Narrie, she’d probably like that.” He tried to deter her.