Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy)

by Paula Flumerfelt

  She gave him a ‘blah’ look before going back to eating. “Well it hasn’t affected us here. And Solomon is a snake. He probably planned this.”

  “No he didn’t.” Mathieu snapped at her, frowning. “He’s the one it hurt the most. And it will affect you when things fall apart in our District because he’s gone.”

  “Damn. Sensitive, much?” Zanika retorted, folding her arms.

  Darcia rolled his eyes. “They’re an item, so don’t take it personally.”

  “We are not an item.” Mathieu scowled into the tea that was placed in front of him by Zerieve. “He’s a jerk who avoids confrontation and serious relationships…”

  “Don’t I know it.” Zanika said under her breath, munching on another cracker.

  Mathieu looked at her. “What do you mean by that?”

  Zerieve grinned in an almost cruel way, “Don’t you know? He and Zanika were a couple for years.”

  He gave the girl a blank look before taking a gulp of the scolding tea, using the pain to test if he had nodded off to sleep. There were no words to express the tightness in his chest that he felt over this tidbit of information. Sure, he and Solomon hadn’t been talking or anything lately, but that didn’t mean that he had stopped caring about the blond. Hearing about him with someone else…it made him feel sort of choked. “Seriously, do I have a tattoo on my forehead that says ‘Bring up Solomon, I’d love to hear it’? Jeez.” Mathieu finally responded, shifting uncomfortably.

  Zanika give him a somewhat pitying look, then took his hand and pulled him out of his seat. “Come on, cutie. Let’s leave the chickens to cluck and go do something fun, okay?” Without leaving room for argument, she pulled him out the door. “I need to go see the children, anyhow, so you’ll just come with me. They’ll like you.”

  He didn’t want to like this bubbly girl, still unsure how he felt about her and Solomon supposedly being a thing a long time ago.

  “Uh, just forget what Zerieve said, okay? How are things going at Nathan’s? You know, before the whole ‘dead’ thing…”

  “Well, we met with the kid and the god,” Mathieu recounted vaguely. “Two new members joined us from Unith, and I got my first sword.”

  As they walked Zanika sort of floated from side to side, humming sometimes. “I wonder what will happen now, you know what?” She sighed, “But I guess we don’t get much of a saw. We’re going to leave it to the others to figure out. You and I are going to go play with the children and not think about anything sad.” She proclaimed.

  “Alright. I’m game for anything that doesn’t involve being sad.” He slung an arm over her shoulders and gave her a smile; but just a little one.

  “Hhave you ever played soccer?” She asked him as a cloud of dust came into view. There were shouts and grunts coming from it and he wondered if there was a brawl.

  Mathieu made a sound of discomfort. “I’ve played a few times, but I’m generally not very good at it….”

  “Don’t worry, I promise the kids will take it easy on you.”

  “Jeez, thanks.” He rolled his eyes as they walked down a small slope onto another road, putting them much closer to the dust cloud. “So…what exactly is your gift?”

  Zanika shrugged one shoulder, “That should have been obvious. My power is darkness that I can channel into anything I want. Mostly it’s just weapons. Zerieve and I prefer bows because archers are practically non-existent in our little army. I do okay with hand-to-hand with things like daggers, though.”

  “You don’t have to have Lenore make your weapons, do you?”

  “Nope. We can shape our darkness to whatever we need it to be.” Zanika explained, distracted by the children they could now see. Mathieu coughed slightly, now in the middle of the dirty air.

  Mathieu’s reply was cut short by the screams of excited children when they realized who was interrupting their game. A few of them jumped up and down while others were running towards them. A little girl giggled as she slammed into Zanika, clinging to her leg. “Zani! Zani!”

  The brunette smiled down at them, “Hey there, little ones. What is going on?”

  “Zani! I need you to braid my hair!”

  “No, no, braid mine!”

  “I’ve got a splinter, help!”

  “Make a daisy chain with me!”

  “Come play soccer with us!” And that got all the kids going, chanting ‘soccer, soccer’ as one voice.

  Zanika laughed and scooped up one of the children, carrying her. “Alright, kiddos. Everybody just calm down. I see we already have teams formed.” Mathieu thought she might be referring to how some of the kids were covered in a lot more dust than the others, but he didn’t ask.

  In the group of clamoring children, one had stayed quiet. But now she raised her hand, her curly hair swaying in a slight breeze. “Uh, Zanika, there’s a less dusty field on our farm. Papa won’t mind if we use it.” Her voice was soft, but it cut through the din of the others.

  Zanika shrugged one shoulder and motioned for the girl to lead on. “Let’s go, Mathieu.”

  ~*~

  Mathieu flopped down in the grass, covered in sweat and dust. “Holy cow. Those aren’t kids, they’re monsters.”

  Zanika sat beside him and handed him a bottle of water. “They’re good kids. I like them and we get along.”

  “Do you play every day with them?”

  “I try to. We play different games, or we go visit other areas. Most of the parents enjoy the fact that I get the kids out of their hair for a while and I like their company.”

  “I hear you normally have good company. Darcia and Kiev have lived with your guys, right?”

  She bobbed her head. “Man, Kiev…” she said, lying back as well. “That is one tough girl.”

  “Yeah, she’s quite the fighter.”

  “Oh, I don’t just mean that. She had a really bad childhood.” Zanika looked at him. “I’m not surprised you don’t know. Most people don’t and those that do keep it hush-hush.”

  Mathieu raised his brows, silently inviting her to continue.

  She closed her eyes and was quiet for a long time. “Alright, I’m going to tell you what I know. Not because I expect anything in return, mind you, but just because someone close to her needs to know.” Zanika chugged the rest of her water. “So, as you might know, Kiev was born in Vaten, Unith to two normal parents: Arabella and Tero. The first time she showed signed of a power was when she was six and she was getting picked on by some neighborhood bullies. Her mother saw the fight, and Arabella realized what had happened. She knew that she needed to get Kiev out of Unith; it was near the time when there were mass killings of those with gifts. I’m sure you’ve heard of those?”

  Mathieu had. It was a darker time in Unith’s , when the Users who hadn’t run away to Korinth were rounded up and executed to ‘make the people safer’. If one thing that going to school with Avian had taught him, it was the great historical tragedies.

  Zanika rubbed the space between her eyebrows. “You see, Arabella planned to take Kiev to the border and sneak her passed the officer’s outposts to help her get to safety. She thought Kiev would be safe in Korinth with people like her. But the men on watch had been tipped off and knew her planned route; they waited to ambush them. Right before the attack, Arabella must have been able to tell that something was wrong. She told Kiev to run and not look back. Kiev did it, and I’m pretty sure she still has nightmares about her mom screaming.

  “But I digress. So, she made it successfully over the border into the no-man’s land; however, an unprotected, young girl alone in a land of thieves was bound to attract attention, and not of the positive kind. I don’t know the exact details, but she ended up being held captive by a group of thugs. They did…unspeakable things to her for years. By the time she ended up at our doorstep, she was like a zombie. It took a while, but she snapped out of it with some help. When she did, though, she was angry; Kiev was really violent in the beginning.”

  “How long ago was
this?”

  “Well, she’s twenty-two, so she moved out about six years ago, I’d say.” Zanika stretched. “We should get back before Zerieve sends out a search party for us. Are you two spending the night?”

  Mathieu shrugged. “Probably, if you guys will have us. It’s a long drive. And I don’t know exactly when the meeting is, so if you guys let us stay, you can come back with us.”

  She hopped up and pulled him to his feet, her energy already returned. “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter

  Sixteen

  “Zerieve, we’re back, you selfish dictator!” Zanika slammed the door behind her, kicking her shoes off again. It had started to rain on their way back, so the dust they’d both been coated in had turned to mud.

  Zerieve rolled into the chair she was sitting on into the main hall, and gave them a snobby look. “Clean up before you make a mess. Darcia and Mathieu are staying the night.”

  “I already knew they were spending the night, bimbella.” Zanika grumbled, trying to ease out of her muddy shirt without getting it on her hair. She put it back down after she realized that she couldn’t get it off without a huge mess.

  “Oh yes. Your insults are so original.”

  Mathieu cut between their banter, “If I can get a shower, I’ll cook dinner.”

  “That sounds delightful. Darcia says that cooking for the family has become your forte.” Zerieve called as she wheeled back into her office.

  Zanika pulled a face aimed down the hall, then turned to him, “You can use my shower to clean up. We’ve got sweats somewhere around here that should fit you. I’ll find them for you.” Mathieu smiled and followed her to the designated shower. While he stripped down and got into the shower, Zanika put out a towel and dug around until she found a pair of sweat pants for him, along with a loose white shirt.

  Once he was cleaned up and dressed again, his damp hair tied back, and he made his way back down the main hall to the kitchen. He hasn’t realized how plush the carpet was until he was sinking his toes into it as he walked, springing lightly as he went.

  Poking around in an investigative manner, he found a cooler in a pantry full of fresh cuts of meats. Mathieu picked four large cuts, then started to season them with whatever spices he found while the grate in the center of the stove heated up. There were vegetables in the fridge that had been harvested recently, which he sliced and sautéed, along with some potatoes that he put into the over and baked. To complete the main dish, he wiped up a gravy sauce in a pan as his steaks sizzled away.

  “Now for the appetizer…” He drummed his fingers on his chin thoughtfully, nodding absently absently when he decided to make homemade onion rings. There was a garden-fresh onion in the crisper that he pealed the first layer of and sliced the rest into this rings. “Oil…oil…” Mathieu dug in the pantry for the lard.

  After scooping some of the lard into the pan, he put it to melt. Coating the rings of onion in a homemade batter he whipped up, he waited until the oil was nice and hot to start frying them. Between each of the rings being fried, Mathieu worked at mixing a crepe batter for dessert. He would make them fresh after the main portion of the meal and planned to fill them with fresh fruit. Cooking always helped to occupy his mind, and he was still trying not to think about the supposed relationship between the very sweet Zanika, and the asshole Solomon. Mathieu began to whisk the batter more vigorously.

  It didn’t take long for the vultures to descend upon the kitchen, mouths water. “That smells heavenly. When do we eat?” Darcia peaked over his shoulder, snagging a fresh onion ring as it came out of the hot oil. “Eck!” Dropping it onto the plate covered by a paper towel, he blew on his fingertips.

  “Hot? Idiot…” Mathieu smiled rather devilishly as he fried up the last few before turning the stove off and sending Darcia to the already set table with the plate of appetizers, Zanika and Zerieve trailing him.

  ~*~

  Finishing doing the dishes, Mathieu came to rest at the sitting room. Darcia had his pipe lit up while Zanika mulled over a flower that the raven has brought. “I tell you, that was heavenly. I wish I could cook like that.”

  “Oh,” he blushed, “it’s not too hard. While you’re home with us, you can help me cook and you’ll get the basics down.”

  Smiling sweetly, she batted her lashes at him. “How very sweet of you. So when do you boys want to leave tomorrow?” Zanika inquired.

  Before he could respond, Darcia stole the question, taking a long pull on his pipe before speaking. “The earlier you two hens are ready to depart the better. It we can get back before the high point of the day, we won’t have to stop and cool the carriage.”

  Zerieve waved a hand before her face to waft away the smoke Darcia blew her way. “We can be ready right after breakfast, if that’d be easier for you two. There is a thing or two I must attend to before we leave, but I can handle them before bed. And you, Zanika?”

  “Well,” she puffed up importantly, “my work is finished and the rest of the farmers can pick the extra slack. We’ll just have to tell someone as we leave that we’ll be back and not to worry.”

  “Only you worry about the farmers and making sure that they won’t be worried while we’re gone. You coddle them.”

  Zanika’s eyes narrowed, “Excuse me, Zerieve, but I happen to care about the people that live in this vicinity. You may be about the facts and figures, but the people are more important than the paperwork.”

  Darcia waved a hand in a nonchalant manner, drawing the attention of all three people on the room. “Don’t fight, beauties. It’s unbecoming. Now, I’m going to tell you two very amazing girls goodnight, pat The Duchess’s head, and retired to my room. Follow suit if you wish.” And he did as he said he would, kissing the forehead of each girl and telling them goodnight, then patted Mathieu head in a fatherly way before disappearing into the bedroom he was staying in for the night. Mathieu smiled politely at both girls as they took Darcia’s advice and headed for his own borrowed room, which happened to be the living room. He took the afghan off the back of the sofa and curled up under it, falling asleep quickly.

  ~*~

  Sometimes, Mathieu was sure that morning came too early. He was in the middle of a very pleasant dream involving a river and a mostly naked blond man when the sun danced in through the window, casting its rays across his face. Groaning, he blinked into consciousness out of his pleasurable dream and sat up. The house was silent beyond, so he decided to make some breakfast for his hosts. Something told him that the two girls weren’t the best cooks.

  It wasn’t long after he put the pancakes down to cook that he heard the creak of the first door open. A bleary-eyed Darcia came into the kitchen, his hair in disarray. “Coffee.” He practically growled, sharp teeth glinting in the early morning light.

  Mathieu pointed over his shoulder at the coffee maker and the mug already set out. “I put cinnamon in it. I know that’s how you drink it at the house.”

  “Thanks, kid. Are those blueberry?”

  “Blackberry, but I could make some blueberry ones if you want.” Mathieu flipped the first round of pancakes and smiled as the females joined them in the kitchen, both in various states of undressed. “Well aren’t you two sexy.”

  “Says the gay guy.” Zanika kissed his cheek and went to get a cup of her own coffee.

  Darcia sat at the breakfast bar with a yawn, “Nah, blackberry is fine.”

  “That’s my cup, Zanika.”

  “Too bad. Use a different one.”

  “Why can’t you just use your own stuff once in a while?” Zerieve asked in a heated tone, “Just once, could you buy your own shampoo? How about conditioner? Or maybe your own bed? I don’t need you stealing my blankets every night.”

  Zanika laughed and took a sip of her drink, “You wouldn’t know how to sleep alone. It’s not like you ever bring a man home.”

  “I do, you just don’t see them!”

  “Oh yes, I forgot about that boyfriend you had. What was him na
me again? Joe Imaginary, wasn’t it?” Zanika skittered out of the reach of her sister, and hid behind Darcia before stealing a pancake as it came off the griddle. “Eck! Hot!” She dropped it onto the counter, blowing on her fingers. “Darc, it huuuuurts.”

  The raven rolled his eyes and reached back, patting her head. “Don’t do stupid things then.”

  Zerieve did the civilized thing and got a plate for her breakfast. “I think that we should leave in an hour or so. Mathieu, I took the liberty of washing your clothes while you showered, so they are clean, and Darcia, some of your clothing is still here if you need it.”