Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (11 page)

The man rolled his eyes and smacked her in the shin with his cane. “You don’t listen, do you? He can hear
them
, the Shadowriders.”

Mathieu laughed, severely doubting the man’s words. “I really don’t think that I’m capable of doing that.”

Wow,
said the feminine voice,
he sure has long hair.
The red ball nuzzled against his hair.

“Quit that.” He swatted at the light.

It made a squeaking sound before hiding behind a nearby shelf.

Not a moment later, a catlike thing stepped out from behind the unit. It made a ‘murr’ and wound around his ankles.
Hello, mister. I’m Nikola. That’s Tesla. Is it true that you can hear us?

Mathieu pondered the cat. Pushing out painfully with his mind, he felt slight warmth wrap around his consciousness, pulling him in.
Hello?
His voice echoed in his head oddly, reverberating into another space.

Hello.
The feminine voice replied.
So you can hear us. This is

 
progress
.

Hush, Nikola. We don’t talk to humans.

Well I don’t talk to you.
With a ‘humph’ Mathieu knocked the ball of light off his shoulder.

The purple ball changed halfway through the fall, landing beside the other catlike thing. It was a bit taller and slightly bulkier, a jet black in opposition to the other’s dark reddish color.
Rude.
 

“Bite me.” A sharp pain shot up his leg from where the black cat bit him on the ankle. “Ow!” Growling, he picked the thing up by the scruff of its neck, staring into its eyes. “
Don’t
do that again.” He dropped the cat back to the floor.

Avian was watching him intently, one hand covering her mouth to contain her giggles. “You’re just so nice, Mathieu.”

“Yeah, yeah.”
He said, mimicking her.

Grandpa wound past the pair of them and deeper into the shop, going into the back room, “You two
coming?”

Following Avian, Mathieu peeked into the room, the cats hot on his heels. The room was cramped like the rest of
the store and had a warm feeling of a home. An old wooden table sat in the center of the room, covered with old fashioned books and scraps of paper.
Some of the books where thick and leather bound like the ones back at the orphanage, clearly holding many secrets.

Mathieu picked one up, flicking through it. A faint scent of candles filtered into his nose, the pages were crisp beneath his fingers.

Grandpa made tea while Avian cleared the table, humming as she worked. “So tell me, Avian, what brings you here? You never come without a request.” The wizen man said.

Mathieu somewhat tuned them out, looking around. The closer he looked the more he saw. The floor and the walls had symbols carved into them, twining their way around the room; the ceiling held small cages that sat perfectly still, but Mathieu could tell things lived in them; the counter was stained with dark spots he didn’t wish to examine too closely.

Grinning, Avian sat at the now cleared table. “You’re right. I want to know about the Western District of Korinth.”

“The Western District?”
He paused as he poured the drinks, adding mint. “Why would you possibly want to know about that? And why would you assume I know?”

“Simple. You came from Korinth. And I want to know who runs the joint.” She said, elbows resting on the table.

He passed out the tea before sitting. “Hm…” Grandpa blew the steam off the top of his cup. “The Western
District…when I was a child, my parents and I lived in the Eastern District as farmers. No one went to the neighboring area for at the time it was a lawless area. No one controlled or ran it.”

“But now?”
Avian encouraged.

They sat in silence while he stared into his cup.

“Grandpa…”

He sighed and fixed her with a look. “You don’t go telling people what I’m about to tell you, okay?” She nodded. “Good. The people of Korinth are saying that they have a god on their side. If the rumors are true, they’d have put it in the Western District. Do you know what the Spire of the Dead is?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Mathieu sat petting Nikola, who was curled up in his lap.
“The Stairway to the Clouds, the Sky Pillar, the Everlasting Tower.
It’s said that a long time ago when Unith was still one with Korinth, the western sea boarder was a desolate area, non-cultivatable.” Nikola shifted in his lap. “But then a few years before the split, a great tower of ice started to form, climbing to the sky. It reaches above the clouds and is said to be nearly a full mile around. The area around it also changed. Mountains and ice spread out from it and the land down the rest of the coast became habitable.”

Avian’s mouth was slightly agape. “Wow, Mathieu. Where did you learn that? I doubt that even Professor knows that.”

He just shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.

Grandpa nodded. “Yes, yes. So if I were going to hide away a god and protect it, that would be where I’d put it: a tower of impenetrable ice surrounded by mountains and water. Pretty good defensive positive, don’t you think?
That‘s
who would be running the Western District.” Tapping his cane on the floor, he looked away and at a bookcase. “Why did you want to know, anyway?”

She smiled around her cup. “My teachers can’t answer every question, despite what my father thinks. I appreciate your time.”

“Stay a while.” Grandpa ordered.

~*~

A few hours passed before they returned to the castle, just in time for dinner. Mathieu made his way to the servants’ kitchen and was early enough to help set up and dish out the food, unlike the night before. He found the rest of the staff pleasant to be around, if a little distant. But he couldn’t blame them; he was just as hesitant with the mass of them.

He smiled at Narrie as she entered the room and he waved to her, a plate still in his hand.

“Hey, kid. I heard you took Avian to go see the old man. Did she coax you into going to that stupid party, as well?” Narrie helped the other girls dish up the food as they talked.

Mathieu handed the plates to her. “She asked, but I don’t think I’m going to go. I have no idea how to act around
distinguished people or anything. I come from bum-hell in the middle of nowhere.”

Narrie swiped her finger through the mashed potatoes. “Well damn, if manners are all that you need, I can teach you those.” She popped her finger into her mouth with a delighted, yet sadistic look.

Chapter

Five

“Set it.” Narrie crossed her arms and watched him closely. She perceived everything, watching Mathieu’s every movement.

Mathieu began to set the table, doing his best to remember where everything went. He got the napkin in the right place, along with the plates, the cups and even the
glasses,
however, he confused the knives with the spoons and reversed the forks.

Sighing, the brunette fixed them and asked him to name the utensils.

After a third failed attempt, at both setting and naming, Mathieu picked up a spoon and chucked it. “This is stupid! I’ll never get this by tomorrow!” He dropped into the chair and let his forehead fall onto the table top. Tomorrow night was the gathering and Mathieu still couldn’t do a proper waltz, or tie his tie.

Narrie laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll get it, I promise. You’re almost there. Just a few more tries.”

“Forget it. I can’t do it. You’re gonna have to go.” Mathieu said in a defeated tone.

She laughed. “You’re crazy. You really think that I’m going? You already agreed and have a suit. Suck it up.”

Mathieu…
Nikola wound around his ankle,
let me go with you. I know how to set a table. I’ll tell you what to use…
Her voice was a pout, nuzzling his leg.
I can be a ball of light. That’s inconspicuous. Please?
She whined.

“No, Nikola, you can’t come. I’m sorry. This is an invite only party.” Leaning down, he scratched behind her ears, fingers digging into the fur.

She nibbled his fingers affectionately.
I know how to waltz.
She added enticingly.

He laughed. Her antics never failed to amuse him. “You’re too cute. We can ask Avian, but it’s up to her.”

Nikola’s excited squeak concluded his lesson.

Mathieu thanked Narrie for her time, giving her a quick hug, before scooping Nikola up and carried her in the crook of his elbow towards Avian’s room. He’d learned the castle by now, along with all of his charge’s favorite places to hide. Everything in the palace had a distinct rhythm to it, one that he had become accustomed to dancing within. Smiling down at Nikola, he rubbed her belly; she purred lovingly.

A scream broke the stillness of the hallway, coming from Avian’s room. Tightening his hold on Nikola, he dashed into action. Mathieu slammed the door open with his energy, skidding into the room with almost wild eyes.

Instead of the accosting intruder he’d expected to find, he found Avian attempting to put on her dress for the party. It was a pretty green gown that wrapped around her sensually. Except at the moment, it was half on the floor, the clasp broken in her hand.
“M-Matt, it b-broke!”
She was nearly in tears as she held the broken piece out. “Fix it….”Despite the catch in her throat, her tone was still
demanding.

Rolling his eyes, he took the clasp from her, as well as the dress, ignoring her partial nudity. Looking at it, he turned the two pieces this way and that. “It looks like you popped a stitch. Not a problem; I’ll ask Narrie to fix it.” Mathieu smiled encouragingly at her.

“Thank you!” Avian wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, kissing his cheek sweetly.

Ask her now…
Nikola brushed against him, not at all offended that he had been dropped on the floor in favor in Avian’s dress.

If Mathieu’s mind eye could have rolled, it would have.
Fine, gimme a second.
“Avian…could I ask a favor?”

“Eh?” She looked up from pulling on her pants.

Mathieu set the gown aside. “…Could Nikola come with us? To the gathering, I mean. She really would like to go…”

The young woman tilted her head and considered.
“Ehhh, why not?
We’re already going to stand out and Nikola will give us a mysterious air.”

Then I’m coming, too.
Tesla sat up from his position on Avian’s pillow, stretching languidly.

“Oh, no you’re not. Avian said Nikola, not you.”

Avian grinned and jumped onto the bed, cuddling and squishing Tesla in a playful manner. “Of course Tesla can come; he’s my friend.” She nuzzled him and laughed as
he gave a half-hearted hiss. “Good kitty!
Now.”
She sat up, holding the Shadowrider captive against her
chest.,
“Let’s go over the plan. We’ll go down to the Grand Hall at 7:30, just late enough to be fashionable, socialize until eight or so when dinner is called, dine with everyone, dance after dinner, then conclude with cocktails and more socializing. I’m hoping to meet Elise…” She kissed Tesla’s head and let him go, watching as he curled back up.

“I really don’t want to do this.” Mathieu said as he sat beside Avian and lay back, closing his eyes. “This isn’t my thing.
Grr.”

“Too bad, you already agreed.” She lay back too and turned her face to his, grinning. “You’ll enjoy it, getting to peacock around and look cute. I’ll even let you talk to people.
Maybe.”
Giggling, she snuggled against him, laying her head on his shoulder. “Hey Matt…”

“Hm?”

“You know you’re my best friend right…?”

He cracked an eye open and smiled at her. “You’re my best friend too, Avian.” Mathieu pressed his forehead to hers. Curled up together, Avian fell asleep.

He didn’t know how or when, but Avian
had
become his best friend. They had tried to keep a wall of professionalism between them, but with their personalities, it hadn’t lasted. In fact, the first time he’d gotten up early and found her changing, it’d gone away. Mainly because she started throwing anything within reach, including undergarments. The whole thing had ended when he threw them back and she slipped on a bra
that had already hit the ground. He’d caught her and they landed in a pile of panties. They laughed until neither could breathe and a companionable bond had started between them. And now, after the better part of a month together, they had become relatively inseparable even in their down time.

Smiling, Mathieu pet the young lady’s hair and slid out from under her, going to the window where a book she’d been reading the previous night laid discarded. He flipped it closed before setting it aside. Looking out the window, he realized how late it’d become during his little ponderings.

The garden below him was aglow that night. Tiger lilies and bearded irises were freckled with dew, reflecting the moonlight into the air in graceful arcs. Small lights were set intermittently along the paths that wove through the garden.

Mathieu returned to Avian and covered her with a blanket, set her glasses aside, and returned to his room once she was tucked in. The book that he’d taken from the orphanage was laying on the bedside table, open to one of the many blank pages. Night after night he’d stared at the blank pages, flipping through them. Forward, back. Back, forward. Nothing about the book ever changed except that sometimes it felt like it weighed a million pounds, especially when his mind started to wander.

Giving it a spiteful look for its emptiness, he prepared for bed.

~*~

The next morning, the suns rose bright and early. Mathieu rose with them. Looking at the ceiling, he kicked the blankets off, toes curling. This day was different from the others he’d been through. Avian’s lessons had been canceled for the gathering and he had been given the day off until that night. This suited him well because he wanted a chance to go see Grandpa. He seemed to have an extensive knowledge of things that weren’t…normal, if the few times Mathieu’s had visited him were any indication.

Grandpa might know about his mystery book and he had a driving desire to know, because it was making him insane. Getting up, he showered and dressed for the day in jeans and a frilly white shirt. By now, he didn’t bother fighting with the women about the clothing left in his dresser because he never won. Slowly but surely, he was now dressing and walking like a girl. He
pull
his long hair up into a ponytail. In the short weeks he’d been there, the white strands had taken on a lovely luster and had grown to almost below his ribs. It was getting very long and needed a trim. It was just one more thing to get done that day before the party.

He scooped up his book and shoulder bag, going into Avian’s portion of the large room. Placing a sweet kiss on her cheek, he snuck out of the room, taking up the keys to the carriage from their hook on the wall. Avian had taught him to drive it, which he did rather proficiently, if he did say so himself.

The drive took a bit longer than when Avian drove because he got lost twice; which was significantly less than the last time he drove there. However, once he got into the warehouse area, he was able to find his way. He only had to ask three people for directions, and they were
none-too-happy with his description of ‘a store in a warehouse that sells lots of crap and is ran by an old man with a cane’.

Not surprisingly, the store was exactly as it had been each time before, minus his two new companions. He and Tesla had learned to tolerate one another because they needed each other in a weird sort of way: Mathieu was the only one who could hear him and Tesla was able to teleport him to Avian in an emergency.
Although, he avoided using that mode of transportation because it left him feeling rather off kilter.
Nikola, however, was much more easy-going. She was younger and had a way of lifting his spirits; she was his constant companion. Nikola was even with him now, tucked into the depths of his bag, fast asleep.

“Grandpa?
You around here?”
He hollered, looking around at the small colored orbs on a shelf. Each was labeled with a different trait: kindness, curiosity, pride, courage, and so on. Picking up courage, a marble size orb of a rich gold color, he rolled it in his palm.

A grumble from the depths of the store told him where the old man was. He wove through the shelves to the back corner of the building, orb still in hand, where a collection of odd weaponry was assembled. Grandpa sat sharpening some curved blade that looked to be part of a set.

“Oh, Avian’s little friend. How can I help you?”

Putting his actual desire on hold, Mathieu held up the orb. “What is it?”

Fixing the younger man with a look, Grandpa peered at
the orb.
“Courage.
You swallow it and the magic helps you find that trait within yourself.”

“Hm.
How much do you want for it?” He asked, looking at it. Perhaps it would be helpful.

The wizen man grunted. “Eh, keep it. No one wants those anymore. So what do you really want?”

Mathieu put the courage into a pocket of his shoulder bag, then sat on the counter and took up a long, thin blade that balanced well in his hand. “You know a lot of things, right? Well, I was wondering if you could tell me about a book.” The blade sung as he gave it a little swing.

“Put that down. What kind of book?”

Sticking his tongue out, Mathieu set the sword down, and fished around in his bag. That was something he liked about the old man; Grandpa never beat around the bush. Mathieu’s fingers brushed over Nikola lovingly before withdrawing his book and holding it out to the man. “I…picked this up from my last house. It’s blank and I don’t know what it is, but it seems like…er, something.”

Grandpa set aside his whet stone and the curved blade. He took the book from Mathieu and flipped it open. The pages were filled to the brim with writing. “It seems pretty full to me.”

His jaw went slack. “What the--”

“Is it not normally like that?”

“No. Normally it’s blank.” Mathieu reached out and took the book in his hand, forcing it to suddenly return to its
normal, empty state. “See?”

Grandpa swiped the book back, the pages filling again. “Hm…I believe I know what this is, but where did you get it?”