Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (16 page)

The room that they ended in was a long room with a heavy stone table set in its center. Avian was sitting on its edge, looking at some sort of schematic. Nathan was also there, as was the blond man, two girls he’d never seen, one blonde and one raven, Elise, and Mina. Mina and the blond man were seated beside each other and it struck Mathieu how similar they looked. Elise was chatting animatedly to Nathan, who was in turn paying attention to Avian, and the two girls stood off from the rest.

“Avian!” His voice cut through the room like a knife.

The woman turned and when she saw him, she beamed.
“Mathieu!”
She half-tossed the sheet of paper aside, jumping off the table and running to him.

He caught her up, hugging her tightly. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Who are all these people? Did they hurt you?” The urgency in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by her.

“No, I’m fine. Goodness what happened to your hair?” She said, wiggling to be put down and tugging on his uneven strands of hair. “Let me introduce you around. Let’s see, you already know Elise and Mina. I believe you met Nathan, you’ve been acquainted to Kiev so that just leaves…” Avian’s eyes swept to the two girls, “Adele and Josette. Adele is the
blonde,
she’s a healer, whereas Josette is a firestarter.” Adele peered over at him with a seductive grin, her blonde hair pulled over her shoulder in a shortish braid. Josette had a mass of curly black hair and she wrapped an arm protectively Adele’s waist.

Smiling at them, he raised a hand in greeting. Adele
grinned and waved back energetically while Josette gave him a cold look that made him wish he was back in his little room.

“You’ve forgotten about me…” The blond man’s hands rested on the arms of his chair, eyelids lowered.

Avian flushed. “Sorry! That’s Solomon. He’s Mina’s twin.”

Mathieu’s gaze was captured by Solomon, and a weird tightening feeling spread across his chest. He broke the eye contact first, instead turning to look at Avian. “What’s going on here?”

“Well!” She hopped up to sit on the edge of the table again. “When Nathan’s men found us, he contacted Elise. She vouched for me and asked that we all talk.”

“Okay, so why are the rest of them here?” Mathieu said, staying protectively close to Avian.

She rolled her eyes. “Now who’s jumping at shadows? Mina and Elise came to see how I was doing, the girls live here, Solomon is Nathan’s right hand and Kiev is his left.” Her voice softened, “We’re among friends, okay?”

“How long has it been since…
”
Mathieu said, looking around at all of them except for Solomon.

Nathan cleared his throat.
“ You’ve
been here a week.”

“Oi…This is horrible.” Mathieu sat beside Avian, speaking directly to her. “Tesla says that your father is starting to act really paranoid. Can someone tell me where we are, exactly?”

“Why do you want to know?” The girl, Josette had her arms folded, eyes suspicious.

He glared right back at her. “I want my Shadowriders here.”

Nathan shot Josette a look. “We’re at the Tri-District Manor. This is my home.” It was clear by the look he was giving the firestarter that she needed to quit the hostilities. 

“Thank you.” Mathieu reached out and informed Tesla where they were.

Two pops later and his Shadowriders were sitting on either side of him in their medium forms, fur having a steely tint to it and fangs dipping passed their bottom jaws. They were growling softly at everyone around them.

The blond man, Solomon, saw the two monsters and his face softened. “Peace, little warriors. You’ve come home.” Holding out a hand to Tesla, the Shadowrider sniffed the digits tentatively before become his kitten form and rubbing against the man’s hand.

A betrayed look crossed Mathieu’s face, but he turned away from Solomon, looking at Nathan expectantly. He had been here longer than he wanted to be and his hand was laid protectively on Avian’s knee. “When can we go?” He asked pointedly. Avian may feel like they were among friends, but he had been restrained and held captive. He didn’t like it.

“Anytime we want.” Avian wrapped an arm around his.
“But leaving soon may be a good idea. My father, from the sounds of it, is starting to panic and we don’t need a war on our hands.” There was an appreciative laugh around the room.

The redhead man nodded. “You are an honorable woman. We will be very pleased when you take over the throne. I foresee a long time of peace before us.”

Smiling up at him, she stood and curtsied. “Thank you, Nathan. Please know that you are always welcome at the castle.”

Nathan took Avian’s hand in his and kissed it. “Your offer is very kind. We shall give you
an
Unithian carriage to reach your home in.”

Solomon stood and went to the door, sliding it open. “I’ll escort you out.
Kiev, go pull the carriage around from storage; Avian, this way.”
He held a hand out, which she took. Solomon swept the Princess through the halls.

Mathieu trailed behind them, the Shadowriders flanking him.

Solomon stopped just outside the door and looked up at the perimeter made by fifteen foot high walls, guards paroling them. “This is where I leave you. The car should be just beyond the gates.” The blond hugged Avian. “It was a pleasure to get to know you. Come back soon, won’t you?”

She kissed his cheek. “Of course I will. You’re very sweet. Come on, Mathieu.”

Giving the blond a hard look as he passed, Mathieu
followed Avian.

“Wait, Mathieu!” Nathan’s voice was calling him from the door to the house.

Turning back to look at the older man, he saw Nathan coming out to meet him. “What?” He asked.

“Listen,” the red-head said once he had reached Mathieu, “I just wanted to tell you that if you ever find yourself no longer wishing to be under the rule of Unithians, there a place for you he--”

A scream shattered the air.

“Avian!” He knew that something had gone wrong before he ever turned around. Mathieu turned and his eyes alighted on a guard from the wall patrol, standing over Avian, covered in her blood. Protruding from the junction of Avian’s neck and shoulder was a long, thick blade stabbed in almost to the hilt.

Mathieu didn’t bother fighting the anger that rose up within him. It climbed from the core of his being, ripping and tearing its way up to the surface. Temporarily, all the pain in his head and body faded into nothing. Energy started to pour out of him, forcing everyone back. It became a tangible substance, swirling menacingly around his body as he sprinted to Avian, tearing the ground up below him as he ran.

She was lying there so helplessly, eyes glazing over and blood staining emerald grass around her to a vivid, sickening red.

He knelt beside her, his armor of energy allowing an
opening for her to enter. Mathieu pulled her close to his chest, petting her hair; his hands trembled as he touched her. “No.” He said sharply, as if that would take back what had just happened. It didn’t seem possible for his body to get enough air into his lungs, for him to hold her close enough. Just like that, Mathieu’s world had frozen and was now crumbling around him like a storm.

“M-Matt…” Avian’s voice was small and scared. It reflected how she felt in his arms.

Tears started to spill over, trekking down his cheeks and landing on her face. “Avian, I l-love you, okay? I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He sat there, rocking back and forth with her in his arms; his body curled down over her, trying to protect her from prying eyes.

A shadow of a smile crossed her face as her eyes slid closed and the final breath left her body.

“AhhHHH!”
Energy pulsed out from his, shattering all the glass that made up the front of the house. The swirl of power around him got larger and more intense.

Solomon appeared to his left, a hand gripping the back of his neck at the pressure points
. Mathieu slumped into his arms.

Chapter

Eight

Mathieu awoke in the room with the bed again, sans pain. This was not the first time that he had seen this room recently, more specifically the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, he draped an arm over his eyes, fighting back the tears. They stung at his eyes, threatening to pour down his cheeks again. He didn’t have to wonder or think about what had happened. The woundless pain in his chest told him all that he needed to know. Avian was gone. His best friend of six years and now she was gone, all because he had turned away for a few moments. It was his fault, all his fault. Taking in a shaking breath, his bottom lip began to tremble. He couldn’t stop the tears any longer and they silently trekked down his face and onto the pillow. Avian flashed before his eyes, smiling at him. It felt as though she was snuggled up beside him like she did every night; but that would never happen again.

Guilt was threatening to choke him, to pull him into the abyss. He needed to say something, anything to stop the crushing feeling in his chest. It was beginning to feel as though his heart no longer beat. “A-Avian…I don’t know if you can hear me…” his tears were accompanied by heavy pants, “but I miss you. I miss you and I’m so sorry!” He was reduced to gut-wrenching sobs for a few minutes.”I-I didn’t ever listen to your favorite childhood story!” He continued to allow his emotional distress a way out until there was nothing left for him to cry out. Eventually, he curled up on his side, and he fell into a shallow sleep where dreams of Avian plagued him.

The dip of his bed was what awoke him, Kiev’s worried
face coming into focus. Her blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. “Hey…how are you feeling?” She tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear.

He felt like he was going to be sick. Turning away from her, he curled up in a ball, wanting to be alone. Her touch made him even more aware that it wasn’t Avian, her warmth not the same. Kiev was a very nice woman, but now was not the time. He hadn’t, didn’t, want anyone around him since his best friend’s death. People kept coming in and none of them seemed to understand that he just wanted to mourn and not have to be bothered with their presences.

Kiev sighed and pulled the blanket up over him. She left without another word, closing the door behind her.

Still, more people came and went between his sleep cycles; time, however, became irrelevant to him. He now measured life by pain for others to watch and pain for him to suffer through alone. He wasn’t eating and he wasn’t really sleeping anymore either. Everything was a blur to him, an excruciating, painful blur. Being asleep and being away were becoming the same. Half the time, he didn’t know if people were in his temporary room or if he was imagining them.

Memories would often float to him at random, memories of time when he remembered
Avian
most vividly as she was. Sometimes, the memories were happy.

Avian smiled up at him, leaning against him while they sat in the garden. She had a book balanced on one knee but had stopped to braid a flower into his hair.

That had been just shortly after he started protecting her.

Sometime they were funny.

He and Avian had fallen asleep on the floor, a half eaten cake between them. He woke up to Narrie dumping an entire bowl of frozen water on them and chasing the pair for a quarter hour, screeching at them that she was going to murder them.

Painful.

Avian sat on the stairs, her face hidden in her hands. He kneeled in

front
of her, trying to get her to talk to him. She finally looked up and revealed a black eye. Her father had hit her.

Peaceful.

Her birthday had come and he had taken her for a picnic. Tesla was rolling around with Nikola in the grass, playing. Both Shadowriders were huge, truly armored monsters for once and much taller than either he or Avian. Goslings had climbed a bank and come to sit by them, not two feet from their blanket. Avian had been fascinated.

Tears pricked his eyes as he remembered her smiles, the way they ranged from excited to sarcastic to playful. She was the one constant he’d had in his life.
Always there.

Avian had been lying on her bed, sick. Mathieu bounded in with an armful of flowers and kissed her forehead before she pulled him down to snuggle with him. She was petting his hair and he put his head on her chest, where he heard her steady heartbeat. “Oh
my gosh
, you do have
a heart!” “Shh!
Don’t
tell anyone.” She had said with a smile.

No matter what they did, they did it together.

The night had been cold, but she’d convinced him to climb onto the roof, and now they were lying there, staring at the stars. She pointed to various constellations, smiling as he named them for her.

The goals of one became the goals of both. Accomplishments were shared.

It was a day of triumph. Avian signed the bottom of her goal charter,

finally
finishing her declaration.
Pride welled up in his throat and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, “Congratulations.”
He said before ruffling her hair.

A solid kick to his bed jarred him from his stupor of the past.

“Okay, this is enough of your crap.” It was Solomon. “You’ve been mopping around here for almost two weeks. We’re having Avian’s service tonight, with or without you. We already buried her, and have been waiting for you before we had a ceremony, but it seems you are too
weak
to pull yourself together. We aren’t waiting any longer. Come if you want.” With that, the blond man kicked the bed again. Solomon’s heavy boot landing with a solid thud before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

Mathieu lay there for a long while, staring at himself in the reflective wall. His eyes were a dull purple and his hair had an unkempt appearance.
Two weeks…
He closed
his eyes.
Avian…

There were a lot of things that she had said to over the years, but one thing in particular was ringing in his mind: “If something is within your ability to do it, it becomes your duty to accomplish it, otherwise, you’re worthless”. She had meant it in the sense of civic duty; however, he felt that the statement applied to this situation, too. He had sworn that he would protect her; he had failed at that, but he could at least be the one to put her memory to rest.

Nodding to the Avian in his mind, the only piece that he had left of her, he sat up and pressed his feet into the floor hard. The cold stone was reassuring to him as he left the safety and security of the nest he had built for himself. He looked along the hall and found it empty.

Swallowing hard, he went down the passage and up the stairs. The glass walls allowed him to look around without having to go far, spotting Kiev in a few rooms away. Luckily, she saw him the same moment that he saw her, so all he had to do was wait for her.

She weaved through a few sliding glass doors before she was standing in front of him, a kind smile on her face. “You’re up. Let’s get you into a shower, okay? We can talk after.” Kiev took his hand, patting it in a compassionate way. Then, she led him through the maze of immobile glass walls and sliding glass doors. The room she led him to hidden behind frosted glass, for privacy he assumed. The blonde woman pushed the door open and ushered him in.

Looking in the mirror, Mathieu finally got a clear look at what sort of state he was in; it wasn’t good. A brush was set on the counter, so he picked it up and dragged it
through the tangles of his hair. It took some effort, but eventually his hair was back to its naturally smooth state, although it lacked quite a bit of shine.

It took two hours and three showers later for him to feel almost normal. His hair was back to its normal luster after being washed within an inch of its life, and his eyes were an unclouded purple again. It seemed as though the hot water washed away the worst of his guilt, helping him feel that he could make it through for a single day. Avian still clung to his
mind,
however, she was more like a pleasant memory than an accusing presence.

Looking around, he spotted a metal closet in the corner that he hadn’t seen before. Pulling it open, he snooped through it until he found something almost suitable: a baggy black shirt and jeans that were a bit too big for him. Fastening a belt around himself, he pulled the door open and found Kiev sitting there, leaned against the wall, dozing lightly.

Kiev was a slight female and it instinctively made him want to protect her, although it seemed she had something of the same feelings about him. As if sensing him there, her eyes slid open and a hand covered her mouth, hiding a yawn. “You look a lot better.”

“Thank you, Kiev…Is Nathan around?” Mathieu said, holding a hand out to help her out.

The blonde nodded. “He’s on the upper floor. I’ll take you there, yeah?”

The Tri-District Manor was something spectacular, now that he had a chance to look around. It was much larger than he had originally thought, more like a small inn that
a home. The flooring for the lower level was a mixture of polished white wood and green marble set in a pattern that reminded Mathieu of a flower. The walls were thick, clear glass, with the exception of the bathrooms. He was somewhat relieved to see that they had managed to fix the front of the house from his little outburst.

There were plenty of bedrooms that they passed, each proudly displaying the contents of the owner to him. It seemed a bit odd to him that there was no measure of privacy within the house, but he guessed that they had their reasons. Mathieu also liked how many sitting rooms there were, each furnished in a different color. They had a variety of chairs, rugs, and small tables; some were made of plush materials, some nice solid woods. They had a variety of activities to do: play chess, read books, paint, and so on.

The upper floor was one giant room that seemed fit for all situations, a cot in one corner and something like a war table at its center; the table seemed to be of some sort of digital design. Nathan was sitting next to a bookcase, reading a book under a small wall mounted light. He looked up as they approached, taking a long sip from the bourbon next to him on a small end table.
“Ah, Mathieu.
Sit. Kiev, please excuse us.”

Kiev took the dismissal with a grain of salt, smiling cheerily at Nathan. “I’ll see you down there.” She took the stairs back down two at a time after a short wave.

Nathan waited for young lady to disappear down the stairs before fixing Mathieu with a look. The redhead’s jaw was stubbly and it made a soft scratching sound when the man ran his hand across his chin in a contemplative manner. “I see that you’ve joined our world again. We
missed you on your temporary leave.” Nathan joked quietly.

Mathieu sat in a dark blue chair, tucking his feet under him. “I missed me, too. Listen, I need to know what happened. There are a few blanks that I need cleared up.” His face was set, every line serious. The man had been right; where he wanted to admit it or not, he had taken a vacation from reality, and now he needed to find his way back.

Nathan put his book aside and gave Mathieu his undivided attention. “I’m sure that you’re referencing the…demise of your Princess. I can and will assure you that he was not one of ours. Solomon had a…” the look that crossed the redhead’s face was purely evil, “talk with the man responsible and he volunteered some rather interesting information. He is…
was
an
Unithian spy. It seems that there is much we didn’t know.” He sat back in his seat, running his thumb around the rim of his glass. “We are much more enlightened now.”

“Tell me what you know now.” Mathieu’s voice was small and weak, as broken as Avian’s had been in her last moments.

The redhead gave him a long look before setting his liquor aide and moving to the front of his seat; his hand came on Mathieu’s knee. “You may not like what you hear.” Nathan said honestly, looking at the young man.

“Doesn’t matter.
I need to know, Nathan.” His gaze moved from where it had been fixed on the floor to meet grey eyes. Nathan’s face was not suited for such a serious expression with the laugh lines around his mouth and the freckles across his nose.