Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (48 page)

"This is it." Banin said, coming to stop before an arched entryway. Just beyond, Mathieu could see two rows of statues, all of the same animal, in different poses: standing, sitting, laying,
attacking
.

He steeled his resolve and passes under the arch, walking with a confident stride to the area beyond the statues.  There was a ring of chairs, three of them already occupied. Mathieu stepped into the circle and looked at those gathered: a woman in her thirties, a toddler in a booster seat, and a teenage boy.

"I'm looking for Anastasie." He said.

The woman smiled and motioned him to a seat, which he took, "We know. She comes within the minute."

Banin took the seat to the woman's left as Solomon came to stand behind Mathieu. And they waited. The blond man’s hand was pressed against the side of his neck. It took Anastasie less than two minutes to appear, but time had slugged along between the pointed stares and awkward silence.

Mathieu's grandmother was nothing close to what he had expected. In his mind, he saw a wizened woman, eyes
sharp and cruel. But Anastasie was nothing like that. Her hair and eyes were the same blackish-red that Erik and Banin's were, but her face had none of the same age lines. She looked like the younger sister of Erik, not his mother.

"Hello, child."
She sat in one of the two remaining chairs, legs folded under her.

"My name is Mathieu, not child, and I don't believe you are Anastasie." He said. Vaguely, he wondered if this was some sort of test.

"Believe what you wish. I must say, however, I did not expect Erik's son to look so...feminine. Your face is that of your mother's." Anastasie grinned like a cat before continuing, "So tell me, Mathieu, have you come to receive the gift of change your mother denied you of? If you are, I'm sorry to say you are too old, and Vincent has received what was meant to be yours." He hand was like a small bird, flitting to touch the shoulder of the teenager next to him. The teenage boy looked around suddenly, eyes meeting Mathieu's. Then he looked away.

Mathieu raised a brow. "I didn’t come for your curse. As part of your bloodline, I am requesting your assistance."

"Continue." She commanded.

"As I am sure you're aware, Unith and Korinth are struggling for dominance of the country. Unith wants to wage war, to take our trade routes and fertile land, forcing us from our home. Before they can strike, we plan to invade and take the castle. We plan to unify the land and share the prosperity." Mathieu said in a measured way.

She laughed, "And what concern are your petty squabbles to me?"

"Because if the king takes over, he won't just leave the Outer Zone alone.
You'll be next on his hit list. After all, the Roman’s are a source of tension for Unith.” Mathieu had done his homework about his lineage the night before. A long time ago, the Romans had been a predominant advocate for the freedom of Korinth. They had a military of their own back then and had driven back every advance of Unith to take over. Over the years, however, Korinth and the Romans had stopped seeing eye-to-eye; Korinth’s leaders wanted peace and equality, while the Romans wanted to have a dictatorial hand over the people. The Romans had subsequently retreated into the mountains of the Outer Zone, and since then had been the enemy of both countries.

Anastasie's eyes narrowed, clearly turning his statement over in her mind.
"What would you need of me?"

" My
forces and I are going to take the castle, however we need to get there as quickly as possible, meaning we don't have time to seize every city. All I need from you is to lock down the cities we don’t travel through, and stop any reinforcements from coming to help Ateri. Their military resistance should be minimal." Mathieu gave a silent prayer that she'd agree.

Shrewd eyes looked over Mathieu. "For arguement's sake, pretend I agree. What do I gain from this?"

"What do you want?" He asked.

She feigned thinking, "Well, since my first born grandchild was denied from me, I shall accept your first
born as payment." Her teeth, which were more like a wolf’s fangs, were bared in a winning grin.

Mathieu could have laughed. Erik had perfectly predicted her demand. "That's a problem considering I'm gay. I would never take a woman." For added emphasis to his statement, Solomon put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Ah. Then this means you have brought your...lover with you."

Solomon's voice was slightly softer than normal as he spoke, "Silly woman, a man would not send his mate into the clutches of a beast alone."

"Said the unnatural one.
Where is your lovely sister, Solomon? I know she made the voyage with you."

Mathieu stood before any more words could be exchanged, "Enough, I don’t have time for this. Do I have your support for my invasion or not?"

Her body relaxed from the tense position she had taken, poised on the edge of her seat. "You will have my support, but should you win your campaign, you will leave me and mine alone. Complete autonomy. This is my offer."

"That's fine. The invasion begins one week from tomorrow. I will send word of where to meet us." Mathieu said, still positioned between Anastasie and Solomon.

She waved her hand. "That is sufficient. See your way out. And don't forget the trash." Her head tilted toward
Solomon.

~*~

Mathieu was walking beside Solomon back down the road, a frigid silence between them. Solomon and Anastasie's tense attitudes towards each other had created an awkward vibe as they left, all of the animals giving them cold regard.

"How was I supposed to know that she was
the
Anastasie?" Solomon said with a frown.

Mathieu frowned in return. "And what does
that
mean?"

"She's been around for a lot longer than you think.”
Solomon said, brow furrowed.
“And she wasn't born here. Anastasie was born in Giath, where Mina and I come from. She was one of the most fearsome of her kind, those that change, and she made sport of hunting rare creatures. Mina and I were almost caught by her a handful of times before the dictator granted us asylum." He crossed his arms over his chest, having stopped walking while he talked.

Mathieu rubbed his forehead. "You know what, that doesn't even matter. You couldn't behave for twenty minutes so I could close a deal and get us reinforcements. We'll be lucky if she shows up, now!" His exasperation had him throwing his hands in the air.

"Oh yes, let me just forget about the years that my sister and I spent in terror, barely sleeping for fear that Anastasie would find us. I've felt her fang, Mathieu. It's not something you forget..."

"Solomon, I love you so much, but I wish you had held your tongue until we were out of there." Sighing, he hugged Solomon. He didn’t want to fight, and it couldn’t be changed now. "Let's take today off, okay? We'll go back to that inn, get some dinner, and book a room. You and I can spend the night away from the others...." He smiled sweetly. “No Jo or Lione in our bed.”

Solomon smiled, too.
"That sound pretty nice, Mathieu."

Mathieu kissed him before pulling away and taking off down the road at a sprint, hurtling a cart someone had stopped in the middle. Solomon was right behind him and chased him all the way to the inn. That was something Mathieu really did love about Solomon. Since they had become a ‘them’, Solomon didn’t hold onto his annoyance or anger anymore. At least not with him, and that was all that Mathieu wanted. They ended up panting on the wraparound porch of the inn, leaning against the wall.

"I totally won." Mathieu said between large heaves of air.

Solomon took a deep breath, and stood up straight.
"In your dreams.
But I'll pay for dinner, if you'll let me."

Mathieu nodded and stood, too, following the blond into the dining area. They sat at a table by the window, waiting for the server. When she finally came around, Mathieu ordered a pasta and cheese plate, Solomon choosing a steak cooked rare. They smiled at each other, something sinfully unspoken between them.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Another week had passed since the meeting with his grandmother, and Mathieu was
back
home. Jo was still mad at him for not returning the next morning, but everyone had understood their need for a short break. As it was, evening was well on its way to falling, slowly darkening the landscape. Mathieu sat on the edge of the cliff, Avian's statue at his back. Before the invasion, he wanted to see his mother once more. He wondered if he could. Closing his eyes, Mathieu took a few deep breaths, reaching out for those he'd lost. This time, he pushed out of his body with ease and slid through the encroaching darkness into the light.

Anita and Avian were waiting there for him, as was Nathan. The three smiled, his mother coming to hug him. She smelled like lilac, coffee, and sunshine.

"Hey, mom.
How are you?" He looked her over.

She patted his hair, "I'm wonderful. And I like the hair." He had cut it the day before to his jaw, giving it a feathered look.

"Thanks. Erik cut it. I didn't want it to get in the way once we start fighting." Mathieu turned to greet Nathan. "How are you doing?"

The redhead grinned lazily.
"Ah, better than you.
Have you slept at all, lately?"

"Between getting your son to open up, my father, and my relationship with Solomon, on top of the invasion, I haven't really had time." He smiled. “Lione is a good kid, you know.”

Nathan laughed heartily, patting his shoulder. "You're doing fine, kid. And yeah, I know. He is my son, after all."

Avian plowed passed the others and nearly tackled him to the floor, "Don't take so long to come see me, jeez. I missed you. And I saw that grandmother of yours. She was a real bitch."

"Agreed, but she's going to help ensure our victory." He hugged her fiercely, "Narrie says hello, just so you know.
As does Grandpa."

"I miss them. But that's not what's important. Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to see my family before..."

"Before the fighting."
Anita said in an understanding way. He found it hard to be mad she abandoned him since she was dead.

Mathieu nodded slowly, "I don't know when I'll have the time to see you until after the invasion. And I didn't want you guys to feel like I'd forgotten you."

"You better not forget me!" Avian said, putting him into
a headlock.

"How could I ever do that?" He relaxed into her hold.

Anita rolled her eyes, "Break it up, you two. I want to see my son while he's here."

"Thanks, Ma. Listen, I can't stay much longer because they'll be expecting me for dinner, but I love you. Erik and I really miss you, so much."

She hugged him again, "I miss you, too. I wish we could have known each other. You better be careful, okay? Don't get hurt while you're fighting. Watch your father's back."

"Yeah, yeah."
They both
smiled,
their faces mirrors of each other. "I should get going soon." Even these short moments with the ones he had lost were worth it.

"Could I have a minute before you go?" Avian said, seemingly shy.

He nodded and kissed his mother's cheek before following his best friend a few feet away. Once out of earshot, she turned to him.

"So, I have a favor to ask. You can say no, but I at least need to see..." She looked at the ground, tapping her foot on the ground in a nervous way. "With this invasion, I know you're one of the ones who will take the castle. I also know that you won't spare my father, and he doesn't deserve it, but...if you have it in you...could you maybe spare my mother? I mean if you can't, I'll understand, but if you can...I mean..."