Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (53 page)

“How polite, Svenak.
A snack.”
Her voice was
hallow
and reverberated around the space.

The boy god held her hand tightly, “No, Mama. He helped save you…please don’t eat him.”

Mathieu wasn’t sure how he felt about being talking about in such a way, but he did know that the mouth full of sharp teeth Naiadia sported weren’t making him feel very safe. “Not to be rude, ma’am, but Enak and I need to get going. The others will probably be waiting for us…”

Enak nodded, “Oh yeah. That’s true.” He looked between his mother and Mathieu, “Well, Mom…I should get going. You should go home, okay? I’ll…I’ll try to come home when I can.”

She growled softly but let go of her son’s hand. Glowing eyes slid over Mathieu, surveying every inch of him.
“You wear my child‘s power on your wrist...”

“Yes, Mama, he does. His father, Erik Roman, came and found me…let’s see…twenty-one years ago, I think.”

“You’ve been living outside of our realm for that long?” She petted his hair soothingly.

Enak smiled, “Yeah. It’s not so bad. And now Mathieu is going to talk over Unith in an act of vengeance. Isn’t that nice? You always did like vengeance.”

Naiadia looked at her son, “Are they good people?”

Her son nodded, smiling like a small child seeking his mother’s approval. “Yes. They’re…my friends.
Especially Mathieu.
He doesn’t think I’m weird.”

“Yes is very nice of him.
Very well, then.
I will give you something, friend of Svenak.”

“Uh?”
Mathieu said
,
feeling very left out of their conversation up to this point.

Naiadia reached out and placed her hand on his wrist. Her hands were much stronger than their brittle appearance would have him believe, and her skin was like ice. It even created the cold heat that ice did. When she pulled her hand back, there was a crystal-like object embedded in his skin. “There.
A gift for you.”

“What is it?”
Mathieu asked, brow furrowed.

Enak looked at Mathieu’s wrist and gasped. “Are you sure Mama?” The goddess nodded. “Mathieu, she just gave you a favor from the gods. The things a single favor
from the gods can do are the things of myths.”

“Enough chatter. You two have somewhere to be, don‘t you?” Naiadia snapped her fingers and in the time it took him to blink, he was standing with Enak, back in the alley they had left from. Mathieu looked around, confused.

Mathieu looked around, disoriente. Enak shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “We…should go find the others.” The boy god suggested.

“Okay…” Mathieu followed Enak back into the square. And everyone was exactly where they had left them.

“She must have turned back the clock…” Enak said in a state of semi-amazement. “And she gave you a favor. She must have been really thankful to be free.”

“She threatened to eat me,” Mathieu deadpanned. “But she does seem powerful…”

Enak laughed. “She was joking. She only eats sunlight. I’m sure she’s hungry after all this time. I hope I get to see her again…”

“I know you will.” Vincent approached them and he smiled down at the wolf
who
was in his human, teenage form. Mathieu spotted Solomon not far away, talking to a young woman. “Come on, Vincent.” Mathieu approached his boyfriend, “Hi, baby.”

“Hey. We were just talking about you.” Solomon kissed him lovingly.

“Oh?” A quick look passed between them, Solomon’s eyes begging ‘help me’. Mathieu smiled and continued,
“I was going to get some food. Accompany me?”

Solomon nodded and told the young woman goodbye before putting his hand on Mathieu’s lower back.
“Vincent, go play.”

“I am playing.” He didn’t leave Mathieu’s side.

“Don’t worry about him.” As they meandered towards the food, he recounted the trip to see Naiadia,
then
told him about receiving what was supposedly a favor. Mathieu stood in line for food as he spoke in a hushed voice. The women had made quite the spread: chicken soup with a tangy spice; juicy meat that practically fell off the bone; stemmed vegetables in a cheese sauce; and a sweet, fried roll the size of his fist. Thanking the woman who handed him his plate, and who had given him an extra roll, he returned to Solomon, who was sitting in a patch of grass.

“That was the weirdest thing. The lady gave me extra bread.”

Solomon smiled softly, “That’s because you’re very recognizable as the face of Korinth’s rebel force. Word is spreading, if I understand, and people are going to fight with us in Rosen, as well. This is good.”

“Yes, it is. And Darcia’s unit should be meeting up with us there, as well.” Mathieu took a bite of the cooked something or other, moaning as juices ran down his chin.

Mathieu?

Hey, Niveus.
How’s it going?

Images flashed before his eyes of the fallen city of Semar, as well as those in Zerieve’s unit. No one had really gotten hurt, only Akira had a bandage wrapped around her forearm.
It was easy. Tesla says they took Hart, as well. How are things there?

Not bad. I’m eating now, but the fighting didn’t take long. The citizens

 
joined
into the fight.

Good. I’ll see you in a few days. Be safe.
Niveus’s consciousness brushed over his before she withdrew from their conversation.

He turned to Solomon, “Zerieve and the rest successfully took Semar, and Avanon has Hart.”

“Grandma has captured most of the southern region. She’s laying waste to Steeta, now.” Vincent’s whimsical voice added.

“Thanks.” Mathieu gave his cousin the extra roll and pat his head. Vincent was growing on him with his airy, loyal personality. And he was damn useful in a fight.

Vincent’s eye met his cousins. “I…don’t want to go back to living in the mountains with…them. If I promise to be good, can I stay with you?”

“Well, of course you can.” Mathieu said, “I think it’d be nice to have you around.”

Solomon’s brow furrowed, “Won’t Anastasie want you back?”

“Oh she doesn’t care.” Vincent said quietly. “Banin will
take over before I will, and she’ll kill us all before giving up an ounce of power.” Vincent said with a giggle. “If I disappear, it won’t matter; and I’ll outlive all of you, so if I ever need to take over, you won’t be affected.” Leaning against the blond’s shoulder, Mathieu sighed softly and watched his cousin. Vincent was kind. It was hard to see how he was related to Anastasie.

He let his eyes slid closed, looking through the eyes of his Shadowriders. He was particularly interested in seeing how Darcia’s group was making progress. As it turned out, they were crossing over the upper part of the Hills of Hart, just south of them. This was good. It meant that they would be at the rendezvous point early. Nikola’s gaze was extremely focused on the tan colored wolf slinking beside him. Luca, Mathieu remembered he was called.

“Mathieu.
Hey, Mathieu!”
From seemingly far away, Jo’s voice was pulling him back to the square, cutting over all the others.

With a firm tug on his consciousness, Mathieu opened his eyes and blinked rapidly until his eyes focused. “What?” He called back to the boy running towards him.

“You won’t believe this! Come on, it’s amazing!” The boy grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, dragging him. “Lione and I were on watch, and they just came like this massive wave! It was crazy!”

“Jo, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mathieu trudged after his friend.

They passed the last row of buildings that marked the city and out into the valley below. And Mathieu stopped dead.
The gorge was filled with people. “What the hell…?”

Jo laughed happily, “This is what I wanted to show you. These people…they’re Unithians. And they want to help us! They didn’t believe the rumors that Korinth was invading, so these people all just sort of took a walk to come see if it was true. They’re here to help take Ateri with us!”

It was then that Lione approached them, a woman in her mid-twenties following him. “That’s him: Mathieu.”

She nodded and walked right up to him, sticking out her hand. “My name is Armel. I’ve been chosen as a sort of representative of our group.”

Shaking her hand, he could feel the calluses of someone who had worked their whole life with their hands. “It’s nice to meet you. What can I do for you?” He really doubted it was much.

“Could we maybe have a seat? Some of us have traveled from as far as Tuckern.”

“Yes, of course.
My apologies.”
Mathieu motioned to where a ring of chairs had been set up for watch. “Please.” He followed her to the seats and placed himself directly opposite her.

For the first time he noticed that she was wearing a dark colored dress and tracking boots. “Thank you.
So, where to begin.
I suppose the rumors would as good a place as any. About a month back, some of us started to hear rumors that Korinth was gearing up for an attack.”

“Some of you?”

She flushed, “There are some that like to hunt in the Outer Zone. Better game, more of a challenge. I digress.
Rumors were coming in, and by the sounds of it, Korinth, was
planning to overthrow the King. What they didn’t know was when, or how. There have been long standing bets on whether it would be a sneak attack or all out warfare.” She gave a small cough.

Mathieu nudged Jo, “Go get her some water, kid.” He returned his attention to Armel.

“Thank you kindly. Well, about two mornings ago, one of the kids from our town saw your boats slip into Unith. She ran back to tell us. I, myself, didn’t believe her at first, but after she prattled on and on, a few of us agreed to go check it out. Long story short, we figured you’d be headed for Ateri, so we meandered
North
, where we met more groups looking for you. We joined together and were ready to head for Rosen when someone thought we should check Inim first. The sounds of the fighting became pretty evident as we got closer. Now we’re here.” About halfway through the rundown, Jo had returned with a glass of water, which she now drank from, “We’d like to help you, if we can. I warn you, most of us are regular people. I’m a baker. But if you can teach us, we will learn.”

Mathieu sat back and surveyed the woman. “Well now. Who knew that we were worrying about forming an army for
nothing.
We had one assembled right here all along.” He looked up at the evening sky, contemplating.
“Very well.
Go back to your group and select ten people that are fast learners. I will give them a quick course in guns, and they can take the information back and teach the rest. Before we leave in the morning, we will arm the rest of
you. Sounds fair?”

“That…that would be excellent!
I will return in a few moments!” She sprung to her feet, eyes clearly disbelieving that Mathieu would really let them help.

“Good. Just come back up here, and Jo,” he put a hand on the young man’s shoulders, “will bring you to me.”

She nodded and thanked him before all but running back down the hill to where the others waited.

“Lione, once she brings some of her people up, go down and tell the rest to come up and join us. They can watch, but as for hands on, they’ll get it later with their own people. Also, find them somewhere to sleep.” Mathieu nodded to the raven before disappearing back passed the buildings. He wound across the square to where Solomon and Vincent still sat.