Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (20 page)

Ithaine laughed wispily at him. “Of course I do. I am the third daughter of Mana the Stoned and Trelk the Wary, great-granddaughter of Shae the Wise.”

That meant absolutely nothing to him, but her tone implied he should be impressed. “That’s…cool?”

She sighed and smoke left her mouth like a dragon’s fire. “I grow tired of your presence. I’ve seen all you have to offer. The sadness, the desperation, the sparks of passion you feel
fo
—“

“Then if you’ve seen enough of me,” Mathieu said over the top of her, afraid of what she might reveal to the man sitting behind him, “then maybe Solomon should ask what he came to ask you so we can be on our way.” Being dismissed so rudely and so soon made
him
frown, but he kept his opinion of her manners to himself.

A silent laugh flitted across her face, but she nodded slowly, invitingly.

“Ithaine, I need to know what to do. Elise says—“

Her face distorted into a snarl, “I know what
she
says.” Her short words matched the look on her face, “Another energy user.
Angry power that will not stand the test of time.
His father is one of four, and his power stems from a source I do not see. Bridle it before he burns up in his own white flame.”

Nothing she said made sense to Mathieu. “Excuse
me
?” He said.

“Do what your heart calls for your head to do. The sweetest nectars come from the deadliest fruits.” Ithaine continued, addressing both and neither of them.

Solomon’s voice came from over his head this time, “I hear your words, Ithaine, but I do not heed all of them.” The blond’s tone was almost as rude as the girl’s previous manners were. It took only a subtle move from Solomon to compel Mathieu to his feet, trailing the other out the door. A million questions at the sudden change in the pair’s exchange bubbled just below the surface.

Mathieu waited until they were outside of the room. “What the
hell
was that about?”

“Ithaine is a Sensor; among the rarest of her breed. You can always tell one because they don’t live past about thirty and they’re blind.
Always.”

Filing that small piece of information away to a time when it may be helpful, Mathieu continued. “Why did she seem so mad when you brought up Elise?”

Solomon’s pace back down the hallways was clipped, as
was his voice. “Not that it’s your business, but Elise is Ithaine’s older sister. Elise is something of the golden child. Ithaine is rare and powerful, but Elise is practical. While her sister runs part of an empire, Ithaine is confined to the family home until she dies. It’s rather sad, actually.”

Mathieu watched his feet as he walked, the shoes he was borrowing a size or two too large. “That’s sad.”

The blond didn’t say anything more, only held out a hand to Mathieu. Solomon pulled the white haired man close and transported them back to the training facility, where they found Kiev. Her hair was pulled back and her hands were glowing like the bonds that had held him his first night in Unith. The glow was a bluish white, and extended in thin lines out from her hands. It took him a moment to realize that they were strings, like a marionette.

At the other end of said strings was another girl with jet black hair streaked with every color imaginable. Her hands were glowing too, however they were a flaming red, and she was currently dangling over a rafter, suspended by Kiev’s strings. “Let me down, Kiev! This isn’t fair!” The stranger kicked her feet and whined. “Don’t make me hurt you!” She shrieked as Kiev lifted her up higher and let her fall for a moment, catching her just before she hit the ground.

“Haha!
It’s an Avanon-piñata!” Kiev was laughing and lifting the other girl once again.

Avanon, as Mathieu now knew her name to be, wrinkled her nose and grasped the strings she was held captive by. They began to turn red and the color crept back along the
strings towards Kiev. The red reached the blonde girl’s hands, turning them scarlet
.“
Ow!” Kiev broke the strings and cradled her hands to her chest.

Landing smoothly on her feet, almost catlike, Avanon grinned and let the glow around her hands die down. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

“You were aiming to hurt me!” Kiev shrieked.

Avanon put her hands on her hips, snarling. “You were performing the queen’s torture on me!”

“You’re exaggerating.” The blonde woman bent her burnt fingers and winced slightly. A few blisters were forming on the delicate skin of her hands.

Mathieu stepped forward and smiled. “Here Kiev, let me help you…” He quickly healed her hands with his energy, wanting to show off a little. “There you go, hunny.”

Solomon was at his shoulder, giving the girls an annoyed look. Muscled arms were folded over an equally muscular chest and the look in his eyes was disapproving. “Ladies, didn’t I tell you
not
to train together unsupervised. Something about neither of you having any restraint and both of you having a sadistic streak?” Both women looked at the floor and mumbled, blushing.

Elbowing Solomon in the ribs for making them behave in such an abashed way, Mathieu studied the new female. “Hi.” He said with a bright smile. Ithaine was already a million miles away from his mind.

Avanon looked up, smiling. “Hey. You must be Mathieu. You’re quite the talking point at the house. I’m Avanon.”
She held a hand out. Mathieu hesitated to take it and she laughed. “I won’t hurt you. Kiev just needed it.”

Mathieu finally took her hand and shook it, looking at her up and down. She was built athletically and had tattoos on her cheeks, but she looked good. The mass of colorful and black hair didn’t hurt her case.
“Really now, a talking point?
And what is your gift?” He inquired curiously.

She laughed, cocking one hip to the side. “Yes, you have everyone in something of a fit. I’ve been away, but apparently you destroyed the whole front of the Tri-District Manor. I wish I’d been there for that. Anyway,” Avanon said, jumping into a different topic. “Anyone that I can make skin contact with, I can burn.”

“That’s so cool!” Mathieu exclaimed, looking at Avanon with a sense of awe. His eyes flicked to the other scolded woman.
“And Kiev, what is your gift?
Cause those string things were pretty legit.”

Kiev tossed her hair in a proud manner. “I’m a puppeteer.”

“Wow!” Mathieu looked at her with big eyes. “So can you, like, control anyone or anything?”

“Sadly, no.
There are a lot of factors.” The blonde woman said, looking to the side.

Interest peeked, Mathieu raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Kiev sat on the floor and folded her legs below her, as if expecting the others to do the same. “Well. Okay, first, it depends on the size of the object. The smaller the object I
want to control, the easier. A bunny is easier to control that a tiger. Then I need to consider something’s will. That really only applies to people, though. If their will power is stronger than mine, I can’t hold them. Oh, and the closer their will power is to mine, while still not being as strong, the less time I can control them. Physically, the bigger they are, the harder it is to control, too.” Kiev nodded decisively. “So it boils down to this: how big is it, how much will does it have, and does it have a gift or power, too.”

Mathieu had sat as she spoke, and was listening intently. “That’s a lot of things to consider before you put your gift to use.”

Kiev laughed and wiggled her toes. Her hands wrapped around the ends of her feet and she rocked to the side slightly. “Yeah, but it’s so worth it. My powers kicks ass because I can control a person’s mind if they’re weak, on top of their bodies once I get my strings around them.”

“I bet I could take you.” Mathieu teased slyly.

Solomon groaned.

“Alright!”
Kiev hopped to her feet, blonde hair swinging, and skipped away from the others so they had room to fight. She lifted her hands, holding them parallel to the floor in front of her.

Mathieu stood, too, and took a basic fighting stance.

The lights above them were humming softly and there was a brief moment where silence filled the room. They both moved at the same time, Kiev flicking her fingers up and letting strings of light shoot straight for him, Mathieu
jumping through the air towards her, funneling his energy into a sword that mimicked the broadswords he and Solomon had been using earlier. It ended in a shower of energy sparks. Kiev’s strings had wrapped around his wrists and midriff before she had pulled her elbow back sharply, drawing her hand back, and redirecting him into a nearby mirror. Her strings had sunk into his skin and started to strangle him as she slammed him into the wall repeated. All the while she closed the distance between them; her hand danced through the air, making beautiful patterns as she manipulated the strings.

He ended up on the floor, hogtied, and looking up at Kiev. It had been the shortest fight he’d ever been in and he’s been thoroughly beaten. Wrinkling his nose up at her, he huffed.
“Very funny.
How did you beat me so easily?”

“Let me explain,” Solomon said, draping an arm over Kiev’s shoulders as the strings disappeared, “Kiev is my second-in-command. She’s just as tough, rude, and powerful as I am. She’s smart, too.” Kiev blushed and closed her eyes, smiling; the praise made her practically glow. As he spoke, he helped Mathieu up.

“I never would have known…” Mathieu looked at the pair of blonds, his eyebrows practically at her hairline. It was strange, but in a weird way, it made sense to him. “That’s really cool, Kiev! I mean, you’re like one of the strongest people here.” He looked at the girl, hands on his hips. So easily, he had been beaten and he was beginning to realize just how far he had to go before he could even hope to get his revenge.

“Well thank you.” Kiev said, taking Mathieu’s hand. “Come on.” She smiled at him and led him back to where
Avanon was standing. They took a seat on one of the mats; while the rest engaged in idle chit chat, but his mind was lost in thought. Mathieu really hoped that Solomon would take training him seriously so that he could become stronger. In Unith, he had been strong and his powers were impressive; but here in Korinth where everyone was rather special, he didn’t stand out at all. Maybe he wasn’t as amazing as he had always thought that he was. Sighing through his nose, he shook his head and tried to focus on what the others were talking about.

Finding it easier that he thought, he listened to them talk and learned quite a bit. Mathieu discovered that Avanon and Solomon were best friends, that Kiev had been born under Nathan’s care so he treated her like his own, and that Nathan had practically adopted everyone staying in the manor.

“So, have you met Lenore yet?” Avanon asked from her perch on Solomon’s lap.

Mathieu shrugged one shoulder. “I haven’t
met
her, per
se,
however, I’ve seen her.”

Avanon nodded with a smile.
“Gotcha.
She’s very cool. But you should meet her soon so she can make your weapon.”

“Does she really make everyone’s weapon?”

Kiev took the question.
“Yeah.
She’s a metalbender so it doesn’t take her long. However, it drains her energy majorly, so she tries not to make too many at a time.” Kiev frowned slightly. “I feel a little bad, though ‘cause she works so hard and it really messes her up.”

Frowning as well, Mathieu gave the blonde woman a confused look. “Why does she do it if it’s so hard on her?”

“Well, she isn’t very good at fighting, but she wants to be helpful.”

Solomon chuckled. “That and no one else can make a weapon like she does.”

Mathieu mulled that over for a moment. “Huh.” He found her sacrifice rather noteworthy. “So, what kind of weapons do you two use, ladies?” Mathieu asked curiously.