Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (9 page)

He decided that the man was holding back because whenever the woman’s hits became sloppy, he’d return the hit, showing her how to do it properly. And the hit generally was much more powerful that Avian’s was.

Mathieu found Avian to be an enigma. How did she go from talking about negotiations with Korinth, to childish enthusiasm over a book, and ending on regressing to a near fistfight during a fencing lesson? She was a constant source of surprises, and not just for him it seemed.

“Alright, let’s break.” The instructor dropped her from the hold he had her in and pulled his face guard off.  “You’re doing well today. Managing to stay focused.”

Avian pulled her mask off too, yawning again. “Thanks.” She lay down in the grass and closed her eyes. “Damn, I’m tired.”

“You say that every day. Now, who are you?” He turned to Mathieu and gave him an appraising look.

“Mathieu.
Why?” The white haired man said, folding his arms over his chest.

The man sat in a chair next to Mathieu. “Just wondering who was hired to protect her royal pain-in-the-ass.”

“Well, that’d be me. I don’t fight like you guys do, but
the king felt that I’d be able to defend her in a do or die situation…” He picked at the hem of his shirt.

Nodding, the man picked up his water bottle and took a long swallow. “Ultimately, that’s what matters.”

“What’s your name?”

“Demetri Uliff.”

The name meant nothing to him, but the way it was said indicated that he was supposed to be impressed. “That’s er…cool?”

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” Demetri queried.

“Not the slightest.”

Avian perked up. “He was a top notch fighter until he had to retire because of an elbow injury. So now he just picks on me. I mean teaches. Yes, teaches.”

“You get everything you deserve, child. Don’t complain.” Mathieu took this time to look closer at the man. He couldn’t be that old, maybe thirty or thirty-five, and his had the crooked nose of a fighter. His jaw seemed to be permanently set in a look of displeasure, and Demetri’s nostrils flared whenever he exhaled. The skin that covered him was the color of night.

Indignation filled Avian’s voice. “Excuse me, but you digressed first, okay? I just protected myself!” Huffing, she chucked her face guard at Demetri with every intention to cause harm.

Easily, he knocked it away before it got close. “Your
maturity does astound. By the way, your aim sucks and you should learn to throw harder.”

“I’m a
woman
, not a machine!” Her nose wrinkled in displeasure at him telling her that she wasn’t up to par. “If you think I’m so lame, why don’t you tell Dad so he’ll tell you to force me to go pump iron or something?”

“Never said you needed to be accurate or strong. I was just pointing it out, Avian. You really should lean to handle criticism better.” Demetri stretched his legs out.

“I handle criticism
just
fine!” She threw her foil too and was nearly in tears by the time Mathieu came to her side. He had the sword thing in one hand, the face guard in the other.

Sitting beside her, he gave her a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

Sighing, she wiped her eyes, avoiding his gaze. “I’m
fine
. Sorry. I get a bit…on edge when I don’t sleep well.
Nothing to worry about.”
She smiled, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “Listen, I know that when I have my lunch is some of your only time off, but if you wanted to come eat with me, you’re more than welcome to…no pressure or anything like that. Just wanted to let you know…” With that, she got to her feet and put her face guard back on, ready to go round two with her instructor.

Demetri nodded to him as he passed and patted his shoulder, silently telling him that he diffused the situation well.

Yawning himself, Mathieu took his seat again and watched Avian. He was worried that something more was
bothering the young woman, but not having known her very long made it hard for him to read her. Maybe it was just easy for her to be upset when tired. Women were weird.

Demetri didn’t give an inch this time, unlike before when he’d allowed her to get under his guard, she now had to fight for every touch and every extra hit. Mathieu also saw that Avian had been holding back before, as well. The small speed that she had used the day before was back, keeping her feet constantly moving and her hands blurring through the air, the foil in one, the other a fist.

The only way he could have described it to someone who hadn’t seen her was that it was like seeing a statue in the path of a storm, so sure it was going to be destroyed, and then the statue was sprinting away, not hurt in the slightest.
Very deceptive.
Dancing was what it also something the duo reminded him of.
A well choreographed dance that they performed without a hitch.

What does she need a body guard for?
Mathieu was genuinely wondering why he was hired if she could fight like this.

His instinct told him something was going to happen before his eyes told him what it was. And by then, his body was already in motion, as were the others. Thinking back, he figured that it happened something like this: something inside him told him that Avian was in trouble, he jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could to get between her and the stray blow, he realized he wouldn’t make it in time and something welled deep in him, forcing itself out and between the two people sparring.

The ‘something’ was a very solid, very colorful barrier. It
was made of energy if the way that it swirled and shifted was any indication.

“What…what is this?” Avian reached her fingertips out to touch it. “It’s warm…did you make this happen?” Her gaze was locked with his, sharp and confused.

Mathieu was shaking slightly. “I d-don’t know…I might have. I just…wanted to protect you…” He said it lamely, still a few feet from her.

Avian lifted her eyebrow. “Can you control it?”

The truth was, he did know what it was and he
could
control it normally. His panic had just loosened his hold on it. It was energy that both lived inside of him and that he drew from the world around him. Normally, he could focus it down to a small barrier between him and others if a fight got serious, but it took effort and concentration that he generally couldn’t devote while fighting. This explosive, protective nature wasn’t usual for his energy. “Eh…”

Demetri looked between the two of them. “I think we’re done for today, Avian...” The man said. Demetri was smart enough to know when his cue to leave came up.

She nodded in acknowledgement, her gaze not straying from Mathieu. As soon as Demetri walked away, she let her hand drop from where it had been touching the warm energy. “You didn’t answer me, Mathieu.”

He pulled the energy back into himself and closed his eyes. “Yes, I can control it…”

“But you didn’t mean for
that
to happen.” She asked,
looking for clarity.

“I panicked. My control of it isn’t always the best when I get emotional. It could tell you were going to get hurt and reacted appropriately.” He tried to shrug it off, make it no big deal.

Avian was perhaps too smart for her own good, Mathieu decided, if the comprehending look in her eyes was as dangerous as he though
..
“Then you need to practice with it. That’s what Professor tells me about my inability to keep my mouth shut.
Practice.”
She closed the distance between them and touched his shoulder.

Mathieu recoiled. “You d-don’t think I’m a freak?” He’d always held onto his energy tightly, scared that the people who saw it would think he was a freak and
try
to abandon him, or worse, kill him. But here was
Avian
, hand on his shoulder after having just seen him stop a man easily three times his size without touching him.

“Of course not!
Honestly, I think it’s kind of…pretty.” She flushed and wrinkled her nose, eyes soft. “Everyone has something they’re ashamed of or something that they hide from everyone else. It happens. We’re only humans.
Flesh and blood.
We make mistakes, we feel ashamed. Don’t worry about it.”

“Avian…” His eyes welled up, his hand reaching up to lay over hers. Now he was the one being emotional; he didn’t feel like an idiot as he might have if she hadn’t just lain to rest one of his biggest fears.

She smiled. “Let’s go get something to eat. Food always makes me feel better.” She patted her tummy and he realized that she was speaking from experience: her
weight was something she was ashamed of.

As soon as she was out of her whites, he took her hand and walked beside her.

~*~

After having eaten their hearts’ fill, they still had nearly ten whole minutes to just sit and talk.

“You sure get that stuff. The academic side of it, I mean. The way you absorb information…”

She sipped at her minty, fruity concoction. “Yeah, well. I grew up alone, reading a lot. I have a pretty decent foundation of knowledge to build from, even if what I know is
completely
useless. Most of what they say isn’t important anyway.” She fixed him with a look. “Mathieu, I know that in the grand scheme of things, I can’t teach you many things, however, I can teach you one thing. Ultimately, the majority of what people say is a load of crap. In order to succeed at life, you need to hear what they aren’t saying. You get it?”

“No.”

She sighed. “It’s like this. If some lady is talking about how much she misses her husband because he works so much and they hardly spend time together anymore, she doesn’t miss him. They fight a lot is why. She’s mad because he always escapes to work before she can win an argument. She hates that she isn’t the most important thing in his life anymore.”

“…I wouldn’t get that at all…”

Grinning, she thumped her glass onto the table. “Always remember, it’s the things they don’t say. It’s what they’re implying. By the way, we better get going, or we’ll be late for lessons.”

“What classes do you have left?” Mathieu said, already forgetting what Avian had just said.

She stood and polished off her drink. “A lovely mixture of learning about government styles and deciding what kind of ruler I’ll be along with goals I aim to accomplish, then free study, and finally more literature.”

“That sounds horribly boring...”

“Learning is important.
And fun.”
Shrugging, she smiled down at him.

“I’m coming…” Stretching and getting up, he held his arm out. They turned towards the palace and crossed the sweeping lawn. Even in the short time that he’d been at the castle, the excessive number of windows, long hallways, and high ceilings were becoming a comfort to him. They were very beautiful and they cocooned him. Of course he still couldn’t navigate to save his life.

Depositing her in a seat once they were in the library-slash-classroom, he smiled a little shyly and sat beside her. What the teacher said didn’t matter to him, so he watched out the window as their lunch table was quickly collapsed and cleaned away, the lawn fluffed back up.

Rolling his eyes, he wondered how appearances of some grass can mean so much. The Professor wasn’t there. In fact, they were the only thing there wasn’t made of paper and smelled vaguely like pipe tobacco. “Where’s the
teacher?”

“She’s probably late. Pregnancy hasn’t been easy on her.”

As if on cue, the woman Mathieu presumed was the teacher busted through the door. “Sorry!” Her hair was aflutter as she came in, coming to rest in long red curls that cascaded down her back. Her face was heart-shaped and she had kind eyes that were well-suited for motherhood. Smoothing her hands down her dress and over her protruding tummy, she swayed to the window. “So
Avian
, who is your little friend?”