Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,159

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