Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,19

and a sprawling monstrosity that could be used as a desk. A few bay windows jutted out of the castle walls and then were lined with pillows to sit on.

Avian tutted. “Well, excuse me. Is there anything else I should know about you?”

“Hm.” Mathieu thought for a long moment. “I don’t think so. I’m an orphan. Nothing big. Just didn’t know my parents.”

“Well! Since we ditched class today, we might as well do it right. We should go down to the grounds.”The girl yawned and got to her feet, stretching out her back.

Narrie re-emerged from her room. “You are going to the rest of your classes, young lady.”

“No, I’m not. Mathieu said it was okay.” Avian pointed to the white haired man.

“I did?” He asked, tilting his head in a confused manner.

“Yes.” Avian had a devilish look in her eyes. “I feel a shift in power within the confines of this room! A new player has emerged in this little political system, and I declare we have moved from a dictatorship to an oligopoly!” Grinning, she hopped onto a chair, balanced on one foot. “I love this new dynamic; it is wonderful!” Giggling, she suddenly started to tip, headed for the floor.

Mathieu reacted instantly, catching her the moment her foot left the chair.

“Awe, my hero!” She threw her arms around his neck and laughed. Then, she jumped out of his arms and pulled the door open. “To the grounds!” With all the speed of a bullet, she took off, racing down the hall.

In Mathieu’s opinion, this girl was very easy to please. It seemed that despite her initial label of him as a ‘creeper’, she now wanted to form some sort of alliance with him. Avian also seemed to suffer from some sort of mood swings, if he had to guess. She was very odd; Mathieu wondered if he would regret taking this job.

Narrie watched as he stood there lamely. “Better get going. You’ll lose her if you aren’t careful.”

“Er…right.” Mathieu followed the young woman out the door just in time to see Avian leaping and landing on the banister, using her momentum to carry her down the staircase. She slid down it with a practiced ease while he took the stairs two at a time, trying to keep up with her.

“Good job!” She said as she flew off the banister and rolled, coming back to her feet. Avian tore through a side door that had been partially concealed behind a bookcase, dashing past nonplused maids and astonished butlers. The path she was taking seemed well traveled and the other travelers moved out of his way as he tried to keep up with her; she was deceptively fast.

The young woman was surprisingly fast and light on her feet. She would be racing down one hallway, then suddenly would be sprinting down another, traveling in a completely different direction. Mathieu had been one of the relatively faster people at the orphanage, but even so, he nearly missed it as Avian vaulted over a food cart and through open double doors, landing with a soft thud in the castle’s lawn.

Mathieu finally caught her, panting and holding the stitch in his side, his free hand on his knees.. “Please don’t,” his breath was coming in huffs, “do that again.”

“Slow poke!” She stuck her tongue out at him, sprawled out on the plush grass. “Well, now. Let us retire to the forest’s edge and sip fruity drinks.” She rolled up to her feet, hauling him up to a standing position in the process. She smiled and hooked her arm into his. “Aren’t we just a stately pair?”

Mathieu nodded and made a non-committal noise, not completely sure what a “stately pair” was, by definition, and knowing he had definitely never been called that before. The grounds, he noticed, were immaculately kept. All of the trees were the same shape, the grass exactly level. Everything about this place said ‘royalty’. Peering back over his shoulder, Mathieu began to realize just how big the castle was in its entirety. From outside the gates, it didn’t look all that big.

“So, you told Narrie your name was Mathieu. I’m Avian Elizebeth Kathryn Renault, Princess of Unith and sole heir to the throne.” She pulled a face. “But really, I’m Avian. I won’t have any ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Princess’ or that sort of stuff. It makes me sound old, and clearly, I am not.” She smiled at him in a kind way, nose wrinkling.

That statement Mathieu could wholeheartedly agree to,