Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,39

of scissors snipping hair.

The man finished with his hair and Mathieu thanked him profusely. Digging in his pocket, he tipped the man before leaving the little shop, carrying Tesla as they made their way up to Avian’s room; he dumped Tesla onto the vacated bed. A large chunk of the day had passed so it wouldn’t be easy to pin down Avian while she was deviating from her daily schedule. But maybe that was better because that would give him some time to finish up the things he had in his mind to finish.

Narrie came in with a basket full of laundry to be folded. “Oh good, you’re here. Help.” She threw a pair of pants at him, which he barely caught, and set the basket down. “So, I mended Avian’s dress and fixed the cuff on your suit. Your tie had a rip in it, so I had to find a replacement. I picked another one, silver, and put it in your closet.”

“Thanks, Narrie. Very sweet of you.” He folded the pants before picking up another article of clothing to be folded and laid it on the appropriate person’s pile of clean laundry. “You’re a lifesaver. And I wasn’t sure how to fix her dress, or I would have.”

“No worries. It only took me a few minutes. I told her that she had to be careful with that thing. The seamstress isn’t always very good at making clothing as durable as needed.” She rolled her eyes and scooped up her clothes. Narrie disappeared into her room to put it away; her voice was slightly muffled by the wall. “If you want to score major points with Avian, go down to the garden and pick a flower for her hair before it gets done. She likes little things like that.”

Mathieu had been thinking of doing something like that. “Yeah, I think I will. A tiger lily.”

Narrie came out and began to put away Avian’s clothes, stowing them in the two different dressers. “Yellow would make her dress pop, but red or blue would accentuate her eyes.”

“I like the blue ones best. That’s what I’ll get her. What time is her hair getting done?” Mathieu said, pulled out the pocket watch Avian had given him and checked the time.

Closing her eyes, Narrie thought. She had all of Avian’s schedules memorized. “Hm…5:30, I believe. She normally starts getting ready about two hours early.” She shrugged. “By the way, is your hair shorter?” The woman asked with a critical eye.

“I only had like an inch trimmed off. The ends were dead.” Mathieu said defensively and pushed it over his shoulders self-consciously, then he took his laundry and put it away before setting his shoulder bag aside. He fished Nikola out of its depths and set her on his pillow.

She puffed up slightly before glowing brighter and changing forms to her feline self. Mathieu, what time is it? Do we get to go to a party yet?

“No, hun. Sleep some more if you want. I’ll wake you in a bit.” He said, petting under his chin. “I won’t forget you.”

Mmph. What time is it?

Mathieu huffed and tugged lovingly on her ear with two fingers. “It’s just after 5 o’clock, okay?”

Nikola stretched, then curled back up, eyes sliding closed. Mathieu kissed her head before leaving her alone.

~*~

The garden was lovely during the day. The flowers were reaching for the suns, singing softly as they swayed in the breeze. Quickly, this place had become his favorite area on the grounds. The tiger lilies were all together, circling the area where a beautiful wrought iron bench sat in the center of the mini-maze. They ranged in color from red to blue, green, purple, and a few shades in between. Smiling, Mathieu knelt beside the blue ones. He began to hum softly, delicately touching a petal. The flower in question rose to him, rubbing against him. They were curious little things.

Wrapping his fingers around its stem, he focused his energy and created a smooth, clean cut. Pulling it free, he cupped his hands around it, and encased it in a ball of energy; the flower floated up from his hands and hovered there, safe from being damaged. Checking his watch again, he nodded to himself and delicately poked the little bubble forward, back toward the palace.

When he got back to Avian’s room, the young woman was perched on a stool and watching as the lady behind her piled her hair on top of her head in an elegant