in charge, though.” Stretching, she slipped her shoes off and pulled her legs up under her. “I think that this is the beginning to a bright future.” Avian barely hid a yawn.
“A golden age of Unith. Oh, Venee wants us to visit.” Taking a sip of some sour liquor, Mathieu sighed before relaxing into the seat. “This is the life, I swear.”
“Don’t I know it.” She closed her eyes. “Best part is, no lessons tomorrow.” Her eyes snapped open and she looked around, “…Hey Mathieu, can I ask you something?”
“Hm?”
She did a quick sweep to ensure no prying ears before continuing. “Did Mina say anything to you…that might indicate that there are…uh, potential issues in their government?”
“Issues? Like what?” Mathieu said, recalling his conversation with the strict woman.
“Like maybe Korinth is considering starting a war; I’ve been hearing rumors of it lately, but I wasn’t sure. Elise seemed very on edge when I mentioned my father and I’m afraid that war really may be coming soon. And that could be disastrous…” Her eyes were full of concern as she looked around the room at everyone there. “I don’t want to see a war erupt. I want to find a more permanent peace within the land, not this tenuous thing that we have now. Fighting accomplishes nothing, but I know my father. He’d never back down if he thought that Korinth was thinking of starting a conflict. He’d strike first.”
Mathieu pet her hair calmingly. “Avian, from what I know of your father, he’s a smart man. Surely he’ll see through any rumors and find a way to fortify the peace between the two countries. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person to jump at shadows.” His voice was full of convictions as he took a sip from his drink.
Chapter
Seven
“He’s jumping at shadows, Matt, I swear!” Avian huffed and kicked at the dashboard of the carriage. “Gaa!”
Mathieu looked over at his best friend; she had grown up a lot in the past six years. Her face had slimmed from its childish roundness and her figure had lost its baby fat, leaving behind a curvaceous woman. At a ripe age of twenty-five, everything about her had changed, with the exception of her brazen personality and her need for glasses.
“Elise is not trying to start a war and he’s stupid for thinking so! Why is he being so damn difficult about this?” She kicked the dashboard a few more times for good measure before sighing and resting an arm over her eyes. Something else that had changed over the years was her outlook on clothing. She knew how to fit in a dress when the occasion called, but otherwise it was almost guaranteed she was in jeans. “If war breaks out, it’ll be because he provokes it. I think it’s time for him to abdicate the throne. Two words, Matt: Damage. Control.” Her nose wrinkled in annoyance.
Smiling to himself, he focused on driving. They were head to Venee’s manor in Fallon for a long weekend. It hadn’t really been a planned trip, more like the King had ordered them out of the castle because Avian had lost her temper in the middle of a meeting with the advisors, but their friend had never failed to take them in whenever they showed up. They were in the mountains somewhere between Lorke and Fallon, only an hour or so from their destination.The mountains made for a slow trek, but overall, the trip had gone smoothly. “Avian, relax. Your father is just being overly cautious. You know for a fact that he loves you and just wants to protect you. Sometimes he just takes it a bit…far.”
“A bit? A bit? A bit would be taking the carriage away. A bit would be imposing a curfew. Telling me that a war is on the way and that I need to barricade myself in the underground bunker of the castle for an unknown length of time with no contact with the outside world so that I don’t ‘become collateral damage’ is being tyrannical! It’s pissing me off.” She crossed her arms and huffed, brow furrowed. Avian folded her legs up under her. “Why would he act this way? I mean, all those years ago, I might have believed that a war was on the way, but Elise makes monthly trips to have face-to-face negotiations to ensure peaceful relations and now he thinks we’re gonna have a war?”
Mathieu rolled his eyes. “Avian. Beating a dead horse again…”
“It is not