Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,52
who knew his name must have gotten it from Avian. He began to struggle again, wanting free.
The redhead came into the room and looked down at him. “I’m Nathan. We can’t let you free yet, but we will soon. Avian is fine.”
“And why can’t you let me go yet?” Mathieu said, eyes full of distrust.
A crooked smile spread across Nathan’s face. “Simple. The person who bound you to that chair hasn’t come back. They should return soon, so just calm down.”
That aside, he keyed in on his main worry. His voice was colored with distress. “Where’s Avian? What have you done to her?”
“One of my men realized that she was the Princess of Unith and brought her straight to me. She and I have been talking most of the day, and she’s being well cared for. Avian is napping right now, I believe. Once we let you out, we’ll make sure to bring you to her.” Nathan chuckled. “At first she didn’t know we had you with us, but her Highness overheard Solomon telling me that you were being rather difficult and she said that she would like you to be freed. Apparently you are very important to her.”
These answers didn’t satisfy him, but at least someone was talking to him. “Why was I locked up? And why can’t I see her now?”
“You sure ask a lot of questions.” Nathan nodded his head in agreement to his own words, taking a sip of his liqour. “You were locked up because you were with an Unithian, yet you have a gift. We didn’t know where your loyalties lie, but we couldn’t in good conscience leave you to die in those mountains. That and Avian starting biting when they tried to leave you behind.”
Sighing through his nose and doing what he could to sort through the information given to him, he asked, “Can you at least tell me where I am?”
The red-head threw his head back in laughter. “I thought that would have been obvious. You’re in Korinth. Enjoy your stay.” Nathan patted Mathieu on the shoulder before turning to go, leaving the door open in his wake.
Mathieu could see down the bright hall to where a dimly lit staircase climbed beyond his view. By leaning forward as far as possible, he could see a few steps higher, but it was ultimately futile. Huffing, he sat back up and pondered what the man had said. Avian was fine, had been ‘talking’ all day, and was now napping. He wasn’t sure about having conversations, but napping was definitely up her alley.
Groaning, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the hard wooden chair. He wanted to at least be allowed to stretch. He’d been sitting for far too long and the places where he’d been shot were beginning to ache. It was funny how moving around didn’t mean much until you weren’t allowed to anymore. Thinking about how much pain he was in and silently cursing everyone he could think of that had ever pissed him off was certainly not helping the time go by any faster, but it was a fair bit of fun. He had just gotten to cursing a frog that had scared him once when he felt a brush against his mind, Tesla’s consciousness just beyond.
Mathieu squeezed his eyes tighter and reached out, twining into the other mind. Tesla?
Yeah, it’s me. Okay, so I don’t have much time. The King is acting really paranoid. No one is saying anything about what happened. Even in his mind, Tesla was being hushed, which meant that things must really be back.
Closing his eyes again, he sighed. Thanks Tesla. I’m in Korinth, by the way. I’ll let you know when I get a better idea where.
A soft hum of agreement filled his mind before Tesla pulled away. Mathieu sighed. “Well that was a short conversation…” Said conversation didn’t tell him much. In fact, it didn’t tell him anything. Nathan had been much more helpful. Sighing, he tilted his head forward, opening his eyes; and came face-to-face with a big-eyed blonde.
“Ah!” Jumping back, the girl clutched her chest; her crystalline blue eyes wide and full of shock. “Don’t do that.”
“Uh…” Mathieu raised an eyebrow at her, not nearly as frightened by her as she was by him.
Straightening up, she put her hands on her hips, blonde hair swaying gently. Blunt bangs covered part of her eyes and she had a perpetual pout dancing on her lips. “Hello. You’re Mathieu right? I‘m supposed