the flow of power; Mathieu, however, got battered by the brunt of it.
He could feel it pulling at his clothes and hair, trying to push him back. But it was deeper than that, digging into his soul. Gritting his teeth, Mathieu pushed his energy out into a shield, trying to stop the pain; it helped minimize the spirit wrenching sting, but it took a few moments for the aching to stop completely. At some point, he had squeezed his eyes shut, and as he cracked them open, he found himself lying on the floor, face to face with Solomon.
“Hey…” The blond was grinning down at Mathieu. “You okay? Probably should have warned you…”
Avanon made a tutting sound from somewhere above him. “I warned him! He just didn’t listen.”
“I didn’t know you meant right then!” Mathieu groaned as he tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest wouldn’t allow it. It seemed that since moving here, he had become immobilized far more often than was normal. His hand landed on his chest and he rubbed softly. It was like a strained ache.
“Let me see.” Solomon ordered, already pushing up Mathieu’s shirt.
Flushing, Mathieu batted at him as best he could. “Hey, hey, hey! Knock that crap off. Stripping me is indecent.”
Green eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Just let me see, okay?”
Mumbling, he sat up with some help and pulled his shirt up, letting Solomon see. Two small, runic marks had appeared on him, one on the front side of each shoulder; the space between them was red and looked like it might bruise. Gentle fingers poked at the marks and then the injured area, prodding questioningly.
“Thought so…” Solomon said after a thorough inspection, letting Mathieu’s shirt drop back into place. “Listen, I’m sorry. You didn’t guard fast enough, so we ended up leaving a mark where our energies flowed through you. It might tingle for a while, just so you know. But otherwise, you should be fine.” He patted Mathieu’s shoulder. “Your first battle scar, kid. See why I didn’t want to let Darcia loose on your first? Have to toughen you up a bit.”
Darcia came over and knelt down too. “Solomon, I’m only hard on you. I’d think that my apprentice would be stronger than me by now. But,” his dark gaze turned to Mathieu, “I’m sorry you got hurt. I’m not normally this violent.”
Kiev spluttered, “Oh please! You’re always violent! You broke my collarbone the first time we sparred!”
Darcia grinned toothily. “Then I’ll clarify. I wouldn’t dream to hurt our newly prized little flower.”
“Who are you calling a flower?” Mathieu struggled to his feet, letting his healing energy flow through him and do whatever it could to help him. “Jeez, you guys are a pain. Roughing me up like that…” He blew his bangs out of his face, running fingers through his unevenly cut hair. Mathieu still hadn’t bothered to get it evened out.
Darcia patted his head. “Look at how pretty the flower is when he preens. Like a little doll. Or a duchess.” Darcia lifted his nose in the air and made a pinched face.
“No a duchess, The Duchess.” Solomon and the raven were giving each other identical grins.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Duchesses are girls and I am clearly not.” Mathieu folded his arm and huffed.
Kiev chuckled. “It seems our family has a new little lady.”
“This is stupid. Call me a girl again, and I’ll lay the smack down on all of you.” Frowning, He turned away from them.
Throwing her blonde haired head back, Kiev gave a hearty laugh. “I already beat you once today; I’ll do it again anytime.” Their little circle reformed around Mathieu. “If we say you’re a girly girly Duchess, then you’re a Duchess.”
Annoyed with the current topic and seeing this as a losing battle, Mathieu sighed and looked at the blonde woman. “Tell me, Kiev, how did you learn to fight as well as you do?”
Kiev leaned against Darcia, smiling. “Well, I was brought here when I was thirteen. I had some trust issues, so I fought a lot once I got here.”
“What sort of things did you fight over?” Mathieu said, brow furrowed.
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, I fought over everything: sharing a room, helping out with chores, and I just liked to get in and spar. It didn’t matter how badly I got beat because I would get back up and keep going until I passed out. Eventually, Darcia made me talk about some stuff and I started to relax.”
“Wasn’t