Ten – 06

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.]

“I understand,” Thordin said, then shrugged, leaning forward to peer at the mouth of the firebox. Matt shifted the metal in it again, avoiding looking at anything else.

At least one of them doesn’t think I’m crazy. He risked a glance toward Phelan, who seemed thoughtful as he dusted a rag along the edges of a blade waiting for sharpening. Okay, maybe both of them don’t think I’m crazy.

“You know, I wish he’d said something,” Phelan said. “Might have eased a lot of heartache on both sides.”

Matt winced. “That’s a ship that sailed a long time ago.” He looked at the metal he’d set to heat and turned it again. “Honestly, I’m not sure what good it really would have done. I don’t know that it would have changed much. There was a lot of shit going on and somehow, I feel like you guys knowing what they were going through would have just made it worse. There were enough problems already.”

“We’ll never know,” Phelan said, though his tone of voice was enough to tell Matt that it was going to bother him for at least a little while. Matt closed his eyes.

That’s his problem, not mine—not right now.

“Are you worried about her?” Matt asked as he finally brought the metal out of the forge, laying it across the anvil.

“Well, less about her physical safety since my sister’s well away from here,” Phelan said, then smiled weakly. “Sending her and Gray back east before that battle was the smartest move we’ve made yet, I think.”

“I don’t know about the smartest, but it sure as hell was a good move,” Thordin muttered, abandoning the bellows for a moment and watching as Matt began shaping the steel on the anvil. “I didn’t realize how much your sister could hate, Phelan.”

A shiver shot through Matt and he set his jaw. Thank goodness for small favors. “The worst part of it is that Hecate would say that she deserved all the hate your sister wanted to throw at her and more.”

“Sounded to me like she doesn’t,” Phelan said quietly.

Matt sighed and shrugged, the hammer starting to fall in easy rhythm again. “You try to tell her that.”

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6 Responses to Ten – 06

  1. shadocat says:

    2 html errors on line 15 showing up in Firefox. Also, http://www.embklitzke.com is showing blank.

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