[This post is from Matt Astoris’s point of view.]
The grumble of thunder had grown closer by the time he thrust the metal back into the forge to heat. He wasn’t sure if it was the product of the time he’d spent on the piece or the speed of the approaching storm. Time seemed to flow differently when he was distracted—or focused—and today, he was oddly both.
Should take a look at the sky, see what—
“You probably shouldn’t stay up here much longer unless you’re planning on staying up here until the storm’s passed.” Hecate stood in the doorway, studying him with a wry smile, backlit by the fading light of the sun as it was eclipsed by darkening clouds. Matt took a deep breath.
“I didn’t realize it was so close.”
“I imagined,” she admitted, slipping inside. She glanced at the forge, then back at him. “You’re not planning on staying up here until the storm’s passed, are you?”
“What does Thordin think?”
“About the storm?”
He nodded, glancing at the metal in the coals again. Hecate sighed softly and shook her head.
“You should come back, mo chroí.”
“That bad.”
“Very large,” she corrected, then smiled slightly. “He didn’t say anything about the intensity. I’m not sure he could tell without reaching higher and deeper and all of us know he tries not to do that if he doesn’t have to.”
“Mm.” Matt closed his eyes for a few seconds. Hecate eased closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Whatever’s tormenting you, stop letting it.”
He snorted softly. “What makes you—”
“Because I know you,” she said with a crooked smile, looking up at him. “I know you and you’ve got that look. So just stop it. Close up and come down. Tala and I made bread. Come have some—it should be ready by the time you make it down.”
“What makes you so sure?”
She smirked, squeezing him before she stepped back. “Because I know you,” she said again, then headed for the door. He let her go, watching her as she slipped out into the gathering shadows of the day.
Then he turned and started closing up the forge.
