Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,108

examining every detail. “You truly are a master of your craft, Lenny.” He held it in front of him even in his sitting position.

Jo was standing behind Darcia and leaned over his shoulder, running a finger along the edge of the blade; his blood coated the edge. “Oh, sharp.” He popped his finger into his mouth, talking around it. “Do ya make smaller blades? Like daggers?”

“Well, sure. Which kind?” Lenore asked, clenching and unclenching her fist as she spoke.

Jo considered for a moment. “Curved, push, and double bladed?”

Lenore nodded absently. “Yeah, I can do that. How big is your hand?” He held it up and she nodded again, eyeing it in a practiced way. “Good, good. It’ll take me a few days, kiddo.”

Mathieu stood and retrieved his sword from Darcia. He wiped the small bit of Jo’s blood off of it with his shirt, then sheathed it. “I need to go feed Niveus. Thank you for bringing this by, Lenore. And Darcia, we’ll start training soon?”

“Tomorrow, preferably.” Darcia replied, relaxing in his seat.

“Yes, it’s a date.” Mathieu waved at them and went to his shared room, placing his sword against the wall before going to the kitchen. Niveus was curled up on a dish towel in the sun, her size having increased to about a loaf of bread. Her paws and ears were slightly too big for the rest of her, but she gave a delicate purr as he approached her. “Hey, sweetie. Are you hungry?”

Rolling onto her back, one of her back feet kicked slightly at the air. He gave her tummy a quick rub, then went to the fridge, pulling out some thinly sliced ham. Niveus had taken quite well to anything made from a pig. Bacon was her favorite, however. Humming, he shredded the ham into a small pile for his charge.

Niveus stood, and lopped along the counter to the food, only slipping once, and quickly devoured it. Her fangs clicked softly as she ate, her fur feathering as she stretched her neck. Mathieu smiled and folded his arms on the counter, then rested his chin on them.

“You’re such a pretty girl, love.” He wrinkled his nose as she jumped onto his head clumsily, her back paw on his nose and front paws in his hair. “Don’t hurt yourself…” He murmured, staying still while the white Shadowrider fumbled to climb on him. Niveus purred playfully and slid down his back and leapt. She half landed, half rolled onto the table. Mathieu followed her, keeping her from falling off the edge.

Avanon came into the kitchen just as he stopped white Shadowrider from falling headfirst. “Hey, Matt, can I ask you a question?”

Sighing at the shortened version of his name, he looked up. “Sure. What is it, Avanon?” Over the pasted few months, Avanon and he had formed a friendship of sorts. She had yelled at Solomon for being a jerk and told Mathieu not to worry over the blond, claiming he was stubborn, but he’d come around in his own time. After that, they’d started to talk in passing and play regular card games at Elise’s home.

Avanon sat on the counter, messing with her multi-colored hair. “It’s Elric. He’s being oblivious again.” She frowned.

“What did he do this time?”

“Well, he’s just being stupid!” She threw her hands up with exasperation. “I kissed him, like you suggest, and he took it platonically. Platonically. Who does that?! He wants to hang out and starts to agree to dinnesr and stuff with me, but he doesn’t get that it’s a date. Elric is always like, ‘Oh, this was a fun time. I’m glad I have such a nice friend’. A friend, he says. Can you believe it?” She huffed and banged her head back against cabinet. “Is he daft? I mean, he can solve a medical crisis under pressure and determine that Nathan was killed by a slow acting poison produced by the flowers he had a romp in, but he can’t see a girl practically throwing herself at him. Am I not being easy enough?”

Mathieu laughed. “I don’t think you need to be easy. I think he just doesn’t want to misread the situation and make things awkward, so he’s playing it safe.”

“That’s just stupid.”

“I’m not saying it’s not stupid,” Mathieu said, “but Elric is a pretty logical kind of guy. He doesn’t act until he’s thought of every possible outcome.”

Avanon frowned and huffed in annoyance, kicking her feet against the cabinet.

“Good, Avanon, you’re in here.” Solomon was standing in