Page 153 of Heart of the High King
“Oh. Yeah. That’s actually a great idea.”
“We can do a custom-sized doggie door so they can come in and out too.”
“Maybe there should be one on our bedroom door too, so they don’t have to ask to be let in. I can’t hear Nox, and obviously Aleksander can’t hear Mortis either, so that way they can do their thing.”
“Great thinking, Rafe! I’ll call Harley if you want so the griffins can squeeze us into their schedule. Madeline will just have to make another set of paw prints for the door of their new room.”
“Is your mate around? I’d like to talk to her if I can.”
Larissa snatched her phone off the table. “I’m texting her to let her know you’re on your way. She’s in her workshop.”
“Great, thanks so much, Larissa. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything with the clothes and stuff.”
“Oh honey, I’m going to have so much fun filling your closet. Go ahead and talk to Madeline, she’s waiting for you.”
“Okay, thanks,” Rafe said, and Larissa shooed him out the door. Although she was very kind, he felt bad about asking her to essentially buy his clothes, but perhaps after she got started, he could take over and purchase duplicates of her choices. Rafe couldn’t care less about fashion, and as long as he had enough clothing to last until laundry time, he was satisfied.
Madeline’s workshop was next door to Larissa’s but vastly different. As the resident metalsmith and craftswoman extraordinaire, it was filled with heavy machinery and a glowing forge. The dragon was perfectly at ease in her domain as she sauntered to Rafe when he walked in.
“What’s up, Rafe?”
“I was wondering if you could help me. I’ve thought a lot about different ways to exercise, and one thing I used to love to do was weapons training, but I don’t have any. I know you’ve made some daggers?”
“I’d be happy to make you a set of D’Vaire daggers. Are you going to train with the sentinels?”
“I thought I’d ask if they wouldn’t mind. Um…what about swords?”
Her grin was wide. “I haven’t had the chance to make a sword in forever. I’d love to make you something. What were you thinking?”
“I prefer a two-handed longsword. You ever construct a bow?”
“You know, I haven’t but I’d love to learn. And I can definitely make you a kickass sword. I’ll do a ceremonial one-handed for you too. I should’ve already gotten on that, but we don’t use them that often.”
“Does anybody in the house still practice swordplay?”
“No, but I bet you could talk a few into it,” Madeline said. “Can you teach it?”
“I taught my younger brothers and the other men at Court Kestle my father designated.”
“Wanna teach me?”
“I’d love to.”
“Kickass. I was too busy trying to make shit to keep us afloat back in the day when Brogan and Aleksander were keeping up with it. You mind if I ask around and make some swords for anyone else who wants to learn?”
Rafe shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. It was humbling that she trusted him to teach her how to use a sword. “I honestly love to teach it and have missed it, so anyone that wants to learn is welcome to join us.”
“Cool, give me a couple of days to get started. I’ll text you when I need you to come in here to make sure we’ve got it weighted properly for you.”
“Great, thanks so much, Madeline.”
“My pleasure.”
