Centaur Love Ch. 07

Zackary looked confused and tried several times to answer that question. "But, you're going to Master Goldenbranch'es for armor, then Madam Salvia's for clothing."

Mathew grinned, "But does fine armor or clothes make someone a lord?"

"Stop it, Mathew, you are confusing the young man." Felicia admonished him, "Zackary, what my mate is trying to same, even though we are mages, we still have to farm to make a living. We farm a very rare herb for the potions trade. All my mate was trying to say, we don't consider ourselves lords or ladies. Just farmers who know magic. Now back to mates original question, am I the first centaur you ever seen?"

Zackary blushed, "Yes Mi..., Felicia. I didn't mean to stare, so forgive me."

"Not at all Zackary." Felicia trotted ahead, then stopped and turned sideways, then trotted around and back to next to Mathew's side as he walked.

Zackary looked at Felicia, "I don't wish to be rude, but I was told Centaur's were taller than horses. Are you fully grown?"

"Yes, Zackary I am. My brothers and all of my family are about fifteen hands to their lower shoulder," pointing to her second should for him, "But I carry a recessive gene that makes me human height."

"Oh!"

"If we get done quickly with the armorers and get over to Salvia's quick enough you might get back to the Eldar while they are still in council with my Father and brother. They are both normal-sized Centaur's."

Zackary was trying to imagine the height, Felicia pointed to her second shoulder, then held up her hand for him. "Wow, your people are very tall. Then frowned, "May I ask another question?"

"Of course," Felicia replied.

Zackary smiled, "How do you sleep?"

Both Felicia and Mathew laughed. As they walked to the armorers, Zackary asked all sorts of questions. Felicia was happy to answer them. Mathew half-listened and half-listened to elfin clairvoyance net. Trying to learn how to navigate through so many thoughts floating up from the spell. He was trying to figure out how ReLanna could pick out certain people and talk to them with canting a spell to target them. He was concentrating on the problem that he missed Zackary pointing out a large group of buildings were dozen or so men and women were making armor. The four buildings surrounded an open courtyard and had three sides of the structures open.

He had to turn around to follow Felicia and Zackary into the courtyard. Master Jenen Goldenbranch came out of one of the buildings to greet them. He looked over both, calling several people to consult with. Mathew was pulled one way as a group of ladies pulled Felicia to another building. They closed several walls for her modesty, while Master Goldenbranch personally measure him. "Thank the gods MiLord Lindrose your closer to elven size than human. We should have the armor you require on the shelf. Mathew tried on several mesh jacket style shirts until they found the right one to give him enough freedom of movement across the shoulders to cast spells in. The armor itself was made from thin, formed resin plates.

Master Goldenbranch explained it, "Our armor is lighter than steel plate armor, but just as strong. Each plate is made of non-iron mesh that the dwarf's make for us, then we encased it in a special resins with woven plant fibers that resist cutting. Once the pieces dry we can open the mold and remove the piece and start the process over again. Since most elf's come in a narrow range of sizes we made three forms for the same piece, that being small, medium, and in your case large. Then we can pour hundreds of molds a week, giving us a quick supply of armor for most Elvin people that can be assembled in less than an hour."

Mathew watched as they fitted the front and sides to the armor. Instead of a single breast piece, the front and sides were made from a dozen smaller plates that articulated allowing the wearer to move freer than a solid cuirass style. It sacrificed some protection from large blunted type weapons and greatswords, but still provided enough protection from arrows and some spear thrusts. Once they had the right chest and side pieces fitted. They measured his arms and pulled complete assemblies for him to try on his arms. Once they found the right length and fit, the jacket was taken to have them attached while he stripped to his underwear and the whole process was repeated to get the right leg armor fitted. By the time the leg armor was fitted and taken to have the right pieces attached the upper jacket was ready.

The mesh jacket was a big improvement over his old steel armor over leather. It was lighter and allowed a lot more range of movement. While they were waiting for the leg armor Master Goldenbranch showed Mathew several open-faced helms and a few with bigger cheek guards. Mathew liked those since it came with a longer front brim to shade the eyes. Both the sides and back were done in a lobster back plating allowing the head to move more natural than having a solid side and back. Some additional padding was needed since he didn't have the long swept-back ears that all elf's possessed.

Once the leg armor was finished, Master Goldenbranch showed Mathew how to dress, then fit the armor. They were waiting for the helm when Felicia stepped out of the other work area. She was dressed in similar armor. Like her steel armor this armor accentuated her large chest, there was no doubt that a large chested woman was this wearing armor. Mathew leered at her as they walked over to another open work area where several men worked on barding for horses. Mathew looked over at Zackary, the young man was also ogling at Felicia.

Mathew watched as the two men test fitted several flank pads until they found one to fit Felicia. They started marking the pad on where to cut and add shoulder and rump plating. They found a rump set that fit her rear hips, and legs. It had more than enough back plating to reach her second shoulder and would need to have several pieces removed. They were struggling to find a narrow set that would fit her forty-five-inch second shoulder. One elf climbed up into the loft yelling, "The old muller barding!"

He lowered down several pieces of armor and they tried them on her. They found one that fit perfectly with only a minimum bit of alterations needed. Only the upper forearm and cannon greaves would have to be shortened. Once both men had everything marked out and where each strap was going to be placed they pulled everything off and started to alter the flank pad first. Since they would need several hours to finish Felicia's armor, Mathew removed his, then had Zackary escort him to Madam Salvias to be measured and fitted for a couple of new outfits and mage robes. The young man was too intensely staring at Felicia as she was getting fitted for armor that was a little unhealthy for him.

Lady Salvia's place was just as big as Master Goldenbranch'es place, but instead of armor, she had hundreds of outfit's already premade waiting on hangers in various sizes. She took one look at Zackary and shooed him out, with her assembled group of ladies, they looked him over. Deciding on proper colors. "Ok young man, we need you to strip to your underwear."

Mathew smiled thinking they were trying to embarrass him, but he was ready for it. Most elven homes didn't have bathing chambers, but shared a common bathhouse in each community, or Woodshome case the closest to the residence. He grew up visiting them every time they visited Woodshome, so he was used to the common bathhouses and the elven nudity. They put him on a small pedestal started taking measurements. After that several shirts were thrown at him to try on. He tried on each one with madam Salvia looking over each until she found the right fit. While he was trying on shirts one of the ladies made him put his foot on a measuring board so she could find the right size of his foot.

Next came pants, after four or five pairs she found one that was declared perfect. They all felt fine to him, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Once sizes were decided on, the ladies scoured the racks for shirts and pants that size, each came forward with an arm full. Mathew tried each on, some were dis-guarded others folded and stacked in a little pile.

Then came over robes, here the selection was limited, and several were decided on but would need altering. Each one was draped on him and several chalk marks were drawn on. One over robe was set aside that didn't need altering, the rest was sent next door to a small team of seamstresses to be altered. The last was several pairs on boots and lighter court shoes. Lady salvia set one outfit aside and had the rest put into clothe bags. "This outfit will look perfect under your mage robes tonight at dinner." She had him dress in the new clothes, then the over robes and lastly the new black boots. All the ladies nodded yes. "Now change out of it into your old clothes, I don't want them to get dirty before tonight." Looking at him as he strapped on his father's sword she pointed, "As a mage, you need to lose that sword."

"I will be MiLady Salvia, my mate, and I have an appointment with Master bladesmith Roan Ferrunmonger after she is finished getting her armor done."

Salvia nodded yes, "Tell Roan that I said, extra-long thin-bladed daggers or short sword poniards." She smiled at him, "Anything else will clash with your new outfits."

Mathew laughed, "Yes MiLady.

Salvia flipped both hands at Mathew, "Out, we have alterations to do and you need to be ready for tonight. I will have everything delivered to you by tonight. Make sure you shave, I will not have my outfits worn by a scruffy human, Out! Lady Silverheart will you escort our mage here back to Master Goldenbranches place?"

"Yes MiLady," the young dark hair elf maid said with a slight bow.

Mathew bowed again, "Yes MiLady."

Mathew returned to Master armorer Goldenbranches compound to see Felicia walking around in her new armor. He was so engrossed in seeing her in the armor he forgot about thanking Lady Silverheart. He turned but she was already gone. Mathew turned and studied Felicia's new armor, the muted browns and greys matched her brown of her horse body. She galloped up to Mathew hugging him, "Mathew! I can't believe how light it feels! And look how it moves with me!"

"Mathew! Felicia! Over here," Master Jenen Goldenbranch called. He had Felicia's new helm in his hands, she went with the same style as Mathew, open-faced with heavy cheek guards. Mathew watched as she tried it on. Master Goldenbranch urged Mathew to put his on. Telling him it would be easier to carry home that way. Mathew donned his armor while Master Goldenbranch instructed Felicia on how to adjust hers when she put it on. Mathew noticed that Master Goldenbranch had added some lightly armored gauntlet type gloves to his pile. So after he buckled his sword belt on and helm he put them on.

Master Goldenbranch looked at both of them and smiled, "The best-dressed mages this side of the Catamount Mountains. If either of you need replacement parts, let me know. We can have any of the local mages teleport them to you."

Mathew ungloved, clipping them to his sword belt, then removed his helm and formally bowed, "Master Jenen Goldenbranch, I am my mate thank you for armoring us up. Hopefully we will never need to test your armor, but I am afraid we might. But we are happy knowing we have the best."

Master Goldenbranch looked at the blade at Mathew's side, before he said anything, Mathew said "Yes I know, we both have an appointment with Master bladesmith Roan Ferrunmonger. Perhaps you could direct me towards his place?"

Mathew and Felicia walked down the street, each drew their fair share of stares. They only had to stop another couple when they lost their way, but once on the right street, the sound of hammering metal drew them to the right place. Roan Ferrunmonger stood next to a forge with a thin glowing plate of metal held in tongs, watching another smith working on punching out arrowhead blanks.

They both waited as the men moved in precise motions punching out war arrowheads. The second smith nodded and said something to Master Blade Smith Roan, he turned and looked then slid the metal over to the annealing shelf. Master Roan took out a rag and wiped his hands as he walked over, "Magnus Lindrosa's welcome to my humble shop. Come in, let me show you my wares."

"Master Blade Smith Roan Ferrunmonger, may I introduce my mate Felicia Lindrosa. Felicia, Master Blade Smith Roan Ferrunmonger. Roan bowed as Felicia knelt.

Felicia removed her helm, then smiled. "Master Blade Smith Roan Ferrunmonger it is a pleasure to meet you, Maria Goldenbranch had so much good to say about you. She told me how lucky we were that we were to carry your blades, she showed me her sword that you made for her. The blade was a work of art, I told her I would be afraid of damaging it in combat. When she told me how many battles it has been in. I couldn't believe it, its beauty and strength to last the ages. And I love the way you tapered the fuller down near the handguard. I can't wait to see what other pieces you have crafted.

Roan smiled, "Thank you Magnus Lindrosa, It always nice to hear someone praise my work who knows blades. I take it you still fence?"

"Yes Master Ferrunmonger, but I am saddened to learn that my blade will soon have to be set by the wayside since it is fine steel." She placed her hand on her empty side, "I used to carry a sixteenth arced thirty-three-inch saber about nine hundred grams and balanced around six and a half out with a wide shallow fuller."

Master Ferrunmonger laughed, not just a fencer, but a blade enthusiast. Come, Magnus, let me show you some of my fencing blades, and these you can carry since none contain iron. Since all elves suffer from Ferric poisoning holding on to plain steel for too long. Mathew followed Roan, and Felicia into his shop where hundreds of blades hung. For the next hour, both Felicia and Roan handled blades and talked about back weighting to forward balancing to fuller width and blade arc.

Mathew lost interest and moved over to look at the long daggers and short swords. He never tried to fight with two blades, most of the short swords felt awkward when he tried to move through casting a spell. Finding a long thin pair of twelve-inch daggers with long narrow vase handles that were slight blade heavy felt perfect in his hands. He flipped both from forward thrust to reversing for slashing using just his two fingers to flip them the weighed blades had just enough to move them without being too heavy for his finger to hold on to. He tried a smaller set and a longer set but kept coming back to these two.

As he played with these two he noticed the room was quiet, looking up both Felicia and Roan was watching him take the long daggers through their paces as he danced with both daggers.

Roan smiled at him, "Most elves don't like such long daggers. Twelve-inch long blades, double-edged, six, and three eights vase handles, with a double-width handguards, weighing just over one pound, four ounces. Some of my early work, and now I think they found a new home. "

Mathew was about to put them back up. "I couldn't take these Sir, there too beautiful for my needs."

"Nonsense, Magnus Lindrosa. I have never seen someone pick them up and use them like you did. They were made just for you."

Mathew looked down at the mirror-finished blades. "Mathew," Felicia said, "the blade doesn't know the owner, but the owner knows the blade. You moved with both of them like you already knew them. Those blades and you were meant to be."

"I made those blades nearly four hundred years ago, no one has been able to dance like you did with them. I would be very honored if you would take them. For a long time I thought I made a pair of mistakes, now I see I made them too early, and they have been waiting just for you. Take the belt and sheaths and belt them on, they were already yours four hundred years ago.

Mathew smiled and bowed. The black sheaths were on a black belt that put the daggers at his back for an angled draw. He had to remove Dragon's claw and Dragon fangs belt to get them to sit right. Roan's eyes flashed when he saw the hilt on Dragon's claw. Mathew noticed it and offered the sword to Roan. "You know this sword?"

Roan partially drew Dragon's claw, "I haven't seen this blade in nearly five hundred years, my former Master reworked the hilt. Then slid it in and pulled Dragon's fang out. The eighteen-inch heavy parry dagger had several spells on it. Roan smiled, "I always forget seeing this dagger." Then laughed. "It is good to see the old blades still in service." Sliding the dagger back into its sheath. "When our Eldar called you 'family', I thought she was only referring to your elven background. But I am wrong Magnus Lindrosa, you are an offshoot of the Eldar's line."

Mathew looked at him.

"This sword was made in the age of discovery. When elve's were using great magic to explore new worlds. They accidentally opened one to the Dragon's homeworld. The Dragon's noticed the world gate as soon as our people opened it, and came through to take over our homeworld. This sword was made during that time when we fought the dragons for survival. It was made to combat Dragons and there get, Wyverns. It was given to the Goldencrown line. It is said that once Dragon's and there get, left this world to return to their homeworld, the sword lost much of its power. The sword is said, to be able, to shock Dragon's into a temporary immobility, and Dragon fang makes those near it forget they were there another great tool when you're trying to sneak up on a dragon.

The sword was said to be passed down the family line for generations as a relic from the past. There was a rumor that it was given to one of the family's half human's, guess that rumor was true." Handing the blade back to Mathew. "Keep these blades at hand, they will never be needed to fight Dragon's anymore, but they should have no problems drinking hobgoblin blood."

Mathew nodded looking at the sword with new wonder, to think this blade fought Dragons was unimaginable. He struggled trying to put the sword on with the daggers belted around him.

"Here Magnus Lindrosa, give me both," Roan said. He took the daggers out of their sheaths and walked into the forge area, where he chiseled off the rivet holding the angled sheaths to its belt and slid it on the swords belt after pulling Dragon fangs sheath off. Punching a hole on the belt he put a new copper rivet to hold the daggers sheaths in place. Mathew wrapped the sword belt back on and adjusted their positions. Roan handed daggers back to Mathew.

Felicia asked, "Master Ferrunmonger you talk that blade and Dragon like you lived through it?

Master Roan laughed, "Magnus Felicia, no I am not that old. As you know we elves can live for thousands of years, but even we have an expiration date. I was just a good student in school and my old master loved to tell tales from the past. It made time go by faster at the forge. My newest young journeyman here hasn't heard all the old stories as of yet, when he has, then I will award him his masters rank and set him loose. Then I will need to find a new one, and start the whole process over. Speaking of which, I need to get back to the forge and stamp out more arrowheads."

Mathew looked at Felicia, she carried a new saber on her left hip and two long main-gauche style parry daggers without hilt baskets. Felicia knelt to Master Ferrunmonger, "When I settle this sword to my hand, I will return and gladly ask you for a pass at arms. Until then we thank you for your gifts."

"No Magnus Felicia, Magnus Mathew. Your gifts to Woodshome was more valuable. You have given my son his life back, for surely he would have died without your Draconis powder. These things are nothing to me compared to my son. If these partly gifts help you defend the forest, then that is all the thanks I need." He bowed, then turned, yelling "Jordan! Ubi tu es, mea piger discipulus?"