Lys: Life Goes On

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Dawn found Cathair already hard at work on their new home, despite the seemingly ever-present morning mizzle. He had decided to make as much of the wattle as possible, then start putting it all together when the sun came through. If the sun came through.

"God, I know we don't talk all that much, but if you could see your way to giving me enough time to get this house up, I'd be very grateful to you. Aithne's not the sort that can survive a hard winter without a house- not in her present state, anyway. Give us time..."

He knew- they both knew- that he'd be heading out again in the spring, and he wanted to spend well what time they had before then.

And so he set back to work, so that everything would be ready when the sun came.

The sun would come through.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aithne woke to a cold room and ears and throat to match. The Guttersnipe's concoction had certainly lessened the effects, but the soreness remained. Shivering, she inched out of bed and pulled on her clothes- clothing she'd put in the bed next to her, so that it would be warm when she arose. It was a little wrinkled, but that was a small price to pay. Leine, overgown, belt, furred shoes, and both cloaks. Overkill, some would say, but if she stayed warm, she'd get better sooner. And she had no intention of spending her days on a sickbed.

Cu woke in the middle of her preparations. He stretched his massive hind legs and limped around the room a bit, trying to get the blood flowing again.

"You're worse than I am, Cu. Come on" she said, ruffling his ears. "Let's go find us a warm fire and some food."

Cu liked the sound of that and trotted ahead of her to the door, giving it an impatient scratch. Aithne didn't feel like repremanding him, so she just opened it and let him run off and back again. The whole way to the villa he ran back and forth, until Aithne was sure he'd be warm enough before they even reached the kitchen.

But reach it, they did. She greeted Portia, who instantly fetched her a mug of cider and gave Cu a ham bone from the night before. Aithne accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Portia. From the both of us." She added, motioning at Cu. "Give me a moment to get the feeling back into my fingers and I'll help you with the bread."

Portia waved dismissively and returned to her chores. "You take as much time as you need. We're not making half as much food now that-" she cut off, abruptly. Now that the prisoners are gone. Aithne knew what she meant. "That's good, then. I thought for awhile you may end up giving birth in the kitchen."

Portia laughed and made a face at her, and the mood was lightened.

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