Lys: Disbelief

Aithne, braced for discipline, did not register the words at first. She kept waiting for the hammer to fall. So when he said the rath kept no slaves, she did not grasp his meaning. Did he mean to sell her, or, Merciful Christos, free her?

Her head came up, but she did not dare believe it. And, she thought wryly, the idea of Master Lucius ever finding "time away from his other studies" was absolutely ridiculous.