Lys: Adrift

"Me?" Cathair asked. "And how would I be going somewhere particular, when I know so few particulars?" He hoped that came out right. His knowledge of Latin slipped and he wasn't certain he'd phrased it properly.

"I am as you see me. Newly accepted by your Lord with no set duty as yet. Sure, and I think a babe knows more of his place in the world than I at the moment." He motioned towards the general direction of the stream, not knowing for certain if he'd hit upon the route to the generally accepted bathing area- if there was one. "My Aithne has gone off with the Guttersnipe. Until she returns, I am adrift."

Hah. Sure, and that sounds like you can't live without her, Cathair. He could not, however, manage any Latin that would make it more clear. And to say more now would sound like he was covering up a weakness.

So he stood unchanged, letting the comment lie. The man had not yet seen fit to tell him his name, and by that fact Cathair knew he was still being measured. He bore it patiently, knowing this man would not be the only one to test and try him.

Something in him welcomed the challenge.

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Aithne found herself eager to go. She scrambled up the bit of hill that led back towards the villa, but managed to wait for the Guttersnipe before proceeding down the road. As soon as the house was in sight, her speed picked up and she ran into the atrium. "Cathair, I-" She stopped suddenly- he was not there. "Cathair?" She rushed towards the kitchen, stopping just inside the door. He was not there, either.

Did I actually imagine him? Am I going mad? Ten years of narrowly avoiding the breaking point... had she finally crossed it?

"Cathair!" She ran blindly back to the rest of the villa. There was no reason for him to be back there. No reason for him to be anywhere if you're going mad. But she had to look.

She ran from doorway to doorway, daring what she hadn't before, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her feet like lead, she walked back to the atrium, feeling stunned. The Guttersnipe had just entered when she came back. "He isn't here. But he was here, wasn't he? You weren't just humoring a madwoman, were you?" She still looked around, hoping for some hint of where he'd gone...