Faolan raised his eyebrows as he listened to the conversation between Aurel and Lucien. The two seemed to be hitting it off well, and Lucien was just as interested in him as the child was in the Frenchman, it seemed. The Irishman finished his meal, had an extra piece of sausage, and set about gathering the plates and utensils for washing. He walked over to the lake water and rinsed the dishes, not bothered by the bitter cold of the water as much as Lucien would have been. He then filled a pot and began boiling water for a more sanitary wash, but listened to their conversation the whole.

It was clear that the child was intelligent and observant, given his age and the things he had seen. What a waste it would have been for him to stay in such an evil place...Faolan could see Lucien's eyes sparkle as they talked, clearly he had noticed the same thing about the child and was no doubt gauging his mental abilities now that they had cataloged his current physical state. It was good to know what the boy would be capable of once they trained him more, whether he would be able to strike out on his own or not. This wasn't necessarily what the Irishman wanted, per se, he couldn't see Lucien denying the boy a place with them if he wanted to stay. At the same time, Faolan wanted to be sure that the boy knew that he was free to leave whenever he wanted. It was important to him to impress that now, before it became a question, especially because up til now, Aurel had essentially been a prisoner.