That scoundrel had the gall to leave a note with Butterbur!
Give it up, lad. There may as well be an iron padlock on these trousers for all the chance you have of getting them off of me.
Of course he plays that we have some sort of unfinished business. Now, let us be honest. I think I made him curious, and likewise, I was curious about him, too. I won't lie, I find broken souls interesting and alluring. For what reasons? Who can say? Maybe because I grew up with the two most unbroken people you can imagine, and seeing such a different side to mankind will always fascinate me and pull at something inside of me.
But if a lad's sole aim is to bed a lass, then just be bloody upfront about it. Don't play as if there's something more to it.
And I won't consider that there could be more to it, either. Because that's a crowding thought, and I won't have my mind being crowded.
I haven't seen Ivan in a little while, either. That doesn't make it any easier to sort out these stupid, bothersome thoughts. I know he's busy, he has duties to see to. Important things. And I'm off in the wild most of the time. And we aren't...a "thing"...well...we are, but...
Are we?
I think I should start carrying a sign around my neck. "Don't bother, lads. It won't end well."
Is there a country somewhere that is all lasses? It would certainly be a lot less troublesome and confusing. If a lot more boring.
I wonder how that fellow by the back-hearth got on last night. He looked awful. I couldn't tell if it was just too much drink or some illness or both. He wasn't from Bree. I could see that well enough. He looked like one of the horse-folk, or maybe one of the lake-folk, but I didn't ask. If he were in his right shoes, I'd say he would've been a very handsome lad in a way. Too lordly for me, though. I wouldn't know two words to put together in front of a proper lord or knight or king. Anyway, I hope he found a bed and got over whatever was making him look so ill and sad and tired. Then again, I did overhear him talking with another, before I spoke to him. And they mentioned that bloody horrible place in the Downs...I won't say it or write it. I hate it too much. But I know how a step on that profaned ground can poison a person's mind.
Tomorrow, I'm going to inspect the forest by Halecatch Lake, and some of the old ruins there. I don't like how the camp-smoke seems to be going up day and night from Andrath.
