Found:
Worry.
A much lighter purse.
I returned to Bree this afternoon, my latest foray into the local ruins having been less fruitful than I would have liked. I wish I could say that my return was a good one. I was expecting to find Aidennan in high spirits, as usual, playing with his friends or running around like a spring lamb. I even found myself looking forward to it - a bright gem in this otherwise drab mud hole. Perhaps, I thought, I might track down Toddir, introduce the two and see how they got along. I would treat him to a good dinner, listen to his tales and ask how his lessons have been faring, if he has settled in at the shop...
Of course, few things ever work out as we imagine. Even knowing this for truth, I was most certainly not expecting what I found.
There he lay, bandaged from head to foot, in a small bed in the tavern. Battered and bruised, he told a story of dragon slaying and perhaps, in a manner of speaking, that's exactly what he did. Monsters come in many forms, some are shaped like men, and who am I to tell a child that the despicable creature to hurt him so was naught more than a man? The nature of his injuries have caused some memory loss, so if he chooses to confront this trauma by giving it a scaly hide and large, sharp teeth then so be it. He'll learn to deal with the truth of it in time and maybe this is just the first step on that path.
In any case, I learned that in my days away, the dear boy was taken, beaten, perhaps tortured and all through it he'd been looking for me. Me. Would he have been safer had I stayed in town? Would they have taken him had he not been searching for me? Would he now be whole and well if I had just stayed? Maybe, maybe not. All I know for certain is that if I'm to take care of him, then I need money and to get that I need to keep digging.
That aside, what else can I do? Aeruthuil has offered his protection. He is a friend to Aiden it would seem, but also a Ranger unless I miss my mark. He can't stay constantly at Aiden's side and for all my skill at slaying the angry denizens of ruins, I'm not so confident in my ability to win out against a living man bent on the destruction of the child.
My child, more or less.
Against my better judgment, I have hired some members of a mercenary group known as The Dawn to protect him. I've yet to meet any mercenary worth even half of the price they demand and certainly none that could be trusted beyond the promise of a counter-offer. That these particular ones have offered to do this for free is concerning; a counter-offer in that case needn't be much, They also count Seaver amongst their number, which gives me even less incentive to believe them worthy of the air they breathe. The fact that one of the officers stooped so low as to try emotional manipulation in order to secure their hiring lowers their standing further than the fabled depths of the dwarven kingdoms in my eyes, but having so few other options, I hired them anyway. Under the agreement that they keep that man away from Aiden. I don't like them, I don't trust them, but until Aiden is well enough to travel, my options are severely limited.
As will be my funds soon enough. Still, he's worth it. I don't know how, or when, I came to care for the boy this much, but I'd not have it any other way. The thought of losing him, of him coming to further harm, sickens me.
