There was, for a long time after Healer Ixbridge left them to sort out the pieces of what they should do, nothing Aurelie could think of to say. After all, Triston was upset and had just received some rather heavy news. What could she say that hadn't already been said to comfort her? Discussing the course of action to be taken seemed to burdensome, too final to happen just yet. (If Triston even wanted to talk about this with her, she reminded herself. It was really none of Aurelie's business, after all-- except for how she'd promised to make everything right.)

It wasn't possible, reasonable or even advisable to ignore the problem forever. Eventually, they'd have to talk about this and Triston would have to decide what she was going to do, whether she wanted to think about it or not. Maybe not tonight, but soon. For now, there was really only one other concern Aurelie had.

"Luccullis." It was not a question. Triston, she knew, had very little interaction with men, as did they all, to prevent just such an event as what was unfolding here in this room. To her knowledge, the only men Triston had anything to do with at all recently were Jessyd, Luccullis and the professor. Of course it was quite possible that the tiny blonde girl had some secret paramour Aurelie had never met or even heard of-- but something in her sincerely doubted this. Triston was a sweet girl; subterfuge and secrets were not her forte, any more than forgiveness was Aurelie's.

There was no question in her mind that out of those three, Luccullis was the most likely. He had no reputation to lose. He had come into their lives at all as a sympathizer-- it made sense, in Aurelie's mind, that he, then, should do something so damn it all terrible as to take Triston and leave her with child and nowhere to go. No one to turn to. Golly, she thought, with all the bitter poison of a curse.