“Oh...” Alcuin breathed, realizing with sudden clarity the gravity of the situation. His companion had just seemed so content with their lives together; never had he considered the boy might have felt lonely or misplaced. It felt like he was seven years old again, gleefully embracing his foster-sister for the first time. It never occurred to him that she might have harbored resentment toward him for the love of their master; not when there was time to play and a chest filled with toys to share. His cheeks felt hot with embarrassment. Alcuin was too old for naivete. “Oh, my dear, that is not true. I do not presume to know what is in our master's heart, but you did not see the look in his eyes when he found out that you'd been taken. I have seen it only once before, right before he signed away his life savings to purchase me.”
“Did you not wonder how it was that he was able to afford you?” Alcuin ventured softly, bowing his head to hide his expression behind the curtain of his hair, as was his habit when the compulsion to chew at his lip became too much for him. “I daresay he could never have done it on his own, no matter how much he wished to save you from the auction. I bid him break his promise to me, and use my late master's fortune to secure your contract. You would not be here if he and I did not work together to make it so, mon petit.”