"I'm not confident because you've given me any reason to be, just that you've yet to deny me. That is enough for God." He smiled sweetly, gaze still cast down as he wrapped a silk cord down through the pages and shut the book. They could resume the next day, it wouldn't much longer before Ardnt would be tossed on a cell anyway, hopefully for just a night if he had anything to do about it. "You don't feel the same? I suppose doubt is natural, if anything I prefer it. It means you're taking this seriously, you're taking yourself seriously. I only know what you've told me, and I imagine you're hiding more sins that drain your optimism... You don't have to tell me though." The monk paused, "... That's not so unusual either, no matter what they might be. All men hide secrets from each other. I may be a servant of God but no man in this world can judge your actions. I'm sure as long as your intentions are good and your will strong, whatever causes you hesitation will be forgiven." Luitwin tried his best to be reassuring, offering some warmth from his voice in holy earnest.<br/><br/>"You've already started anyway, the moment you accepted me. I'm not sure what work you're looking forward to." Standing up, he walked through the open door to his room and set his book down in a case at the foot of his bed, snug next to that decorative knife wrapped in a spare sash. Soon after the monk disappeared, given small words by the cabin boy who carried Ardnt's meal downstairs.<br/><br/>Weary sailors shuffled by with their own plates, or sat chattering at the tables while they waited for their bread to soak, but Luitwin stood to the side with the captain. His hands were wrapped up in wool sleeves to defend from the cold on his walk there. "It'll be no more than a handful of days now, two if the weather permits... The lot can finally get a break from all this political business and go back to shipping luxuries." Bertrand kept his eyes on the crowd, calm despite the excitement of a journey's end much needed. The monk offered a nod in reply, about to remark on the strangeness of the trip. Their ambassador probably felt a lot like him, experiencing promotion and testing the waters of his new lifestyle, quite literally. He'd been a new addition to Lichtmule just as much as Luitwin was to be a priest to the church, and this whole voyage was a learning experience for many. Bertrand interjected before he could speak, "Not that you're as much a tax, though I'm not sure the men are used to a godly presence on board either." He got a small laugh in response, Luitwin taking little offense. He shifted in his robes after, a worried frown and sure tone directed at the captain aside him, "You'll have that man detained? I need you to keep an eye on where he goes, I... don't trust that they'd be kind to a foreigner. Not that an Alrian with the looks of that can't handle the prejudice, it's just that you know there wouldn't be much of a trial within a week's time." He was waved off, the captain hearing out his rushed words with a firm response of "It'll be handled. You'll get the message the same night if I've got so much a finger in the matter."<br/><br/>They took their seats, and from their short exchanges Luitwin knew the captain didn't understand his use of sanctuary so much. To be fair, he worried what his Abbot would think when it came to a foreigner, only confident that their record with redemptions would give him the responsibility he so desired. And the last thing Bertrand seemed to want to do is question the will of the church, especially given his loose patronage.<br/><br/>After his small meal, Luitwin managed to enjoy the emptiness of the late night facilities, shuffling past when the other men had cleared out. It wasn't till he leaned over that day's water to rinse his hands and face that he stopped to wonder if it'd be such a bad thing if he never retrieved Ardnt from wherever the court deemed to have him tossed. What a good thing it would be if the Abbot disapproved and he'd be unable to continue their path. The only fact that seemed to bite into those thoughts was his sureness that the guilt of having forsaken a man so willingly over his own foolishness would eat at him for the rest of his life. Just the thought of carrying that grudge made him bitter, as he sniffled and ran a cool hand over his face.<br/><br/>That contempt carried with him back to Ardnt's bedside, remembering that he hated to even look at him, he loved looking at him. face barely pat dry, he stopped as he returned from his room, stripped down to his white tunic and stockings, robe pulled around him. He stared absentminded for a second, "Oh-- yes. You catch on fast.. It'll be a couple of days at most. I'm assuming you'll behave when the time comes, since it won't be me escorting you." His mind was jumbled, and he blinked over the mention of "path" mistaking Ardnt for recalling his bath, if only for a moment. "No.." Luitwin muttered, raising his voice a little and correcting himself once he got what Ardnt really said, "I'm already set on this chore of ours as you can see. Come, you look restless."<br/><br/>Luitwin waited patiently for Ardnt to follow, a wait as short as ever with as keen he was on stretching those legs. Though unlike the previous night the monk stood meek and full of thought. He was aware of it too, his lack of conversation, the way his eyes wandered. He only hoped Ardnt took it for late-voyage fatigue or something similar, and well, that could really be one of many reasons. Their steps were slow, and the cold air refreshing as they made a small handful of circles around deck. Just as distant as he was when they walked out, he was when he ushered Ardnt back to their quarters, and to bed. The plate having been picked up by the cabin boy in their absence. When he shut his door his feet cast shadows underneath it from the lamplight as he lingered, then derobing and taking to his book to write in short recollections.<br/><br/>The next day was uneventful if only for Ardnt. Luitwin acted mostly distant, if not absent entirely, passing by and offering a few words now and then, but not pulling out scripture to read and the closest he got was checking Ardnt's stitches after their trip to the toilets that morning. It was him that night who brought the foreigner's plate to him, instead of the cabin boy, likely overworked with trying to pull everything together before they hit shore. Luitwin got little sleep when the crew rose in the early hours before dawn, instead choosing to stand by Bertrand as they approached that low light in the distance, tall in the sky like a second moon-- Lichtmuhle's grand lighthouse.<br/><br/>"A cure for homesickness." Luitwin forced a silent laugh as he threw that remark Bertrand's way. His reply was only a tired, but satisfied, "For you and the ambassador surely, I'm out there so many years of my life that it hardly matters." It gave him something to think about for that minute, something that wasn't Ardnt and wasn't the abbot. This captain was a respectable man, an honest Herzen content with the life he chose and the morals sanctioned by God. He had the privilege of being able to serve their country since he was a young man, and was a testament to what half a life's worth of experience was good for. They likely wouldn't be meeting again with the monk moving on in his life.. but it was a memorable trip.<br/><br/>Luitwin offered little in the way of goodbyes, the Ambassador was the first to abandon the crew, eager to be on land with all the impatience of a noble boy. The crew was fast at work, and when he gathered up his things in the small case of essentials he'd brought with him, he turned to Ardnt to give him a final, quiet prayer for their duration on this ship, simply disappearing afterwards and letting the soldiers have at him come sunrise.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>The sight of those stone walls greeted him as he stepped out of a modest cart not long before noon, and upon entering dear Sigismund he felt blessed by that sweet silence, the small tapping of black slippers and the whispers of monks who were turning in for their mid day duties. Their abbot was waiting for him in a wide room, rotund and distinguished in his old age, much older than Luitwin and extended by years of good medicine and faith. He greeted his inferior as warm as any family as Luitwin turned in his journal with a polite bow of his head. "I heard of you this morning, a messenger on legs must be faster than the port's traffic uh?" That deep bellow of a voice  was comforting, it's familiarity washing away all the struggles this past week presented. And even then, he could see the puzzling in the father's eyes, knowing he finally had to address the decision brought on.<br/><br/>"I planned to tell you first, I don't know how I'd make a better case for myself now... I wouldn't ask it-" Luitwin was interrupted, "If you weren't confident of my support. Of.. his support. I know." The abbot moved away, pacing slowly with a hand to his shaven chin, allowing the priest-to-be the freedom to explain. "He's from Alriah, but we had enough nights to speak. My aide wasn't refused Father, his attachment to heretic gods is nought."<br/><br/>The anxious silence persisted, Luitwin continued. "He's expecting charges... of blood." He said, pitifully, though honest. He couldn't hide Ardnt's actions from the abbot. They'd have criminals here in the past under the same pretense, but no foreigners that he could recall. "You'd want to hurry there," he spoke matter of factly, as if nothing could be done to sway Luitwin. He pieced together a note wrapped neat in an envelope and sealed by the print of his ring, placing it in the monk's hands. "Und Gott segne dich... Please." The old man huffed, lips drawn with a look of someone who gave up so easily. There was no changing things, and Luitwin could see that if anyone, he was aware of the power of belief.<br/><br/>"Gott segne dich, Father Romuald." Luitwin replied passionately, tongue less practiced in the language of their church as the Father's. He planted his lips on the abbot's ring, still warm from the touch of wax, before tucking the paper into his robe and leaving him in peace. There was haste in his steps, as if the absence of Ardnt's body refreshed him, made him eager to serve his purpose. He had yet to be reminded of the brewing angst of having to look over that face as he set his things back in his room unceremoniously and huddled into a carriage outside, it's outer walls as humble in black as one could get, closed save for sun bleached drapery that covered it's windows and let in the smallest sliver of light.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>He followed the captain's letter to the small coastside jail their guest had been dumped in without much care, trusting the abbot to send similar documents to the court so they wouldn't attempt to detain the man a second time. Luitwin was to show his copy to the warden for handling, and make sure Ardnt got out safely.  Due to the captain's intervention he wasn't terribly surprise a presence like his was expected, the big names there not terribly humored by a visit from a man of cloth.<br/><br/>Soft footsteps followed the drum of heavy boots as he was led to a far end cell, distanced from the port's own criminal lot as they waited trial or transfer. It was likely for the best, though Luitwin couldn't quite see Ardnt himself starting any fights, verbal or otherwise. He peered at him quietly, with an air of authority as a man unlocked the bar door, as if he thoroughly enjoyed being responsible for Ardnt's freedom-- if one could call it that. He wondered if the poor man even expected he'd come back, or if he was eager to abandon him.<br/><br/>Luitwin kept it a secret to himself that he considered it that night, only drawn back to his purpose by principal alone.<br/><br/>"Let's go. My abbot agreed to give you sanctuary.." The jail wasn't the tidiest place, he leaned his head forward just to look around, but stepped no closer, letting Ardnt come to him instead. "You could use another wash anyway after all this. I'm just glad they didn't have a go at kicking you about."