's ok! <3<3<3
Salsola. Claudius cautiously turned the name over in his mind, committing it to memory, and working it until it was malleable to shift and change. What a strange name; though, he supposed to native English-speakers like himself, Aniwaya -- and likewise every pack name around these parts save for Crimson Dreams -- was foreign and strange. Different, perhaps. The little French he knew allowed him to identify Cour des miracles and Cercatori d'arte as French words and names, but beyond that, he was rather useless. Either way, he would have to store this new name, and the Pictou River, as important locations in his mental map of the lands. For someone who had never been farther than Dahlia de Mai, this would be a difficult task. How much farther north could these places really be?
It was Attila's second comment that really made him pause. In contrast to his musings about location, this was far more important. She wasn't right in the head? Had she finally gone mad? Claudius had thought he'd gone mad -- and he likely had -- but he never would have suspected such a thing from his mother. He associated his descent into depression as a sign of his weakness; so could that mean Tayui was weak, too? It didn't make sense.
"B-but..." he began, and then frowned. He was about to ask how it was possible, but he knew: her daughter had been murdered by her father. Was there a fate worse than that? Claudius didn't even want to imagine that. "She... how..." he tried again, but failed. He shook his head. What was he supposed to say to this?
"Could you... help m-me figure o-ou-out wh-e-ere... that is? I... I've... never... been farth-e-e-r north than... Dahlia... de... Mai," he explained. Shamefully.