Child

Ethon appeared on the front lawns of the estate, Karma in his hold. He gave a light sigh as she wobbled slightly upon their arrival. Firmly, but gently gripping her arms, the man guided her forward, senses alert for the other inhabitants of the property.

"I swear by all the gods, if you've given me the wrong address, I'm leaving you anyway," he threatened lightly in the Old Tongue. It was an empty threat, not that she could understand him.

He guided them towards the stairway leading up to the front door.

Karma probably would have faceplanted, if not for her Ethon's help. Lucky for her, she had one. Looking around the familiar grounds for any hint of her father, she drifted slightly, going to investigate one thing or another before she realized that the man wasn't letting her go. The smugness she felt for this fact was dangerous, her eyes flashing as she tried and failed to keep her footing half the time, distracted by her own thoughts rather than her surroundings.

"Hooooooome." She sang, nearly faceplanting again, kept upright by Ethon's hands. "Hooooome." She wobbled at the bottom of the steps again, staring at the bottommost step as if it were an enigma within itself. How in hell was she supposed to get on top of something so far off the ground? Then again, Ethon was pretty far off the ground, and she'd been on top of that, hadn't she?

Erupting into giggles, the girl looked up at him, brown eyes blinking owlishly. "Heeeey..." She whined. "Eefin, no talk in t-tonguesss..." She pouted, sensing that whatever he said, she probably wouldn't like. " 'ave 'oo seen my 'othead?" She demanded as her eyes caught on a candle in the window. " 'Oooooooothead!" She called, frowning when the boy didn't appear. Hadn't that been where she'd wanted to go?

Her memory seemed to return, and she recognized where she was once more. "Daaaaaddyyyyyyyyyy..." She called, her feet seemingly glued to the ground. For all she was doing climbing it, the bottom step might as well have been a mountain. She shrank away from the light from inside as the door was pulled open, melting into Ethon's chest in an attempt to hide from the confused gaze of Geoffrey.

"Karma?"

"Noooo, silly Eefin got the 'rong daddy, silly Eefin." She peeked up at him again, attempting to slink behind him as Geoffrey held up a hand and disappeared inside.

Her ears picked up the familiar footsteps - still a long ways off - and suddenly she was terrified again, something reminding her that the castle may have been the very last place she'd want to be in this condition. Hiding her face in Ethon's chest once more, the girl closed her eyes, incorrectly assuming that if she couldn't see them, they couldn't see her. Her fingers curled stubbornly into the man's shirt as she clung to him, quite sure that if she never let him go, he would continue to exist, and protect her.

Ethon kept a firm grip on the girl. There was no way she would have safely navigated her way home, judging by the number of times she would fallen headlong to the ground without his assistance.

As the door opened, Ethon simple raised a brow at the man who peered out, letting the situation speak for itself. When he went back inside, ostensibly to fetch the 'right daddy', Ethon bodily lifted Karma by the shoulders and carried her up the steps. Setting her back down at the top, he stood quietly as she clung to him, gaze fixed on the door as he waited for the owner of the approaching footsteps to appear.

Nolan sat in his most frequently used study, a book open in his lap and a drink on the table beside him. Both of the objects were being paid no attention. The man simply stared down at the book, his thoughts as empty and meaningless as the look on his face. He had been sitting like this for hours, completely still.

The handle of the door clicked, bringing everything back to life, including Nolan, who sped briskly out of the room, his eyes glinting with an rare intensity. The paintings and doors of the maze of hallways rushed past him in a blur, and he glided over the sea of plush carpets until he finally reached the cavernous entrance hall.

He resumed walking, this time at a slower pace. Nolan opened the large double doors, his icy blue eyes sliding from Karma to Ethon.

"You missed dinner," he said to the girl, his cold tone slightly sharper than normal.

"Mr. Pyrrhos," He turned to the vampire, the edge completely absent from his voice, "I thank you for returning my daughter to me, and I would prefer it if we continued this encounter inside." He gestured to the large room behind him, and turned around without waiting for a response.

Karma made a small sound that sounded a lot like a 'weee' as she seemed to be magcially transported from the ground to the porch. "Eefin. Eefin." She said urgently. "I change mind. No wanna be here no more. Hothead instead. Home." Nodding, she tugged on the mans shirt, trying to get his attention. "Daddy will be ang-"

At the sound of her fathers voice, Karma made a small sound of fear, attempting to duck behind Ethon to hide from Nolan. Peeking out from behind him, her arms still tightly wrapped around his middle, Karma fidgetted slightly, her wide bright brown eyes following her father's steps. "Angwy." She whimpered. "Sorry Daddy." Looking up at Ethon, then at her father, then back at Ethon, she frowned again, her eyebrows furrowing. " Kuhno each other?" She asked, letting go of Ethon to attempt to jump onto his back. Unfortunately, it would seem that the man had been her only sorce of gravity, and she was falling again, backwards this time.

Ethon was not surprised that the man recognized him. He hadn't exactly been keeping a low profile, of late. "Master, Carde," he returned. "It was no trouble in the least."

The man easily returned the girl to a more vertical position, gripping firmly by the upper arms. He steered her in front of him, following after the assassin.

"I do believe that you have somehow managed to become not only blood-drunk, but alcohol drunk, as well," Ethon intoned.