Mittwoch der 18. März, 1220
Tonight was a night of rest, sorrow, and revenge. Voradore has given the coterie a new quest, one that will require far better than a single night. If this is any indication, it may be that Voradore considers the brutes with which I've been paired far more valuable than Nora or myself. The two of us were never sent on quests of this depth. I am no more than a single night into the new, and yet already I pine for the old.
I awoke this evening to a dog staring me in the face. This is far from ordinary, in my perspective, but I'm certain my new roommate sees nothing unusual in it. Sanctuary must be short on space, because Voradore instructed that Abarath room with me. Of course, I must admit that Abarath isn't all that bad, once one gets to know him. He is a wild spirit, but not so self-centered as many individualists are, and certainly he has been a less physically painful presence than Katherine. Less mentally painful, too, I suppose. Katherine is nothing like Nora was, and yet Voradore wishes her to take Nora's place. In the space of a night, my world has been destroyed and rebuilt, once again utterly alien. As it was when the Lady took me, and again when I…
Our new quest requires fair travel, and may well prove dangerous for me, as it requires that I retrace my steps from over the past twenty years. Were I of any other clan, it might not be so bad, but my clan dislikes the unknown. I shall cross that channel when I come to it, however. Our boat departs for northern France in two days time, which allows us a modicum of rest in between.
Abarath and Katherine have, obviously, spent a great deal of their time sparring and training. I tended toward my more familiar haunt in the library. I feel that I have regrouped slightly from my humiliating defeat, and this evening I can boast my own victory, both against Abarath and Katherine, but mostly Katherine. I made it clear to her that, regardless of how she might bludgeon my form, my mind will never bow to her, and she leads me only when I allow it. For Abarath, it is more a victory over his perspective than over him. He seems to hold to Katherine's ideal that the physically strongest is most fit to lead, but I think he held with me tonight, when I refused to merely sit in the empty gathering hall and wait, when our time could be put to a myriad better uses. Nora had always understood the value of our free time at dusk.
Unfortunately, I must admit to Katherine a small mental victory over myself, as well. She has truly angered me. I have carried myself above such things for nearly a decade, but she has reawakened the Beast within me, spurred it to a greater activity, and for this I will never forgive her. I have begun studies to further my knowledge, and once I have achieved the skills I require, my revenge will be most sweet indeed.
Udo der Tote