The late October heat had given way to the cold heralding of mid-November, the first snows already kissed the mountains and threatened to come lower each day. The keep was quiet. Hunger makes humans quiet, quiet and focused. Three nights running there had been slave escapes, but the terrain was tricky, the forest thick and the dogs keen for a chase. Lyeo sat as always in His chair on the battlements. His was the only vantage point distant enough from the holding pens to eliminate most noise and the worst of odors. The gatehouse was the only out building He could not see without turning. At night the sentries would tiptoe past below His perch on their way to change guard for fear of His attention. He looked shorter sitting, less imposing, but still the eyes glinted with danger. Sometimes He would sit here all night sleeping fitfully. Thoughts ran deep in Him, memories, learning and the future all run together into a web of abstract probabilities. Nothing surprised Him anymore, no action, no feeling and no occurrence. It was as if the world and time ran down a path He had traveled before.
"Lord."
The voice at His side was pleading.
"Lord, you must eat and sleep properly. Three days you have sat there staring down the devil."
Lyeo laughed, starting just as a chuckle then building till the air seemed to shake with it.
"Sometimes Octavius the devil is the only one who will stare back."
'Lord, Gatherer, you must eat."
Wolf raised a hand and gestured indifference. It mattered little what He did Octavius would bring food whether He said yes or no. Sometimes the servant is the lord.
The silver dish that was offered was piled with rolled meat. Even to Lyeo's uninterested stomach it smelt good. Food had no excitement to Him, you ate you lived, you starved you died. One meal was as good as the next with a half full belly, a feast was a waste of future material. He took a piece and was about to swallow when a small light hand grasped His wrist. For a second He began to rise then looked and realized it was the girl. Octavius's hand was reaching for his knife but Lyeo shook His head.
"What do you want slave?"
The girls eyes never left the floor, but her other hand reached forward to take the meat from His grasp. Instantly she swallowed it. For what seemed eternity there was silence. Lyeo waiting, Octavius twitching over his lack of attention, the girl still as a corpse, as if counting away her life.
"Lord Gatherer, the food is safe."
The girl slowly backed away, eyes still rooted to the floor till she reached the parapet wall, then knelt and waited.
Hours later Lyeo awoke with a start. The night was dark, the torches at the corners of the tower barely broke the blackness. He tried to recall when He had fallen asleep but His mind was hazy. A blanket was laid over Him, covering Him from chin to toe. He recalled the meal and the girl. She still knelt as she had before, silent, still and beautiful.
He looked at her attentively, studied the graceful curve of her neck, the mane of dark hair falling around her shoulders. A door opened behind Him and Octavius appeared with a cup. He smelt the sweet wine from a distance, the richness cutting through the air like a knife. The servant stopped momentarily as if in two minds, then deciding waited. The girl rose, took the cup and carried it to the Wolf. She knelt at His side, never looking up from the floor and sipped the dark redness.
"Lord, the wine is good."
The cup was offered to Him with hands that trembled just enough for him to notice. He took it willingly and as He did their hands touched for a moment. The trembling stopped.
The wine was indeed good. He remembered when He had first tasted this vintage. It had been His habit sit at the edge of the great square of Gulle each morning and night directly opposite the great temple doors and drink a flagon or two. He looked around at where He sat now and smiled the smile of the condemned seeing a gallows tree. How far He had traveled from there to here yet is seemed He could return with the blink of an eyelid.
