The cell was dank and dreary. Lyeo sat on the straw stuffed mattress facing the bars. Hours had become days, days weeks and now weeks months. The wounds on His arms and wrists had healed sufficiently to just be an inconvenience and the largest, roughly stitched by a drunk and careless barber had finally stopped seeping puss. He had taken the last of the herbs He had purchased for a king's ransom in rubies the night before but was satisfied that the fever He had feared was past. The guards largely ignored Him now, they had bored of poking fun at His imprisonment and apart from the occasional gawking visitor He was left in peace.
The barred window allowed Him enough light to read and a bribe to the guard commander allowed a few books to pass His time. Lyeo had thanked the man generously, almost too generously, but the commander was a fool and never grasped he was being played. Even at the height of His questioning Lyeo had managed to mix enough facts with fiction to appease the man's intellect, which honestly was not of great caliber. Pain had to be endured long enough to make admissions seem real and Lyeo had enough knowledge of His own capabilities to submit when life or serious injury was in jeopardy. There is little point in dying just to protect what was common knowledge and any information He had was now so far out of date to be of little use to his captors or a danger to His comrades.
The weather had turned hot and humid. Swarms of ugly black flies covered the walls in the daytime and the scurrying of hungry vermin filled the darkness. Neither was of any great concern to Him. The streets of Drox had no better sanitation or aspect than this hell hole. The first book He devoured was a history of the twin cities of Drox and Gulle. The temptation to turn immediately to the last paragraphs giving details of the keep imprisoning Him was overwhelming but He stayed Himself. He could have read the description line for line but no amount of information would aid His escape from such a well-guarded cage. Doggedly He set Himself to read each word. Starting at the cover, working through the fly leaves, the contents, the introduction, never allowing Himself to thumb as was always His practice. This was to be an exercise in patience, an example in control, a tool for mental escape from confinement both spiritual and mental. The words He read aloud, as if to a class of others, accenting and illuminating the sentences and phrases with a tone of richness wasted on the bare walls and empty passageway beyond the bars. He had finished the second chapter, the early histories and felt a pang of excitement. Now He would get to the meat and bones of His interest, even to the pages He had waited for for so long. He looked up from the book and decided this was a moment when control was tested to its full, when patience was rewarded or accepted. Smiling Lyeo closed the book with a snap and placing it upon the mattress stood and paced.
He had a manner of pacing reminiscent of His ancestors yet different in specifics. He clasped His hands behind His back, fingers intertwined, head held close to His chest and eyebrows furrowed. Then at times His chin would jut forward, His face like marble and His eyes ablaze. Often He would laugh, twinkling embers filling the gray irises till they turned azure blue and lit the world with joy.
He returned to the bed and sat back leaning as comfortably as possible against the wall. A haze of flies buzzed from their disturbed promenade and settled elsewhere. He took the book into His still broken hands and looking at the faded leather cover, read aloud.
"A History of the Twin Cities of Dox and Gulle By Master Elric Devenge."
Lyeo breathed deeply and knew as always He was in total control.
Agrafi Alkae was thirty seven years old. Her rise in the ranks of the Masters had not been meteoric but with careful attention to her duty and diligence she had managed to make a place for herself within the ranks of another wise male dominated elite. The posting to this prison was a solution to her talent, a way to side track her advancement found by those threatened by her sex and intelligence. She was not the usual sadist recruited as an interrogator, rather found the way into prisoners' minds and secrets through cunning and an inane ability to find their weaknesses. Her mouth watered at the thought of confronting Him. She felt powerful, had an unbending belief in a state that made talent and hard work overcome power and privilege. For her questioning Lyeo was the highest peak she had so far attained, an embodiment of all that her forbears had overthrown. She came to the contest confident in her ability to break Him, that the psychological weapons in her arsenal far outmatched any gene that might suggest His superiority.
Their first meeting had been brief and inconsequential. Lyeo was accustomed to being displayed to visiting ranking officials and dignitaries and had been polite if disdaining. She had chosen her costume to impress, a flowing white robe, totally unsuitable for the occasion, in an attempt to show her contempt to the surroundings. His eyes had passed over her as she stood at the bars silently and she felt the stirrings in Him that most felt at her appearance. She knew He had been without a female companion or for that matter any company for almost six months. He was hungry and she sensed His interest keenly.
Lyeo looked up from His reading as the sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor. He did not bother to rise but rather waited patiently to see what might appear, pleasant or unpleasant. The woman was handsome, some might say beautiful, with dark brown hair that would have flowed well past her shoulders had in not been coiled so carefully at her neck. Her cheek bones were formed well and her chin was strong yet sensual in a way that only a woman's can be. Her eyes were brown but with a fleck of almost yellow in each. The mouth was round, lips plump and highlighted by an almost indiscernible coat of lip paint. Lyeo sniffed the air and studied the scent she exuded. The slightest hint of lavender was almost masking the smell of her menstrual blood, the fact she was bleeding curling His mouth into a wickedly welcoming smile.
Her breasts were held high by the tight bodice of her gown and the cleavage thoughtfully left exposed promised happy and rewarding wanderings. He had noticed that quality of cloth or tailoring was a mark of officials here and appreciated the pride they took in their appearance even if few had the natural style to carry the finery well. This woman was an exception. Her body filled the covering with panache and Lyeo congratulated her silently on having a body to be savored. Their eyes met momentarily and Lyeo allowed her to think He looked away first. He opened the book and began to read quietly, but discernibly.
"Drox and Gulle where the fiercest of opponent states till the yoke of the Masters bought the glory of the Twin Cities to fulfillment. You know this work Agrafi?"
She wondered momentarily how He knew her given name.
"Yes Wolf Gatherer. I had not realized you were interested in our histories."
"It amused the barbarians to throw the enforced vegetarian a biography of His all-powerful captives as a tainted pork chop and it is always wise to understand your opponents."
The woman laughed. It was an honest sound and Lyeo smiled back. He knew this game was just beginning.
Agrafi sat quietly in the rearmost nook in the tavern. From her vantage point both the entrance and the main area were clearly visible. She still wore the same costume she had adopted for her viewing of Lyeo but had remembered to add the ornate double belt to support the heavy two handed sword she had showed such excellent proficiency with at any opportunity. The tavern was pleasant enough, the food had been basic but palatable and the local spirit was of a standard above that generally served in soldiers drinking houses. Her attention had been taken by the serving girl. She was perhaps twenty years old, slim and with a demeanor that was both pleasant and servile. Agrafi liked her women servile, willing to be molded and used as she wished. There was a certain irony that she looked at the rest of her sex in exactly the way the Masters looked at her, as fair game for their needs and desires.
"Mistress Agrafi?"
Agrafi looked the girl directly in the eye and the girls gaze dropped immediately.
"Mistress I wondered if I could serve you in some way?"
The girls voice was very measured and extremely docile.
"Do you think you will be able to serve me obediently?"
She watched the effect her carefully chosen words had on the girl's body with satisfaction. She noted the blush to her cheeks and upper torso, the way her breathe started to come a little quicker and how her chin nestled docilely upon her chest.
"It would be a great honor to serve the Mistress in any way she pleases."
Agrafi rose from her seat and beckoning the girl to follow started towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going Sophi?"
The tavern proprietor owner made to bar the girls way.
