These weren't the usual stone hallways that he visited every night. He reached out a hand and trailed his fingers along the strange, smooth walls; they felt as if they were made of glass. The floor was of the same material and was cool but not unpleasant beneath his feet. It was odd that he could walk so easily, but he could not think of why this was so remarkable a feat. There was a glow around the next bend and Daniel felt as if he had been chasing it. Maybe it was the reason he had left his bedchambers. He realized he could not remember what those bedchambers looked like; the thought bothered him.

Keeping his hand along the wall, he followed the turn. What lay beyond made him halt. It was another corridor built with the same materials as the other, but one side of it bore columns and between those columns…naught but open air. He approached these openings cautiously, his hands shaking slightly. The night air was cool on his cheeks and though there was no moon in the sky, he could see the vast expanse of sand that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was glowing slightly, the reason he could see so well he hazarded. He accepted the fact of luminous sand without pause, but shouldn't it have been trees below him? Trees and more trees and beyond them…something lurking. He had no sense of menace from the desert, there was nowhere for anything to hide after all.

The glow flickered at the corner of his vision and he turned his head. That light…it was familiar and seemed out of place here. Was it lantern light? Was he in fact chasing not the glow itself but a person? He gave chase, increasing his pace.

The hall that awaited him at this turning was dark. He gasped and flattened himself against the wall, his heart beating so violently he could almost taste it in the back of his throat. After moments of struggling for breath, he saw that it was not true darkness; there was a faint light coming from further on down the hall, as if from a brightly lit room whose door was ajar. Daniel took a deep breath and plunged forward.

His night vision improved the further he traveled down the dark corridor and he could make out cracks in the floor-this part of the building seemed older than the others- and also see that the walls bore some sort of reliefs. He took a closer look and stepped back quickly, repulsed. They were faces. Faces stretching down the corridor in an unceasing line. He could not tell if they were men or women, children or adults. Their eyes were closed, their lips slightly parted, as if the sculptor had captured their likenesses as they released their final breath. Daniel shuddered. He was almost to the light, almost…

The door opened slammed open, a man stumbling out. He threw himself back against the wall, an arm pressed tightly around his waist. He was taking in the air in hard gasps. His face was lowered and his hair hung around him in long, snarls.

Daniel danced on the balls of his bare feet, hovering between staying still and hoping the gloom of the hall hid him or taking a chance to dash down the halls back from wherever he had wandered from. The man gave a groan and lifted his arm from his side. He looked down at his hand and so did Daniel: it was covered in blood. The man was bleeding. He must have been in some sort of fight, a fight for his very life.

That decided him. He took a step forward, then another. "Can I help you somehow?" he asked, his voice wavering.

The man's head shot up, hair falling aside. It was… his mind fumbled for it…his host. It was the owner of this keep. Daniel's hesitation broke and he rushed forward. "You are hurt! Whatever happened to you?" When he reached the man he realized that he did not know how to aid him, his hands fluttered over the wound, gaping and ugly.

The man cocked his head to the side, looking almost amused. "You shouldn't be here." Daniel started at the voice. He had heard it before, or course, but when saying words he understood… He had never realized quite how deep it was, how sonorous.

"But…" He patted himself down, hoping he was wearing a scarf or ascot to press against the man's side, to try to staunch the flow of blood, but he was only wearing the thinnest of nightgowns-and that was wrong, wasn't it, he had left his plain, white night shifts behind in… in…

"Thank you." A finger under his chin tilted his face up to meet his host's eyes. He was smiling and his teeth weren't as alarming here in this dark, eerie corridor. "But this happened years and years ago."

"I don't understand. You need to be tended to, I need to-"

"You need to wake up."

And he did.

He opened his eyes to a curtain of long white hair brushing against his face. Daniel gave a strangled cry and flung himself deeper into the mattress.

The man smirked and Daniel, after regaining his composure, swatted him. "You startled me! Where I come from it is not polite to watch someone sleep!"

His host seemed unperturbed with Daniel's distress, choosing to ignore him and roll over on his back, a hand over his eyes. He muttered something at Daniel, an upward lilt at the end.

"Did I sleep well?" Daniel hazarded. He considered the question and was surprised to find that: yes, in fact he had. The first well rested night he had had since…since he could remember. "I slept very well, thank you for asking."

The man peeked out from beneath his arm, the shadow of a smile in his eyes. It then occurred to Daniel that the man was lying in bed with him. His hair was rumbled and there was the crease from a pillow imprinted on his cheek. Daniel bolted upright. "You silly thing, do not tell me you spent the night here!" The man lifted his arm and rested it against his bare chest, his expression wary. "Did you…" Daniel pointed at him, "sleep," he closed his eyes and rested his cheek on his folded hands, "here?" pointing to the bed.

A smile broke out on his face. He looked relieved that only this was the reason for Daniel's exclamation. He closed his eyes and feigned the deep breaths of slumber, then mimed a restless sleep, tossing and turning, stopping to give a playful tweak to a strand of Daniel's hair.

"I slept fitfully? That is odd, I feel so refreshed this morning. I do think I might have dreamt though." He fell silent, eyes distant as he tried to recall if he had or not. "I... think you were in it."

His host was smiling, seeming pleased about something. Maybe he had slept well last night too. Daniel stirred, the blankets slipping further down his too thin frame. He yelped and immediately pulled them back into place. He had forgotten he had crawled into bed nude. A soft chuckle from his host and Daniel flushed.

"It's not funny! In fact, this very situation borders almost on the indecent." He looked away, attempting to will the heat in his cheeks away. He heard the man sit up and a gentle hand turned his face back.

Something soft was murmured and Daniel wondered at it, undecided on what it could possibly mean in this situation. He shook himself free from the man's grasp and leaned back against the headboard, bringing up his knees to clasp his arms around.

"I was wondering last night what to do with myself, you know. I can't stay here forever but…" He held out his hand and watched it tremble. "What if I am never well enough to leave? I cannot stand to be a burden to you anymore than-"

He was silenced by a hand against his lips. When he looked up, the man had an eyebrow raised. He touched his ear and made that slashing motion that usually signified no. "You can't understand what I am going on about. I know. Sometimes it feels good to talk and actually have someone to listen. I was 'born' alone just a few days ago. It was so lonely those first few hours, stumbling around by myself. I was overjoyed to finally come across the corpse of a man that could communicate with me via telepathy. Come to think of it, you are the first person I have talked with that was not a severed head!"

The man clucked his tongue, a look of annoyance crossing his features. He grabbed Daniel's hands and waved them around, looking at him expectantly when he released them. Daniel laughed. "No, my friend. I am not even going to attempt to explain all of that through gestures!"

A tsk and the man sat back, glaring at Daniel.

"I did not expect to find another man in this strange land," Daniel rested his chin in his hand. "I never really thought about what Alexander's world would look like or its inhabitants. I did not have much time to ponder it once I found out he wasn't…human, what with the running from his servants and all." If he had to have guessed, he would have thought that Alexander's people would be like those horrors he had built to serve him or something equally as gruesome. There had been a moment in Alexander's study, when Daniel's mind had given one of those curious little turns and the baron's portrait had…changed.

He shivered and pulled his knees tighter to himself. The man's hand was on the back of his neck, thumb gently rubbing circles against the nape. Daniel smiled at him. He reached back and took that comforting hand, holding it. "I am glad you found me and not something else. I did not expect kindness in whatever world Alexander hailed from. He had so little of it in himself." Daniel paused. "Though truthfully, I think there was little in myself as well. In my old self I should say. I would like to think I am a new man now, but…" He shrugged.

The man sighed and drew back his hand. Daniel shook his head, trying to dispel his gloomy thoughts. "You're right, I am being frightfully rude. Nattering away when you cannot understand a word."

He looked over at his companion. He would be a handsome man if he did not always look so stern. This close Daniel could see that he was starting to get fine lines in the corners of his eyes. He had the appearance of any other human that Daniel's admittedly foggy mind could recall, except for those odd colored eyes and hair and those…

Daniel reached out without thinking and ran a thumb along the man's cheekbones. "They look sharp enough to cut," he murmured. They were the only thing that lent the man a definite air of otherness. The man's eyes widened as Daniel touched him and Daniel realized how presumptive his impromptu touch must seem. He pulled his hand away, apologizing. The man caught his wrist-quick as a thought- and restored the hand to its place against his cheek. He said something in a low voice and Daniel could feel his breath against his palm. Daniel gulped.

"I am sorry. It was too bold a gesture."

The curve of a smile under his hand and he had the sense all was forgiven-if there had been something to forgive in the first place. The man released him after a moment and Daniel let his hand fall on his knees. The man leaned forward, staring intently into his eyes. Daniel started to lean back, but he was caught by the chin, forced to hold still. "What is it?"

The man pointed as his eyes and said something that seemed to be almost…praise? With a hint of awe?

"My eyes?" Daniel pointed at them, raising his eyebrows. The man pointed at his own and made that clucking sound that must be the equivalent of a shrug. "Are mine so extraordinary here?" The smile he had been about to give froze on his lips. He could not recall what color his eyes were. He could see his hair and knew it to be a dull brown, but his face… He reached up with a shaking hand and ran it over his features. Nothing. He could recall nothing of what he looked like. Was he handsome? Average? Hopefully not too homely. What amazing shade were his eyes? Were they only amazing here or had they also been remarkable in his world? Nothing sprang up. Mayhap the previous Daniel was not one to study himself intently in mirrors. There had been no mirrors in his rooms in Brennenberg. No mirrors at all in that damnable castle.

He clawed at his hair, shaking his head. "Damn it, I hate this! I hate being this way!"

Rough hands were grasping his wrists, pulling them away and holding them fast. He was on the verge of tears again. What this kind man must think of him! "You must think I am some sort of lunatic," Daniel said. He gave a small, bitter chuckle. "Well, I guess it is partly true." He closed his eyes, the room was spinning again and he was getting lightheaded.

The man let him go and Daniel jumped when those strong hands grabbed either side of his face, holding him still as the man leaned forward touching their foreheads together. The man said something and took in a deep breath, said something else and released it. He said the first thing again and waited looking expectantly at Daniel. Oh! He obeyed, letting the man guide his breathing until his heart was beating normally and he no longer had that queasy feeling in his stomach. The man moved away, but stayed near enough to touch.

Daniel ran his fingers through his hair. He was mortified. "I am such a mess."

The man clucked his tongue and Daniel burst out laughing; it had sounded almost like agreement.

Daniel plumped a pillow up behind him and sat back against it. He wanted to change the subject, to distract, but had no idea how he could…His stomach gave a growl. That would do nicely. He placed a hand over his belly. "Do you think you could fetch me my breakfast?"

His host tilted his head, it seemed to be in acquiescence, but he made no move to leave Daniel's side. Daniel tried again. He mimed shivering and pulling clothes around himself. "Another nightshift would do a trick."

Again that head cock to the side, but no sign of stirring to bring the things. Daniel sighed. Maybe breakfast was not prepared yet. The man might be able to judge the time by some internal clock and knew it to be a while before food was available.

The man studied him for a long long moment and Daniel began to fidget under his scrutiny. Finally he reached forward and gave Daniel's hair another small pull. "Ouch." Daniel rubbed his scalp. The man smiled and asked a question.

Daniel could only shake his head.

The man placed two fingers against his chest, over his heart and said a melodic word. Then he extended his arm and tapped Daniel's chest. Again that question. He repeated the gestures and words, growing more and more frustrated, until it finally clicked what he must be asking.

"My name! You're asking for my name!" Daniel grinned, pleased that he had figured it out. His host also looked relieved that he had finally caught on. He pointed at the man with one finger. "What was yours again?" The man glanced at his fingers then reached out and took Daniel's hand. He extended another finger so two were pointing at him. Daniel blushed; he must have committed some sort of cultural faux pas. The man didn't seem offended. He only repeated the word-his name. He said it again, slower, breaking down each syllable. Daniel could only replicate the first half on it: "Rosyth?" And still it was a clumsy imitation in his mouth and sounded nothing but a distant cousin to the lovely, ringing way the man had pronounced it.

The shortening of the name earned him a glower, but the man clucked after a while. "Rosyth," he agreed. He jabbed Daniel in the chest. "?"

Daniel opened him mouth…and then let it hang. Should he give the man his name? It should be all right, but what if Alexander had arrived before him and alerted the denizens of this place? His host, Rosyth, seemed like a nice enough chap, but who knew what Alexander could have said about Daniel: A madman from another world, tainted by an eldritch curse, hands stained by the blood of countless innocents. And all of it would be true.

He must have looked distressed for Rosyth hurriedly reached forward and gave him a small shake. He said something long and soothing that Daniel could only blink at.

"I am sorry." Daniel realized that he had been on the brink of hysteria again. "I don't know what name to give you. I have no wish to lie to you, but…"

Rosyth hushed him, a gentle hand on his head. Fingers slipped through his hair and pressed against a sore spot. "?"

"What?" Daniel reached back and felt his head; there was a small knot there. He must have earned it when he had fallen through the floor back in Brennenberg.

Rosyth said something long and complicated that was evidently a question. He tapped his temple and squinted as if struggling to think, then touched the injury on Daniel's head.

"Are you…?" Daniel burst out laughing. "You are! You are asking me if I have amnesia!" He grinned. "Yes, yes I guess you could say I do."

X

Seriously, if Daniel doesn't want to be treated as a pet, he shouldn't have given Rosyth the chance to name him... _ For some reason this chapter was a joy to write. As always, thanks for the comments and reviews! I like the idea of having "book" covers on now, but it's a pity I am neither artistically talented nor have friends that are ;_; Stock footage photos for all!