Rosyth would not let Daniel accompany him to the workroom. After weeks of helping the man with the more menial and tedious labor, Daniel was confused and rather hurt. No amount of pleading or railing would sway the other; Rosyth only regarded him with troubled eyes and lips set in a tight line. Finally Rosyth threw his hands up in the air and stormed out of the room, leaving Daniel to sink onto the bed grumbling.

After an hour of plumping up his pillows more than was necessary to get his nerves back down to an acceptable level, it occurred to Daniel that Rosyth's absence might be a blessing in disguise. He rose to his feet and cautiously approached the door, half fearing to find it locked. If it was he would have a great deal more to say to his host when next they met. But the door opened easily and Daniel stumbled out into the hall, lights automatically turning on as they somehow sensed him.

Daniel took a deep breath. His heart was thudding painfully in his chest, but there was a certain thrill of excitement to finally explore his temporary home without a guide. He had grown steadily haler as the days progressed and now could almost walk to the workroom unaided, only needing Rosyth's arm for the stairs. He still could not shake the slight limp he had and his left hip would twinge horribly after any excursion.

He walked five steps down the corridor, pausing to see if some sort of alarm would be rung or if a servant would materialize from the shadows to steer him back to his room. When only silence met him, he continued further, trailing his fingers along the smooth wall.

The columned corridor was reached without any misadventure. Daniel stopped to savor the breeze, a bit chill after the perpetual warmth of the rooms, but refreshing none the less. He wrapped an arm around a column and stared out at the horizon. There were shapes hovering in the air, little more than dots. He wondered what sort of birds this world had.

A noise made small by distance made him glance down. The sudden wave of vertigo that accompanied that small action made him weak; he clutched the pillar harder. The noise came again and curiosity overcame his self-preservation instincts. He sank to his knees, still holding on to the column for dear life, and peered over the edge. It looked as if the lord of the keep had visitors.

Far, far below-too far for Daniel's liking-were some sort of vehicles pulled up in a semi-circle. Daniel could mark their path to the keep by the marks of wheels that extended into the distance, dark against the pale sands. Wagons of some sort then. But why were they here?

His vision began to grey at the edges. Had they come for him? Had he let some small detail of his old life slip and Rosyth had contacted what passed for the authorities here? Was Alexander down there, looking up as he was looking down, thoughts of revenge making him smile? Daniel's breath was too rapid, if he didn't stop it he would faint and tumble from the edge.

He crawled backwards until his back hit the wall, and then drew up his knees, resting his head against them. He took in a breath, released it slowly, took in another…

A brush of fabric against the floor made him jump. One of the servants-his servant-had silently appeared and was hovering over him. It seemed to regard him, its head tilted ever so slightly. Deeming him uninteresting, it walked away. Then stopped.

Daniel wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, warily watching the grim creature. The servant walked backwards, stopping in front of him, and then back to its previous position, pausing again.

"Am I meant to follow you?" His instincts screamed at him not to, to run back to his rooms and wait for Rosyth to drag him to Alexander or to remain on the floor, curled up in a tight ball, willing the world to disappear.

He sighed. The former Daniel really had died that far ago day in Brennenberg, this current version was much too brave for his own good. He stood up, needing the wall for support and slowly followed his new guide.

Hearing his footsteps behind it, it walked to where the corridor branched, pausing again to let him catch up. It turned slightly to the black hall with the faces and Daniel vehemently shook his head. "No. I will not go down there. I have no love for the dark."

He was shocked that the creature seemed to have understood, for it kept on straight. They made a slow pace through the labyrinth of corridors, some familiar, some not, until they approached a set of ornate doors.

"The gardens! You've lead me to the gardens!" Daniel was delighted. He had been dreading that the creature would lead him to the dungeons. "I am afraid I do not know how to-"

The servant held up a gloved hand and the doors opened, sunlight flooding the white corridors. It walked through them, not waiting to see if Daniel would follow. Of course he did.

The garden was as exquisite as the last time he had visited. He could now take it in more leisurely without Rosyth tugging on his arm or making him embarrassed by the intent way his face was watched to gauge his reactions. His hip was beginning to complain and he knew from experience that if he did not heed it, the damned thing would give out on him, but surely if he used the stone wall for help he could do a bit of exploring.

He let his fingers slide along the wall, enjoying the rough textures under his fingertips. The garden really was lovely, the flowers huge and so brightly colored. He did not think England had anything like them. He was sure that accursed place in Prussia hadn't had any flowers at all. Just massive and dark forests where all manner of unsavory beings had lurked. Something twinged in his mind, a memory that wanted to contradict that thought… The feel of the wall changed and Daniel glanced at it. There was a face carved into the wall, alien features twisted into something not remotely human, fanged maw gaping in a soundless and agonized cry. Daniel jerked his hand from it and stumbled back, his feet tangling with themselves. The ground hit him hard, fiery agony lancing up his side. He curled in on himself, trying to will the pain to fade, to stop.

A rustle of fabric and a brush of cloth against his cheek forced his eyes open. It was the servant again, peering down at him. Daniel, pain forgotten, scrambled to his hands and knees and backed away from it. The creature watched him for a long moment then turned, walking between two hedges of flowers so blue they were almost blinding.

Daniel was able to gain his feet, barely noticing when his fingers brushed against the grotesque carving that had startled him so. He looked after the figure, biting his lip. Damn his curiosity. Again, he followed it.

After some wandering he finally spied it kneeling before some sort of stone monument. "How lovely!" Daniel remarked, noticing the vines of white flowers that wound over it and spread out around it. Moving closer they proved to be iridescent, a slight purplish tinge to them depending on the angle of the light. They were a welcome rest from the garish colors of the rest of the garden. The creature turned its head towards him and then looked down at its hands as it began to pull at the undergrowth.

Daniel watched it pull handful after handful of the vegetation, a pile growing beside it. It had taken its gloves off, its white hands flashing in the sunlight almost as pale as his own. Daniel was relieved to see that its fingers did not end in talons or that the flesh was neither scaled nor decayed. In actuality its fingers were rather graceful, almost womanly. Daniel wondered if the gender of the creature was female, if it were in fact something akin to Rosyth's people. It would ease his mind to know that the servants were properly employed and were not slaves of some sort or miscreations such as Alexander's.

"Are you weeding?" Daniel asked, venturing to draw closer. "May I help?" He knelt down beside it and started to reach for a patch of greenery. A hand on his wrist stopped him, the fingers unnaturally chilled causing Daniel to flinch. The servant let him go immediately and picked up a clump of weeds, offering it to him. Daniel took it with a shaking hand. "Oh!" He laughed, embarrassed and relieved. "Pick only the ones that are like this. I understand." The servant did not stop him when he reached out again to help.

He did not know how long he toiled beside the silent servant, the sun warm on his back and a sheen of sweat on his brow. As with helping Rosyth in his workroom, this chore satisfied him in some small way. His hands were filthy, encrusted with dirt and stained green, but he could not help the silly grin on his face. The servant stilled, its hand in midair, and the air around it seemed to plummet several degrees in temperature. Daniel sat back on his hunches, hip complaining. He ignored the pain for the fine hairs were beginning to rise on the back of his neck. If it were about to go berserk, if he needed to flee… It spun around and onto its feet so fast Daniel could scarce make sense of it. He fell back, started to crawl backwards and was halted by a pair of legs behind him.

Tilting his head back, the legs proved to be Rosyth's. He had never seen the man angry before, annoyed yes, but never outright furious. His eyes weren't on Daniel but on the servant. He spat a word at it. Was it a question? The servant's only reply was a graceful bow of the head and dip of the knee and then it was leaving, winding its way through the brightly colored bushes.

Rosyth deigned to notice him only after the creature was out of sight. He looked down, brow still thunderous and eyes still flashing. He quirked an eyebrow and asked a question. Suddenly Daniel was embarrassed and just as suddenly-because he did not know why he was ashamed-he became angry. He crawled away from Rosyth and tried to gain his feet, but his hip spasmed and sent him again to the ground. Rosyth tsked and extended a hand. Daniel slapped it away.

"I am fine, thank you very much." His left side was in agony and he did not try to stand again.

Rosyth closed his eyes and Daniel wondered if he were counting to himself, remembering that it was often advised to do so or risk losing one's temper. Maybe school marms across the worlds offered that same piece of advice. By the time Rosyth opened his eyes the deep lines of anger in his face were smoothed. He knelt beside Daniel, grabbing him by the shoulders and shook him. His voice was no longer the tight growl it had been, but was still scolding.

This close Daniel could see that his hair was disheveled and his cheeks still bore the hint of a flush, a glow of sweat across them. "You were running around searching for me, weren't you?" He brushed a strand of Rosyth's hair from his cheek. "You must have been worried when you did not find me in my chambers." Daniel closed his eyes, ashamed that he had entertained for a moment that Rosyth would in any way betray him.

He started when Rosyth gathered him into his arms and held him tightly to his breast.


It was becoming a routine with them. Rosyth would try to lay down beside him when Daniel was retiring for the night and Daniel would have to shoo him away with increasingly more force. He was growing weary of their nightly arguments.

Rosyth pointed to the rings under his eyes, his voice loud and sharp. Daniel shook his head. "No, absolutely not. No matter how many tantrums you throw, I will not-"

Rosyth interrupted him with a particularly vehement word and spun on his heel, the door slamming behind him. Daniel sighed and rubbed his temple.


He was running through stone corridors, the unearthly cry of the Shadow behind him. The corridor turned and he ran into the blank wall at its end, his breath driven from him. "No! Nonono…" There was meant to be a door here! His hands searched the stones, hoping that his eyes were deceiving him, but no matter how his fingers scratched at it, no seam in the wall was revealed.

There was a red glow growing behind him and he whirled, pressing his back against the wall. "Dear God, please, no!" He didn't want to die like this, in fear and in pain. There was a roar of triumph and thick strands of flesh began to crawl along the walls. Daniel flung up a hand-

And the world shattered around him. Slowly he lowered his arm, blinking in confusion as his dream fell away in glass-like shards. "What on Earth…"

"Ah, there you are!" The familiar voice was cheerful and so incongruous with what had previously transpired.

"Who are you?" Daniel peered into the blackness around him. "Where are you?"

"Forgive me, your mind is so damaged it is difficult to-" The void around him was replaced with a blue haze and out of it strode Rosyth.

"What in hell-"

Rosyth grabbed his hand. "I thought you could use a change of venue, the way you were tossing and turning. I don't like the way you whimper in your dreams." He scowled briefly. "Here, let's venture into my mind for a bit." He tugged at Daniel and Daniel reluctantly followed.

"I am very confused. What is going on here?"

Rosyth spoke without taking heed to his question, "Your mind is a complete shambles. What did you do to shred it so? I would have stepped in sooner, but it's so hard to connect to you, impossible when you are awake."

Daniel dug his heels in. "I will not take a single step further until you tell me-" The mists cleared. "Oh."

It was beautiful. No, beyond beautiful. It was exquisite. A night sky with a scattering of stars across it above and below…Below was something from Elysium itself. Crystals were all around them, sprouting out from the white ground and towering over them. They seemed to glow softly, each its own unique color. Daniel held out his hand and watched the lights play across it. "Where are we?"

"A favorite dream of mine. My father took us off world for a sort of pleasure excursion when I was a boy. He brought us here. It made quite the impression on me."

The words really made no sense to Daniel, but he was too enthralled with the beauty that surrounded him to mind. He ventured closer to one of the stones, touching it.

Rosyth's voice was hesitant, "Do you like it?"

"I love it."

"Oh. Good." Daniel peered into the smooth surface of one of the crystals, the pleased grin on Rosyth's face reflected perfectly in it. He looked younger here in this place, Daniel thought studying his reflection, trying to place what was different about him. He frowned suddenly. He moved to another stone, then another.

"Is something the matter?"

"Me! Where am I? I cannot find myself!"

Rosyth tsked and a firm hand on his shoulder turned him. "You're right here." He cupped Daniel's cheek, his palm calloused and warm. "Hardly lost at all."

"No, that is not what I meant. My reflection, I do not have one." He pointed at the stones behind them, Rosyth shown in them to only be conversing with thin air. Rosyth peered over his shoulder and frowned.

"How curious."

"I am sick of this. Sick of it!" He pulled at his hair and Rosyth had to forcibly remove his hands.

"It is a dream, things hardly matter-"

"You do not understand! I do not…I…" He touched his face, clawed down the side of it.

"You have no recollection of what you look like," Rosyth said with dawning horror.

Daniel cast his eyes down and nodded.

"What could…What a terrible thing must have befallen you." Rosyth touched his hair.

Daniel shook away the feather-light caress. "What you must think of me… What do you think of me? Such a ragged stranger, a sorry excuse for a man…"

"I think nothing of the sort." Rosyth smoothed down the wrinkles in Daniel's robe, ran his hands back up to gently cradle his neck. "I think you intriguing, infuriating at times." He was leaning forward, eyes closing and head tilting slightly. "And entirely too-" Their lips brushed.

Daniel awoke with a start. He had dreamt, hadn't he? But it was already fading from him. It had been so strange… Fingers combed through his hair and he sighed, more annoyed than angry.

"Good morning, Rosyth." The hand paused, surprise seemed to flit across Rosyth's face then was quickly gone, replaced with a cautiousness.

"I should be cross with you, but the night of rest was sorely needed."

Rosyth asked him a question.

"I think I may have had a dream of you again, but…" He shrugged.

Rosyth asked another question, more persistent than the first.

"If you are asking if I am angry with you, no." Rosyth growled and buried his face into the pillow. Confused, Daniel rose to attend to his morning ablutions. Did he really expect Daniel to suddenly understand him?


Again he was forbidden to follow Rosyth to his work. He let Daniel follow him as far as the turning for the gardens then bade him go entertain himself. Daniel huffed, but complied. He did not have to stay in the gardens all day after all and what Rosyth did not find out…

As soon as Rosyth had disappeared down the halls, Daniel was back in the corridors. He retraced their journey from his room, only venturing a short ways down offshoots of the halls he knew-it wouldn't do to get lost and have Rosyth overwrought again.

The doors he encountered appeared to be locked. Some of them did not even have handles. Daniel tried to remember the words Rosyth had said to open the doors of the workshop, but nothing came to mind. "Open, please," he tried banging on a door with curious etchings. It did not budge. He sighed and slumped against it. Some explorer he was turning out to be.

A scratch of fingernails on stone and his head whipped up, already coming up with apologies and accompanying gestures for Rosyth…But instead of his white haired friend there was the tall specter of his servant.

"Hello again."

The creature gave that odd, jerky half-bow, half-curtsey that it had given Rosyth the day before. Well at least it was acknowledging him now.

"I was just…er…trying to find the gardens." Why did he even bother lying? It was not as if the thing could understand-

It turned its back to him, walked a few paces, and then looked back over its shoulder. Could it understand him? Daniel was uneasy, but followed it nonetheless. The corridors twisted and turned and finally spat them back out at the familiar junction that he still dreaded.

The creature walked down the hall of faces and stopped, raising a hand as if to beckon him onwards. Daniel shook his head, hair flying around his face. "No. I am sorry, but no. The dark-"

It stooped and lifted something up. It held the object out to Daniel. Hesitantly he took it. It appeared to be some sort of goldfish bowl. There was a chain on either side of the opening at the top to carry it. Daniel let it dangle in front of him, utterly flummoxed. "And what, pray tell, is this?"

The thing took off one of its gloves, revealing again those slim fingers so much like Rosyth's. It snapped its fingers over the opening and a spark of blue flame ignited inside it. Daniel dropped it.

The servant's speed was preternatural as it deftly caught the globe by its chains. It brought it up in front of its face, seeming to stare into the blue curl of flame that was steady growing stronger. Again it was offered to Daniel.

Daniel shook his head. The servant's shoulders seemed to slump, but it accepted that it would have to bear the strange lantern. It turned and held it aloft, striding down the horrid corridor. Daniel wished he could remember if he had been a God fearing man, for he badly wished to mutter a prayer but had no idea if it would be heard. Instead he kept his eyes on the spark of blue and followed as close behind to the servant as he could without stepping on the train of its shroud.

It was so familiar, this corridor. The faces that lined its sides, the eerie expressions, as if they could be either asleep or dead. Had Rosyth brought him this way when he had rescued Daniel from the desert? Was that why he half-remembered it? There was a dream-like quality to the memory. Daniel always had had such strange dreams. His thoughts drifted momentarily to crystals as tall as a man and Rosyth's warmth indecently close.

The row of faces was broken by a door, heavy and wooden. The servant put a hand on it. It half-turned as if making sure that Daniel was still there and then pushed the door open. The hinges protested loudly, making Daniel look around as if expecting a guardian of some sort to appear. He did not want to go into any room that this hall led to, but the servant was taking his light with it.

When the servant offered him the lantern this time he took it. "Thank you." Again that bow and curtsey. The thing drifted around the room, running its hands along the shadowy bulk of what must have been furniture. It placed its palm on the far wall and slid it to the side. A familiar sound of grinding and the wall moved aside to reveal a window.

It was beautiful. Not only the clear glass such as in his room, but wrought iron framed it, spread out across it to throw intricate shadows across the floor. Daniel took a step closer as the servant walked along the wall, trailing its fingers and opening more windows. The window looked like something one would find in a church: cold impassive beings with twisted contemptuous expressions at the very top, the middle bearing what surely must be the mortals with their plain clothes and beseeching hands outstretched. The creatures at the bottom gave him pause. Instead of the ghastly demons he had been expecting were beings of breathtaking beauty and perfect form.

"Was this a chapel?" He turned, but the servant had vanished. He was alone.

Now that he could see properly, thanks to the windows, he judged it to be some sort of audience room or parlor than a chapel. There were those chairs of bone that Rosyth liked and comfy looking padded things as well. A mammoth fireplace took up one wall with another chair shaped like the spindly, bony ones but taller and black in color. It looked ever so sinister, the perfect throne for a dark and terrible lord. Daniel walked over to it and placed a hand against one of its armrests: cold as the grave. He shuddered and snatched his hand back, noting it was now covered with dust. He brushed his hand on his tunic and continued to look around.

Despite the elaborate designs on the windows, there was no other decoration in the room. No, there was one more, he amended, approaching the fireplace-huge enough that he could have walked into it without stooping. Above it, lost in the shadows, was some sort of frowned up at it. It appeared to be a portrait of a family, but the faces were lost in the gloom despite the beams of sunlight pouring in.

The door slammed open and more light suddenly sprang into being. Rosyth's voice echoed in the room, anger in every nuance of it. Daniel winced, but Rosyth barely glanced at him, looking around. He asked Daniel a question, sighing when Daniel had no idea what he wanted. He held his hand up to a height barely shorter than him. The servant?

"I do not know where it went. It brought me here and then…" Daniel looked around the room uneasily. "Is it really so dreadful a thing to be in here? I meant no harm."

With a last glare into the shadows, Rosyth strode towards him. Grabbing his upper arm, he began to lead him out.

Daniel dug his heels in. "But why is this room off limits? The only thing it suffers from is disuse and…" He looked around trying to find some clue as to why Rosyth was so frantic to usher him out. His eyes lit upon the portrait, now perfectly illuminated.

No. Oh no no no. Not after he had finally found some measure of peace. His knelt on the floor, strength fleeing him.

There were seven figures painted upon the canvas, all bore the white hair his host sported. Four children, a babe in the arms of a woman with mournful eyes and a man with his hand upon her shoulder.

Daniel's eyes could not leave the man in the painting. His memory was imperfect and all he really had to link him to his past were shadowy flashes of remembrance and words on scattered journal pages, but the way his bowels were twisting and how rapid his heart was beating he had no doubt that his body remembered what his mind could not: he was looking upon the smug face of Alexander.


X


I don't know about this chapter... Ugh. I am sorry its ungodly long. There was no way to cut it at my normal 3000ish words without leaving it as another "chapter in which nothing gets accomplished". Ending on a bit of drama is always a fun thing! Next chapter, some revelations! Or are they... And I promise that Rosyth and Daniel will understand each other soon, just bear with me a few more chapters. As always, thank you for the reviews, comments and alerts!