"I can't. I'm sorry." Daniel mumbled stumbling away from the room.

"Daniel. Daniel!" Alexander ran after him, catching him by his arm.

Daniel jerked away, whirled around to face him. "You might have convinced me to become a monster, but there are depths I will not sink!"

"I don't understand. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong, you ask." Daniel laughed, hid his face behind his hands.

"Talk to me."

"Do you truly not understand why I'm upset? Are you that fallen into depravity that you can't conceive of the reason?"

"Explain it to me." Alexander said between clenched teeth. "You've had no problems previous nights."

Daniel flung a hand out at the room he had fled from. "It's a woman! How can you ask me to…to do these things to a woman?"

"Is that all?" Daniel bristled. "How chivalrous of you to imagine that women are incapable of committing fiendish enough acts to merit our attentions."

"There is nothing she could have done to-"

"She's a kidnapper. And a murderess." Alexander studied his nails in the gloom. "Do you require the details?"

Daniel shook his head, looking disgusted. "I won't touch her. It borders on…perversion."

"So you think I take some sort of pleasure from this! How dare you!" Alexander seized Daniel by his shoulders and shook him. "I do this out of necessity. I do this for you. For us!"

"Sometimes I wonder." Daniel gasped as his back slammed against the wall, breath driven out of him by the force of the shove. He wrapped his arms around his waist, hunched over, struggling to breathe.

"Go back upstairs. I'll do this alone tonight since it pricks your sensibilities."

"Alexander-"

"I said leave!" Alexander turned back into the torture chamber, slamming the door behind him.

Daniel sighed and made his way unsteadily back to the surface.

The woman had been a good choice on the Gatherers part. Her capacity for suffering was almost endless, more from the very thought that anyone could believe her capable of her crimes than the tortures themselves. She had been a mother and the accusations that she had hurt children, held their innocent little faces under the waters of the lake until their thrashing quieted and they became still, was agony. Yes, this one would last them a while. They wouldn't even have to give her the amnesia potion to keep the suffering fresh.

Alexander almost tripped over the huddled body on the floor in front of the stairs. "Daniel? What are you doing here? I told you to-"

"I tried, but the darkness. You took the lantern with you." Daniel's voice was small, pathetic. The anger and annoyance evaporated from Alexander's heart to be replaced with pity and no small amount of shame.

"My poor boy." He set the lantern down at Daniel's feet and sat down beside the boy. They sat in silence, each trying to figure out how best to break it. Alexander wanted to apologize but didn't want it to seem to excuse Daniel's earlier behavior. They were pressed for time and if they wanted the gate open before the shadow reached them, Daniel couldn't pick and choose his victims. They had to take whatever the Gatherers could find and the pickings had become meager; too many stories about wanderers disappearing, too many merchants never returning home. People were taking shelter as soon as the sun set now, damn them. There were also other reasons that Daniel needed to learn to obey him without question. That thought brought a smile to his lips. He slowly stroked a hand over the boy's hair, hoping that would work as apology enough, that small, soothing gesture.

"Who is that?"

"Hm?" Alexander ran the brown hair through his fingers, fascinated by the play of light off the strands, the silk feel of it.

Daniel leaned away. "That man there." He pointed at the corpse-like figure strung up almost as if in parody of the crucifixion. "I've been staring at him for almost an hour. Who is he? He looks dead but…It's almost as if I can hear him. Faintly. But he doesn't even have a jaw…" Daniel trailed off, realizing that he sounded mad.

"Daniel, there's nothing there."

"Don't lie to me! He's th-" Daniel turned to look at the hanging man. There was nothing there but an empty alcove. "But-"

"You fell asleep and dreamed. I'm not surprised this place would inspire such horrible images."

"It seemed so real."

"Let's get you upstairs and into bed. I'll fix you your tonic of laudanum. It'll keep the dreams away." He pushed himself to his feet by making use of Daniel's shoulder. "Come."

Daniel got up slowly and even slower followed Alexander up the stairs, his eyes kept glancing backwards at the empty alcove.

Alexander coiled around the boy's thoughts protectively, lashing out at Agrippa's attempted mental link. He felt Agrippa's cry of pain and smirked, glad his back was turned to Daniel so the boy couldn't see it. Mine, he snarled, seeping the word in malice. You might not be strictly alive anymore, but I can still hurt you. A curse, a flash of despair, and the small tendril of thought that had tried to take residence in Daniel's mind slunk back to its owner.

The second time Alexander stumbled over Daniel that evening was in the hallway outside his study. The older man was startled to see the object of his desire to leave his research almost right outside of his door; he had been on his way to check on the boy, to make sure the laudanum had taken effect. He uttered an oath.

The boy was looking out the window, out at the forest that stretched out as far as the eye could see. When there was no reaction to Alexander's presence, the baron put a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel?" He shook him. "Are you sleep walking?"

"What? No. Just lost in my thoughts."

"You should be in bed." Daniel shook his head, tried to pull away, but the baron was faster, a hand like iron wrapping around his wrist. "Daniel, what is wrong with you today?" He sighed.

"I-" Daniel turned to face him. Alexander let go of his wrist as if burnt. He took a step back.

"My god, what have you done to yourself, boy?"

Confusion clouded Daniel's blood smeared face.

Alexander loomed over him, hands cupping his face, turning it so he had to meet the baron's wrathful eyes. "What did you do?"

"I-"

"Where did you hurt yourself? Tell me this instant!" He ran his hands over the blood crusted clothes, trying to feel for rents in fabric, tears in flesh.

"Oh!" Daniel burst out laughing. Alexander blinked, hands frozen on the boys hips in surprise at the outburst of mirth. "I'm not hurt! This isn't mine!" He was smiling. It had been days since Daniel last smiled and the baron could feel his heart shudder to a stop.

"Whose is it then?"

Daniel gently pried the hands from his hips and pressed them together in his own. "I acted out of place today. I came to apologize to you."

"That is all well and good, but why in the name of your god are you covered in-"

"You've done so much for me, are doing so much for me, and I threw it back at you like the most spoiled of brats."

"Daniel, please, whose-"

"I couldn't sleep. Even with the laudanum I couldn't bear to sleep with the thought that you were angry at me. That my willfulness could cost, not only my life, but yours as well and all those who stay in your lands."

"The bl-"

"So I went back to the chambers below."

"You did what?"

"I went back. By myself." He let go of Alexander's hands and held his up at eye level. "I tried to make up for lost time."

Was that the glimmer of tears in his eyes? Or the beginnings of madness? The hands fell to his sides. Then the tears down his cheeks. "Is it all right? Please don't be angry, tell me I did the right thing."

"I'm not angry Daniel, I never really was." He embraced him, pulled that lithe body until it was flush against his and each shiver wracked him as if it were his own. "There now. Peace, child."

He kept murmuring meaningless platitudes into the boy's ear until the sobbing subsided. He could feel Daniel's breath, hot and moist, against the bared skin of his chest. Quickly, but gently, he pushed the boy from him, but still held him firm by the arms. "I will order the servants to run a bath. We need to clean you up before putting you away to bed."

"It's the middle of the night. It's too late for a bath, surely."

"You're filthy. Besides, the servants here never sleep."

Daniel sat on the edge of Alexander's bed, watching with dull eyes as the servants came bearing the wooden bathing tub and buckets of hot water. He wondered if the servants were related. They all seemed to have the same face when you looked at them closely enough. And if you looked closer still those faces seemed almost mask-like, floating above whatever visage was their real one. He closed his eyes. He shouldn't have drunk the second laudanum tonic. It made his mind delve into such strange depths.

"Don't fall asleep, Daniel. The bath is almost ready. Come, stand." The baron shook his shoulder, didn't let go of it until Daniel was on his feet. Fingers still quick for their age began to undo the buttons on his shirt. Daniel muttered a protest, stepping back and almost stumbling over the bed.

"Get undressed, the bath will be finished when you're done."

"I can do it myself."

"Then do it yourself." Alexander crossed his arms and leaned against one of the many bookshelves in the room.

Daniel sighed and tried to manage the buttons on his own. His fingers felt twice their usually thickness and their usual dexterity seemed to have taken up hiding somewhere. After the fifth attempt, Alexander stepped back in and undid them in seconds. Shirt removed, those elegant fingers moved in a brusque manner to the fastening of his pants.

Daniel balked again, only this time Alexander seized him before he could move away. "Don't be such a child."

"Why do you have to be present for this? I can bathe myself."

"You would banish me from my own rooms?"

"No, but…"

"I'm worried about you. You've had twice your normal dose of your tonic and you seem…distracted more than usual today. For my own peace of mind, please." He gestured at the tub and Daniel realized that the servants had left them alone in the baron's room.

"It's embarrassing." He kept one hand clenched on the waist of his pants. The situation was appalling, that he was so feeble in spirit that he was reduced to having another grown man watch over his hygiene. The baron wasn't affected thus and he had been doing these horrors for two weeks longer than Daniel!

"You have nothing to be embarrassed by." Alexander traced along the protruding bone of Daniel's collarbone. Daniel's shoulder slumped in defeat. He let go of his last modicum of modesty and walked to the tub. "Nothing at all." Alexander muttered behind him.

The water did feel good and the combination of the steamy liquid and the warmth of the fireplace lulled him into a doze within minutes. He stirred himself as a cloth was dipped into the water and then brushed firmly over his cheek. "You don't have to go that far. Just go read something. Don't you have research to do?"

An angry growl was the only spoken reply. The cloth was dipped into the water again and his other cheek attacked.

Daniel opened his eyes, mouth opening to protest again, and almost recoiled at the closeness of Alexander's face. Their noses were almost touching and from this distance the annoyance in the old man's eyes was blistering. He sat back on his haunches, clutching the rim of the bathtub for support. "You were falling asleep, Daniel." He paused, eyes lost in thought. When he started again it was the bright, brisk tone he adopted whenever he was telling Daniel something he wouldn't understand... or like. "Let's get your hair and face clean first and then I'll let you relax in your water until your heart is content. You can do the rest whenever you can be bothered to stir yourself. Is that all right?"

"Why can't I do my hair with everything else after I relax for a while?"

"Because I have to look at it and it's disgusting."

"Fine." Daniel snapped in answer, realizing he really did sound like a petulant child protesting his bath time.

The frown lines in Alexander's face eased into a pleased smile, or as close as the baron ever got to smiling. "Thank you. Move forward enough, so you can lean your head back. Yes, like that." A strong hand cupped the back of his neck. "Close your eyes." Warm water was poured over his hair, trickles of it working down his face. He tried not to fidget. Another scoop of water and then Alexander's fingers, slick with soap, were working through his hair, combing out snarls with a dedicated patience, massaging his scalp.

Daniel was almost purring, the hand on his neck the only thing keeping him upright."You like that, don't you?" Was that a teasing lilt in Alexander's voice? "Such a good boy." No, something darker. Amazement? Wistfulness? Hunger. Daniel started. He must have fallen asleep. The last word seemed to have not been his own, had felt out of place in his head as if planted there by someone else.

Alexander didn't seem to notice. The soap had to be all washed from his hair by now, but the baron was still carding through his hair, brushing it back from his temples.

"All done?"

"Yes." Regret in that one word? Oh my yes, boy.

Daniel shuddered. "I'm going to close my eyes for a bit. I'll finish in a few minutes."

"Yes, yes of course."

"You can go read or go to sleep if you want. No need to let me keep you." Daniel watched with a trace of unease as Alexander settled on his knees, elbow resting on the lip of the tub and propping up his chin.

"You're not keeping me from anything I would rather be doing right now."

Daniel frowned, closed his eyes and sunk down so his head was resting on the lip of the tub. Really? You're going to go to sleep, naked, in front of a creature that looks at you like that? Your preservation skills are a sad sad affair. He grimaced and tried to push the other thoughts away from him, surely some strange effect of the tonics. Fine, don't heed my kind advice, sleep in the beast's den. See if I care if you get devoured. He drifted off. And dreamed.

He dreamed he was a wolf cub, tucked against the warm, protective curve of fur and muscle. A raspy tongue was being run along his limps, his back, down his throat and chest. He made a muddled connection that the cloth Alexander had had felt similar, and then the thought was lost, too much effort to hold on to, to let himself be stirred to wakefulness by it.

The morning sunlight woke him. He was clean and in his own room with no memory of how either feat had come about; Alexander and the servants, no doubt. Or maybe he had been able to gather together enough of his own energy to do it himself.

The next night he didn't hesitate when Alexander led him to one of the rooms and the woman was waiting for them. His lips pressed into a thin line as Alexander bade him choose the methods they would be employing for the evening, but that was all the protest he gave.

She screamed. Lord, how she screamed.

Thanks for being patient with me! Here is chapter 7 and I hope it doesn't disappoint. Again, all comments and critiques are welcome.