Nevin awoke with sharp sunlight pressing against his eyelids, making him wince. He felt extremely weak, and it took him a moment to get his bearings. A shadow passed over his face and he took the opportunity to slowly open his eyes a crack. He was met with the sight of one of the Palace servants leaning over him, a worried frown on his youthful, but otherwise unextrordinary face.

"Are you all right, Sir?"

Nevin blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the brightness of the room. He was in his bedroom, and laid out -- naked -- between the wine-coloured silk sheets. His mind was strangely blank, and he lay puzzled for a moment, unable to call up any image from the past night.

"Sir?"

Startled, his eyes focused back on the face of the young servant. "What happened?" He assumed something must have happened, as he didn't even remember going to sleep last night. No, the last thing he remembered was being chained against the wall, his Master drawing back his arm for another blow with the lash....

The boy worried at his bottom lip, surveying Nevin almost speculatively. "Sir, last night... you had another fit. We took you to the Healer's right away and you were given medication to calm you, and you've been out cold since then."

As if on cue, Nevin's right arm began to throb dully with pain. Slowly, he lifted his arm out of the bed covers. The servant started, looking as if he would jump at the slightest worry that Nevin might injure himself. Ignoring the boy, Nevin could see there was a tiny puncture mark from a needle in the vein on the inside of his elbow. He wondered what kind of medication they would take the risk of using on a Key that would make him black out for an entire night (and a good part of the morning, it looked like). Strange, also, that he didn't remember anything about being taken to the Healer's. However, this wasn't exactly a new occurance. Lately he had sometimes lashed out unexpectedly at his Masters, but they had never used any medication on him before, and the "fits" were short-lived. For a fleeting moment he instinctively panicked, wondering if this all amounted to a very serious problem with his health; could it possibly get worse and worse until he just keeled over one day? But just as suddenly, apathy settled comfortably in (as he had trained it to over the years), and the idea of death seemed like just another destination that wasn't any more or less attractive than the road he was set on at the moment.

I'll probably get a beating from my Master for what I've done, regardless of whether I'm dying or not, he thought dully. Speaking of which....

Brows furrowed, Nevin surveyed the room, not bothering to look at the servant as he spoke. "Where is my Master? Has he gone out?"

The boy became increasingly more uncomfortable. "Well, your Master, he-- that is to say--" The boy sighed. "He left you."

"Oh." Well, no beating at least, he thought sardonically.

The boy was at a loss of how to react to the seemingly indifferent response, and eventually just blurted out the automatic response. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's all right. It's not like I'm heartbroken or anything to see another torturer leave." Although my pride may be a little hurt, he admitted to himself. Keys were supposed to be desirable, and to have a Master leave before the alotted time was something of a disgrace to the Palace. He would surely get a talking-to.

"Sir!" The boy shifted uncomfortably. "Well, anyway... I'm also supposed to tell you that a new Master is arriving this evening."

Nevin sighed. How did I know I wouldn't get a moment's peace?

"It's past noon, so you may want to prepare soon. Do you need any help with bathing?"

Nevin turned over in bed and ignored him, knowing the boy must be at a loss of what to do without any orders. He took a fleeting, sick kind of pleasure from it -- the few times he could rebel against Palace protocol -- the few times he had any power. It was a hopeless kind of feeling, though.

Eventually, the boy must have decided that Nevin's silence could be taken as a 'no,' and fled the room as quietly as he could.

Nevin pulled the comb through his long brown hair impatiently, frowning at the wet tangles. He'd just come out of the bath and was 'preparing' himself for his Master's arrival. Surprisingly, he hadn't gotten a visit from the Palace Administrator like he thought he would for chasing off his Master (and consequentially, the Palace's business.) Maybe they decided to go easy on me since I have a new Master coming so soon. Nevin finally worked the rest of the tangles out of his hair, and with that past, began wondering about how much he should be preparing himself. Some Masters liked him oiled up, naked, and ready for entry upon their arrival, while others didn't seem to care at all about his state. He hadn't been given any specifications this time around, though, so he decided that the bare minimum of preparation was all he needed to see to -- in other words, bathed, groomed, and dressed in clean clothes (if any at all). He was also still recovering from that horrid medication they had given him to sedate him, and didn't feel like going to any trouble.

Nevin put on a thin black silk robe and left his hair down to air dry. There was plenty of time before his Master arrived, so he sat on one of the wine-coloured couches by the full-length window at one side of the room and began reading the book he had started a few days ago, using the natural light from the window. He became so caught up in the adventures in the book that he was only drawn back into reality when it became dark enough that he could no longer see the text on the page. He put the book down, but didn't move to turn on any lights. He somewhat liked sitting in the dark. My master should be arriving soon..., he thought, almost regretfully. Well, at least I had the entire afternoon to myself.

Nevin looked out the window, which looked out on the garden and did not offer him any clue as to whether or not his Master had arrived. Darkness was quickly descending on the Palace grounds -- so quickly that he swore he could actually see the shadows swallowing everything up. For a moment he felt a pang in his chest, wishing he was out there, in the night. But the only times Nevin had been out in the gardens was with his Master, and never at night. No, night was apparently better suited to other things, other places....

Nevin was startled out of his thoughts when the sound of a key turning in the lock of the door penetrated the silence of the room.