Sagon followed the older man through the familiar hallways to the ornately carved door. He was surprised when the man opened the door easily, realizing that they were not keeping it locked. The odor of sickness hit his nose as soon as the door opened.

Another man, much older, sat by Lio's bedside, wiping his face with a cloth. Over by the table, a page sat, waiting for any orders. Sagon walked slowly over to the bed.

The senior manager stepped up beside him, addressing the healer. "Demetri, this is Sagon, Lio's last Master. Sagon, Demetri, the healer." The old healer shot Sagon a sharp look, then turned his attention back to his patient.

"He's been calling for you," Demetri said. "Wants you to take him home."

Sagon looked at him in surprise, then sat on the bed beside the sick slave. "Lio?" he called gently, reaching out to touch the younger man's face. The feel of the hot, dry skin startled Sagon. "Lio," he called again. "It's Sagon. How are you?"

The blue streaked eyes, glazed and unfocused, darted around the room, then fastened on the warrior. "Sagon?" He winced at the raspy weak voice.

"Yes, Lio. I'm here." Sagon gasped at his first site of Lio's hand as the boy lifted it, trying to touch his beloved Master.

"Oh, gods, Lio! What happened?" He turned to the healer. "What is this?" Sagon grasped the swollen hand, letting go quickly as Lio cried out.

"I don't know," admitted the healer.

On the bed, Lio had begun to sob softly. Sagon turned back to him, taking the cool, wet cloth from the healer. He began to bath Lio's face and chest, trying to cool down the burning body.

"Sagon, it hurts," Lio whimpered pitifully. "Take me home. Please, Sagon, take me home. I want to go home."

"Sh, sh, Lio. I'll take you home, I promise. As soon as you get better, all right?" Sagon reassured the sick man.

"No, now! Sagon, please, I'm dying. I'll die if I don't go home. Please, please!" Lio was becoming frantic, tossing restlessly on the bed.

"Boy, bring me that cup," the healer called, and the page rose from his seat to get a cup on the table.

Sagon stood up in confusion, disturbed by Lio's agitation. He moved out of the way as Demetri took the cup from the page and tried to pour some of its contents into Lio's mouth.

"Don't want any medicine," Lio turned his head away. "Can't sleep. I have to get home. Sagon? Where's Sagon?"

Sagon couldn't resist the pleading note in Lio's voice and moved around to the head of the bed.

"I'm here, love, I'm here. Lio, listen to me. I want you to take the medicine, hear me?" Sagon had his hands on Lio's head, gently massaging his temples. Lio looked up into his face. "You take the medicine and sleep, then I'll take you home."

Lio nodded and looked back to Demetri. Sagon held his head up as Demetri poured a little of the thick liquid into Lio's mouth. Grimacing at the taste, Lio closed his eyes and turned his head away. Soon, his harsh breathing had eased somewhat and Demetri sat back with a heavy sigh.

The healer stood up, old joints popping as he stretched. He gestured to Sagon and Vacarod and they all went over to the table, where there was a pitcher of wine and several glasses. Demetri drank deeply, but the other two men declined.

"Well, will he live?" the manager demanded.

"At this point, no," Demetri answered bluntly.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Sagon desperately asked.

"I've done all I can for him. Perhaps the best thing is to do what he asks, take him home." Demetri sank into the chair and poured another glass of wine.

"Well, you see my problem," Vacarod began, turning to Sagon. "I cannot, in good conscience, sell you a dying slave."

"Then let me take him," Sagon promptly replied.

"Hm, well, you see," the manager began. Sagon narrowed his eyes. "Let's say I do let you take him, and he recovers. Then, I have lost a perfectly good slave and have nothing to show for it."

"So you would prefer him to stay here and die? Then you still have nothing. That doesn't make sense."

"I suppose you could, if you were still set on purchasing him, sign a waiver that you were fully aware of his condition at the time of the sale and would not hold the Palace liable should his condition worsen or he should die." The manager regarded Sagon with a perfectly poised, bland, uncaring face. Lio meant nothing to him, other than the money that the Palace could wring from his body.

Sagon ground his teeth together. "You come up with a price and I will pay it," he growled. He stalked back to the bed, taking up the cloth again and bathing the hot skin. Lio moaned in his sleep.

Demetri snorted and looked away from the manager, who just smiled in satisfaction and left to draw up the papers. The healer joined Sagon back by the bed, and told him all he knew about Lio's illness, which wasn't much.

"Gods, what am I going to do?" Sagon asked. "I don't even know where his home is, do you?"

"No, I don't," Demetri answered. "Maybe he meant 'home' as in 'home with you'?"

Sagon shook his head. "No, somehow I don't think so," he said slowly. "I think he means his home. Don't you have records or something that tells where the slaves are from?"

"We should, but when Lio first became ill I checked the records to see if it might be something specific to his people or where he came from. There is no mention of Lio's homeland, but I did find something interesting." Demetri paused then continued. "The records state that Lio was seventeen when he came to the Palace. That was almost ten years ago."

Sagon gasped. "But, he doesn't… How is that possible?"

"I don't know," answered the healer. "Unless there is some magic involved. I don't sense any, but if he is spelled, it may be a hidden spell, one that is not apparent to any but the one who cast it."

"What am I to do?" Sagon asked. The anguish in his voice touched Demetri.

"Trust and pray to those gods you mention," he answered wryly.

The two men sat in companionable silence, wiping the cool cloth across Lio and listening to the steady breathing. Occasionally Lio would moan or turn restlessly on the bed. Sagon soothed him with words and light touches.

Lio began to stir, and Sagon moved over onto the bed with him. He was smiling when Lio's eyes opened and fastened onto him immediately.

"Sagon?" Lio breathed.

"I'm right here, love," Sagon said. "I'm going to take you home, Lio. But we have a problem." Sagon caressed Lio's cheek as his eyes clouded in confusion. "I don't know where your home is, and the records don't say. Where are you from?"

Lio's eyes filled with tears, although he did not sob. "I don't know. I don't remember. But I have to go there."

"Where, Lio? Where do you have to go?" Sagon gently prodded him.

Lio strained to sit up, and Sagon slipped his arm beneath Lio's shoulders to help him. Gasping as his arms were shifted, Lio leaned weakly against Sagon's chest.

Sagon watched as Lio turned his head blindly around the room. He tried to support the young man as his body twisted around. Finally, Lio was staring at the corner where the east and north walls met. "There, I need to go there," Lio breathed.

Turning his head to follow Lio, Sagon stared at the corner. Northeast. His blood ran cold. Not east, please gods, not east.

The body in his arms convulsed in pain, and Sagon was snapped back into the present. He held on as Lio spasmed, groaning miserably. Sagon crooned soothingly in his ear, and little by little, Lio relaxed as Sagon laid him back down. He had just gotten Lio settled down again when Vacarod returned with the senior page.

The manager introduced Sagon and Alexir, then handed Sagon a piece of paper. "You said to set a price, and so I have," Vacarod said.

Sagon looked at the paper and blanched. The figure written would take almost all of his savings, leaving him with precious little for them to live on. He would have to find a way to support the both of them while still protecting Lio from the world outside. Alexir watched Sagon's face carefully, wondering how far this man would go to purchase the Gryphon Key.

Vacarod had spoken to Sagon in a normal tone of voice, not even considering that the object of the purchase might be listening. Nor did he care.

"Sagon?" the weak voice claimed the warrior's attention immediately.

"Yes, Lio?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sagon hesitated only briefly. "I'm am going to buy your freedom, Lio. I would like it very much if you would come and live with me."

"Oh, Master! You're going to buy me? To be yours forever?" Lio tried to raise his hand to reach out to Sagon but just did not have the strength.

Sagon bent down to brush a kiss over Lio's brow. "Lio, listen very carefully. I am not buying you to be my slave." Lio's face began to crumple. "Lio, are you listening? I am going to buy your freedom. Then you can decide if you want to stay with me, as my love, my heart, and my soul."

Lio's eyes cleared and he smiled faintly. "How much?" he whispered.

"Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it," Sagon assured him. But he could not hide the worry in his eyes.

"My treasure," Lio breathed.

"You're my treasure, too," Sagon smiled.

"No, no. My treasure. Get my treasure. I don't know how much there is, but it's all yours." Lio struggled to get the words out, his voice fading to almost nothing.

"What are you talking about? What treasure?" Sagon was confused.

"The window. Under the window," Lio gasped, stifling a moan of pain.

Sagon looked around, perplexed, as were the others in the room.

Vacarod cleared his throat. "He may mean his trinkets. Many of the Masters send the boys a trinket of affection, sort of a tip, if you will, for good service. We usually allow the slaves to keep them as it makes them happy. He probably has a box around here somewhere. I, um, I wouldn't count of any of them being of much worth, if I were you."

The window seat caught Sagon's eye, and he crossed the room. Lifting the padded bench, he moved the extra blankets and pillows to find the plain wooden box beneath.

Sagon grunted as he heaved the box out. It was heavier than he had expected. He carried it over to the table, wincing at the loud thunk it made when he all but dropped it. Vacarod, Demetri, and Alexir crowded around as Sagon pulled down the latch and lifted the lid.

All of them gasped at the mass of shining gold that was revealed. Alexir was secretly relieved, Demetri was quietly amused, but Vacarod was absolutely livid. He could have asked three times what he had for Lio and the slave would still have had gold left over.

Unexpectedly, Sagon threw back his head and laughed. He hurried over to the bed and began kissing Lio carefully. "Oh, my treasure, indeed. Lio, you truly are the Gryphon Key!"

Vacarod's hand twitched toward the box, but a 'cluck' from Alexir stopped its progress immediately. Vacarod glared at the senior page, who simply smiled benignly.

Lio looked up at Sagon's face, shining with excitement. "What do you mean?" The others in the room came over to hear what Sagon was saying.

"The legend of the Gryphon, Lio. Have you ever heard of it?" Sagon asked gently. Lio shook his head 'no', and Sagon settled down to tell him.

"The Gryphons lived in a land far from here a long, long time ago," he said. "They had the uncanny ability to find gold in the mountains where they lived. The loved gold, and would dig it out to line their eyries with it. In their nests, it was said, they laid agates instead of eggs."

Lio's eyes drifted away from Sagon's, focusing on the fireplace across the room.

"The agate egg," he said.

"What?" Sagon wasn't sure if Lio was asking something, or just repeating his words.

"The agate egg," Lio said again. "On the mantle."

All eyes turned to the fireplace, wondering if there was another treasure hidden there. Demetri crossed the room and reached up. He returned holding an agate, shaped like an egg, in his hands. The stone was beautiful, a deep brown with swirls and bands running through it ranging from bright orange to dark red, polished to a bright gleam.

"The agate," he said, "is reputed to have many healing qualities. It is supposed to quench thirst and protect from fevers, as well as strengthen the body and the body's connection to the earth."

Sagon looked at him, hope burning brightly in his eyes. Demetri shrugged. "It can't hurt." Sagon took the egg and tucked it beneath Lio's swollen right hand. On the bed, Lio sighed as his eyes drifted closed once again.