059

*5*

Gregor watched the men go about their meal preparations from the horse picket line. The unnaturally large horses were obviously war horses given how well they were trained and how well the ignored his presence among them. One of the men came towards Gregor and spoke in his choppy syllables. The words bumped and bobbed in unexpected ways, if he stopped listening Gregor could almost pick out some words or sounds that were familiar to him, but understood nothing.

After nearly a week Gregor continued to wonder why they spoke to him at length given the fact that he obviously comprehended nothing. The man finished speaking and looked at Gregor. Topless and muscular Gregor watched the man's body move with his breath. The tattooed lines on his chest and arms black in the failing evening light.

"I don't know what you said. Balls man, I have no idea. I am hungry and thirsty though." Gregor brought his hands to how mouth and mimed feeding himself. The gesture was clumsy as his wrists were tied but the man understood with a nod. The tattooed man turned and walked back to the cook fire where the rest of the group was eating.

After the initial beating Gregor had been treated well. His wounds had been cleaned and he was given enough food and drink so that he did not go to bed hungry. The men allowed Gregor to break his fast and eat an evening meal but for some reason refused to let him eat anything for the mid day meal. At that time drink of water was all that he was given.

Gregor still had no idea who these men were or why they had captured him. For the most part he was ignored by the men, rarely was he looked at or spoken to when it wasn't meal time. He did observe them, and from that Gregor was sure that these men were from far away.