As was often the case, Xavier ignored Esperanza's wishes and headed up the stairs two at a time to ensure he led the way.  He had told her enough times over the years that he worked for her father, not for her, that it seemed unnecessary to remind her at the moment.  He tested the locked door, ensuring it was relatively sturdy and appearing satisfied stepped away for it to be unlocked, but made certain to enter first.  He was not unaware of how this might annoy Esperanza, nor was he completely insensitive to the emotional context of what was going on around them.  At times he enjoyed the girl's confidence but he always left her to come to him not him approaching her on such matters, besides her physical safety had to be ensured if she was going to live long enough to sort out her feelings.<br/><br/>Whatever view this rather uninspiring room might have once offered was now boarded up as it seemed was every other window in this land.  Xavier opened the dirty glass pane and inspected the sureness of the planking.  This was more than one would need for simple wolves, no matter how many or how hungry.  There was a mystery here that needed sorted, one that neither girl had the answer to, at least not yet.  Seeing the dust in the air from the room Xavier smiled at Esperanza, amused at how she might adjust to such poor accommodations.  "I shall take my supper downstairs but will be just outside tonight."  With a familiar almost fatherly tone, the warmth drained from his voice as he continued.  "Do not open this door for anyone but me."<br/><br/>He turned to the most lovely of dopplegangers and offered a "Sleep well" though most of his message was conveyed with his eyes.<i>If anything happened to Esperanza he would find her and make her pay</i>.  It was not the first time Xavier had to leave his charge to share a room with someone he didn't trust but at least this one had two beds, such as they were.  Though he couldn't avoid a most impure image of the two of them naked and entwined in each other's arms.  It was a sinful weakness and he tried to shake the image from his mind, though perhaps not with the zealousness it deserved.  He would need to have faith in both girls tonight, he may not know all that was happening here, but it was clear their fates were intertwined in a much more complex way than his image.<br/><br/>Faith.<br/><br/>The word had been so clear to him for most of his adult life but it felt almost devoid of meaning in this land.  He would like to think himself secure in this fortified inn, that those on this side of the fortification could be trusted to hold true.  The way that Bucren's fellows treated him and the mood in the inn made folly of that belief.  He didn't know who to trust but at least he might learn a little about this place over supper.  As he came down the stairs he approached the bar, his eyes scanned their guide drinking alone at a table.  Approaching the owner he held up two fingers "two bowls" he said and threw his own coins on the counter.  "Bring a bottle and two glasses to the table."  He instructed as he threw more coins down and carried the two bowls to Bucren, setting one in front of him.<br/><br/>"Save that swill for cleaning your wound."  He offered as way of advice as their bottle arrived.  He doubted the quality of the wine but almost anything would be better than the primitive distillations of such a place.  "I'm no healer but I spent enough time on the road without one to know a thing or two."  It was his indirect way of offering help but he wouldn't push it much further than that.  Though a bowman without two good arms wasn't much use, his motives were for the most part altruistic.<br/><br/>"The second floor windows are boarded as well, these are some extraordinary wolves you have here."  It was a question spoken as a statement, trying to disguise his interrogation as idle discussion, as if they were discussing the weather.  Xavier would be more interested in listening than talking but would offer enough conversation to get what he wanted to hear.<br/><br/>"Those holy symbols back on the barn, do they work against these wolves?"  He asked, then followed with a reflection of his own.  "Symbols can be powerful, but that power comes from faith, without faith they are just graffiti."   He didn't feel it necessary to add that faith seemed to have fled this land.