Taskill was second to go to the bedchamber. He followed in Lyra's wake, casting glances here and there protectively. He almost stayed behind to wait for Midnight but knew the alicorn would join them. He had a stubborn streak but he was not stupid.<br/>In the bedchamber he looked about, recalling the breaking process so many years ago. It had been brutal. Unnecessarily so. Taskill had a free spirit but he was not violent in nature. Byrn had never needed to beat him down with such force. The sprite was not inclined to fighting. In fact, he was flighty and more likely to hide from a conflict. Yet the wizard had made sure that the forest sprite was thoroughly broken in. As far as Taskill knew the others had the same treatment. The more rare and beautiful the more brutal the process would be. As the only known Ghillie Dhu perhaps this had deepened his suffering.<br/>He watched Lyra from his perch on the bed. He had taken a seat and tucked his legs beneath him in his anxiety. He had been made to lay with both Lyra and Midnight in the past, for his master's pleasure. In both cases he wished they would come to him on their own will. He liked their company and their touch.<br/>When all three of them were present and silent in the frightful moments before Byrn's arrival Taskill spoke up. "He is in a rotten mood," he reported to them, "We ought to do what he says without delay. Tonight will be painful..."<br/>This he knew. Sometimes he knew such things before they happened. Especially when it came to mortals' and their hearts, he could predict them like the tide. Perhaps from centuries of observing them and loving them he knew. "I think something has happened," he thought aloud, beginning to pace. A shutter ran up his spine and he visibly shook. He grew more spastic when he was pensive. "Something upset him. Regardless, we ought to not ask and make it worse. No matter what. I will try to absorb the worst of it if he lets me."<br/>Bryn did seem to favor Taskill for the more degrading games. Perhaps because of the inherent passivity in the strange creature. Or that his spirit seemed so old and the pride in breaking something ancient...He would try to keep the wizard's worst wrath directed toward him. "You two should say nothing," he warned. "Absolutely nothing! Naught! Last time I queried him..." he let it end there. It was an unpleasant memory.<br/>He surveyed both of the animal-spirits and then looked away, returning to the bed. If they were wise they would heed his advise. He was older than them and had known Bryn for far longer...<br/>Now they would wait...