Taskill had been listening to the distant singing of Ayra, the angelic oddity who graced the castle. Even from so far it was soothing. He sometimes wished to go to her and show how he appreciated her presence. Before her enslavement among them the castle was so much bleaker. It was still an unhappy place. It was still a prison, but her presence had eased some of the pain.<br/>He twitched a bit in his anxiety. The bird was not back yet. He hoped she showed herself to everyone soon as the warning they needed. Captives like the lovely Lyra were usually wise and had broken no rules that Byrn would sense. But Taskill knew others like himself who still fought to be foolish when the wizard was out. The handsome buck Midnight, an alicorn cursed in his human form, would likely have broken a few rules too and it was good to give him a warning.<br/>Yanked from his own thoughts, Taskill's whole body jolted when Byrn's voice carried up to his chamber, summoning him. It was unpleasant. The man sounded in a foul mood. With Byrn's foul moods Taskill was made into a whipping board of sorts. He left his chamber door opened wide enough to allow Medea to fly back in when she finished her rounds. Now it was time to descend the steps. One by one on bare feet he covered the cold stone steps until he was standing before his master. His robes were black today and Taskill's large sad eyes took this in swiftly. Yes, a very bad mood indeed.<br/>"The master called me?" he asked. He did not meet the man's eye. Often it was easier to do what he must without making eye contact. But usually he was forced to at one point or another. Whether commanded to kneel before his master and pleasure him or made to suffer at the end of an angry cock, Taskill always met the man's eyes  and that was ever the scariest part.<br/>