Although he would never admit it to his hosts, Wesley was getting bored. He had nothing to read, nothing to study, nothing to do. Perhaps they would allow him to perform some task. He simply couldn't justify his continued presence in their hold. As he finished his meal, Wesley bolstered his resolve to discuss the matter with Rraiec the next time he saw the dalhari.

As it turned out, he met his guide and host the next morning. Rraiec stopped by to make sure that he had enough food and other supplies. Wesley ushered him in as graciously as he knew how, wondering if this was such a good idea.

"Rraiec?" Wesley began. The dalhari looked at him curiously.

"You have a question?" Rraiec asked.

Wesley fidgeted. "Of a sort. Is there…is there anything I can do here?"

"You can do?" Rraiec echoed.

"Yes, something I can do—work of some sort," Wesley continued. "I cannot simply stay here without doing something."

Rraiec cocked his head to one side. "You do not have to do anything to earn your place here. You have asylum."

"I realize that," Wesley said a bit impatiently. "However I cannot stay without earning my keep. Surely there is something for me to do—anything. In my world I performed research and some magic, but I doubt I would be of much use here; I neither speak nor write your language with proficiency."

"This is important to you," Rraiec murmured. Perhaps the human followed a path that espoused work. While that was not the prevalent path followed in Ke'reo Der, there were those who chose that one. "You are progressing very quickly in our language, so that should not be a problem. I am sure, though, that no matter what you decide to do we will be able to accommodate you." Wesley nodded.

"Thank you."

Rraiec simply smiled. "If you wish, I can take you to the elders. They should be able to help you."

Soon they were on their way to the elders. Wesley was a bit nervous, since he couldn't tell if he was breaking dalhari protocol by asking to do something. He was also unwilling to simply ask.

"Wesley," Rinhe murmured as they entered the hall. Wesley nodded to the elders and waited for them to speak. "What brings you here?"

Wesley glanced over at Rraiec before speaking. "I need something to do. I cannot be idle." The elders smiled at him.

"That can be arranged," Rinhe said. Wesley was surprised at how quickly they agreed. The elder noticed his reaction and elaborated. "Very few people can remain idle for long, and work is often the best solution to such a thing."

"Ah. So…" Wesley began, looking around. What was he supposed to do?

"There is much you can do, Wesley," Rinhe replied. "Once you've mastered our language there is the library. There is also much work to be done around the hold, if you prefer labor."

Wesley's first reaction was strong and negative. He had never been one for physical labor. Then again, there wasn't much else—he wasn't qualified to do much in this world. Perhaps a bit of hard work would help him sort though things. It wouldn't require a lot of thought, and it would tire him out. "What sorts of labor?" He inquired.

A second elder stepped forward. "The walls are being worked on constantly, as are the fields. I am sure the laborers would appreciate another pair of hands."

Wesley nodded. He had always been fascinated by walls—the low stone structures of his home country remained a fond memory.

•••

“Drink.”

Wesley gratefully accepted a ladle of water, drinking carefully to avoid waste. Despite the pleasantly cool temperature, he was sweating profusely. Of course, he was working hard—harder than he’d ever labored in his life. Although after a few weeks his stamina was much better than what it had been, he still got hot and sweaty after only a few hours. Once he’d consumed another ladle of water, Wesley returned to his work, determined to finish his section of wall before evening.

The labor, which at first had intimidated him a little, turned out to be just what he needed. Rraiec had taken him directly from the elders’ hall to the fields, where he was introduced to Uvu, one of the master stonemasons that lived in Ke’reo Der. Uvu looked him over carefully before nodding his acceptance. Rraiec left him in the care of the stonemason, who began Wesley’s education immediately. The human picked up the basics of wall building quickly enough, so Uvu assigned him to constructing a wall on the north side of the hold.

The aspect of his work that surprised Wesley the most was that the wall he was building was not new—it was being relocated from another part of the hold. Each day he took a handcart to the eastern side of the hold and dismantled part of a wall there. Then he took the stones over to the northern side of the hold and used them to lengthen the wall he was working on. When he asked, Uvu explained that they were rearranging the grazing pastures, so the walls had to be moved. Wesley inquired as to why they didn’t just build all the walls they could possibly need, with removable gates. Uvu just rolled his eyes and walked back to his own work.

Wesley still wasn’t sure why they didn’t simply build more walls, instead of relocating them, but he figured that the best thing for him to do was to do what he was told. After all, he had volunteered for the job. Besides that, it was relaxing even as it was tiring. He found that while he didn’t have to think very much while he was working, his mind didn’t use the time to dwell on that which troubled him. It was like meditating, except for the constant danger of dropping a heavy rock on his foot.

So every day, from sunrise to sunset, Wesley built his wall. At first he was most concerned with making the wall smooth, stable and straight. Once he’d learned those basics, however, he began to care about how it looked. His careful eye had seen how each stonemason took a slightly different approach to laying stones, creating a unique pattern in their walls. His wall, however, had all the character of porridge—it was technically acceptable but bland and uninteresting. Determined to change that, he tried to vary his techniques. After a few memorable (and painful) failures, he settled upon a simple geometric pattern, using several different colors of the local stone material. Now, after many weeks of labor, the pattern was second nature to him—he didn’t even have to think about where each stone went; it simply slid into place.

He envied the dalhari who worked around him; they easily lifted the stones he couldn’t and worked far longer than he did. Then again, they were stronger and could see in the dark. Once Uvu had assured him that his wall was progressing quickly enough for the hold’s plans, Wesley’s jealousy abated somewhat. After all, so long as the wall was completed before winter, what did it matter?

When the sun had set low enough that he could no longer see, Wesley set aside his tools and began the walk back to his quarters. He absently nodded to Uvu and the other stonemasons as he wound his way through the halls, more concerned with a warm bath and dinner than after-work conversation. He saw Rraiec out of the corner of his eye and waved as he passed, but didn’t stop. Until he was clean, fed and rested, he was no good to anyone.

After bathing and consuming a rather plain meal of paz grain, Wesley settled down with a stack of books in front of the small fire he’d lit. He was progressing fairly quickly in his studies of the basic dalhari language and it was his intent to gain proficiency by the time spring came again next year. The language itself fascinated him because it was so very unlike English. Actually, in terms of structure, it was much like some of the demonic tongues he’d learned as a Watcher. The writing presented a challenge to him because it was an odd combination of letters and pictographs. He was having a bit more trouble learning it, although he was making progress. Tonight’s lesson was on conjugating adjectives, a concept with which he wasn’t completely familiar. To him, it was natural to conjugate verbs, but adjectives? His instructor had tried to explain by showing how the various tenses of verbs and adjectives combined to differentiate the states of things. It was a bit complicated, and more than once he’d said to himself that the species would be happier if they’d just chuck out some of their grammar.

A knock on his door pulled Wesley away from the troubling grammar lesson. He set aside the books and went to usher in Rraiec, who entered bearing food. “Ah, another delivery from the kitchens?” Wesley asked as he set the bowls down on a side table.

“You never go there, and they worry about you,” Rraiec replied with a smile. It was well known that the human preferred to eat in his own quarters instead of going to the communal dining halls. In fact, his dislike of them was so intense that he often ran out of food in his own room because he never stopped by to pick anything up. “And how is your wall?”

“Still there,” Wesley said tiredly. “It should be done before winter, if I can just get moving a bit faster.”

“Ah. And the lessons?”

Wesley nodded toward the fire. “Moving along just as quickly, I fear. Both should be done by winter, but only one will actually meet that goal.”

“You did mention that you felt your lessons might last until spring,” Rraiec murmured. “Would you like more reading material?” He was used to procuring the stuff for Wesley, who avoided the library.

“Perhaps, the next time you are near the library, yes,” Wesley asked. “But there is no hurry; I still have several left to muddle my way through.” It was the truth; although his reading skills were quite good, he still had to look up a lot of words. That slowed him down and was the source of much frustration.

A few minutes later, Wesley closed the door behind Rraiec, happy that the dalhari had stopped by but relieved that he had left. There was a subtle tension for Wesley when Rraiec was near, stemming directly from physical attraction. Wesley was rather sure it was primarily on his part and was something that would go away soon enough. He wouldn’t have minded it in the least, since he had been in similar such circumstances in the past, except that he was constantly exhausted from both physical and psychological labors and didn’t have the resources to deal with it.

Beyond that particular annoyance, Wesley found himself enjoying his solitude immensely. Now that he’d been allowed to work by himself on his wall, his contacts with others were largely limited to brief visitations such as those by Rraiec and matter-of-fact work related ones with Uvu. He suspected that he spent more than ninety percent of his day alone. It intrigued him that he found that aspect of his life so peaceful now. All during his youth and young adulthood, he had been alone—alone in his studies, left by himself without any contact from his parents. The Watchers hadn’t been much closer, leaving him to his training as though he needed no guidance, no camaraderie. What closeness he found with Angel and his friends, cherished though it was, was tainted by the fact that he knew that they only reason they tolerated him was his expertise, such as it was. And he’d proven rather well that once his failures exceeded his successes, he was no longer needed by them. Perhaps it was that he had chosen this solitude—the difference between being alone and being lonely.

Such thoughts served mainly to depress him, so Wesley shook himself out of his reverie and finished his studies for the evening. Sunrise would come all too quickly and he desperately needed his rest. The great majority of his current happiness was due to his not thinking about his past and he made no effort to dwell upon it. What point was there? He wouldn’t be returning to that world, wouldn’t be encountering anyone from it. It was better for him to melt, slowly but surely, into this place. He could live out a long, industrious life among these people, working the entirety of it. In the back of his mind, he knew that he was trying to gain penance, trying to earn forgiveness through labor. Maybe if he worked hard enough, long enough, he would pay back all he owed, even if the payment went to a new master. At least this one—this world—was a fair and understanding one, unlike Angel.