Clack Clack

Kosmas stared. Mitch stared, the shovel clanging on the ground. Dom, having left the carriage in preparation for the clouds, stared, or at least he tried. Right as he lost his focus in shock, his foot slipped on the carriage step, and he ended up making love to the earth.

Silver clapped his hands. "Wonderful! This will speed up many of my plans," he said, a genuine grin carved into his face. "Dom, since you're up, grab a bucket. I need you to fill the pool."

"Right away!" Dom picked himself up and scrambled for a bucket. "Wait, the pool?" Silver just looked at him like he was an idiot. "Do you honestly think any of you smell pleasant right now?" He then gestured to the stone hole Dom had unconsciously ignored before. "Go fill up the pool, so the three of you can wash and relax before lunch."

Silver's sigh resounded in Dom's ears as he fetched the bucket. Over near the hole, Dom could hear Mitch snickering. Then, his ears chili peppers, Dom began filling the pool.

—

Noon found the three friends in the poo, relaxing after they finished work. On one end of the pool, Dom was floating, spreadeagle. "Wow, this feels so nice!" A teasing voice came from the other end. "Was it worth the effort?"

Dom's eyes snapped open, and he sat up to glare at one of the two people opposite him. Mitch rested against the edge, his arms on the stone lip. "Do NOT mention that," Dom's eyes flared. Only for Mitch to roar with laughter. "It's only fair Dom, me and Kosmas here," Mitch started, one hand lazily pointing to the final member of the pool, "have been doing all the lifting until now. Only the pretty princess was resting in the carriage." He erupted into laughter again. "Hahaha, pretty princess, that's hilarious! Phew, I am so funny. Right K?" He looked over at Komsas.

Silence. Kosmas simply lay in the pool, his gaze focused on deep space. He hadn't moved since he got in. "Kosmas?," Dom queried?

"What? Do you need something?" Startled, Kosmas jerked his gaze to meet Dom's. "No no, we were just playing is all." Mitch was quick to placate him. Silence reigned.

"Look, if this is about Gerhard-" "It's not." Kosmas' head drooped for a moment, before his eyes met Mitch's. His eyes scared Mitch. They were soulless, depressed, confused. Darkness seemed to pervade every corner of Kosmas' mind, no hope left to even attempt a facade, much less joke around.

"Well, was it, K?" Dom broke the silence. "We're not dead yet, are we?"

"Sir Silver wants to fetch my Miranda. No, he IS bringing her." Oh. Mitch and Dom shared a glance. "Did he mention why?" Mitch asked. "Yeah, yeah he did." In a halfhearted attempt to explain to his two closest friends, his hand half-waved at the now rather large hole they had been working on for nearly all of their time here. "That's why."

The other two looked toward the direction Kosmas pointed, then back to him. "The… hole?" It was Dom's turn to question. Kosmas nodded. "Yes, the hole. He plans to build a tavern there, and I'm to oversee it once it's done." Once, Kosmas got started, he found it hard to stop. "He said we would soon have more guests, and we also needed a place to rest. That's why we are building the tavern. And for Miranda-" His eyes glistened. "As for Miranda, he told me to write a letter, but I don't even know what to write!"

"How am I supposed to explain this to her? My darling wife, I have been captured and forced to work for a man in repentance, he has come to get you so I will be more happy?! Do I lie to her? I don't even think I can tell her it's okay. It's not okay. What if he uses her to force me into horrible things? Isn't this just delivering him a hostage?" Kosmas' face fell into his hands, and he could no longer continue.

"A… tavern?" Mitch was floored. They were building such a thing? He furiously shook the random thoughts out of his head. "Look, K, I know it doesn't seem good, but I don't think that's what Sir Silver means. Since we have come under him, granted it's only been nary a day, he has not mistreated us."

"Quite the opposite actually," Dom piped up. Mitch shot him a glance before continuing. "Not to mention, everything he has shown us so far gives us no reason to think he would. He's so powerful that he can even create a well in the middle of a barren desert! Whatever he plans, I believe we are far too weak for him to mistreat us." After Mitch's rant, Kosmas finally raised his head. "You're right," he relented. "I just lost myself for a bit, sorry." "Don't worry about it!" Mitch smacked Kosmas in the back. "After all, we're brothers, right?"

"Brothers!" "Brothers."

"Oi!!" A voice came from the cottage before Silver even walked out the door. "Are you three hungry yet? You've been in the pool for over an hour!"

'Really?' Kosmas thought, staring at the water. 'But the water is so clear, like we just entered…'

-Rumble Rumble.-

The three brothers left the pool and dried off. As they approached the cottage they noticed a grill at the end of the path, smoke rising from its closed hood. "Great timing!" A man stood in front of the grill, tongs in hand.

CLACK CLACK

"Lunch just finished cooking!"