I AWOKE, this time with a sense of peace and the warmth of a fire about me. I found myself in a comfortable bed, in a large room with stone walls. A bowl of water sat on a wooden table to my right.

Above me, a bearded man in a scarlet robe shot a satisfied grin at a portly priest at his side.

He wakes, Louis. You can go back to the abbey now. It seems you are out of a job.

The priest lowered his flabby face in front of mine. He shrugged. You have done well, Auguste... on thebody. But there is also the matter of the soul. Perhaps there is something this blood-spotted stranger would like to confess.

I wet my lips, then answered for myself. I am sorry, Father. If it's a confession you're looking for, you might get a better one out of the boar that attacked me. Certainly a better meal.

This made the physician laugh. Back among us for only a second, Louis, and he's sized you up.

The priest scowled. It was clear he didn't like being the brunt of mockery. He threw on a floppy hat. Then I'm off.

The priest left, and the kindly-looking doctor sat down beside me. Don't mind him. We had a bet. Who got you-he or I.

I raised myself up on my elbows. I'm glad to have been the subject of your sport. Where am I?

In good hands, I assure you. My reputation is that I've never lost a patient who wasn't truly sick.

And where am I?

He shrugged. You, sir, I'm afraid, are trulyvery sick.

I forced a weak smile. I meant the place, Doctor. Where am I taken?

The physician gently patted my shoulder. I knew that, boy. You are in Bor俥.

Bor俥... My eyes widened in shock. Bor俥 was among the most powerful duchies in France. Three times the size of Treille. Bor俥 was also a four-day ride from Tr............