He heard the word ‘Majesty’, and everyone in the group bowed. The man in the seat rose and walked forward. Tempus felt the chains grow tighter but watched patiently. The man was pale of skin but had dark, black hair with a neatly trimmed beard. Tempus waited as the stranger in the red-robe walked around him, nodding to the well-dressed man. Returning to his seat, he spoke, and someone scuttled forth to drop coins into the well-dressed man's hands. Once again, fate had intervened.
Life serving the man in the seat turned out to be little different from his past. He was fed more and kept in nicer kennels, but still, he fought other dogs. Each time the man in the seat would watch over him, collecting coins every match.
The fights grew less frequent, but he was still undefeated, and he wonder
