“Evan, are we going back to the dungeon?”

“Yes, Rabbit.”

“But I don’t want to go.”

Rabbit, who was led by handcuffs and chain, walked bipedal with only a loin cloth for his rabbit body behind Evan, the Doctor’s servant. The two shuffled awkwardly through the inner courtyard of Castle Bestia. Their walk was awkward because occasionally the pace wasn’t quick enough for Evan, so he would constantly need to wrench the chain to prod rabbit, who needed the encouragement on account of the anesthetics the doctor had given him.

In order to get back to his cell, Rabbit still had to exit the keep where the doctor's laboratory was, go past the barracks and armory to the west of the keep, stop for a drink at the well a little to the west of the barracks, and move through to the center of the courtyard where a hatch led to the home of the beastly prisoner.

Rabbit trudged along while watching and longing to be part of the soldier’s family. To Rabbit the soldiers had life the easiest. After watching for years Rabbit could see that the soldiers doubled as hunters when not keeping the security of the castle. The women were tailors and cooks, their children foragers, and the eldest blacksmiths and tanners. Somehow Rabbit knew that the soldiers and guards represented normalcy in Castle Bestia.

“Hurry up!” Evan cranked the chain which caused Rabbit to stumble forward.

Rabbit mentally brooded over his treatment in Castle Bestia. He wished that he could get back at Evan and the Doctor, but knew that there was nothing he could do. Rabbit imagined himself free of his bonds. His previously imagined life as a furry human with long ears and powerful thighs who had a hovel of his own to live in flashed before his eyes, and then he recieved another crank of the chain from Evan. Rabbit lurched forward caught his balance again and sadly continued to follow Evan at a faster pace.

Once they reached the hatch to the beast-men’s cell, Evan removed his key ring from his belt, twirled it around his finger a couple of times and started whistling a happy tune as he unlocked the hatch that led to an unlit staircase. He continued whistling and twirling the key ring until they reached the bottom of the steps into the dungeon where he used the keys to unlock a wooden door at the bottom of the steps.

These cells were similar to that of a slave ship because each cell had a barred window over top of it to let light in.

The jailer glanced up from his book and nodded quietly before setting the book down and getting up to lead Rabbit to his cell.

This was when Rabbit was unhappiest, so he asked the jailer in his meekest voice, “Are you sure I can’t stay out here and play?”

“Doctor’s orders, my friend,”

Rabbit stood silently by the entrance to the cells. Under the effects of the anesthetics he still felt woozy. Finally the jailer took out a metal baton and struck Rabbit on his thigh. This gave Rabbit a jump and he silently limped towards his cell.

Evan patted Rabbit on the right shoulder and turned to the jailer to say, “Good work.”

Rabbit continued knowingly into his cell and heard the creak and slam of the jailer closing the iron door just behind him.

Evan swung his master key in ignorance as he strolled out of the dungeon.

Rabbit slouched onto his straw bed, thought for a second about how much he hated this routine, and laid down to rest.

It’s funny how going to sleep when you’re tired is the most comfortable thing in the world, and sad that this was the best part of Rabbit’s day. He was still sedated and knew he only had a minute before he fell asleep in the frustrating castle, but nobody was left to bother him, the underground staleness was non-existent, and Doctor Worchester was as far away as possible from being able to torture Rabbit. Rabbit was so tired that he could close his eyes and forget it all, and that was all he needed to fall asleep.