It was a moment before he registered the command and placed himself in the chair before the figure. Then a voice that was little more than a whisper came at him. In an instant he knew his new handler was a woman. Her tone was soothing and lyrical in the way music coerced an emotional response in the listener. He was listening with an attention that was fueled by desire. "I have need of your services" she said in a matter of fact tone, but all he heard was "I want you" with all the innuendo of foreplay. Quieting his heart to the extent he could he listened further.

She went on to describe the nature of his assignment and the distant reaches this would carry him. He soaked it all in committing the instruction to memory along with the subtle nuances of his hosts gestures. The message that at the time seemed cryptic was clear to him now in he present company. "Those I hold dear will bear a mark. It is for you to see to it they receive my protection until such time as I require their services".

Intoxicated by the encounter he made his way to the military barracks to begin his new tour of duty. Joining the military was never something he had in mind for himself, but it was the only way to complete his mission.
On the way he diverted to a small shop just off the main boulevard and placed an order with a merchant. He marked the address of delivery The Chalice.

This morning, when he had arrived at Gallow's to acquire his package, the proprietor had indicated that it had not yet been unloaded from the cart. Not given to waiting as a form of recreation, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, that had placed him in his current predicament. The box containing his shoes had fallen off the cart during his admittedly overzealous rifling, causing it to slip off the far side of the cart into the gutter and down the drain.

Oh, he sighed, if patience is a virtue let it find me before it unmakes me. For now that virtue would be forced on him while the water filled the lower chamber and brought him his coveted prize. It was, after all, shoes that make a man.