[ WP ] `` Humanity spent its childhood reaching for the sky . When they held it in their hands , they found naught but empty space . ''

`` That's a wonderful story Dieter, but what does it mean?'' 
 
 Dieter Hagedorn pauses to take another sip of his mulled wine. The snow piling up outside the window makes him glad he is not in his open aired cell anymore. The room he is in is comfortably warm thanks to the roaring fireplace. Occasionally the pinewood spits sparks, but otherwise burns clean. He is garbed against the cold in warm woolen trousers and a tunic made of the same over a linen shirt. Taking another sip, he replies. 
 
 `` Nah, nothing much. It's just a story, a metaphor. A lesson of man's hubris in thinking there's anything worthwhile in the aether. Sometimes one's dreams are merely empty wishes.'' 
 
 The young woman leans in, her eager viridian eyes shining in the flickering fire. `` Tell me another one.'' He chuckles softly. `` Is that a request or an order?'' She grins mischievously. `` Whichever you so choose. On a side note, it looks terribly cold out there...'' `` All right, all right. One more story. Then I get to go to bed.'' She props herself up on the arm rest of the Chaise longue, excitement bare on her face. She is gown in a dress of pale blue linen with a fur blanket covering her. The raven black hair on her head disappears in the shadows of the room as she leans back. Her name is Queen Malvina. She is a powerful sorceress and Deiter's closest friend, she is also his captor. 
 
 `` Once upon a time, there were three brothers. Their family was exceptionally poor, and so their father cast them out to seek their fortunes in the world. They later came to a spring to drink, when they disturbed a dryad bathing. Furious at their trespassing, she punished them. She would transform them into beasts, but she did show mercy. The dryad would allow them to choose what they would become.'' 
 
 Queen Malvina chimes in. `` So, what did they turn into?'' Dieter laughs.'Patience your majesty. Anyways, the eldest brother was a warrior at heart, full of violence and need for freedom. He chose to become a wolf. The younger brother, lazy and needy, picked a dog. But the middle brother, wiser and more cunning than his siblings, desired to become a fox.'' 
 
 `` Now the eldest brother, the wolf, did indeed live a free life. But humans, fearful of the ever violent wolves, eventually hunted him down and slayed him. Such was the price for the fullest extant of his liberty. The youngest brother, the dog, lived a life of luxury. He was well feed by his master but was forced to be at his beck and call for the rest of his life. Yes, he had a full belly, but he gave up all his freedom for it. The middle son, the fox, was different. He was not enslave to anyone and though often times he would go hungry, he was free. Unlike his older brother, he was no threat to man and so they left him in peace. Unlike his younger sibling, he had his liberty.'' 
 
 `` The lesson to be learn is twofold. It is better to be hungry and free, than full and enslaved. It is also better to be weak and alive, than strong and dead.'' 
 
 Heaving himself up from the chair, he drains his cup of wine. `` That's all for tonight. Sleep well your majesty.'' With that he makes his exit, leaving Queen Malvina to stare into the fire in thought. The snow continues to fall.
