THE STAG WAITED, knotted in his tether in the courtyard of the scriptorium tower. When they had left him here, he tossed his antlers. But he flung the loose line and spun around, trying to see that monk again or have a drink from the bucket of water. The more he tossed, the more tangled the line got until it was around his hind leg now and he could move nothing but his eyes.
Out of nowhere, the monk came, running hard this time. She grabbed him roughly and strapped something to his hind leg with twine. She started to untangle the rope from his antlers but couldn’t work the knots fast enough, so she grabbed for a blade on her belt and cut the tether. She disappeared again into the scriptorium.