The Word -Engage'

Kolton felt awful, his head ached, and his eyes weren't working well at all. There was a wide blank in front of him. Darkness and that wasn't right. Had the idiots messed up his vision now? They would be blinded themselves! He struggled to find his feet, his ears twitching like crazy as he, stumbled. He couldn't seem to get off his hands and kn--He cried out, a horse's shriek sounding in his twitching ears, as hooves flashed where his hands should have been. What was this! No, it couldn't be...he was dreaming he was dreaming.
A firm hand grabbed onto his face. On a long elongated snout.
"A colt in truth are you not Young Kolton?" Yorvet laughed fixing a rope around his face. "No one can doubt now that you're engaged' to our cause. You'll make a fine addition to our herds.
The men around him laughed as Kolton fought against the rope, his legs trembling. He wasn't a horse. He wasn't horse!

Engage' - committed to or supportive of a cause.

Added Info - Engage' is the past participle of the French verb engager; meaning "to engage." The French have used engage' since the 19th century to describe socially or politically active people. The term became particularly fashionable in the wake of World War II, when French writers, artists, and intellectuals felt it was increasingly important for them to take a stand on political or social issues and represent their attitudes in their art. By 1946, English speakers had adopted the word for their own politically relevant writing or art, and within a short time. "engage'" was being used generally for nay passionate commitment to a cause.

The Word -Comptroller

"He will find you." Yorvet laughed. "But he will not know it is you will he?"
Kolton cried out as Yorvet kicked him in the stomach, sending him flat to his face.
He didn't get a chance to move back to his hands and feet, Yorvet shoved his hands down on Kolton's shoulders. He was sure it was hands. He could feel every finger prick digging into his skin.
but the rest....A flash of heat hotter than the sun, changing in a blink of an eye to freezing cold. Switching back and forth. Expanding and Contracting. Burning and Freezing. Kolton gasped for breath.
"Lets see if this comptroller of a man in your Father's service can see you for you now." Yorvet said with a sneer as Kolton's vision finally cleared up.

Comptroller - 1: a royal-household official in charge of expenditures 2: a public official who audits government accounts 3: the chief accounting officer of a business or institution (as a college)

Added Info - If you think "comptroller" looks like a mistaken spelling of "controller," you're partially right. Today, "comptroller" is an established word that shares one of its meanings (#3) with "controller." The term did originate as a misspelling, however. Around the 15th century, Middle English speakers altered the spelling of conterroller (meaning "controller," from the Middle French contrerolleur) under the influence of the Middle French word compte ("account"). The resulting word, "comptroller," has attracted criticism over the years. Grammarian Henry Fowler condemned "comptroller" as "not merely archaic, but erroneous" in 1920, and a lexicographical column from 1931 agreed that "comptroller" is "erroneous and should not be accept as correct." Nevertheless, such modern institutions as colleges and governments continue to have comptrollers. "Comptrollership" occasionally turns up as well.

The Word -Transpontine

"Your Father searches for you, noble brat." Yorvet's voice sounded from far away. "He approaches the transpontine edge of the waters. Searching for you."
Kolton managed to laugh through the pain. "I told you, you can't keep me here." He was going to be hanged! Kolton would see to that.
Yorvet's laugh out weighed his own. "Your father will not find you, here, brat. You're mine. However I wish you to be, you will be, you are my servant."
Kolton rolled to hands and knees. "I am here. He will find me. You can't hide me!" he managed. There would be no way to be able to keep him quiet. He would see to that. He would kick and scream and yell and draw his father's attention to him.

Transpontine - 1: situated on the father side of a bridge  2 British :situated on the south side of the Thames

Added Info - Usually, the prefix "trans," meaning "across," allows for a reciprocal perspective. Whether you're in Europe or America, for example, transoceanic countries are countries across the ocean from where you are. But that's not the way it originally worked with "transpontine." The "pont-" in "transpontine" is from the Latin pons, meaning "bridge," and the bridge in this case was , at first, any bridge that crossed the river Thames in the city of London. "Across the bridge" meant on one side of the river only--the south side. That's where the theaters that featured popular melodramas were located, and Victorian Londoners first used "transpontine" to distinguish them from their more respectable "cispontine" ("situated on the nearer side of the bridge") counterparts north of the Thames.

The Word -Suffuse

He moved to a crouch as there was a noise at the door. His grip tightened on the blade. And he struck as the door swung open. Blade to the throat. First step. Only he never finished the first step. Kolton cried out in agony as heat suffused through him in burning intensity. He collapsed to the ground the blade falling from his grip as he convulsed.
"You dare attack me Slave?" Yorvet demanded. "I am your master now. Highest of the Mages. I can turn you to a puddle if I so desire!"
The heat increased within Kolton and his voice rose to another pitch in agony. What was this! Mages?! They didn't exist. They couldn't, but the agony coursing through him told another story.

Suffuse - to spread over or through in the manner of fluid or light : flush, fill

Added Info -If you are cold or embarrassed, your cheeks may become suffused with a red glow, as though coated on one side with paint. This is reflected in the word's etymology. "Suffuse" derives from Latin suffundere, meaning "to pour beneath," a blend of the prefix sub- ("under") and fundere ("to pour"). Other verbs related to fundere continue the theme of pouring or spreading: "diffuse" ("to pour out and spread freely"), "effuse" ("to pour or flow out"), "transfuse" ("to cause to pass from one to another"), and the verb "fuse" itself when it's used to mean "to meld or join."

The Word - Bird-dog

Kolton stared at the door like a bird-dog. Hand on the blade they'd foolishly left with him. Any sign of movement. Any at all. He would be at them. Blade to the throat. He wanted to kill them, but he would need a hostage. A way to ensure that he would get to the horses. That he would be able to ride away from this pit of darkness. He'd be only a days journey away from home, That he was sure of. They couldn't travel that far in a single night. He ran his hand along the blade. Any moment. Any moment. They would come. He was a high noble's son! They wouldn't just leave him to suffer quietly. No, they wanted to break him. So they would come back. Beat him some more. His hands tightened on the blade as he leaned towards the door. Any moment. He'd make his escape.

Bird-dog - 1: to watch closely 2: to seek out : follow, detect.

Added Info - People began using "bird-dog" as a verb meaning "to closely watch someone or something" or to "doggedly seek out someone or something" in the early 20th century. Both meanings reflect skills likely to be possessed by a well-trained bird dog. By the 1940s, "bird-dogging" was being used specifically as a term for stealing someone else's date. And, not long after that, it began to be used for the scouting out of customers or prospective talent. The noun "bird dog" is also used as a name for the date stealers and scouts who do the bird-dogging.

The Word - Boniface

He was tossed back into the cell, hours later, covered in bruises and cuts. Kolton got to his feet, unsteadily, wiping blood from his eyes and turned back to the door, banging a fist against it. "You could at least provide me a blanket!" He called out hoarsely. His demand was met with silence, which was better than laughter. Some Boniface the bearded man was. These were hardly the accommodations for a well off man, let alone a noble. He slumped to the ground after a moment. He wasn't going to break. He was a noble's son! This sort of torture would see them all hanged! They'd see, he'd just have to hang in until he could escape. He would not be held captive here for long, no matter how much they beat at him for speaking.

Boniface - the proprietor of a hotel, nightclub, or restaurant

Added Info - "Boniface" has been the name of eight popes, one antipope, and one saint, but none of those had anything (directly) to do with the English word "boniface." the word "boniface" comes from the name of the jovial innkeeper in George Farquhar's 1707 play The Beaux Strategem, the story of two penniless rakes who determine that one of them must find and marry a wealthy lady. And Farquhar's play made more than one contribution to the English language. The name of the character of Lady Bountiful became a byword for a generous (and often conspicuously so) philanthropist. Farquhar, incidentally, never got to see the influence his play had on the lexicon. He finished The Beaux Strategem on his deathbed and died the night of its third performance.

The Word -Feuilleton

He'd tried to fight the men as they pulled him from the cell, but they'd treated him like a young child, easily moving him across the grass into a manor looking house, hardly letting him find his feet. They tossed Kolton down to the ground in front of another man, this one with a disgustingly greasy beard. He hardly looked like the type to read, but the man folded a feuilleton segment of paper and set it down on a side table before he leaned forward. "So, A noble is it." He said with a sneer.
"I am Kolt--" A whack to the head left me seeing stars.
"I did not say you could speak, slave." He said calmly, replacing a walking stick in its position by his chair. "Noble blood never listens, you'll learn fast enough though."
"Release me! You have no rig--~ he cried out again as the stick whacked his head.
"Stop that!"
Another whack. "I can do this all day slave. Do not speak, or you get hit, is that so hard to understand."
He glared up at the man. "Unhand--" He tried to avoid the stick but it was quicker than he. Giving him another whack to the head.


Feuilleton - 1: a story printed in installments 2: a short literary composition often having a familiar tone and reminiscent content.

Added Info - In addition to its other meanings, "feuilleton" can mean "a part of a European newspaper or magazine devoted to material designed to entertain the general reader," and, in fact, this was the word's original meaning. The feuilleton originated in French newspapers as a supplement sectioned out from the main news stories. Although found in the political section of the newspaper, the feuilleton typically included material on nonpolitical subjects, such as art, literature, or fashion. Fiction was sometimes included as well. The word is a diminutive of the French Feuillet, meaning "sheet of paper," and ultimately derives from Latin folium, meaning "leaf." From this source, English acquired "folio" (which can refer to a page, or a leaf, of a book or manuscript) and "foliage" ("a mass of leaves.")