<3 Abraxas
There are so many ways that you can read into this, depending on the situation you find yourself in and how you view what happens. It's one of the reasons I like Abraxas' work so much, while he probably has an intended goal, he's not limiting the story to be only about what he meant initially.
When I first read it, I first thought the "King" was the warden who wanted people to come to him in the woods. As a sign of 'rehabilitation' and/or growth in their Faith. Then I got to the end, and the fellowship with the slaver hound solidified it (at the time). Animals are typically more aware of what's going on around them than most give them credit for, and the change in attitude from before and after 47 spoke to the King would be noticeable to them (could be a change they were trained to acknowledge as 'not-food').
However, having read it a couple times, here's a few more ways to try reading it: Consider that the "King" in the woods is just another layer of control that is intentionally put there by the guards. Or, the "King" is possibly a believer/leader in one of the radical elements of one of the branches of the Amarr Faith (["I'm glad you found the faith," the King told him.] sounds like something I remember from a Tetrimon story iirc). Or, maybe the change in behavior of the guards towards the people who follow the King is just a byproduct of a change in their attitudes; the guards don't know about the King, but they do know that some of the prisoners behave and help them out without causing trouble, so they don't harass them with their 'games'.
There are a LOT of little details that are simply beautiful, and this is one of the few times I want to see a full story on one of the chron characters.
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Topic: [Chronicle] King Slaver (Read 2163 times)