“At least I can make sure they’re well fed?!” The sarcastic words were out of Snow’s mouth before he could think about what he was saying, the sickening sensation of the thick, cold porridge that he’d been forced to swallow suddenly too fresh in his memory. “At least they have what to wear?” When he’d been kept almost naked, a filthy tunic covering his naked body, always clothes that were easily taken off, so that the paying costumers could have free access to his body.

When he realized what he’d done everyone was silently staring at him, but by then the fear that had frozen him just moments ago had been completely replaced by a hot anger that turned his stomach upside down.

How may other children was that woman keeping in the same terrible conditions that she’d kept him all those years? And since they probably didn’t have a miraculous blood like his, what had she meant by having them honestly earn their living? What was she forcing them to do?

Stepping forward, Snow raised his head and pulled down the hood hiding his features, looking her straight in the eye.

“Can you really say such things to my face?” he demanded, slightly rising his voice, and ZenTar shifted uncomfortably where he stood, discreetly reaching for the sword he always carried on his back, ready to unsheathe it in the blink of an eye in case of need.

“You! You’re still alive! You’re still alive!” the woman shouted, a wide smile taking over her face, her eyes glazed with greed as she practically ran to him, her hands shaking from anxiety. She’d been so focused on reaching her treasure that she didn’t even noticed the dark shadow that quickly moved to stand in her way, mercilessly kicking her back, sending her flying against the opposite wall.

With a muted croaked sound, she fell on the ground in a pile of red clothes, bending forward and clenching her stomach as she tried to breathe and hurl all at the same time.

Taking a step forward, Snow stopped right beside ZaiWin, looking down at that lump of flesh and bone that had tormented him most of his life. It almost felt ridiculous, he thought, that such a frail little thing had been able to make him suffer so much.

“My Lord, please forgive me …” the woman was finally able to breathe, her voice cracking as she fought to regain her breath, her beautiful makeup completely smeared from the tears falling down her face. “I meant … no disrespect … Of course, you can have him … Please, please just let me go …”

Crossing the bedroom in wide paces, ZaiWin wanted nothing more than to squeeze the life out of her, to squeeze her frail neck until it broke beneath his hands. Instead he grabbed her by her carefully combed hair and forced her to look up at him.

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“You still haven’t answered my question. Where did you take him from?”

“A small village called Woodbridge, in the Province of Sur! Close to the border!” she quickly replied, clearly panicking. “He was the kid of one of my girls! She died and I took him in!”

“You killed her!” Snow accused her and ZaiWin pulled her hair harder, making her scream.

“I didn’t! I didn’t! I swear on my life! It was an accident! One of our costumers killed her! Not me! Not me!”

Tears flooding his eyes, Snow bit down his lower lip to silence his words.

Sand was never meant to do that kind of work! She’d been a kind, innocent girl, with a heart big enough to keep him and raise him, even though she didn’t even have a decent place to live in. She’d been so happy when she’d gotten her job that she’d spent the entire night mending her old clothes so she could look a bit more presentable. Cleaning was all she was supposed to do. That she’d been forced to do anything else was only because of the woman now kneeling in front of him, all because she had driven her to it. Because of her endless greed.

“You will write the names of all the costumers that visited this room!” ZaiWin commanded, his voice hard and cold. “If you don’t know how, HawkEye will write them for you.”

“The one that took him away from me, the one that came before, had most of them killed already!” she argued, her expression twisted from the pain, but ZaiWin didn’t care.

“Just do as I say!”

“Yes my Lord! Yes my Lord!” she immediately repeated and ZaiWin finally released her, straightening his back.

“BigMountain, go back to where you found this poor excuse for a human being and see to it that the children she’s been keeping are well cared for and safely delivered to the Temple.”

“Yes, Calzai!” came the immediate response and, after a short bow, BigMountain walked out of the room.

“Please my Lord! Please don’t kill me! I did care for the boy! I did raise him all these years!” the woman begged, desperately clutching ZaiWin’s feet, but he simply kicked her hands away, making her shriek and cry in pain.

“Let’s go, brat!” he demanded, walking out of the room without even looking back.

Snow hesitated for a moment before obeying him, walking by his torturer without spending so much as a single glance to look back at her. His heart felt so cold he couldn’t care less about her fate. Fixing his gaze on the tall man walking in front of him, he simply followed him as he’d been commanded.

The bright light of the day blinded him, making him blink. He didn’t even know how he’d gotten outside. And then a dark shadow was covering the light, allowing him to look up without having to squint.

Without a word, the dark monster pulled his hood back up, covering his head, and, grabbing his hand, guided it to what Snow knew was his arm. Walking beside him like before, Snow silently allowed him to take him away from that place, where he had no intention of ever returning.

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