Cenn stood still for a few seconds as the door slammed in his face.

Manager Copen's words had knocked the ground out from under him.

But he walked away from the door and sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the kitchen wall.

[Why?]

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the time passing.

...

Soon Hog's voice broke the silence of the night.

"What the heck are you doing here? I thought you'd decided to drink my wine yourself."

But as soon as the boy looked at him, the fat man realized that something was wrong. When he had sent him out to get food, the boy had been beaming with happiness, but now he was clearly very upset.

"Why are you upset?"

Hog stepped closer and kicked the boy lightly.

"Come on, don't be quiet."

Cenn continued to remain silent, but finally couldn't stand the stare of his Uncle and gave up.

"Is it true that everyone is celebrating Aydor's victory at his grandfather's house right now? And only me and the teacher weren't invited?"

Without looking away, Hog tried to come up with a convincing excuse.

"It's not that you weren't invited, it's just that after watching you fight, I thought you should spend the evening practicing. So I told Velin that you and I wouldn't come. I'm sorry I didn't know you wanted to spend the evening with an old shit-eater."

"Huh, Uncle Hog, you're not good at lying." Cenn said.

A little confused, the fatty sat down next to him, just as Cenn leaned against the kitchen wall.

"Don't worry about Valtira's intrigues. She's afraid you'll outshine her precious baby boy. But that doesn't mean that Velin and Aydor hate you. They just don't have the balls to put that bitch in her place." He had reason to believe that Velin's wife was to blame for what had happened.

Hog threw his arm around the boy's shoulders and pulled him to him, hoping the awkward embrace would comfort him.

"By the way, where is my wine?"

Cenn's face darkened again after he remembered what had happened.

"Manager Copen didn't believe that I asked for wine for you. She thought the teacher had sent me. And since the kitchen wasn't working tonight, she didn't have any food for me or teacher Innodeus."

The fat man became furious upon hearing Cenn's words.

"Who the hell does she think she is?"

Overwhelmed with rage, Hog jumped up and headed for the kitchen entrance. Without stopping, he kicked the door open with his foot and stepped inside.

"What's going on?" The woman ran out into the main hall of the kitchen where Hog was already standing. "Master Dovor, I didn't know you were here. If you came for wine, I'll bring it right away."

Stolen novel; please report.

But Hog didn't listen to her, full of rage he came closer and slapped her with all his might, causing the woman to fall to the floor.

Cenn had already gone inside, and when he saw what had happened, he rushed over to the fat man.

"Uncle Hog, calm down, don't hit her."

Cenn's voice brought Hog to his senses. He looked at the woman lying on the floor. He wanted to make an example of her for the rest of the servants. But he didn't want to show his cruel nature in front of Cenn. So he would have to limit himself to warning her and others.

"Consider yourself lucky. But I want you to remember this and pass it on to the rest of the servants. The next one of you bastards who disrespects young master Cenn, will go with me to hunt in the northern lands. Where they will feed the wolves. And not even Valtira will be able to save you. Do you understand me?"

The woman was in shock from the sudden punch and pain. She managed to squeeze out an inarticulate mooing and nodding, then burst into tears.

"Stop whining, it's annoying me. You have two minutes to bring us food, pickled plums and wine or I'll break your legs."

Hearing the fat man's threat, Mrs. Copen first crawled past him on all fours, then stood up and ran toward the warehouse, bumping into everything in her path.

"You shouldn't have hit her, she wasn't doing anything, just being a little mean."

Hog looked at the kid.

"Your mother raised you too kind, boy. If I don't put the servants in their place today, tomorrow they'll give you scraps instead of food, and after tomorrow they'll kick you out of your own house. Because they're more afraid of Valtira than Velin. And you know exactly how much your auntie 'loves' you."

Patting Cenn firmly on the shoulder, Hog added glumly.

"Learn to stand up for yourself, or you won't survive in this world. "

Cenn answered nothing, and they just stood in silence, waiting for Manager Copen to bring food and wine.

Soon she returned with two baskets. One contained all kinds of food, the other several pots of wine and jars of pickled plums. She placed the baskets in front of Hog and fell to her knees, hitting her head on the floor.

"Master Dovor, please forgive me, I will not repeat my mistake. I was wrong. Master Cenn, please forgive me for my impudence, how can I make it up to you? I will do whatever you say."

Cenn took the basket of food and silently left the building. Hog picked up the basket of wine and followed him, not even looking at the frightened woman.

"Would you like me to keep you company?" Hog asked as they stepped outside.

"Thanks, but I'd like to be alone."

"Suit yourself, you know where to find me anyway."

"Thanks for staying with me today, Uncle."

With that, Cenn left in the direction of his house.

Hog went to his own. After a while, he stopped and looked up to the sky.

"Mentor, how did you manage all by yourself? Still find time to teach me and Velin?"

Without waiting for an answer, he took a deep breath and walked on.

...

Cenn entered his small house and put the basket of food on the table. Although the Rain Cycle had just begun, the nights were already quite cold.

[It is time to light the fire.]

Firewood had been brought into the house beforehand, so it didn't take long.

When he finally sat down at the table, he began to sort out the basket.

[The bread is stale, but it will do.

Some dried meat, that'll come in handy too.

Some turnips for later.

Half a chicken will do nicely.

And in the pot? Rice porridge. I'll save it for tomorrow, so I don't have to go out for breakfast.]

After finishing his meal, he sat in complete silence.

He looked at the remains of his food and thought.

[I wonder what Uncle Velin and Aydor are doing right now?]

Not wanting to let his imagination run wild, he got up from the table and gathered the leftover chicken and some pieces of dried meat into a bundle of cloth. And left the house.

Walking along the outer wall of the mansion, he soon found himself in a small garden surrounded by a beautiful hedge, with a fluffy gray chain dog sleeping at the entrance.

"Sorry buddy, I'm later than usual today."

Hearing the familiar voice, the dog got up and barked happily.

"I have an extra generous treat for you today. Dig in."

Unwrapping the bundle, Cenn placed chicken bones, a whole leg, and jerky in the dog's bowl.

"Smoky, you're out of water again?"

Cenn took the bowl and went to the nearest well. When he returned with the water, the dog had already eaten everything he had brought.

Putting the trough on the ground, Cenn stroked the dog, who was eager to thank his friend for the treat.

Cenn unchained Smoky so he could stretch and play with him in the moonlight.

...

"Okay, boy I have to go, so I'll have to tie you up again."

The dog reluctantly complied and returned to his place.

Cenn left the dog and went into the garden.

The complete lack of light was no problem for him, this was a path he knew by heart.

Eventually he came to a small stone slab sticking out of the ground.

"Mom, I'm sorry I'm late today. So much has happened. I won my first fight, and then..."