It took a month for him to give up hope. First week Ashwin looked up at the bars at every opportunity. He was sure that someone would come and save him. Someone had to come. His relative, father's loyal servant, or even just a merciful bystander. But as time went by, the only ones who appeared above the cell were guards, sentenced prisoners, or curious onlookers.

It would make sense. His family had been exterminated, his father's subordinates had either been executed or sworn their loyalty to a new master. Even if anyone survived, they would be busy saving their own families, rather than caring for a doomed child.

"Still alive?"

The sudden voice interrupted the boy's thoughts, but he didn't bother to look up. He knew all too well who was speaking. The only guard who seemed to enjoy checking on him from time to time. All the others had long forgotten that there was a human boy among the apes. At least that's how they acted. Ashwin scratched his itchy arm. As predicted, the guard said nothing or did anything other than ask that small question which didn't need an answer.

The boy tried to bite the thread binding the ape's hide on his arm again. He wasn't sure how many days he had spent in the cage, but if he counted the monsoon seasons correctly, it should have been a year already. His body had grown, and the too-big hide had become small. The threads had started to dig into his skin. It would have been easy to deal with a simple thread, but, to his frustration, it was made of metal. Biting it caused him to scratch his lips and gums, but the hide held firmly. It was a fruitless effort, just like trying to escape from the cell itself.

After getting used to being around ferocious animals, and bit by bit, letting go of his fear of being ripped to pieces, Ashwin expected a certain behavior from the apes. He thought that these wild beasts would shake the bars and throw themselves at a small metal door connecting the cage to the dungeon, trying anything to escape and be free from hateful humans, but they didn't. Sure, the apes sometimes behaved like mindless beasts, but they never wasted their energy on anything useless. At least, their leader, Scarface, made sure they would not.

Ashwin glanced at the leader of the troop. As always, he sat on the highest rock above them all. One of the lower-ranking apes groomed the leader's thick fur. Scarface seemed relaxed, but at the same time, he carefully observed his subjects. From the first day Ashwin was thrown into the cell for death, he wondered why Scarface had saved his life. After the execution he didn't seem to care about the boy much. In the apes' hierarchy, human child stood at the lowest level. He could only eat after others had finished and could be pushed around without any consequences. The boy tried to imitate animal actions and groom some of them, but that was pretty much all he could do. He had no powerful jaws, sharp canines, or strong muscles. There was no way he could fight for a higher rank, and a part of him did not want to. Ashwin survived but despite finding a fragile peace with animals he kept gazing at the iron bars. The human world was above him, and the boy yearned for it. He knew he had to return someday, or he would lose his sanity. At night, he could already hear whispers in his sleep, even though there were no humans around.

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After a quick search the boy picked up a small rock and tried to cut the metal thread with it. But the edge of the rock was not sharp enough. Ashwin let out a groan. Frustration kept piling up inside him. So, when something fell on him suddenly, he jumped. The piece of sweet bread rolled a bit before he grabbed it. Ashwin looked up instinctively. Above the iron bars, he saw a colorful dress and heard the sound of a girl's voice. A woman, probably her servant, quickly took the girl away from the pit. Her loud nagging about how they shouldn't be there and to hurry back home was the only piece of useful information he had: the girl's name, Adwita. The boy opened his mouth to call out loud but changed his mind and just muttered her name a couple of times. That was enough for him not to forget it.

'No way would a noble girl come to a place like this just for a walk. She must have brought me this food out of compassion' thought Ashwin and clenched the bread tightly. But the apes would become furious if he tried to hide and eat the food alone. He tore a piece off and squeezed it in his left hand. Then he crawled to Scarface and offered the bread to him. While all the attention was drawn to the food that the leader held, Ashwin hastily ate the hidden piece.

The boy barely wiped the crumbs from his mouth when he froze instinctively, feeling a persistent gaze upon himself. Slowly, he raised his eyes and met Scarface's red ones. The ape stood right before him. Ashwin shuddered. Had the leader noticed how he had hidden the bread? Would this be the reason to finally tear the boy apart? The animal leader and undisputed ruler of the pit stared at the boy, shrinking in fear at his feet. Fighting back would be foolish and futile, so all Ashwin could do was simply submit and hope for mercy.

Scarface moved his muzzle towards the boy's left hand and showed his teeth. When Ashwin thought how it would be to live without a hand ape bit a few metal threads. The hide's pressure loosened up. Scarface did this on the right hand as well. The boy stared at the ape, wondering what was going on in the beast's head.

"Thank you," he muttered words that no way the animal could understand. Yet, Scarface scoffed before returning back to his rock. At least, that's what it seemed to Ashwin.