“Another fight?”

Looking to his right, ZaiWin¹Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). saw ZenTar²Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind). leaning against the next door and went to meet him, stepping inside the other room they had also rented.

“Not this time,” he admitted. “There’s something going on with the brat …”

“Something going on?!”

“He’s just … different.”

ZenTar sighed and, like before, crossed the room to take a seat. He’d been wandering around town the entire afternoon and it felt good to finally rest his tired feet.

“Aren’t you the one who’s different?” he dared ask and was immediately rewarded with a cold glare. “I mean, you’ve been treating him like shit for the past week or so. And he’s been a skittish, distrusting kid to begin with. You can’t expect him to act all warm and cute around you, when you treat him like that. Not even a dog will keep wagging its tail if you hit it enough times.”

“That’s not it … I can’t really explain. But its like suddenly he knows something I don’t. Something that renewed his self-confidence. Before, unlike you, I never felt that he was a threat. But now, I just feel like I should keep my guard up, that he might just stab me in the back at the first chance he gets.”

ZenTar laughed dryly and crossed his legs.

“Nothing I haven’t been telling you for some time, now. In any case, I asked around like we talked. And it’s confirmed. A woman that called herself Madame JanHai³Literally jan (flower) + hai (laugh / laughter). did in fact ran the pleasure house that used to exist where that inn now is. A former lady of the night herself, it would seem she managed to earn the favors of some rich merchant from Won and duped the poor sucker into opening the Red Flame Hall for her, as it was known back then. Her establishment immediately became famous and it was said that Madame JanHai was an expert at meeting her costumer’s needs. Men or women, old or young, whatever you fancied, as long as you made a previous appointment and had enough coin, she would make sure to get it ready for you.

"It wasn’t easy finding someone who would still remember how things used to be, back then. But an elderly couple that used to deliver wine and food to Madame JanHai’s establishment, still recall seeing around a young girl by the name of Sand. They say she must have been thirteen or so, when she started working there, that she was a mute, and that there was probably something wrong with her head. Too innocent and naive, they said, too childish for her age. She was hired by Madame JanHai to tend to the kitchen and clean the house. They say she would spend her nights going in and out of bedrooms, every time a costumer finished their business. I asked about a kid she might have been raising, but they said they never saw her with one. They mentioned, however, that she would frequently ask them if they had any milk to spare. The old woman clearly remembers this because, for over a year, she would especially bring her a bottle of milk for her to take home. They have no idea of where she lived.”

“But she didn’t live in that house.”

“No. Of that they were certain. Only the working girls lived there.” ZenTar replied and ZaiWin nodded, recalling the bridge and what Snow had told him.

“Eventually, as her business grew, Madame JanHai started to look for more exotic food and more expensive wine to serve to her costumers, and eventually ended up dismissing the old couple’s services. After that they stopped seeing Sand as frequently, only meeting her in passing on the streets. They both agree that, by the way she looked and dressed, she must have been very poor. And they even commented that Madame JanHai was too heartless, allowing her servant to walk outside in the cold so poorly dressed, while the other ladies that worked for her had so many luxurious gowns and jewelry.

“Then I asked around a bit more and found a young brat, not much older than Snow. He actually vividly recalled seeing the kid, begging on the streets. He says he must have been ten or so at the time, Snow no more than five or six. He says that he and his friends used to pick on him, that Snow always wore the same dirty clothes, and that he never said a word. He still believes, to the day, that Snow was as mute and as dimwitted as his mother.”

“Mother …”

ZenTar nodded.

“It would seem that, in the following years, the rumor that Sand had a child started to circle around town, probably because they started seeing Snow more often.”

“But if it is as the old couple told you, and she was just about thirteen when she started working in that place, if in fact the milk she asked for was to feed the brat, wouldn’t she be too young to be his mother?”

“I believe so as well. Though sometimes girls are able to be with child from a very young age. Also, if she were in fact Snow’s mother, she wouldn’t have needed to beg for milk in the first place. She could have breastfed him herself.”

ZaiWin nodded.

“So it was only a rumor.”

“A young girl, all alone in the world, caring for a small child. It was bound to happen. The town folk probably thought she had been kicked out of home for lying with some unwanted man, or that she had sold herself and had just been unlucky. The fact that she worked at Madame JanHai’s establishment didn’t help either. In fact, the kid I talked with stated without a doubt that Snow was just a poor, dimwitted beggar, that no one would even turn to look at him much less help him, because he was the shameful product of his mother whoring around. The people in town found his presence offensive, and wished they could chase them both away.

"In the end, it appears that the rumors actually became true. I found another, older man, that swears he bedded the mute girl that worked at the pleasure house. He also says that she especially popular with those who enjoyed pain more than sex, and that she would allow her men to smack her around to their hearts’ content.”

ZaiWin clenched his fists into tight balls, anger boiling in his chest.

“That woman! She must have led her to that!”

“Most likely. From what I’ve seen in Weiin⁴ Literally wei (crystal / precious stone) + suffix in (center), meaning the center of the Province of Wei, in other words, Wei’s Capital. All Capitals of all Provinces are named as such., that woman had no scruples whatsoever. She was a master at manipulating and using other, more vulnerable people. She probably threatened her or simply forced her. It’s hard to believe that after so many years working hard cleaning other people’s shit, after the kid had finally gotten older and was becoming increasingly able to fend for himself, an innocent girl like that would resort to such desperate measures.

“That same man also told me that a few moths after his … encounter with Sand, he heard a rumor that one of the girls working at the pleasure house had been stabbed to death. Some erotic play gone wrong. Three days later everyone inside the Red Flame Hall was found dead, bleeding from their mouths, noses and ears. Madame JanHai mysteriously disappeared. And he couldn’t remember seeing Sand again, even though she was not amongst the corpses they found inside the house.”

ZaiWin turned to look at him.

“You think … he did it?”

“I think that the man was probably right. That Sand was the one who was stabbed to death and they simply disposed of her body like these places normally do, when one of their whores dies. Even though there was a rumor about her having a child, no one really cared to look for him. And so it probably took three days until Snow finally understand that something wasn’t right.”

“He went there to look for her,” ZaiWin went on, following his reasoning. “He must have lost it when they told him she was dead.”

“According to the man's description … I think he must have used that red array, the same he used back at the Fortress.”

ZaiWin nodded.

“But JanHai somehow survived.”

“Maybe she had some shielding crystals on her. She dealt with a lot of rich people. And he was just a child. The fact that only the people inside the house were killed and not the entire town, taking into consideration the extension that array has, tells me that something must have interrupted him. Maybe she managed to knock him out.”

“He passed out and, instead of running for her life, afraid of the little monster, that woman actually saw in him another way of profit.”

“She had just lost her way of income, after all. Somehow she found out about his blood’s healing proprieties, packed her things and moved to Wei with her new prize, ready to start anew.”

ZaiWin sighed, forcing himself to erase the anger that still heated his blood.

“I haven’t found anything suspicious, anything that might point to a conspiracy, or that might indicate that you were purposely target,” ZenTar declared. “As far as I can tell, this story only involves a lot of misery and greed, which kind of fits with who Snow is, don’t you think? Regardless of what I think of this whole situation, if we just look at him as the kid he is, it’s hard to see him as someone capable of deceiving all of us for so long. He’s just too honest, too naive, too transparent.”

And, as things stood, he was a headache that Nox⁵Literally nox (night). Nox is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. ZaiWin uses it because he is the Governor of Nox ZaiWin had no idea of how to overcome. It would have been much easier if they had found proof of some cold scheme, specifically designed to target him. The second option, that Snow might just be as innocent as he looked, was thousands of times harder to deal with.

“So, if Sand wasn’t his mother, he most probably wasn’t born here,” he concluded and ZenTar shrugged.

“VeiWin⁶Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) is probably right about that. He’s probably the child of some minor Clan that thought they had been blessed by the Heavens, and that they would soon make a good profit selling a Tien'Elhar⁷Literally tien (Heaven) + el (supreme) + har (girl child). The Heavenly Beings also known as Celestials in the common language.. When things didn’t turn out like they’d expected, they probably simply abandoned him. Sand must have found him and picked him up.”

“He told me something like that as well. That Sand had raised him and sacrificed herself for him out of the goodness of her heart.”

“Who knows? Maybe she wasn’t as dimwitted as they say. Maybe she actually saw him for who he is.”

“A holy being …” ZaiWin breathed, closing his eyes, suddenly feeling extremely tired. A holy being he’d probably have to kill.

“If this is all true, then, Nox, you have been truly chosen.”

“Is that suppose to make me feel better?”

“You know, there was a time when I too, wanted to be a Chosen One. I even attended a few haehir⁸Literally hae (blessed / sacred) + hir (ceremony / ritual). Blessing Ceremony held so that Tien’Elhar may find their Chosen One.. After all, my mother is a Chosen One, so it’s not like it wasn't impossible, right? I really believed that, if I were lucky enough to be chosen, then everything I ever dreamed of would be within my grasp. In the end things didn’t work out at all as I expected … And now here you stand, right in front of me, holding in your hands what I always hoped to hold in mine.”

“You, better than anyone, understand that I’m already treading a fine line as it is.”

“I know. And that’s why I decided to stand by your side, no matter what. That’s also why I’ll even drive a dagger into that kid’s heart, if that’s what needs to be done. But are you sure you don’t want to take the risk and, for once, hold on to what was freely given to you?”

“The risk is just too high. The price to pay, if things don’t work out, which they probably won’t, even higher. I don’t think I’d be able to bear the weight of it.”

“And you’ll be able to bear the weight of his death instead?”

ZaiWin averted his gaze, his heart aching at the mere thought of that, and forced himself to smile.

“One life in exchange for thousands? The life of a freaking Celestial?”

“Your Celestial,” ZenTar corrected and ZaiWin turned to him, anger and frustration burning in his eyes.

“I don’t own anything! Not the land under my name! Not the men that serve me! Not even my life! Much less a damned Celestial I never even asked for! As far as I’m concerned, I’d exterminate their entire race if I could! A holy being?! holy indeed! Murdering hundreds of good men that never lifted a finger to harm him! A little whore that spent ten years of his life serving whoever paid highest! Is this the life you’re telling me to protect at the cost of so many others??” he demanded all in one breath, but ZenTar just sat there, calmly looking at him, knowing him way too well to allow himself to be angered or frightened by his foul temper.

“I’m not telling you to do anything. I’ve stop telling you what to do when you turned sixteen. I can only advise you and show you that there are other options, regardless of if their better or worse. Right now I’m just trying to make sure you really understand the consequences of your choices.”

“Consequences? I’ll probably end up dead! That’s the consequence!”

“And I’ll be truly devastated if that happens. But what if you’re wrong, and you somehow manage to survive? Death is never hard to contemplate. After all, the only ones that suffer from it are the ones who remain alive. And so I ask you. What if you survive? Doesn’t that change anything?”

ZaiWin stubbornly averted his gaze and crossed his arms.

“It doesn’t fucking change a damn anything! For once I’ll get lucky, that’s all.”