HawkEye stopped at the door and bowed respectfully.

“Calzai, as requested, I brought the woman known by the name JanHai. She currently runs a small pleasure house, in the eastern part of town, for those who enjoy the company of younger boys and girls,” HawkEye declared, trying to sound as impartial as possible about the entire matter, but still unable to hide his distaste at the sound of the last words out of his mouth.

Stepping to one side, he allowed an older woman to step forward, BigMountain standing firmly at her back, probably to prevent her from trying to escape.

Dressed in a rich red dress that, like that room, had seen better days, the woman stepped forward and bowed respectfully. Her dark-brown hair, tied on both sides of her head by two shiny red roses, tumbled forward over her chest.

She looked uglier, Snow thought, revulsion hitting his stomach hard. She looked smaller and older, as if it had been more than a few months since he’d last seen her. Of course, no matter what, he’d recognize her anywhere. But he could almost swear that she’d lost some weight, her heavy makeup unable to hide the dark circles shadowing her eyes, or to mask the wrinkles on her forehead and corners of her red-painted mouth.

“My Lord! It is my pleasure to be of service to such an honorable guest,” she declared, the same soft voice he remembered, even though there was an unmistakable tinge of fear mixed in it. “I would have liked to welcome you all into my humble residence, but I was told that my Lord wanted to meet … here.”

“So it is,” ZaiWin confirmed, his voice a hard, sharp knife of ice. “I was told by an acquaintance to look for your services here. But, upon arrival, I was disappointed to see that you’ve moved your business elsewhere.”

JanHai shuddered visibly but did not dare raise her head.

“It is as my Lord states. Unfortunately I was forced to move elsewhere.”

“And the boy I heard about? Has he been moved to your new dwelling as well?”

Snow felt his heart skip a beat, since ZaiWin was clearly talking about him while he was standing right there, in the same room as them, and the woman seemed even more nervous.

“Unfortunately no. He was … taken somewhere else.”

“Taken? Such a precious asset? I’ve been told wonders about his attributes. Surely you wouldn’t simply allow him to be taken away, just like that.”

Feeling some measure of support in those words, JanHai finally raised her head to look at the young man standing in front of her.

“You’re most certainly right, my Lord. I was viciously attacked, my precious child stolen away. It was a miracle that I managed to run away with my life. And only did so because those foul men mistook one of my clients for myself, murdering her in my place,” she complained and Snow had to take a deep breath so he wouldn’t gag.

My child. That’s exactly how she used to call him all the time, the words echoing in his mind, making him sick to the stomach.

“And have you filed a complaint?” ZaiWin went on, sounding genuinely curious, and the woman’s face paled a few shades.

“I wouldn’t dare, my Lord. Someone of my stand, talking to an officer of the law.”

“Even if he too was one of your clients?” he guessed and she pouted, an endearing expression that most certainly had ensured that everything would go her way, a good few years ago, when she was younger.

“You must surely know what they say. Everyone is your friend when you’re standing high, at the top. But just try and stumble, and all your friends will quickly turn into rats and scram for higher grounds.”

“So it seems,” ZaiWin agreed, looking around at the decadent place. “So you lost one child and decided to gather a few more to make up to it?”

“No, no! Nothing could ever replace the one I lost. He was truly special, that little one. A bit of a freak, if I may say so myself. But the miracles that boy could conjure … No one had ever seen anything like it!”

“Miracles?”

“Isn’t it because of such miracles that my Lord has traveled this far?” she asked with a suggestive smile, and ZaiWin shrugged.

“I merely heard a few rumors and, out of boredom, thought interesting to check them out,” he declared, waving his hand nonchalantly. “They say that his blood is special.”

Snow’s heart jumped at the sound of those words. Of course everyone in that room knew about that, but he still couldn’t help dread the sound of those words.

“Only his blood? His entire body, if I may say so. He was born with a peculiar and strange constitution, that one. Some of my clients swore he was a lost member of the Demon Clan. All I know is that he was probably one of a kind, since none of my clients had never seen or met anyone like him. A drop of blood, a bit of spit, even a small bite of flesh, could completely heal whatever ailment you were suffering from. He could heal even old age, I was told,” she sighed, sounding depressed, and Snow had to reach out for the wall behind him to make sure he was able to remain standing.

“Really? And where did you take him from? This precious child of yours?”

“Take him?? Hardly so, my Lord! I can most certainly be accused of a lot of shameless acts, but never to forcefully take a child away from their parents’ house. Even the children I presently have under my care, they were all willingly delivered to me by their impoverished families. At least I can make sure they’re well fed and that they have what to wear. In return they do their best to honestly earn their living. This child was no exception. In fact, being an orphan, he was the one coming to me and knocking on my door, begging for hours, outside in the cold, before I allowed him in.”