The Priest’s attendants would slop the gruel into the bowls of the ragged homeless that would come to the Church for charity. It was disgusting, but you learn what it means to be grateful when you get a single bowl of gruel after months of eating half rotten garbage to survive.

Of course, the Church often ran out of food, so those who were last in line tended to go hungry regardless. So fights would occur on the side streets and back alleys to decide who would make it to the Church at all, which meant that in general only the adult homeless men managed to get in line.

Nine-year old Cass would generally be at the back of the line, the first day she had tried she had been beaten and thrown into a gutter. Small even for a malnourished girl, she ate the scraps that older children left and often had that stolen from her as well. Anyone who saw her would think she was already dead, and if she didn’t eat soon, they would be right.

That night she had crawled, injured, starving, and close to death and hid herself in behind a stack of barrels and crates near the church, probably long forgotten by some merchant who learned that the people here were more likely to stab him and steal his money and leave him on the ground.

No one would imagine that a person could fit in the tiny gap, but her gaunt frame could just barely manage it. She shivered, spending the rest of the night unable to sleep with rats and insects nibbling and biting her as she waited out the cold.

So cold…

Cass woke up shivering on a straw pallet, she had been dreaming… And she was still alive. She sat up and looked around her, there was a thin blanket on the floor where she had apparently dropped it during her nightmare, but aside from that the room was empty. It was not unlike Rat’s room, except for a solid looking wooden door instead of an open archway.

Voices outside the door, talking about checking on her? As someone began to push open the door Cass realized that she was still naked and grabbed the rough blanket off the floor to cover herself and the man walked in.

“Finally awake, huh?” It was the annoyed mage from before, seeing him now Cass was reminded of one of the particular gang leaders she had met. The man had been so cold that simply looking at him caused Cass to shiver in fear, and this mage had an even more intense demeanor. His blue eyes were like ice.

“Just as well,” he continued, “It would be a shame if you had died after surviving the application of the glyph.”

Cass did not understand what he was talking about and just kept quiet, unsure whether she was supposed to speak or not.

“I am Sarius Hall,” the mage announced. “A son of Viscount Hall. I will say this once, disrespect or disobey me and you will regret it.”

“Yes, my lord.” Cass bowed her head, though her thoughts were bitter. She berated herself as a coward yet again, if she had spoken out here she might be executed and finally have all of this end.

“Remember it.” Hall continued to look down at her, “I came to check on your condition, and now that you are awake I will have the servants bring some clothes and food.”

He turned to leave and Cass steeled herself and quietly asked, “Lord Hall, what will you do with me?”

“A commoner, and a homeless rat at that wouldn’t be able to understand the intricacies of what we are doing.” Hall snorted in contempt. “You have no value as anything more than an interesting experiment.”

With that final sneer, he left the room, leaving Cass alone with her thoughts. How were things different from before? She guessed she had some value, more value than before surely, but Cass did not know why. They had done something to her back…

She twisted around, trying to see her back. Cass could barely see it, but by stretching she was able to see that there was a black mark, no… A design, on her back.

She tried to rub it off, but it seemed part of her. Cass had heard about tattoos, but she did not know much about it. She didn’t think they had anything to do with mages, but then she knew nothing about mages besides the rumors on the streets.

Those rumors said that mages could kill with a glance and eat souls, she wished she had payed more attention when she heard them. But at the time she had only been envious of the people who had the energy and time to gossip.

A knock on the door caused Cass to jump, she had been lost in her thoughts.

“Excuse me, I am coming in.” A woman entered the room dressed in a long brown dress and her long hair tied back behind her. She carried a pile of cloth and… What was that smell?

“Lord Hall has assigned me to handle your meals and laundry, my name is Maurice.” She seemed a cheerful lady, but Cass had fixated on her right hand that had a basket that leaked a delicious scent. “I won’t be seeing you very often, but I hope we get along…”

Maurice’s voice drifted off as she noticed Cass’s attention on the food. “Ah, you must be hungry. It is not much, but the cook had steamed vegetables and there was a little bit of chicken left over from dinner so I thought to add it.”

She held the basket towards Cass and then jumped back slightly when Cass quickly grabbed it from her and tore into it. The food was so hot it burned her tongue and mouth, but she had never tasted anything so good in her life.

Maurice stood their stunned just watching Cass stuff food into her mouth, ignoring the fact that she had dropped the blanket and had left her emaciated frame exposed. Cass had tears falling down her face before she even noticed it.

Maurice gently set the clothes down on the pallet next to Cass. “I cannot speak for how the Lord’s will treat you, but they have asked me to bring you meals in the morning and at night. I don’t know if their will be meat for a while, but I can guarantee that I will be here every day.”

Cass wiped her tears but then noticed something else odd, lowering her hand to her neck she felt a thin metal band around it. What on earth was this?