Chapter 96

Dragged from his bed screaming, small fingers clinging to the sheets billowing over the floor behind him as he's carried, terrified and weeping, to the chamber.

Held immobile in strong arms, choking as bitter tea is poured down his throat, the soft, flowery taste of the leaf fountaining in his mouth, his nose, strangling him.

Longing, a pathetic wish for arms around him, a shoulder on which to lay his head, long fingers brushing through his hair, a lap to curl into, the pleasant rumble of a voice in his ear--"They'll try to come for you, but I'll protect you, beautiful boy."

Dazed and stupid, stumbling around inside the only four walls he's allowed to wander, stone and mortar, latches and locks. Vague awareness that his mind won't work properly, unable to care, staring blankly at a fissure in stone, weeping for what he doesn't know he can be, laughing hysterically at nothing through the tears.