First of all I wanted to thank Historia Thirteen, who wrote the fanfic "I don't want to remember" which inspired me to write this one. Also Thanks to BlueTrillium who revised this chapter.

The first act will have three chapters and will be about Robin's childhood, friends and her relationship with those around her.

M rating for violence.

Only anger and hatred had roots in that place.
Nothing good came from there. Nothing good lived there.
But in that remote, windy place, hope would be born.

"She's a healthy girl, Sir," the woman had said.
"It doesn't matter what gender the baby is. Does it have the brand?"
The tall man was thin due to the food scarcity. His tanned skin, though a mark from his folk, had been darkened a couple tones due his dark magic powers, though no one ever seemed bothered by that. His red eyes were always narrowed as if he was about to pounce on a careless victim.
"She does," the woman said.
"Good. Get her a wet nurse and start the preparations."

"He needs a wet nurse and I don't know anyone else who's breastfeeding other than you. Please?"
The woman who had helped bring the baby into the world was called Calista and she was a servant to Validar. She was just as thin as he was but her skin was a few shades lighter than the usual wheat color of skin the people that lived in the tower had.
"You had a baby not too long ago too, didn't you? Why don't you do it yourself? I wouldn't leave this town and go to that cursed tower. It'd ruin my reputation."
Calista bit her lower lip in frustration. It was true that she had a baby herself but her boss didn't know about its existence. Not to mention she didn't think she would be able to breastfeed two kids at once.
"What if I brought her here for you to breastfeed her? Would you at least think about it?" She tried one last time to convince the other woman.
"Good luck convincing that devil of a boss you have to allow you to bring the baby out. Everyone is talking about it, you know. How her fate is cursed."
Calista sighed inwardly, admitting defeat. She would have to tell her boss about her son and maybe, if she was lucky, he'd allow her to have better meals so she could breastfeed both the babies. The tower where she lived was a place far from all the cities, built right in the middle of the desert. They made their living hiring out their dark magic and their hexes, which were of common use all around the place. The only downside of it was that getting food was tricky. Nowadays people didn't look for curses and hexes as much as they did, which forced a lot of the servants to do other things for a living. Some thought about building a farm somehow but even though they did find water they never managed to grow anything edible there.

"Isn't it sad that she doesn't have any hair yet? It's been a month already, poor thing. And the master didn't even allow us to get her some baby clothes. Look at those rags she's using."
Calista was fully aware of all those things. She became the wet nurse once she managed to gather enough courage to tell Validar about her own son and about how any other women refused to come to the tower to be a wet nurse.
"It's better that way, then," he had told her. "Take care of the baby. But don't think you'll have special treatment just because of that."
It was true that he didn't give her or the baby anything at all. He was too busy with the said preparatives, which all the servants were curious about but none had the courage to ask. They did help Calista with the babies, though, giving her a bit more food and helping her to keep the baby girl alive and healthy. Of all the people living in the tower she was the one with the most fat, and even that wasn't as close as what a realy healthy baby would be.
"I think it is weird that her skin is so pale though," the other servant had told Calista while changing the baby's rags. "Maybe it will darken as she grows up, right?"
"Most likely it will."

"Mommy, I want to play," the boy asked.
"I can't now, Amaduk," Calista told her son as she kissed his forehead. "I need to take care of Robin."
"Robin," he repeated, frowning. "You and all the servants talk about this Robin but I never saw her. Are you sure you're not making that up to not play with me?" He asked, hopeful.
"She's a real girl, dear. And a lovely one too. I'm sure you two would get along very well," she said while her mind imagined the scene of her son and the promised girl playing together. She chuckled to herself.
"Then maybe I should go and play with her?" Amaduk asked, excited at the prospect of having someone around his age to play.
"I will ask the master," was all that Calista could answer before hurrying back inside.
It had been three years since the girl was born. Validar had called her Robin and even though that was a pretty uncommon name around the area no one questioned it. Her hair had taken a long time to grow for a baby, but once it did it was long, dark and smooth. Her eyes weren't red as her father's but grey. No one in the tower had grey eyes, not even the woman who had given birth to her, which made them wonder. And even though she was cared for everyone when she was small, now that she was growing up she was always locked up in one of the rooms in the tower. Calista was one of the few that had access to it.
"Good morning Robin," she said as she knocked on the door. There was no answer. "I'm coming in," she said, a bit worried as she unlocked the door and walked inside.
Robin was sleeping peacefully on her mattress. That mattress, a chair and a table were the only things inside that small room and Calista couldn't help but to wonder what her master had in mind for the poor child.
"Wake up, sleepy head," Calista called her, shaking her shoulder. "I've brought you breakfast."
Robin opened her eyes slowly and yawned, looking to Calista with her curious eyes.
"What do we have today?" She asked.
"Egg sandwich!" Calista said cheerfully, showing the girl the plate and a cup of juice. "I also managed to get some fresh oranges from a neighbor town, but shhh, don't tell anyone."
Robin smiled and nodded effusively before taking a bite of the sandwich. Calista watched her eating until she noticed Robin had her eyes fixed on her own hand the whole time.
"Is something wrong with your hand, Robin?" Calista asked, worried since it was the hand with the brand.
"It is weird," the girl said, showing the back of her hand to Calista. "This eye wasn't here this morning."
Calista took her hand and watched closely. The brand on her hand looked like a withered branch and up to the day before it had always been like that. Though Robin was right and this morning an eye had grown on the withered branch. If one could say it like that.
"Are you sure you didn't draw this yourself?" The woman asked. Robin pouted.
"As if I have anything to draw on my own skin," she protested, pulling her hand from Calista's and staring at it for a second before shrugging. "I'll ask father once he comes today. He will come, right? It is my birthday after all!"
Indeed it was Robin's birthday but Calista doubted Validar would come and visit her at all. Not specially for that. He never visited the girl unless someone told him there was something wrong with her. Calista thought that the eye mark would be a good chance to bring his attention to the kid, so once Robin finished eating she brought the plate and the cup to the kitchen before going around looking for the master.

"An eye, you say?"
"Yes," Calista nodded. "And she seems to be in pain. Maybe you should go and check on her."
Calista thought that those words would make him worry but not a trace of that feeling was showing on him. On the contrary, his lips traced an evil smile.
"That's a good sign. I should go and see her myself. Just to make sure."
Calista was happy for a moment by imagining that Validar would go see his daughter but at the same time she was afraid for herself. She lied, Robin was perfectly fine by the time she had left her room earlier that morning and Validar wouldn't buy the excuse that it was for her birthday. He was cruel to the core and no one wanted to taste his rage. Realizing what she had done she ran all the way down the tower.
"Amaduk!" She shouted. "Amaduk, where are you?" She shouted once more, desperate.
"I'm here mother," the boy said, coming from behind a huge boulder with a puzzled look.
"Come with me, we will go to the town."
"Right now?" The boy asked, excited.
"Yes, right now. Go get your cape."

Calista spent the night in the neighbor town and, even though she returned to the tower on the morning of the next day, she decided it'd be safer to leave her boy at a friend's house. She readied herself for whatever her punishment would be for her lie. Though when she came back the reality was very different from what she expected.
"Oh, Calista, I'm so relieved you're back!" A younger servant cried as she hugged her.
"What's wrong?" She asked, worried.
"The girl! She's dying! And no one knows what to do!"
"Where is master Validar?" She asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.
"He locked himself on the girl's room. No one was allowed to enter. Oh, please, put some sense in his mind. We're all worried!"
Calista inhaled and tried to put her thoughts in place. When she left Robin's room the girl was fine. Validar wouldn't make his own daughter suffer because of a servant's lie, or at least that's what she believed.
"Then again, it is our master," she thought to herself, steadily climbing the stair to Robin's room.
There she found the girl all by herself, her face wet from sweat and her face red as a beet. Touching her made her hand seem like it was burning and Robin herself contorted in pain.
"Calista," the girl said in a very low voice.
"Shh, don't say anything," the woman said. "I will take care of you. You will be fine."
Calista was about to get up and walk to the door when Robin grabbed her hand.
"Don't go," she asked.
Calista felt pain in her chest to see the girl like that and without really thinking much about it she shouted some of the servants' names.
"Bring water. And clean clothes. As many as you can find. One of you go to the closest town and get some herbs for fever. What are you guys waiting for? Go!" She shouted.
In a second all the surprised faces were gone and cloths and buckets with water started to show up. Calista took Robin's clothes off and started to wipe her sweat with a clean cloth while another of the servants that took care of the girl helped by wetting a piece of cloth and putting it on Robin's forehead. It took half the day for the servant who went to town to bring the herbs back and once they did another servant prepared an infusion.
"Drink this, Robin."
"It is bitter," the girl said, frowning and pouting.
"I know it is, but you want this feeling to go away, don't you? So drink this."
It was night time already and Robin's fever didn't seem any better. That's when Validar himself showed up.
"What are you all doing here?" He asked, fury and anger mixed in his facial expression.
"We were treating the girl's fever," one of the servants said, humbly.
"Get out, all of you!" He shouted.
And that was enough to cause all the servants to run away. All but Calista.
"What are you waiting for; go away!" He hissed.
Before Calista could say anything Validar grabbed her by her neck, strangling it.
"Don't think that just because you were her wet nurse you have any privilege, woman," he whispered, starting to raise her from the ground. Calista's hands darted to Validar's hand, trying to loosen the grip on her neck. "She isn't your daughter. You are nothing to me or to her. I could kill you right here, right now," and by saying that, he tightened his grip on her neck.
"Dad?" Robin said, her eyes shifting from his face to Calista's. "What are you doing?"
Validar noticed how worried Robin was for the woman and that pissed him off.
"You care for this woman?" He started, pressing his thumbnail into Calista's fragile neck. "Then let me teach you something, my dear girl. Nothing good comes from these lands. This woman isn't any different. You shouldn't nurture feelings like care and love," as he said that, a casting circle showed up around his left hand. "Only hatred and anger should have place in your heart."
After saying that a dark spell shot out from his hand, hitting Calista's chest. The woman's body shook with the impact and Validar released his grip on her neck, letting her fall unconscious on the ground as Robin screamed in panic, not being able to do a thing for the woman she cared about and fainting right after. Validar looked to Robin and clicked his tongue.
"I will have to turn her heart as dark as mine if I want her to serve Grima well."