Eugene trembled, trying to keep from shaking in the cold dark. Even shivering hurt too much for him to bear, but he couldn't stop it from happening. It had to be getting close to morning soon. All of this because Antoine, the master, had not gotten rid of him that day.

Maybe Kay was right. Maybe he should have gone. But no. Bobby was so young, and his parents had been gone for much less than a year. Master Antoine had had little time to abuse him as he had Eugene, and Eugene knew that they all deserved better.

His left side hurt and his foot was falling asleep, but he didn't want to move his arm again. He was lying on his dislocated shoulder just as Antoine had tossed him into the root cellar and it just took too much effort for him to move. He was so tired of hurting that he just wanted to die.

A shudder passed through him and he cried out when it moved his back. He could barely make the outline of the food in the cellar, much of which was too good for them to touch. But that meant that there was more light outside. Dawn must be coming on - but it was taking so long, and it all looked so fuzzy.

He ventured to move his good arm, gritting his teeth against the pain, and put his freezing hand next to his head. Oh, it felt good for a moment! His brow was burning hot somehow and the contrast was welcome, but then it made him feel sick, and he convulsed suddenly into a ball, his back arching out. He sobbed and wheezed at the sudden movement that he had been unable to stop. Maybe he would die in that root cellar. Maybe, just maybe the master couldn't hide it from the king if he was able to come this time. Eugene didn't care if he was dead as long as the other children would finally be treated like children. He didn't know. It didn't matter now. Everything was getting dark again. Maybe it was evening already. Eugene didn't know for sure. The only thing that he did know was that the pain escalated all at once and suddenly he couldn't feel a thing anymore.

Kay barely slept at all the rest of the night. She kept thinking that she was hearing things, small cries in the night, perhaps from the other children, but when she listened closely there was no sound. On the other hand she was jerked awake every time the master made his rounds of the halls. Antoine didn't even like children! Why did he work so hard to stay in the position? Because he enjoyed torturing them?

It was some relief to her when she could finally see the tiniest hint of grey light hemming the windows. It would be time to rise soon. She was ready for it. The youngest children would all be looking for Eugene, the master could not hide him for long. She'd heard no more creeping upon the floors nor had she heard any shrieks of pain coming from anywhere, so that meant that Eugene had not been beaten further but yet he had also not dragged himself to his bed. So what had been done with him? Was his shoulder set? Were his wounds at the very least covered though they truly needed cleaning and treating and binding? Kay was fearfully certain that they had not been.

The clanging of the odious morning 'bell' suddenly sounded, shaking the inhabitants of the orphanage from their beds in horror. Then it was a race to the death for all of them to be dressed and to help the youngest ones be dressed before the master came with his switch.

Kay scooted the youngest girl into the hall before her, placing herself at the very end of the line as its head while being certain that she was close enough to the head of the boy's room. Ryden looked very very unhappy and, as he was standing beside her, chose to risk words.

"Rider didn't come back last night."

"He tried getting in through my room. Caught."

"He... God help him, the master -"

"Shhhhhss." Abby, the watcher, sounded her warning.

The two elders stood straight against the wall and the master stepped in. His face was white and drawn, but no more than normal. It looked as if nothing unusual had happened even though Bobby wasn't there to be punished by him anymore.

Kay almost held her breath. Would he make any mention of Eugene? There was utter silence as he walked down the line of children. They had at this point mastered the art of breathing soundlessly. Kay thought for a moment that he was going to stop at her and reprimand her for the night before, he did stop and looked her over for longer than he did the other children, but in the end not a word was passed amongst them. He knew that one child was gone to a family and he knew to where another had gone. She bit her tongue because he would see her biting her lip. Where had Eugene gone?

"Go to breakfast." He said at last.

The children did not acknowledge with a word or a bow, but turned and filed to the dining hall in quiet order like they were meant to. The two scullery maids were grown orphans who had never left, either because they had no hope for life or because they did not want to leave the hopeless entirely alone in the world. Whichever the case they were still rarely able to give comfort to the orphans, but never the less served their breakfast. Kay glanced about her, but did not see the master in his usual place. What was he doing? What was going on? She got up quietly and came to one of the maids, who looked completely surprised to see her.

"What are you doing here, miss?" She gasped.

"My name is Kay." Kay corrected her, tired of Antoine and everything that he did.

"I want to know where Master Antoine has gone."

"I - don't know, miss. He goes where he wills."

"I know that already. Do you know where he has gone? He took one of my friends last night and I can not find him." The scullery maid blanched briefly when Kay said that, but she turned away.

"Please!" Kay pleaded. "I'm afraid that he may be dying."

"I can't tell what I don't know, miss!" The frightened girl replied. "He will be coming back at any moment. Please sit in your place!"

Kay sighed in defeat and turned, trudging back to her seat. Why was Antoine gone? None of this had happened before and it worried her greatly. She sat down before her porridge, but she couldn't touch it. She was certain that she was hungry, but right now she could not stand the thought of eating.

Behind her she heard the door burst open and Antoine rushed past them out into the hall. Ryden locked eyes with Kay. Something was going on. Antoine never ran anywhere. The building was not very large or they never would have discerned heightened, almost frightened and certainly accusing whispering coming from the master to the porter. The porter, who was a friendly man of middle age, answered back with his usual slowness of understanding.

Whatever Antoine was worried about he could not dump it on another person this time. So it was not Eugene - which either meant that Eugene had been forgotten or that as yet he was not in immediate danger of death. Antoine came back through the dining hall, has brow bent in a way that made them all tremble, fumbling with something - keys - in his pocket and taking a crust of bread from the long table where the scullery maids served the breakfast. Eugene was under lock and key. There were many places that the master kept locked, but only a few that would serve as a holding cell and none of them pleasant. She was not reassured, just more frightened now for her little brother.

"Kay. Kay."

"Hmm? Yes?" She whispered in reply to the girl at her elbow.

"Aren't you hungry, Kay? Master will call order soon."

"I can't eat." Kay gasped. "You take it for me. You're a growing girl."

"Really, Kay?"

"Are you still hungry?"

"Well, yes. But -"

"Then please eat it. I can't touch a bite."

She said, all under her breath though nothing short of emotion for it.

"Switch plates so he can't tell."

She whispered, taking Charlotte's empty plate. Charlotte took the plate eagerly, sharing it with the rest of the girls around her. Kay turned her head to the door. The Master was once again a long time in coming.

The night didn't last very long if it had been night. Whatever the case, he wanted to get out and tell Kay that he was alright. There was a door above him somewhere, he knew that. Could he get to the door? Doubtful. It opened again. Uhuh. Nothing was making sense. He felt so heavy that he knew he must be sleeping, but if he opened his eyes he could see if anything was going on. Eugene couldn't understand how he could be awake and sleeping at the same time. He heard Antoine grumbling and cursing him, which didn't phase him, he often heard it. Better him than one of the younger children. Someone - Antoine - grabbed his right arm and flipped him onto his back, which made him scream. He dropped the right arm, which Eugene didn't care about because right now his back was burning, barking with pain for him to get off of it. Antoine grabbed his left hand now, which made Eugene cringe, and stepped on Eugene's shoulder. Eugene couldn't do a thing. It hurt so much that he just lay there awaiting death, not knowing if or how it could get worse. Antoine ripped his arm up unconcernedly and Eugene yelped at the surprise. It had gotten worse. His breath was coming in high, short gasps because he was not allowing them to becoming the pitiable sobs that the master would mock. He threw the crust of bread - which happened to be fresh - in the boy's face and sneered,

"Now you've made me late for my breakfast, boy."

Eugene just lay there, blinding pain or no. He did not want to give Antoine the pleasure of seeing him try to rise. The master scoffed, kicked Eugene aside and fled up the stairs into the warmth. The door above him closed and he heard the key in the lock. Good. No one would be down there for a good while now. The boy pushed his back from the ground, wincing, whimpering, gritting his teeth like none other as he did so until finally he was lying on his belly. That reminded him, it was empty. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast of the day before. Dinner had been forgotten in his flight, supper was flatly denied him. Eugene reached back beside him, his fingers just reaching the bread, making him smile just a tiny bit with contentment.

He dragged his arm forward with some discomfort before coming to the issue of raising his head. That hurt almost too much for him to justify eating a thing, but he knew that he needed to - plus Kay would kill him if he didn't eat. The bread was good, baked the night before and not from three days ago. Either Antoine had not known this or he had been too hurried to care.

There had to be some reason that he had set Eugene's arm back in its socket, but he also hadn't touched the gouges on his back that got more painful hour by hour. He was glad that he couldn't see his own back, because it probably looked disgusting. Eugene swallowed the last bit of bread and lay his head down again. That felt better. His head didn't hurt quite so much, or his back - actually, he really didn't feel a thing, and he knew that couldn't be good, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He closed his eyes, trying to relieve his burning and chilling body with sleep. He found himself vaguely wondering if he really should have eaten, but sleep too easily overtook his thoughts.

The master appeared abruptly in the dining hall with his plate and mug before him, as unconcerned with his underlings as ever. The children gaped in surprise at each other. They had already finished their meal in haste as they always did, not expecting him to take such leisure for the breakfast. Kay's face grew hot just looking at him. What had that dog done to Eugene? She turned her eyes from him just as his started roving the room, as if he were searching out a culprit or some manner of scapegoat. Kay trembled inwardly. Antoine did not care who he hurt or how they were hurt. He just wanted what he wanted and that was that.

She ventured another look at him through her softly swept hair. He was pompous, sure of himself. Angry, most likely still angry with Eugene. Flustered. The master had no control over something that Kay felt may very well happen soon. The semi-annual tour of the orphanage was cited to take place in the next month. Perhaps it's coming was sooner than anticipated. They could only hope. If he had misjudged his mark and the king was able to come this time - well, there was no way that she would be silent if she would truly be heard. Even if Antoine covered his tracks and lied about Eugene it would not be hard for her to speak out, not with the master so nervous this time.

If they could get justice finally, if just this once. Not just for Eugene, for all of them - and yet especially for Eugene. Many of them had been through hard times, particularly those who remembered their parents, but Kay had always seen something different in his eyes. She'd heard him mutter about it before, once when they were locked outdoors together several years before, when he had fallen asleep first. His past terrified him to the point that he had little memory of it. His name was Eugene, that was it. They weren't even certain if the surname was right. She believed that to be the reason that he was so kind to all of the others, why he stood so often for them against the master.

Yes, the master. He was another story unto himself. Kay believed that his claim to this position was only due to the fact that his brother was a lieutenant of the palace guard and well on his way to captain. Apparently there was too much trusting going on up to this point in the kingdom, and she guessed from his nervous glance that those days were almost over.