Alright, here's the new chapter! Sorry for not updating for a while, I guess copy-pasting my own stories is just too much effort to go through. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's not gonna be much action…

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Sonic wandered down the cold corridors of the manor, his coat pulled tight around his body. While the heavy jacket did keep most of the cold out, he still shivered, trying to keep out the icy chill that almost seemed to penetrate into your soul.

Winter had come around again, and was unusually bitter; crops had failed, livestock was dying and to top it all off, the village was heavily snowed in. While people were surviving, things were becoming increasingly subsistent, with many people beginning to ration out food. Although stockpiles were still high, it was just a few weeks into the season, with the worst of the weather yet to come.
Nobody wanted to take any chances.

That was why he wandered. Shadow was speaking with people about the situation, and judging from his initial reaction to hearing that they would be coming, Sonic guessed that he would not be in the mood for interruption. All the other servants were out carrying out their jobs, not that it would have mattered; nearly all had been assigned to help clear the snow and repair any snow damage. As for Silver… He never enjoyed being around him. Every time they had met, Silver seemed to have aimed to make Sonic's life as difficult as possible for some reason. He tried to avoid him, but obviously there were occasions which called for them to be near each other. At least now, Silver was in the meeting with Shadow, if only to serve the guests tea.

Sonic stared at the walls, studying the various objects that adorned them. Most eye-catching were the series of portraits, all depicting hedgehogs very similar in appearance to Shadow. "This must be Shadow's family…" He mused to himself, stopping to stare at the paintings. They went back generations, to the point where the people depicted barely resembled Shadow. The hedgehogs in the younger generations bore markings on their quills and arms much like Shadow's, some more twisting and extravagant than Shadow's.

Sonic walked down the hall a bit, until he reached Shadow's portrait. Sonic ran his hand over it, studying it closely. The Shadow in the portrait was certainly different Shadow than the one he knew. Opposed to Shadow's kind, gentle demeanour, the portrait portrayed an authoritive, domineering individual, a harsher person than Shadow seemed. Even though the entire line of nobility seemed to boast these characteristics, there was just something about Shadow showing it that seemed off…

But then there were the eyes. Those deep red eyes of Shadow, something in them caught Sonic's attention. The painting was heavily detailed, painstakingly almost, displaying every feature and flaw of Shadow's body. Sonic stared deep into the painted eyes, trying to decipher the exact emotion in them. A thought occurring to him, he immediately jumped to the side, to the portrait of Shadow's father. Lucien, the brass plate below the picture read. The hedgehog was very similar to Shadow, in both appearance and stance. But that was not what he was looking for…

Craning his neck up, Sonic looked into the eyes of the hedgehog. Like Shadow's, this portrait was also incredibly detailed, showing off every piece of the Lord's complexion. But unlike Shadow's were the eyes. They were the complete opposite of Shadow's. As he looked into the crimson orbs, he could only see one thing: Wrath. In spite of his civilized, sophisticated clothes and posture, the eyes showed an emotion that Sonic had only seen once before in his life.

He had only been a child at the time. It was back when he had not been a slave, a time which he did not have much memory of. He had come from a merchant family; his father owned and worked in a tavern. While the business was quite profitable, the exposure had led his father to alcoholism. At first, it had been mild, with him just sneaking the occasional drink while on the job, but the addiction quickly took a hold of him, with his father often coming home bloodied and bruised, and sometimes with the town guards. And then, on one autumn night, the addiction peaked.

Sonic had been sitting in his room reading when he heard the front door swing open. Judging from the heavy footsteps and shouting, his father had come home, drunk again. Usually, he didn't get far – Wandering through the house for a bit before collapsing in a drunken sleep. It was definitely not a good routine, but it kept him from destroying the house, which he had sometimes done.

That was when he heard his mother. Because of his father's addiction, Aleena was the only person Sonic found comfort in. She was a lovely woman, kind and loving, the way a mother should be. Sonic listened as she began to shout, most of her words garbled, but patching together the bits he could hear, she seemed to be talking about his father's alcoholism.

Sonic got up and walked over to his door, sliding it open a crack. He could hear the two much better now, his mother was pleading with his father to stop drinking, and judging from his raving, none of it was getting through. Aleena still continued, trying to reason with him, begging him to stop for the family.

And then the screaming started.

It had taken the young Sonic a few moments to realize where the sound was coming from, and then he heard the faint whacks that accompanied the screams. He began to shiver in fear; it was quite plain that his mother was being beaten. Sonic was scared, he didn't know what to do, he wanted to help his mother, but he didn't know how to do it. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he heard his mother beginning to sob, begging his father to stop. A loud crash came from downstairs, and then…

Silence.

Anxiously, Sonic pushed the door open and stepped out, slowly making his way down the stairs. He tiptoed down and looked around, his eyes going wide at the scene in front of him. Lying on the ground was his mother, blood pooling around her head. It was quite obvious she was hurt badly, and needed help. Immediately, Sonic jumped off the stairs and ran to his mother's side, shaking her roughly.

"Mom! Mom! Are you OK!" He shouted, rolling the hedgehog onto her back. He gasped and winced as he saw her face. Her nose was bleeding heavily, bent sideways at an odd angle. Her jaw hung unevenly, quite obviously having been broken. There were cuts and bruises all across her face, her purple fur hiding the blood slightly.

Quickly, Sonic lowered his hands to her chest, feeling around for a heartbeat, a gentle rise, anything… But it was hopeless. Her pulse was gone, she wasn't breathing. Tears began to fall from Sonic's eyes as he realized that his mother was dead. "Mom…"

"Mom is gone." A growl behind him said. "And she's not coming back anytime soon."

Sonic whipped around to stare at his father. Sonic whimpered as he looked at him. His fists were bloody, his clothes were torn in places from the struggle, but the worst part was his eyes… They did not even seem human anymore, filled with an almost animalistic rage, a look of wrath and anger…

And from that day on, Sonic's life had been a living hell.

His breaths came in gasps as he stepped away from the painting. He knew now. He knew why Shadow was so kind when all his previous masters had been so cruel. He knew why Shadow always made an effort to look after him. He knew why Shadow was just so different from everyone else he had met in his life, Shadow was just like him. His eyes had said it all. Behind his powerful, proud mask was a hurt and mistreated individual. Someone who had dealt with pain all his life, and was trying to repent for things he had been forced into thinking he had done. The only difference was their social class.

Sonic began to move down the hall, running to the meeting hall. He had to see Shadow as soon as possible, right after he was done with the meeting.

Somehow, in this relationship of slave and master, Sonic had found a connection to Shadow.

Shadow: Wait, what about the months between the chapters? Surely me and Sonic's relationship would hav-

Quiet! That's for the readers to hopefully not realize! Anyway, thanks for reading and please, leave a review if you liked the chapter! And even if you didn't… Write one anyway!