Chapter 4003: A Fellow Predator (Part 2) "Yet if you entrust these people to me, I will apply the Desert law. My law. Do you understand?" Salaark looked at Friya, the only one who felt a tinge of compassion for the Yellow Wind tribe. Lith was Lith, Solus had a strong aversion to slavery ever since Nalear’s attempt to trigger a civil war, and Nalrond saw his Rezar ancestors in the victims of the Yellow Wind tribe. Solus and Nalrond pitied the children who had already lost one of their parents and were likely to lose the other soon, but that was it. The livelihood of their outlaw tribe revolved around pillage, abuse, and murder. Punishing those responsible for such crimes wasn’t just fair, it was necessary. "I understand, Overlord Salaark." Friya’s words sent everyone crying on their knees. The Yellow Wind tribe wept in despair while everyone else in joy. A wave of the Guardian’s hand Warped the surviving members of the Yellow Wind tribe to the Justice Halls of her Heavenly Plume palace, where every one of them would face her judgment. Salaark would read their minds and sentence them according to how and how much they had contributed to the suffering of those they had forced into servitude. ’Most of the adults are going to die, and their children will grow up resenting me for making them orphans.’ She shook her head, sighing. ’No matter how much I explain my reasons to these youths, most of them will eat my bread, leave my care the day they come of age, and use everything I teach them against me until the day they die. ’I regret pushing them on such a path, but pardoning their parents just to keep them happy is out of the question. Mercy towards the guilty is cruelty towards their victims. ’The only silver lining is that I have years to show the children of the Yellow Wind tribe another way of living and make them realize the horror of what they consider normal.’ Another wave of Salaark’s hand shattered the chains, opened the collars, and healed any open or festering wound both slaves and recent prisoners suffered. "I swear my loyalty to you!" A young man covered in scented oils threw himself at Salaark’s feet, sobbing. "I’ll do anything you want. Obey all your laws. Just don’t let them touch me again!" Many others followed his example. All the slaves, those who had lost their tribes and had nothing and no one to return to, swore heartfelt oaths of loyalty, while only about half of the most recent stock of prisoners forsook the Black Stork tribe. "Please, stand up." Salaark’s voice was warm and soothing like that of a mother rather than a conqueror’s. "I’m not your Overlord. I haven’t earned such a title, and you are in no condition to bestow such an honor upon me. "You have been beaten and oppressed under the heel of an unfair master for so long that you have forgotten what freedom means. Do not fear, though. I won’t abandon you. You’ll be my guests in my palace. "I will give you the time and care you need to reclaim your minds, bodies, and dignity. Only when you are once again the only masters of your lives will you be given the choice to put them at the service of the Blood Desert." A snap of her fingers brought everyone away, leaving only Lith’s group and one confused woman behind. ’Thank you.’ Friya thought as she walked towards her biological mother. Drenya Solivar had once been a cunning and beautiful noble lady with long, perfect raven-black hair and the delicate hands of someone who hadn’t labored a day in her life. Almost nine years in the Blood Desert had erased most of her identity. Her hair was now cut at shoulder length to keep it clean from the sand, and her hands were rough and calloused from the daily chores. Her once rosy skin was now deeply tanned and dry, covered in lines like old leather. Only her eyes had remained the same. Even after losing her Duchy, her riches, and her noble status, Drenya Solivar’s eyes were still cold and calculative. Her chains had just fallen off, her captors were dead, yet she was already planning her next move. Drenya studied the unknown young woman with caution, trying to understand why she had been left behind and why her savior looked familiar. "Mother." Friya spoke the word with the same kindness as someone demanding the settling of a debt long overdue. "I beg your pardon?" Drenya squinted her eyes in surprise. "I think you must have mistaken me for someone else." She had played countless possible scenarios in her head, yet this was not one of them. "Oh, right. I forgot." Friya shook her head, and her golden hair turned black while her blue eyes reverted to a light shade of brown. "Do you recognize me now?" "Friya!" Drenya jumped to her feet and threw her arms around her daughter while already pondering how to best put Friya’s amazing powers to use. "I knew I could count on you. That one day you would look for me, and we’d be together again." "Seriously?" Friya tried and failed to keep the anger out of her voice. "You abandoned your whole family, leaving everyone else to die for your crimes, and you expect this to be some tearjerking reunion?" "I didn’t leave everyone behind." Drenya took a pause from her scheming to look her daughter in the eyes and noticed the coldness in them. "I tried to bring you with me. I begged you to come with me in the Blood Desert, remember?" "You tried to make me your accomplice. There’s a difference." Friya gently but firmly got her mother’s hands off her. "You didn’t explain anything to me. You just ordered me to run away with you from the Kingdom." "To save you from the impending civil war!" Drenya said. "To save your own skin and turn me into a traitor!" Friya snarled. "Had I followed you, I would have become a wanted criminal just like you. I would have been forced to follow you wherever you wanted and do whatever you wanted!" "That’s not true!" Drenya sobbed, her "wounded mother" performance worthy of a seasoned actress. "Now you are just being cruel. All I wanted was to keep you safe. You are my baby girl!" "Really?" Friya clicked her tongue. "Then why didn’t you explain to me what was about to happen? Why did I have to learn from a stranger that my entire family had been put to the gallows and my noble title revoked? "More importantly, why did you leave my siblings to die? They would have followed you if you asked them, but you didn’t. You didn’t care for them because they had no magical power you could sell." Seeing that crying didn’t work and that appealing to Friya’s emotions only aroused her anger, Drenya changed her approach. "That’s an unfair and childish assessment of a complex political situation." She wiped her tears, and her voice became stern just as quickly. "I didn’t say anything to anyone to give you all plausible deniability and bear alone the burden of my failed schemes."