Astrid lay back and allowed the Dream-Hunter to seduce her to sleep. There were several serums they could use to make someone drowsy or they could use mist from Wink, who was a minor sleep god.
The Oneroi as well as other gods of sleep had long used Wink and his mist to control humans.
No matter what method they chose, the effects of it were almost immediate to whomever they tended.
Astrid wasn't sure which method M'Adoc used on her, but no sooner had she closed her eyes than she found herself floating to the realm of Morpheus.
Here she had her eyesight even while she was judging. It was why she'd always loved to dream during her assignments.
M'Adoc appeared beside her. His masculine beauty was even more striking in this realm. "Are you sure about this?
"
She nodded.
M'Adoc led her through a series of doors in the hall of Phantosis. Here akallitechnis , or dream master, could move through anyone's dreams. They could go into the past, the future, or journey to realms beyond human understanding.
M'Adoc reached a door and paused. "He dreams of his past.
"
"I want to see it.
"
He hesitated as if debating with himself. Finally, he opened the door.
Astrid led the way in. She and M'Adoc stood back from the scene, far away from any who could see or sense them.
Not that they really needed to, but she wanted to make certain she didn't interfere with Zarek's dream.
People who were dreaming could only see the Oneroi or Skoti in their dreams when the sleep gods
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) allowed them to. She wasn't sure if she, as a nymph, was invisible to Zarek or not.
She looked about in the dream.
What struck her most was how vivid everything was. Most people dreamed in sketchy details. But this, this was crystal clear and as real as the world she had left behind.
She saw three little boys gathered in an ancient Roman atrium.
Ranging in age from what appeared to be four to eight, they held sticks in their hands and were laughing and shouting. "Taste it, taste it, taste it.
"
A fourth boy around the age of twelve ran past her. His black hair and blue eyes were striking, and he bore a remarkable resemblance to the man she had seen through Sasha's eyes.
"Is that Zarek?
"
M'Adoc shook his head. "That is his half-brother, Marius.
"
Marius ran to the others.
"He won't do it, Marius," another boy said before he struck whatever was on the ground with his stick.
Marius took the stick from his brother's hand and poked at the lump on the ground. "What's the matter, slave? You too good to eat scraps?
"
Astrid gasped as she realized it was another child on the ground. One who was dressed in rags that they were trying to force to eat rotten cabbage. The boy was curled into a fetal position, covering his head to the point that he barely looked human.
The ones with sticks kept poking and hitting him. Kicking him when he didn't respond to their blows or insults.
"Who are all these boys?" she asked.
"Zarek's half-brothers." M'Adoc pointed them out. "Marius, you know. Marcus is the one dressed in blue with brown eyes. He is nine, I believe. Lucius is the baby, who just turned five and is dressed in red.
The eight-year-old is Aesculus."
"Where is Zarek?"
"He's the one on the ground with his head covered."
She flinched, even though she had suspected as much. To be honest, she couldn't take her gaze off him.
He still hadn't moved. No matter how hard they struck him, no matter what they said. He lay there like an unmovable rock.
"Why do they torture him?"
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) M'Adoc's eyes were sad, letting her know that he was siphoning some of Zarek's emotions as he watched the boys. "Because they can. Their father was Gaius Magnus. He ruled everyone, including his family, with a harsh fist. He was so evil that he killed their mother one night because she dared smile at another man."
Astrid was horrified by the news.
"Magnus used his slaves to help train his sons for cruelty. Zarek had the misfortune of being one of their whipping boys and, unlike the others, he wasn't lucky enough to die."
She could barely understand what M'Adoc was telling her. She had seen plenty of cruelty in her time, but never anything like this.
It was unimaginable that they would be allowed to treat him this way, especially since he was family.
"You said they are Zarek's half-brothers. How is it he is a slave when they are not? Was he related through their dead mother?"
"No. Their father brutally sired Zarek on one of their uncle's Greek slaves. When Zarek was born, his mother bribed one of the servants to take Zarek out and expose him so that he would die. The servant took pity on the infant, and instead of killing him, she made sure the baby went to his father."
Astrid looked back at the boy on the ground. "His father didn't want him, either." It was a statement of fact.
There was no doubt that no one in this place wanted the child.