Since young age he know, he is not like everyone. He didn’t look like children of his age. Humpbacked, with rat tail… He became the target of everyone’s mocking easily and his father, at whom he rely on and expected to do something — do nothing.

“They get bored soon, if you wouldn’t let them see the reaction.” Always told him Belogor as he adds, “besides, you should be better than this.”

“But what if this hurts?” Asked the boy and didn’t get an answer.

He should just to ignore them, but how he would ignore it if every day, while everyone have fun with friends, he have no one to talk to. His father always busy and doesn’t have time for playing with him. And when he tries to play with his peers, they just call him names. They tied to his tail til cans, as if he some kind of dog on the street and it hurts. It hurts to much to just ignore it. Tsvyr didn’t know why he still tried to talk to this children, why he tried to talk to anyone at all, while even the elder people looked at him with some kind of pity, as if he is a mistake. A mistake of his father’s magic.

Tsvyr knows, he is not the heir Belogor wanted, not the child he would like to raise. Unwanted. That’s how he felt. And he realised it very long time ago.

★ ★ ★

This day his father told him to go onto the Main Street, where was many traders and buy needed herbs for potions. And even so he didn’t want, Tsvyr come. He felt, no, he know, it wouldn’t ended up good for him to come here without Belagor. He felt how people looked at him. And people, who never saw something like this, looking at him like he is some kind of little animal. He was in hurry to the request fast and just go come, but he suddenly fell down, as one boy just tripped him up. Tsvyr falls face first, while the boy laughed with his friends, how funny that was to trip this rat-boy. He tried to stand up, but they didn’t let him, pushing him down to the ground, as he ended up crying.

“Please, no… I just need to buy some herbs, I…” he pleaded, but no one listened, mocking him more.