Faraji

For most of his childhood, Faraji knew nothing of his father-- all he knew was the small servants quarters he shared with his mother, the darkness of the space under her bed, and how he held his breath when the guards walked by.

It wasn't easy hiding a child in that frozen castle, but Faraji was a baby that never cried. A blessing for his mother, who didn't want the Queen to know about the one-time relations she'd had with someone far above her station... But cause for worry nonetheless. Those large, pale eyes, staring up at her... Unblinking...

The maid couldn't deny that her own son gave her the chills at times, but she did as well by him as she could.

By the time Faraji was too large to hide anymore, his mother pulled a few strings and got him a job in another section of the palace. It started with serving, then dishwashing, then laundry... At the end of a few months he was relegated to mucking out the beast's pens with the beastmaster, the only employee that wasn't bothered by his blank staring.

It was there he stayed until just after his eighteenth birthday, when the hunger awoke.

The beastmaster was the one who found him, thank goodness, covered in the blood of one of the more dangerous creatures they housed-- and he would cover for Faraji, but it was clear the boy couldn't stay where he was.

Luckily for the both of them, a certain necromancer owed the beastmaster a favor, and she was in need of an assistant as she moved to her new quarters in a different castle.