He was the one who had saved her from Anvil.
He was the one who had made Rodrick bow and scrape.
He was the one who had given her and Lina clean clothes to wear, hot food to eat, and a clean room to sleep in.
He was her only living, breathing, real protector she could cling to.
'What would happen if I defied him?'
Martha didn't dare to imagine.
But she knew it would be terrifying.
The gang members trembling on their knees were a testament to that.
Anvil, punished to stand guard over the sewers, was a testament to that.
And what about her and Lina?
They had nothing. They *were* nothing.
If he became displeased, a single careless word from him would send them tumbling back into the abyss.
An abyss even deeper than before.
Because the people who had once treated them with courtesy would instantly turn on them.
Because those trembling thugs would vent all their resentment and anger on them.
Martha had seen it happen far too many times.
